December 2026 Timetable Change

[Ballyheigue]

Hourly really isn’t unusable! If you don’t want to wait 59 minutes just get there 1 minute earlier.

It becomes unusable when the last trains are too early to do what you want/need to do

I wouldn't want to trust an hourly service, if it's cancelled and you needed to connect onto another train from it to go somewhere then that's your day ruined.

 

[xotGD]

I wouldn't want to trust an hourly service, if it's cancelled and you needed to connect onto another train from it to go somewhere then that's your day ruined.

Also known as "travelling by train in the north of England".

And an hourly service is something we can only dream of on the Settle & Carlisle and Bentham lines.

 

[Harpo]

Also known as "travelling by train in the north of England".

And an hourly service is something we can only dream of on the Settle & Carlisle and Bentham lines.

I do try to remember that when I bitch about service gaps on the tube!

 

[Starmill]

Hourly really isn’t unusable! If you don’t want to wait 59 minutes just get there 1 minute earlier.

It becomes unusable when the last trains are too early to do what you want/need to do

Unfortunately, while it may be nice if a typical member of the public thought this way, they simply don't.

They wouldn't leave home 10 minutes earlier, they'd simply go in their car, which doesn't impose huge time penalties of 1-2 hours over being 2 minutes late to the platform. Driving may even be slightly slower, but if it's more convenient in terms of choice of time, it's very likely to win. And I don't blame them to be honest. The average person does not want to live their life thinking about railway schedules and how likely it is they're going to meet their connections, or what may happen when they miss them. They simply want to know roughly how long it'll take to get to where they're going, and plan accordingly.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I do try to remember that when I bitch about service gaps on the tube!

That said, the dreaded six minute wait for the Bakerloo at Oxford Circus when you’ve got 20 minutes to dash from King’s Cross to Waterloo will always be enough to ruin one’s day

 

[yorksrob]

That said, the dreaded six minute wait for the Bakerloo at Oxford Circus when you’ve got 20 minutes to dash from King’s Cross to Waterloo will always be enough to ruin one’s day

I made the mistake once of only leaving half an hour to get from Vauxhall to King's Cross. Needless to say the Victoria line was delayed and I missed my train.

 

[dk1]

Also known as "travelling by train in the north of England".

And an hourly service is something we can only dream of on the Settle & Carlisle and Bentham lines.

Hasn’t the Bentham line seen an improvement in the last few years?

 

[InkyScrolls]

Hasn’t the Bentham line seen an improvement in the last few years?

Yes, it's now a mixture of 2 and 3-hour gaps, up from 5 per day.

 

[xotGD]

Hasn’t the Bentham line seen an improvement in the last few years?

There are 7 trains per day. Mostly 2 hour gaps but with one 3 hour gap. Last train leaves Leeds at 19:18.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I made the mistake once of only leaving half an hour to get from Vauxhall to King's Cross. Needless to say the Victoria line was delayed and I missed my train.

That’s interesting, I’ve regularly managed 20 minutes between Waterloo and Euston and Waterloo and King’s Cross. It is of course not a good idea for advances though.

 

[dk1]

Yes, it's now a mixture of 2 and 3-hour gaps, up from 5 per day.

Cheers. I suppose it just doesn’t justify an hourly frequency.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Monday at 17:40 ==

There are 7 trains per day. Mostly 2 hour gaps but with one 3 hour gap. Last train leaves Leeds at 19:18.

Thanks.

 

[Galvanize]

Not sure if this has been discussed anywhere, on TL…

07:55 Horsham to Peterborough no longer exists, in its place, it now starts forward from Three Bridges as the 08:02 to Peterborough, calling additionally at Salfords and Earlswood (Surrey).

Found that while looking for something else.

 

[JonathanH]

Not sure if this has been discussed anywhere, on TL…

07:55 Horsham to Peterborough no longer exists, in its place, it now starts forward from Three Bridges as the 08:02 to Peterborough, calling additionally at Salfords and Earlswood (Surrey).

Found that while looking for something else.

There is a whole load of tinkering with the departures from the Redhill corridor such that the various trains run in a different pattern each half hour. Some half hours the Bedford runs in front of the Victoria train. Other half hours that is reversed. Seems to have something to do with increasing turnaround times at Reigate, Gatwick, Three Bridges and Horsham.

 

[wls1]

Not strictly December 2026 timetable related however have noticed that Thameslink will be going hourly again through October half term on the Luton - Rainham route (off peak and saturdays)

 

[OneOfThe48]

Not sure if this has been discussed anywhere, on TL…

07:55 Horsham to Peterborough no longer exists, in its place, it now starts forward from Three Bridges as the 08:02 to Peterborough, calling additionally at Salfords and Earlswood (Surrey).

Found that while looking for something else.

Looks to be replaced between Horsham and Three Bridges by a train 10 mins later to Bedford

 

[A S Leib]

Am I missing any changes expected in terms of TOCs or class families changing?

Bristol Brabazon (new station; potentially in "autumn" rather than with the timetable change): GWR, Sprinter / Turbostar Networker

Filton Abbey Wood, Stapleton Road, Bristol Temple Meads, (limited route) Bristol Parkway: gaining TfW, Civity

(Limited calls; from February?) Carstairs: CrossCountry, Voyager

(Limited calls and route; from February?) Shotts / Edinburgh to Glasgow avoiding Haymarket and via Shotts: CrossCountry, Voyager

Hopefully (Milton Keynes Central, Bletchley, Winslow (new station); new route for the TOC), Bicester Village, Oxford Parkway, Oxford (new rolling stock): Chiltern, Civity

Then LNR (Desiro) calling at Sandbach, Holmes Chapel, Goostrey, Alderley Edge, Wilmslow, Styal and Manchester Airport starting from May 2027, and Northern (323 and Civity) being withdrawn or going to a limited service between Manchester Airport and Wilmslow.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Am I missing any changes expected in terms of TOCs or class families changing?

Hopefully at some point during the December timetable: Oxford, Oxford Parkway, Bicester Village, Winslow (new station), Bletchley and Milton Keynes Central gaining Chiltern 196s.

 

[A S Leib]

Hopefully at some point during the December timetable: Oxford, Oxford Parkway, Bicester Village, Winslow (new station), Bletchley and Milton Keynes Central gaining Chiltern 196s.

Right, thanks.

I think Glossop's also due to go over to the Bee Network in December, but I don't think that means changing TOC – for as long as this iteration of them lasts – as much as it is branding and fare integration.

Edit: I think LU 2024 Stock introduction (Piccadilly line) is a change expected during the December 2026 timetable, if not part of it.

 

[The exile]

Am I missing any changes expected in terms of TOCs or class families changing?

Bristol Brabazon (new station; potentially in "autumn" rather than with the timetable change): GWR, Sprinter / Turbostar

Pedant alert - Turbo, not Turbostar!

 

[A S Leib]

Pedant alert - Turbo, not Turbostar!

I confused myself there, so Sprinter / Networker (going off of what RTT says services are pathed as, and ignoring the ones GWR don't run) would be more accurate.

 

[bramling]

Was having a cursory look at MF GN/TL outers. The main change is that trains now have longer turnrounds at Kings Lynn, with some shuffling of diagrams as a result.

The first two up services from Kings Lynn, and corresponding down workings upon arrival at King’s Cross, are now booked 4-car.

387s remain at 12 diagrams, all in pairs. Like with the current timetable, four of these diagrams seem to be arranged so they can easily be converted to 379s, though guessing this is unlikely to occur.

379 utilisation increases from 21 to 23 out of 30, which is basically to cover the Kings Lynn turnround time.Will be interesting to see if they manage to get another couple of units in service before December, currently IIRC there are still five outstanding to enter GN service. I can’t see 27/30 being achieved any time soon, but 25/30 could be more realistic which would require some sharing of the two convertible diagrams on a day-to-day basis.

Apart from all that I can’t see much significant change. For the typical passenger December’s timetable will look and feel similar to the current one, albeit with some added resilience at Kings Lynn.

 

[Geeves]

Right, thanks.

I think Glossop's also due to go over to the Bee Network in December, but I don't think that means changing TOC – for as long as this iteration of them lasts – as much as it is branding and fare integration.

Edit: I think LU 2024 Stock introduction (Piccadilly line) is a change expected during the December 2026 timetable, if not part of it.

Tap in and tap out is as far as the current changes go. No alterations to the TOC, the traction, the fleet colours or the timetable

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Was having a cursory look at MF GN/TL outers. The main change is that trains now have longer turnrounds at Kings Lynn, with some shuffling of diagrams as a result.

The first two up services from Kings Lynn, and corresponding down workings upon arrival at King’s Cross, are now booked 4-car.

387s remain at 12 diagrams, all in pairs. Like with the current timetable, four of these diagrams seem to be arranged so they can easily be converted to 379s, though guessing this is unlikely to occur.

379 utilisation increases from 21 to 23 out of 30, which is basically to cover the Kings Lynn turnround time.Will be interesting to see if they manage to get another couple of units in service before December, currently IIRC there are still five outstanding to enter GN service. I can’t see 27/30 being achieved any time soon, but 25/30 could be more realistic which would require some sharing of the two convertible diagrams on a day-to-day basis.

Apart from all that I can’t see much significant change. For the typical passenger December’s timetable will look and feel similar to the current one, albeit with some added resilience at Kings Lynn.

Do 387s stay doing a few Kings Lynns?

 

[bramling]

Do 387s stay doing a few Kings Lynns?

Yes. 3 Kings Lynn returns (one of which stables overnight) and 2 Ely return trips. Haven’t looked at weekends yet.

One trip daily for each of 387 and 379 to Peterborough, which IIRC is same as now.

Otherwise all 387 work is Letchworth or Cambridge stopping or semi-fast peak services.

Weekends will differ.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Yes. 3 Kings Lynn returns (one of which stables overnight) and 2 Ely return trips. Haven’t looked at weekends yet.

Thanks. Are the hourly Cambridge Kings Cross stoppers still a pretty even mix of 700 and 387 with the odd 379 thrown in?