December 2026 Timetable Change

[bramling]

I am sure that those at GTR who have been pushing to put these services back in for a long time understand the commercial side of it. Why are premium fares a problem? It is a premium service in the sense that it doesn't call at East Croydon and Clapham Jn and hence does not experience the challenges of the customer churn at those locations. Even when not going to the airport I choose to use it for the more pleasant travelling environment in respect of crowding and the types of customer I am travelling with.

I’m not so much thinking of it from a commercial angle. Clearly someone is able to do the maths and work out that a certain level of loading combined with premium fares is worthwhile from an industry point of view.

The problem is this ignores wider issues. Firstly these services take up very precious track capacity, and also their existence increases performance risk to other services. Secondly, it’s unsatisfactory having airport passengers on other services simply because they have been priced off the dedicated airport service.

I’ve no problem with Gatwick Express running, however the objective should be to have as many airport passengers as possible using it. Not running it largely empty for a small number of people paying a premium fare.

The same goes for HEx, though in that case it’s more complex as the Crossrail services take people to other destinations besides the London terminus.

 

[NCT]

I’m not so much thinking of it from a commercial angle. Clearly someone is able to do the maths and work out that a certain level of loading combined with premium fares is worthwhile from an industry point of view.

The industry is the taxpayer.

 

[brad465]

Interestingly, Luton to Rainham services are curtailed to Kentish Town during off peak SX and Saturdays, clockwise Sutton loop services are extended to Luton in their place

Trains at Luton on 16/12/2026 | Rail Record

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I won't hold my breath, but if doing this improves the reliability and ability to run the London Bridge-Rainham side of this service, it will be welcome.

 

[daodao]

On Sundays, Northern do appear to be returning to Manchester Piccadilly - Stoke, serving the route every 2-3 hours; with Liverpool - Wilmslow returning (currently terminates at Manchester Airport). Manchester Piccadilly - Crewe (via Handforth) goes hourly (from every 2 hours today), as does Manchester Piccadilly - Buxton. Northern also look to be launching Chester - Leeds (via Manchester Victoria) on Sundays with an hourly service

Appearance of these rail services in the draft timetable from December 2026 does not necessarily mean that these trains (which are currently cancelled or substituted by buses) will actually run.

 

[barbette165]

LNWR Crewe - Stafford (via Stoke) appears to be extended to Birmingham New Street, calling additionally at Penkridge, Wolverhampton, Willenhall, Darlaston, Tame Bridge Parkway and Birmingham New Street

When combined with the existing Shrewsbury service this gives Darlaston and Willenhall a train about every 30 minutes from Birmingham, but in the opposite direction the two trains are only 5 minutes apart followed by a 55 minute gap.

 

[NCT]

When combined with the existing Shrewsbury service this gives Darlaston and Willenhall a train about every 30 minutes from Birmingham, but in the opposite direction the two trains are only 5 minutes apart followed by a 55 minute gap.

A classic problem of not having a common national symmetry!

 

[Ian Hardy]

I’m not so much thinking of it from a commercial angle. Clearly someone is able to do the maths and work out that a certain level of loading combined with premium fares is worthwhile from an industry point of view.

The problem is this ignores wider issues. Firstly these services take up very precious track capacity, and also their existence increases performance risk to other services. Secondly, it’s unsatisfactory having airport passengers on other services simply because they have been priced off the dedicated airport service.

I’ve no problem with Gatwick Express running, however the objective should be to have as many airport passengers as possible using it. Not running it largely empty for a small number of people paying a premium fare.

The same goes for HEx, though in that case it’s more complex as the Crossrail services take people to other destinations besides the London terminus.

Perhaps they ought to go back to what they did back in BR days when the Gatwick Express services were introduced:
The only services shown at Gatwick as serving London Victoria were the Gatwick Express services.
All other services the destination was shown as Clapham Junction.
But that was before people carried mini computers in their pockets so unless you knew the timetable you were none the wiser and used the GX services as they were the only services going to Victoria.

 

[London Trains]

A small but interesting and beneficial tweak, the Victoria to West Croydon and London Bridge services seem to have swapped paths entirely (only in this direction) - this has the benefit of speeding up journeys between Crystal Palace and West Croydon in the peak, as the current path conflicts with the peak only Victoria to Sutton via Norbury services, so they have ridiculously long waits at Norwood Junction during the peaks. It also makes each service self-contained instead of crosslinked with one another, but it does mean the Victoria to London Bridge services will have a 27 minute turnaround at London Bridge, whilst the Victoria to West Croydon will have a much shorter 19 minute turnaround at West Croydon (currently they have a wasteful 35 minutes off-peak).

Given the existing paths don't seem to conflict with the additional London Overground services (which have also been added to the timetable), I wonder if this change is related to the potential future extension of these services to Belmont*, because, as mentioned above, the current path conflicts with the Victoria to Sutton via Norbury services, so extending them would be impossible as that service would be blocking Platform 4 at Sutton.

*https://www.networkrail.co.uk/our-w...way-upgrade-plan/upgrades-to-belmont-station/

 

[Class15]

Interestingly, Luton to Rainham services are curtailed to Kentish Town during off peak SX and Saturdays, clockwise Sutton loop services are extended to Luton in their place

Trains at Luton on 16/12/2026 | Rail Record

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Great news.

More services to Kentish Town off-peak and also makes the Rainham service more reliable and less long-distance without taking it off Thameslink.

 

[Vexed]

Interestingly, Luton to Rainham services are curtailed to Kentish Town during off peak SX and Saturdays, clockwise Sutton loop services are extended to Luton in their place

Trains at Luton on 16/12/2026 | Rail Record

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It means the Sutton loop might actually have some recovery time now with longer turnarounds (20 min?) at Luton and usually 13 mins at St Albans Centre Siding (up from 8)

 

[dk1]

I’m very pleased to see that EMR are introducing a two hourly Lincoln - Sleaford service on Sundays from December. This area of rural Lincolnshire has had no public transport connections to Lincoln on Sundays for a long time.

What with this and the earlier Derby-Crewe Sunday services this really is a good news timetable from EMR. Will be topped off perfectly if the 12:51 Liverpool—Nottingham gets extended through to Norwich on Mondays-Saturdays as it always was pre-Pandemic. No eastbound Norwich departure from Nottingham 14:38-16:38 (15:47-17:47 Peterborough) is quite ludicrous.

 

[lrbvoyager]

Anything new for avanti? Wasn’t Lnwr meant to be operating a Rochdale service?

 

[snookertam]

XC are extending their Edinburgh services to Glasgow Central every 2hrs, which includes a direct train from Bournemouth.

The early morning 2A01 dundee to Aberdeen now start from Edinburgh at 0530

What’s happening to the 0530 ScotRail departure?

 

[hexagon789]

What’s happening to the 0530 ScotRail departure?

The XC is actually 0528, so presumably runs ahead of the ScotRail.

Unfortunately ScotRail times aren't in yet to confirm.

 

[Kilopylae]

But that was before people carried mini computers in their pockets so unless you knew the timetable you were none the wiser and used the GX services as they were the only services going to Victoria.

This is off topic, but it makes you wonder if RDG should try to do a deal with Google Maps to influence their public transport journey planner. At the very least, restrict it to permitted routes, and potentially introduce deliberate misdirection of this sort.

 

[The Planner]

Anything new for avanti? Wasn’t Lnwr meant to be operating a Rochdale service?

Rochdale? They looked very briefly at Man Vic but dropped it quickly to focus on the airport.

 

[Avenger20]

The XC is actually 0528, so presumably runs ahead of the ScotRail.

Unfortunately ScotRail times aren't in yet to confirm.

Scotrail's 0530 is basically a semi-fast calling at all of the main regional stops so I doubt this will be binned.

Both 2A01 and 1A71 are quite busy from Dundee to Aberdeen with local commuters, I don't imagine removing either service will go down well. 2A01 has always been fully crewed from Edinburgh so it may as well run in service.

 

[A S Leib]

Anything new for avanti? Wasn’t Lnwr meant to be operating a Rochdale service?

Are you sure you're not thinking of a proposed Lumo Rochdale service (via Victoria, Eccles, Newton-le-Willows and Warrington Bank Quay)?

 

[dk1]

Rochdale? They looked very briefly at Man Vic but dropped it quickly to focus on the airport.

That’s what I thought. Very little to be gained financially from the previous plan.

 

[hexagon789]

Scotrail's 0530 is basically a semi-fast calling at all of the main regional stops so I doubt this will be binned.

Both 2A01 and 1A71 are quite busy from Dundee to Aberdeen with local commuters, I don't imagine removing either service will go down well. 2A01 has always been fully crewed from Edinburgh so it may as well run in service.

I wasn't expecting it to be binned, more that it might no longer be an exactly 0530 departure or such.

 

[Mattplans]

I won't hold my breath, but if doing this improves the reliability and ability to run the London Bridge-Rainham side of this service, it will be welcome.

This is a bit crazy to be honest. "Luton - Rainham" is no more. What's even the point anymore? Coming one step closing to returning this back to SE.

 

[Benjwri]

This is a bit crazy to be honest. "Luton - Rainham" is no more. What's even the point anymore? Coming one step closing to returning this back to SE.

How many people actually travel from Luton to Rainham? I'd suggest very few. It's not even the quickest way to get to Luton from anywhere East of Abbey Wood, by around 20 minutes at some times, it's not even close!

 

[A S Leib]

Interestingly, Luton to Rainham services are curtailed to Kentish Town during off peak SX and Saturdays, clockwise Sutton loop services are extended to Luton in their place

Trains at Luton on 16/12/2026 | Rail Record

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That's annoying from Radlett et al's perspective, but going from 6 tph to 4 tph which are (almost) evenly spread out, with the lost faster services only being five minutes faster to St. Pancras and London Bridge (or anywhere towards Rainham) being a same-platform change, isn't the end of the world, especially if remaining services are more reliable.

 

[Mattplans]

How many people actually travel from Luton to Rainham? I'd suggest very few. It's not even the quickest way to get to Luton from anywhere East of Abbey Wood, by around 20 minutes at some times, it's not even close!

If they're going to start gradually curtailing this service in every timetable, they might as well return it to Southeastern

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Jun 2026 ==

And I don't really think it bares any relevance how many people actual travel from Luton to Rainham. I'm sure the numbers are just as low as those travelling from Bedford or Cambridge to Brighton. I'm sure there are passenger flows however between the local North London stops and Charlton.

 

[A S Leib]

And I don't really think it bares any relevance how many people actual travel from Luton to Rainham. I'm sure the numbers are just as low as those travelling from Bedford or Cambridge to Brighton. I'm sure there are passenger flows however between the local North London stops and Charlton.

Greenwich to West Hampstead, Luton Airport, Kentish Town, St. Albans, Elstree & Borehamwood, Mill Hill Broadway, Brent Cross West and Luton comes to around 500 passengers per week, and below 130 per week from Charlton. I'd guess the number of people who'd have to change who currently have direct services would be fewer than two hundred per day.

 

[wls1]

Direct connections to Luton Airport are a bit of a loss but if this was to improve the performance of the north kent thameslink then i’m all for this. Far too often this service is curtailed during disruption on the midland and the only place possible to turn this back is at Dartford. Missing out Abbey Wood which is the main focus for this service

 

[Mattplans]

Greenwich to West Hampstead, Luton Airport, Kentish Town, St. Albans, Elstree & Borehamwood, Mill Hill Broadway, Brent Cross West and Luton comes to around 500 passengers per week, and below 130 per week from Charlton. I'd guess the number of people who'd have to change who currently have direct services would be fewer than two hundred per day.

The issue here is not about passenger flow. It's about how enhanced connections were promised during the Thameslink programme but the Greenwich route seems to be getting shortchanged at every given opportunity. In the following timetable, they'll cut it short to London Bridge and passengers will have to change. Then Dartford. Then why bother running further than Gillingham at all? A Rainham-Gillingham shuttle doesn't sound too bad. After all, passengers can just change at Gillingham.

Regardless, it's not like there's more demand from the Sutton route to these stations? There are more passengers from Greenwich than there is from Wimbledon to all of the destinations you have quoted. So this surely cannot be demand led as you appear to suggest? If there was to be a service curtailed on the basis of improving operational resilience, surely it should be the Sutton services anyway? To reduce crossings at the junctions between Loughborough Junction and London Blackfriars. That was the original plan...

 

[PGAT]

The loss of links from the North Kent Line to the MML is a red herring in my opinion. The real loss is the downgrade from 6tph to 4 for the local stations.

 

[BillStampy]

Not sure if it's been brought up: but looking at RTT it appears TfW's Bristol paths have been incorporated into the timetable.

Realtime Trains | 1R01 0834 Cardiff Central to Bristol Temple Meads | 13/12/2026

Real-time train running information for 1R01 0834 departure from Cardiff Central to Bristol Temple Meads on 13/12/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Example above.

 

[800002]

Not sure if it's been brought up: but looking at RTT it appears TfW's Bristol paths have been incorporated into the timetable.

Appears accurate.

Trains at Bristol Temple Meads on 16/12/2026 | Rail Record

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(Link the SX, TfW paths at Bristol Temple Meads)

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jun 2026 ==

As are Chiltern Milton Keynes paths, all beit still in stealth mode (non passenger).

Trains at Milton Keynes Central on 16/12/2026 | Rail Record

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