Passengers have been urged to check their train times ahead of a major timetable change on Sunday, which will see more faster services on various routes around the country.
Rail companies have promised to prioritise reliability and punctuality in the changeover, aiming to reassure passengers after the botched introduction of a new schedule in May 2018 caused mass disruption.
Changes from 15 December include nonstop trains between London and Bristol, direct links from Norwich to Stansted airport and full train services on Sundays in parts of Wales that previously ran only six days a week.
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents train operators and Network Rail, said the new timetable would add 1,000 extra weekly services in total and show the results of investment in the network, including in new and upgraded carriages. Some journey times will be reduced, while other regions will involve more frequent trains, as well as new routes.
The long-running electrification of Great Western Railway has allowed for the introduction of hundreds more services on the line per week, speeding up trains between Devon, Bristol and Cardiff to the capital. Nonstop trains between London Paddington and Bristol Parkway will mean some journeys take as little as 68 minutes, 12 minutes faster than now. Bristol’s city centre station, Temple Meads, will have an extra London train, taking the service to three per hour, at peak times.
ScotRail, Greater Anglia, London North Eastern Railway, Northern, Thameslink, Transpennine Express and Transport for Wales Rail are all introducing new services.
The RDG stressed it had “put years of work into drafting, consulting, and planning for these changes”, with the memory of May 2018’s disastrous changeover still fresh. Thousands of trains were cancelled in weeks of major delay and disruption, mainly affecting passengers on Govia Thameslink Railway, Northern and TransPennine services. A review found no one had taken charge even as the industry realised there was insufficient time to prepare for the changes needed, including training drivers.
Train companies and Network Rail have put teams in place to monitor services and respond quickly to any disruption, as well as increasing staff at stations to help passengers adapt to new trains and schedules, the RDG said.
An RDG director, Robert Nisbet, said: “Many train times will change next week as train operators introduce faster and more frequent services to improve journeys and better connect communities up and down the country, so people should check the timetable before they travel.
“Train operators and Network Rail will be working together to run a reliable service and respond quickly to any teething problems as people get used to the change.”
Since the May 2018 debacle, two further timetable changes were implemented without disruption, last December and in May this year.
