Major parts of Thameslink project nearing completion

[orudge]

Look If I ever ran the railways of Great Britain, then I would make service a very important part of my job. I want the best parts of FHT and GC to be used by EC and I hope thats the case if First Group or DB Arriva win

And you may discuss all of this in your own topic. Not in this topic, please. If I have to say this again, it'll be coupled with a ban, as already discussed previously.

[JamieLei]

Goting back on topic, I think that this new "Greater Southern" servcies should have long term branding (like Scotrail and MerseyRail) which I think should be called "Northern & Southern Railways"

That's actually probably the most sensible idea you've come up with (apart from the name that is). Almost certainly Crossrail will be branded as such (since it's such a strong brand already). Surely the most obvious idea would be Thameslink? The last think we want to be is unimaginative as Singapore and start calling our lines 'North South Line' or 'East West Line'.

[welshdragon]

Out of curiosity, What is available to us as Rolling Stock at the moment (both DMU and EMU)?

[JamieLei]

Commuter services around Birmingham are called London Midland and they don't go to London.

[welshdragon]

Alan: My question was aimed at people who know what I mean (mainly D W and Ameecher), seeing as Jamielei just ignores me full stop

[Dave]

Mardy arse.

To be honest, there's not a lot of spare kicking around - it's all going to be cascaded rather than taken out of store.

[JamieLei]

Seeing as Jamielei just ignores me full stop

Oh - I wasn't ignoring, I just didn't quite understand what you meant, seeming as we're going to get a whole new Thameslink AND Crossrail build by the time these franchises come into operation so I thought it would have been obvious.

[Ameecher]

Welsh, are you referring to what stock that is currently running that would still be able to be built?

If so, I think it's 378s, 379s & 172s from Bombardier, 380s from Siemens and potentially 395s from Hitachi. However there are lots of new designs you could use too; the Thameslink and Crossrail fleets are to be entirely new trains.

[welshdragon]

Welsh, are you referring to what stock that is currently running that would still be able to be built?

If so, I think it's 378s, 379s & 172s from Bombardier, 380s from Siemens and potentially 395s from Hitachi. However there are lots of new designs you could use too; the Thameslink and Crossrail fleets are to be entirely new trains.

Yeah, Ta Gav. Interesting to see very little Express (390, 22x) stock available as a new build now.

The Stock for CrossRail and Thameslink will be the Siemens Desiro City.

[JamieLei]

Don't hold your horses about the Crossrail one though. It could still be something else, particularly as the Thameslink decision was so political.

Anyway what have 390s got to do with Thameslink? You sound like Alan Fry!

[JamieLei]

Commuter services around Birmingham are called London Midland and they don't go to London.

Hence the name "Midland"

Its a combination of "London" WCML Regional services and "Midland" West Midlands Local services

Captain Obvious saves the day again!

[JamieLei]

Merger with Southeastern? Where did that come from. Since when will my High Speed service from Ashford be diverted down the Thameslink line?

[JamieLei]

Yes, since some SouthEastern services already go into the Thameslink core route. That's been around for years. Do keep on track please.

That's not the same as the entire franchise being lumped in though.

[orudge]

I don't think "Thameslink" is a good idea since only some services will go though the Snow Hill Tunnel, nor should we use "Southern" since there will be services North of the Thames (and outside the "Southern Railway/Region" area)

In terms of names, to me, the name "Southern" would suggest it's a company that serves the southern part of the UK (or the southern part of England). "Southeastern" would seem a little more accurate, perhaps, but "Southern" is perhaps close enough. I don't see what differences the Thames makes. Having a railway company called - or incorporating the word - "Northern" (and I believe there already is a pretty major company by that name ) that serves what is very much "the South" would seem rather silly to me. If it's a national rail network we have, then the names of companies should make sense in a national context, in my opinion.

Speaking of such matters, I still find the whole "Network Railcard" thing to be an immensely irritating and stupid name which makes no sense in the context of the wider UK rail network unless you know the history behind it, but I've ranted about that before, so I won't do so here!

[JamieLei]

Well Southern evolved out of "South Central" which was wedged between South Eastern Trains and South West Trains. So purely logical if you're comparing the TOCs in relation to Central London!

Thameslink I also agree is a bit odd, apart from the fact that it crosses the Thames. But the core section between St Pancras and Blackfriars has become so well known as Thameslink that it's a bit difficult to get away from anything else. With so much work done into informing people about this 'Thameslink Programme', it would seem very odd to go and call it 'North-South Trains' or whatnot!

I agree, Network Railcard should be renamed something a bit more sensible. It's primary purpose (to encourage leisure travel on lines which are normally packed like sardines during the peak but are still run at 10-15min frequencies in the off peak) is obvious, but surely a name line London and the South East Railcard seems a bit better. Especially since they renamed the Young Persons Railcard the 16-25 Railcard!

[JamieLei]

As for the Network Railcard, I suggest linking it up with the TFL Oyster Scheme and rename it “London & South England Railcard” (L&SE Railcard for short)

We've just said that. Not South England though, that would imply you can go to Penzance with it, since that's South England.

[JamieLei]

We've just said that. Not South England though, that would imply you can go to Penzance with it, since that's South England.

How about "London Metropolitan Railcard"

It's not your decision to make.

[GurraJG]

It's not your decision to make.

I know that, thankfully...

There we go, I fixed that for you.