The Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) Annual Stakeholder Forum was held in London on 15 June 2016
In this post you will find updates about GTR’s plans regarding on-board wifi and other interesting snippets on info.
Presentations – summary points
Gerry McFadden, Engineering Director GTR Lots of plans but havn’t fixed it all (yet). The new TL class 387100 are already full. 27new Gatwick Express trains in service by August. Previous emphasis on capacity not performance; need to withdraw slow class 442s. Three Bridges = new depot, Hornsey = rebuilt depot.
Going forward: class 700 T’Links x 115 (55 x 12 car, 60 x 8 car), stepped introduction off-peak only at first to bed in. Any existing 8 car will become 12 car at one per week.
UCKFIELD LINE: The Tartan Turbos (? Terrors?) have been fully rebuilt and will enter service late July. All services will consist 10 cars.
GREAT NORTHERN: As new T/Links enter service then existing T/L electro-stars will transfer to Gt N, starting Autumn 2016. Class 700s have route-tested as far North as Royston. New 25 x 6 car Moorgate fleet from 2019.
MARSHLINK: NO MENTION WHATSOEVER OF ADDRESSING CAPACITY ISSUES ON MARSHLINK. (but in Q&A repeated ‘no other diesel stock available’)
Full wi-fi facilities being introduced across entire fleet.
Tracy Hall, Information Strategy Manager. Roving mics being introduced at 200 stations. An extra 1,200 staff have access to IT tablets. RTIS being introduced on some fleets. Customer Experience teams located in central control room. Simultaneous info stream to all media outlets to ensure consistent detail*.
Three Bridges ROC to give alternate travel options to passengers and keep them better informed.*In a break-out discussion, Martin asked why the BBCTravelText system gives misinformation. ANSWER: BBC does not use the industry centralised info feeds but makes its own interpretations.
Further documents to follow.