Why close Kings Cross Thameslink

[jon0844]

The signs should clearly state 'Thameslink branch' with signs to the 'Great Northern' branch within each station, and vice versa, as appropriate. Otherwise, it will confuse some people coming in on one branch and needing to use another (e.g. Cambridge to King's Cross, over to St Pancras to Brighton). After all, First do keep both Thameslink and Great Northern names in use - for producing timetables and giving real-time information etc.

I also think it's ludicrous to have two ticket offices (and no doubt a third when SET begins later this year) when there's simply no need for each TOC to have their own branded rooms and machines. Ironically, the EMT ticket office will sell a FCC ticket - but many people going on FCC will assume they need to queue up at a FCC ticket window.

I hope King's Cross with its new ticket hall (and those wonderfully restored brackets!) will end up with just one big ticket office and no split for each TOC - but my guess is that they'll be divided up in some way.

To keep on topic; King's Cross Thameslink could not have been upgraded to allow 12-car trains to stop without having to comply with the latest regulations. That would have almost certainly meant wider platforms and lifts for step-free access. It would in fact have been necessary to totally demolish the current station and start again, and then you'd have to question whether it was the best location - especially for people actually wanting to go to St Pancras for HS1 or EMT trains who would have been walking for ages.

 

[williamn]

I noticed that although the two ticket offices do seem to be run by FCC and EMT they are now branded just as 'UK Rail tickets', which makes sense. I still think its confusing to split the departure boards up per operator though, no other station does this.

 

[A60K]

I believe there will actually be an International ticket desk in the UK ticket office shortly, just to confuse matters!

 

[EM2]

I noticed that although the two ticket offices do seem to be run by FCC and EMT they are now branded just as 'UK Rail tickets', which makes sense. I still think its confusing to split the departure boards up per operator though, no other station does this.

But think about the train service frequency of the respective TOCs. If you had the individual slots allocated in order of departure (irrespective of TOC), then EMT services would barely register.
I'll edit this later when I've got my timetables to hand, to illustrate what I mean.

 

[Richardr]

I may be wrong, but didn't the rights to the Thameslink name get retained by the government on the change in franchise?

What will Thameslink be once the Great Northern trains start using the same routes from St Pancras south - will they both not be Thameslink? Perhaps chance to revive the Bedpan name for those trains on the Bedford part of the line

 

[williamn]

But think about the train service frequency of the respective TOCs. If you had the individual slots allocated in order of departure (irrespective of TOC), then EMT services would barely register.
I'll edit this later when I've got my timetables to hand, to illustrate what I mean.

I'm sure this is coped with at other stations! And of course you with the departures spread out over 6 boards (each operator currently gets 2 boards) each train would remain up for longer.

If it really is a problem at least indicate which board is for what route (not operator - lots of people dont know who operates what) so that people aren't confused

 

[thelem]

I'm sure this is coped with at other stations! And of course you with the departures spread out over 6 boards (each operator currently gets 2 boards) each train would remain up for longer.

Not necessarily. I'm not familiar with the timetable, but assuming one operator was running trains every 5 minutes, while another operator was running trains once an hour. Just after the hourly train had left, the next 6 trains would all be for the operator running ever 5 minutes, and there would be no space on the board for the hourly train. An extreme example, but hopefully it illustrates the point.

I'm sure there are ways around it, like maybe only showing up to two trains per destination, or even just replacing the operator names with the destinations.

 

[EM2]

I'm sure this is coped with at other stations! And of course you with the departures spread out over 6 boards (each operator currently gets 2 boards) each train would remain up for longer.

If it really is a problem at least indicate which board is for what route (not operator - lots of people dont know who operates what) so that people aren't confused

Well, enough people seem to know where their train goes, to be able to work out which board to look at. I've lost count of the times I've been asked for a Bedford train, when the customer actually wants to go to St Albans or Harpenden or Flitwick
I personally feel that the boards are a bad design. It would be much better to have the same style as at Liverpool Street, where the boards are in a 'portrait' style, show all the stops on one display without having to wait for the info to flick over, and are smaller (in a bigger station :?) so can show more departures at one time.

 

[jon0844]

LED displays are faster to refresh too, unlike the 1980s style backlit LCD design used at St Pancras. They must be pretty unique for the railway network as a whole?

 

[mackenzie_blu]

LED displays are faster to refresh too, unlike the 1980s style backlit LCD design used at St Pancras. They must be pretty unique for the railway network as a whole?

They won't be unique for long. City Thameslink is due to get the St Pancras style boards by xmas and Blackfriars will be getting the same at some point. I also believe Farringdon will get the same once that station is finished.

I may be wrong, but didn't the rights to the Thameslink name get retained by the government on the change in franchise?

What will Thameslink be once the Great Northern trains start using the same routes from St Pancras south - will they both not be Thameslink? Perhaps chance to revive the Bedpan name for those trains on the Bedford part of the line

As I understand Thameslink trains will ones running through the Core so Peterborough and Cambridge trains come 2015 will be Thameslink services.

 

[Mojo]

They won't be unique for long. City Thameslink is due to get the St Pancras style boards by xmas and Blackfriars will be getting the same at some point. I also believe Farringdon will get the same once that station is finished.

They were also all over the main-line trains and the S-Bahn in Berlin as well! But I don't think I've seen them in this country before.