The line between Finsbury Park and Moorgate will be one of the first parts of the UK rail network to be converted to a new signalling system, but this will require five weekend closures this summer, starting this coming Saturday and Sunday, when trains will be diverted into Kings Cross. The upgrade will make it technically possible to run more trains on the line, but radical timetable improvements are probably a long way off - it looks like we will have to wait until May next year just to have our previous four trains an hour offpeak service restored.
No trackside signals
The European Train Control System (ETCS) does away with traditional lineside signals, replacing them with a display screen inside the driver's cab. Sensors installed along the Northern City Line - the name by which this section of track is known - will transmit data both to the driver and to train controllers, who will be able to see up-to-the-minute information about the locations of all trains. The class 717 trains that operate the Great Northern Metro services are already fitted out to use ETCS, which in time will be installed throughout the rail network.
The closures for upgrade works will be on the following dates:
- Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th June
- Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th July
- Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th August
- Saturday 28th, Sunday 29th and Monday 30th August
- Saturday 4th September and Sunday 5th September
During these closures, trains will be diverted into Kings Cross.
The new signalling system means that the minimum time gap between trains can be reduced, opening up the possibility of a greatly improved timetable - though that will obviously require more drivers and will cost more, so is probably a very long way off. The pandemic has completely undermined the economics of railways in the UK, and one of the consequences has been that since February services on the Great Northern Metro lines - Moorgate to Hertford North and Welwyn Garden City - have been reduced by around 50 per cent. The latest indications are that, despite growing passenger numbers in recent weeks, we will have to wait until May 2022 just to go back to the service levels that we had at the start of 2021.
The May 2022 timetable
The proposed May 2022 timetable is currently the subject of a consultation by Govia Thameslink Railway, the operator of Great Northern, Thameslink and various other services. For Palmers Green the draft timetables show a service very similar to the one that was in force until February - four trains an hour offpeak, eight during the peak. A notable change, though, is a doubling of the Saturday service to four trains an hour - a long overdue improvement.
The Thameslink and Great Northern Main Line services will undergo more radical changes. A couple of interesting features will be a peak-hours only service between Welwyn Garden City and Sevenoaks, which Palmers Green passengers will be able to pick up at Finsbury Park. Alexandra Palace passengers will be able to travel between there and Kings Cross without changing, as slow services to Cambridge will be stopping at their station.
Though the consultation is nominally about the May 2022 timetable, in practice only very minor changes could be made to that timetable, but comments will be taken into account when planning timetables further in the future. To quote from the consultation document:
"The timetable is based on a series of decisions about investment in infrastructure and our train fleets, as well as access decisions made by the ORR. This means that the structure of the timetable for May 2022 is fixed. It may be possible to make some local adjustments based on the feedback received, with any wider comments about the balance of services considered for future timetable iterations."
Why so long before we get four trains an hour back?
But why do we have to wait 11 months to get back to the timetable that we had until February?
I put this question to someone who follows these things, and got the following reply:
"The truth is that Great Northern will not have sufficient train drivers to run a fifteen minute train service until May 2022 as they have a backlog of training as a result of Covid 19. ASLEF, the train drivers' trade union, said they would only allow two in a driving cab if drivers were happy (consent of the individual). There will be a new Welwyn GC - Sevenoaks peak hour service starting in May 2022 and that adds to training needs."
Links
Northern City line starts major signalling upgrade work (Ian Visits 22 June 2021)