It was a date both anticipated and dreaded by commuters. On Sunday 20 May, a new timetable rolled out across the Thameslink network. The following day, as passengers headed to work in their droves, trains were really being put to the test. So has the change-over been a seamless success? Er, not if these Tweets are anything to go by.
The slew of cancellations had many commuters angrily thumbing tweets:
So a major rail project costing several billon pounds that has been in the making for a couple of decades and on the second day of the timetable most of the services seem to be cancelled. #Thameslink
— Ian Walker (@SussexSeagull) May 21, 2018
#thameslink first day of new timetable and my train is cancelled. Going to be half hour late for work. Cheers thanmeslink.
— Mark Bannon (@MarkBannon7) May 21, 2018
@TLRailUK what’s going on here? Why has this train been cancelled? I anticipated some disruption today but really?! #TLtimetablechaos #thameslink #fail pic.twitter.com/ZdOHYUuCFF
— Claire Barnard (@ClaireL_Barnard) May 21, 2018
You have had months to get this right so annoyed I pay so much for cancellations and delays #southernrail #Thameslink #eastgrinstead pic.twitter.com/TY3P4R8VIs
— David Perkins (@DavidPe22204034) May 21, 2018
Tell you what though, the new #thameslink train timetable has completely revolutionised the way I don’t get where I’m going on time.
— Jay Taylor (@Jay_W_Taylor) May 21, 2018
Another gripe, aside from cancellations, is the less-frequent nature of trains at some stations:
Day 1 of the new timetable st Harpenden station - trains cancelled 7:30 & the platform is packed 7:34 expected then not another train till 7:50. 1 train in 25 mins #Thameslink pic.twitter.com/qRUCEzaiZt
— Chris Hall (@cjh15) May 21, 2018
@TLRailUK by far an improved service. There are less frequent trains in the hour. Half of them are cancelled! #thameslink #nationalrail
— Krina Patel (@krinapatel6) May 21, 2018
That old chestnut of overcrowding reared its ugly head too:
New Rail Plan. This is the future. #southern #railplan #southernrail #gatwickexpress #thameslink #onceinageneration #2020 #2020railplan #moretrains #moreseats pic.twitter.com/xr5Th31Hp0
— Richard (@Richardmd7) May 21, 2018
New fast #Thameslink trains be like this from today pic.twitter.com/RpD8oLvju8
— Natalie Wilson (@Natwilson24) May 21, 2018
Commuters were also bemused and frustrated by the term 'operational incident':
What's going on on #thameslink & #southern @nationalrailenq vague message about an "operational incident" to cover lots of cancellations. Yet there's no official alert, you've not put anything out either. Smells fishy to me. GTR short staffed again and trying to cover it up?
— Iain (@iainkernaghan) May 20, 2018
Today's 'phasing in' of the new timetable will mean there will be no timetable at all and we're going to make it up as we go along. This is due to the fact its not 7am and there are more 'operational incidents' than we can possibly imagine. Regards. Govia. @TLRailUK #thameslink
— Cazzy Mctea (@mcteaface) May 21, 2018
My first train of new #thameslink timetable cancelled due to an "operational incident" (ie management incompetence)
— Stephen Greengrass (@stephengg) May 21, 2018
Not going that well then? #thameslink @TLRailUK pic.twitter.com/uB69Ie76KI
— Morwen Williams (@morwenw) May 21, 2018
Perhaps searching too hard for issues, some commuters bizarrely found beef with an American voiceover on the trains (he's actually Canadian):
Interesting. #thameslink is using an American male voiceover for their trains. Seems an odd choice. Why would you not have someone with a British accent? #controversial #trains
— Adam Harridence (@adamharridence) May 17, 2018
So @TLRailUK, was no-one available from #thameslink to do the announcement on the 2020 Rail Plan? The American Accent sounds a bit odd crossing the Thames... 🤔🚂😲
— ek (@HobbitEl) May 19, 2018
Not everyone's suffering with the changes though:
#Thameslink has a new timetable and it seems to include a train that starts at my station, empty. I hope this is happening every morning.
— Ms Decadent Sneezy-Bottom (@sneezysnooze) May 21, 2018
Contrary to predictions of twitter catastrophists, sparkling new #thameslink Cambridge to Brighton train pulled out on time with plenty of room! Well done all at @greateranglia @TLRailUK - a massive achievement... door to door to Blackfriars for me. Perfect. pic.twitter.com/Ds2LzuqwW2
— John Monks (@johnmonks) May 21, 2018
Why are people whinging about #Thameslink trains? Mine was fine & cos of the timetable change I got an extra 10 minutes in bed
— Gareth (@dnotice2012) May 21, 2018
And some have been standing up for Thameslink, citing extremely difficult circumstances:
The amount of people or should we call them armchair keyboard warriors who think they they understand the whole train planning process - or not as the case is as social media shows - is an absolute joke! The north and south of England’s timetable that was
— Lee Render (@LeeRender) May 20, 2018
Still, Thameslink's new timetable has hardly got off to a rip-roaring new start:
Meanwhile on #Thameslink pic.twitter.com/8iyZ8R3fwb
— London Reconnections (@lonrec) May 20, 2018