Idea for service pattern during Kings Cross remodelling

[GTR fail]

I assume this is going ahead with a two month blockade from Jan to March as planned pre-covid?
If so here is my proposed timetable...

Off Peak
1x Kings Cross to Edinburgh Fast runs as usual - 9 car 800)
1x Leeds to Edinburgh semi fast - 9 car 800)
1x Kings Cross to Leeds calling at , Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield and Leeds - 10 car 800)
1x Peterborough to Leeds (2 hourly Harrogate extension) calling at Grantham, Doncaster then Wakefield and Leeds - 5 car 800)
1x Kings Cross to York calling at all LNER stations -9 car 800)
1x Brighton to Kings Lynn (Haywards Heath, Three Bridges, Gatwick, East Croydon, London Bridge, TL Core, Finsbury Park, Cambridge, Cambridge North, Ely, all stops to Kings Lynn - 12 car 387)
1x Brighton to Ely (as above to Finsbury Park then Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth, Royston, Cambridge, Cambridge North, Waterbeach and Ely -8 car 387)
2x Horsham to Peterborough (usual to Finsbury Park then Stevenage, Hitchin, St Neots, Huntingdon and Peterborough - 12 car 700)
1x Welwyn GC to Cambridge (Welwyn North, Knebworth, Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth, all stops to Cambridge - 8 car 700)
1x Finsbury Park to Cambridge (Potters Bar, Hatfield, Welwyn GC, Stevenage, Hitchin, all stops to Cambridge - 8 car 700)
2x Welwyn GC to Peterborough (all stations - 8 car 700)
HT operate from St Pancras
GC operate from Peterborough or Doncaster or York
Moorgate services operate as usual

Peak services
Kings Cross to Welwyn semi fast run as usual but as 8 car 365 (service will never run down the TL core)
Kings Cross to Baldock/Royston semi fast also run as usual
Kings Cross to Peterborough fast services do not run as there is already 4 hourly services to Peterborough
2 extra LNER services to run from Kings Cross to Leeds/Bradford FS/Hull/Skipton/Newcastle

 

[JonathanH]

1x Brighton to Kings Lynn (Haywards Heath, Three Bridges, Gatwick, East Croydon, London Bridge, TL Core, Finsbury Park, Cambridge, Cambridge North, Ely, all stops to Kings Lynn - 12 car 387)
1x Brighton to Ely (as above to Finsbury Park then Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth, Royston, Cambridge, Cambridge North, Waterbeach and Ely -8 car 387)

There is no chance of anything other than 700s operating (in service) through the Thameslink core now. The station calling pattern on the lines south of Croydon are not going to be amended to allow for engineering work at Kings Cross. I'm not convinced that 29 387s would be enough anyway.

What makes you think the timetable planning hasn't been agreed yet? I realise that this is a speculative thread but is it really worth speculating about?

 

[GTR fail]

There is no chance of anything other than 700s operating (in service) through the Thameslink core now. The station calling pattern on the lines south of Croydon are not going to be amended to allow for engineering work at Kings Cross. I'm not convinced that 29 387s would be enough anyway.

What makes you think the timetable planning hasn't been agreed yet? I realise that this is a speculative thread but is it really worth speculating about?

Well I was speculating how things would work considering the fact that the Cambridge to Maidstone and the Welwyn to Sevenoaks peak are highly unlikely to actually run down the core

 

[popeter45]

i dont think it would be easy to operate HT from St pancreas as i believe the ECML to St pancreas line only reaches the High speed side of St pancreas that uses KVB signalling
if it was organising all this i would look into using finsbury park as a terminus for most services

 

[43074]

i dont think it would be easy to operate HT from St pancreas as i believe the ECML to St pancreas line only reaches the High speed side of St pancreas that uses KVB signalling
if it was organising all this i would look into using finsbury park as a terminus for most services

In the past they have diverted via the Midland Mainline into St Pancras rather than shunting in the London area.

 

[London Trains]

Leeds 1tph (Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate)

York 1tph (Finsbury Park, Stevenage, Peterborough, Grantham, Newark, Retford 1tp2h, Doncaster)

Edinburgh 1tph (York, Darlington, Durham, Newcastle, Alnmouth 1tp2h, Berwick)

Hull Trains only run to Doncaster. Grand Central only run to Doncaster (Bradford services) or York (Sunderland services). Anything about Hull Trains going into St Pancras wont happen since the south MML is full on weekdays (it is usually only a Sunday or Bank Holiday diversion).

1tph Kings Lynn (Finsbury Park, Cambridge, all stops)

2tph Finsbury Park to Cambridge (same stops as now)

Thameslink all runs as normal. Any services from Kings Cross to Welwyn or the Hertford Loop can run to Moorgate. Peak time Kings Cross to Peterborough services will not run.

Due to demand being lower post COVID, this service level should be viable.

 

[YorksLad12]

Off Peak
1x Leeds to Edinburgh semi fast - 9 car 800)

Where do you get the Leeds to York path from? Between Leeds and Micklefield you've got 5xTPE, 1xXC and 3xNorthern stoppers per hour. Plus freight, and anything heading to/from Neville Hill. I'd love a Leeds-Edinburgh LNER service but I don't think there's room.

 

[GTR fail]

Any services from Kings Cross to Welwyn or the Hertford Loop can run to Moorgate.
Not sure about this as these services use 8 car 700 which wouldn’t fit down the Moorgate line and I’m not convinced there are enough spare 717s

 

[Bald Rick]

The trains service has long since been agreed, albeit the timetable isn’t nailed down yet.

Bear in mind that for part of the blockade there are only 2 long platforms available.

But, given how hard timetabling and resource planning teams have been working for the last 5 months, a complete rewrite of the ECML and Thameslink is not deliverable.

So all future speculation needs to keep services in existing paths outside Kings Cross to Finsbury Park as far as possible.