Extra rail staff deployed for train timetable changes

Rail firms have limited ambitions this May after the 2018 fiasco

Starting line: London Liverpool Street, terminus for the first ‘Norwich in 90’ trains (Simon Calder)

Rail passengers using Stratford-upon-Avon, Ipswich and Norwich are among the winners in the next round of train timetable changes.

The expanded schedules take effect from Sunday 19 May, with the rail industry promising “1,000 extra services per week in the new timetable, with extra stops and longer trains too”.

East Anglia, once described as “cut off on three sides by the sea and on the fourth by British Rail,” will have faster trains connecting its biggest hubs, Ipswich and Norwich, with London Liverpool Street.

“Norwich in 90 [minutes]” is the aim of four London trains a day, which will also link the capital and Ipswich in 55 minutes.

Chiltern Railways has doubled the number of services between London Marylebone and Shakespeare’s home town.

After the botched introduction of new schedules in May 2018, the ambitions of train operators have been scaled back.

Some of the “new” Thameslink trains through central London are simply reinstating services that were dropped as the most radical changes in rail history unravelled a year ago.

Train firms and Network Rail are taking steps to try to avoid any repetition. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents them, says extra staff will “support passengers and monitor performance”.

Rapid-response teams will be deployed where significant changes are planned to “fix any issues that arise”.

Paul Plummer, chief executive of the RDG, said: “We know that running more services cannot come at the expense of running a punctual railway.

“Introducing 1,000 more services a week to meet demand on a congested network poses a significant challenge but we are working together to ensure improvements are introduced with the absolute minimum of disruption.”

Anthony Smith, chief executive of the independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: “Passengers want nothing less than a smooth set of timetable changes that deliver tangible improvements.

“Passengers will expect someone to be placed in charge of major timetable changes in future, to ensure robust oversight and with the power to hit the ‘stop’ button when something is not going to work.”

Many passengers have seen promised improvements postponed. Direct services between Liverpool and Glasgow have been delayed until later in the year, and increased frequencies from London King’s Cross to Lincoln, Harrogate and Bradford have been deferred indefinitely.