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Moorgate new trains / improvements, timetable changes, other updates
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HART - Moorgate updates / May timetable changes etc

 

In this edition:

  • New Moorgate trains - now 5 diagrams
  • Moorgate - escalators and tiling
  • Oyster and TFL contactless - not valid at Hatfield
  • May timetable changes
  • Other matters (including disruption and offers)
  • Meet the Manager sessions
New Moorgate trains


From this week there will be 5 sets of train services (diagrams) each day, which will run using the new Moorgate 717 trains.

Details of these schedules and other information about the trains is shown on the GN website (schedules are within the faq section):

https://www.greatnorthernrail.com/about-us/our-commitments/improving-your-railway/new-trains-for-moorgate-services

Further diagrams will be introduced gradually over the next few months until all 23 are in place.

For anyone who hasn't seen them yet, the photos above show the first arrival in passenger service at Hatfield and a service at Moorgate later on the same day. The pictures below show the interior and the power sockets that sit between each pair of seats.

They are here to stay, as the first of the old 313 trains has already been hauled away to South Wales to be broken up and 2 others to yards elsewhere in the country.
Moorgate - escalators, tiling etc

As you may have already experienced, the escalators between the Great Northern platforms at Moorgate are being refurbished. The work will last for some months (until June for first, followed by second).

Whilst it is on, the ability to switch direction on the working one has been lost. This means that it will function only in the upward direction and there are only stairs to get down to the platforms.


The TFL website states:
Customers who have difficulty using stairs, tickets will be accepted on bus routes 21, 76 and 141 between Morgate and Old Street, 271 from Moorgate to Essex Road and Highbury & Islington and 43 to Highbury & Islington
We have asked whether this applies to people using train tickets too but have yet to receive an answer from GN.

We are aware of congestion at around 17:30 - 18:00 on weekdays but would be interested in hearing about any issues you encounter at other times.

Work has also begun on removing and then replacing the tiling on the platforms - this is expected to last 4-6 weeks. Improvements are also being made to signage.

 
Oyster and TFL contactless - not valid at Hatfield

There has been various publicity suggesting that Oyster and TFL contactless are coming to Hatfield, but please note:
  1. Nothing has yet been officially confirmed
  2. It is unlikely to include Oyster
  3. Whatever may be rolled out, won't happen until at least the autumn
In view of this, if you are expecting visitors from London, please do remind them that, unless they are using GN/TL The Key payg, they need to buy a ticket before travelling.

We are pushing for better publicity around the boundaries (and the current batch of changes are going to make this even more complex), but in the meantime it is all too common an occurrence to see people arriving in Hatfield without a valid ticket and incurring a penalty fare.

 

May timetable changes


The new timetable starts on Sunday 19 May and, whilst there are some changes impacting Hatfield, most trains remain as at present.

The headline changes can be seen in the press release issued by GTR: http://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/govia-thameslink-railway/pressreleases/2000-more-thameslink-seats-for-cambridge-and-brighton-commuters-2847063

However this doesn't mention several items that impact locally - there is little change Mon-Fri (no Hatfield TL trains through the core yet), but there will be some additional services at weekends:

Saturdays
  • We will once again have 2 trains per hour (tph) running to London Kings Cross (KGX) through the main part of the day at XX25 and XX55.
  • Northwards the service will be 1tph to/from Cambridge plus 1tph to/from Royston:
    • Currently the trains leave Cambridge at XX56 reaching Hatfield an hour later at XX55. After 19 May, the train reaching Hatfield at this time will be the one from Royston and the Cambridge departure will switch to XX27 arriving XX25.
    • Similarly, when travelling north to Cambridge, departures are currently at XX18 and will switch to XX51. The extra Royston service will be at XX21.
    • These extra services also indirectly increase frequency towards Peterborough - changing at Stevenage.
  • The Moorgate services will remain 2tph.
Sundays
  • The KGX timetable is virtually unchanged - slight retimings.
  • On the Moorgate route there are currently gaps in the early morning and late evening but from 19 May these are being filled:
    • There will be 2tph from 0631 to 2333 towards Moorgate (mainly XX03 and XX33).
    • From Moorgate the first train will be 0700 then 2tph at XX28 and XX58 until 2358.
It may be that we have missed further alterations, so we would encourage you to check your individual journeys.

GN/TL have now released pdf timetables, which can be found at:

https://www.greatnorthernrail.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/timetables

They are at the bottom of the page - you need to select a route, then choose pre/post May - timetable 15 shows all trains between Hatfield and London. Hardcopies should be available from the station in due course.


Looking further ahead, GN/TL have already had to submit their bids for Dec 2019 changes and are now looking at May 2020 - we will be having discussions with them regarding these over the next few weeks.
 

Other matters


Advice in times of disruption - there is info available regarding alternative travel routes to/from each station at times of disruption:
https://www.greatnorthernrail.com/travel-information/travel-help/alternative-route-maps

Engineering changes - Network Rail are doing a lot of work along the line and there will be a range of closures, mainly over-night. The schedule changes for these are sometimes being announced at very short notice so, do check carefully - particularly if you are planning early or late journeys.

Some bigger projects are at the planning stage and we will pass on info regarding these as soon as we have the details.

Delay Repay - if your claim is something other than getting on a train on time and being delayed en route, you may well find it easier to describe what happened and get correct payment first time if you select "other", as it gives more scope for entering info. If you have a claim that doesn't give the correct compensation first time then you can choose "re-submission" and it will be looked at individually.

We would be interested to hear about any issues you encounter.


Compensation for extra expenses / missed events etc - if you are unable to complete your journey by train, station staff will in certain circumstances arrange alternative travel (e.g. if last train of the day cancelled). If you are at an unstaffed station, then you can use the help point to contact the central team for advice.

If neither of those solves the problem and you incur additional expense (e.g. by booking a cab privately / having to pay additional childcare costs), then you may be entitled to reimbursement. Similarly, if you are unable to get to a pre-booked event, you may also be able to get reimbursement for that, but for both of these, iit does depend on a range of factors - for more guidance Which? has a range of information and scenarios explaining how the law works in this regard:

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/l/train-delays 

Discounts for Days Out - the train operating companies in conjunction with Network Rail offer a range of discounts for days out in London and around the country, when using a range of train tickets:
https://www.daysoutguide.co.uk

 


Meet the Manager Sessions


The next sessions are:

Blackfriars Thursday 25 Apr: 07:30 - 09:30

King's Cross Wednesday 22 May: 16:30 - 18:30

St Pancras Thursday 18 Jul: 07:30 - 09:30

There are usually a good range of senior managers at these events and we would encourage you to go along and ask questions / raise issues.

As mentioned last time, we are pleased to see that GTR have acted on feedback that passengers would like an evening session. We are still encouraging them to re-look at hosting one at Moorgate - we recognise that space is an issue, but feel that it should be possible to find a way around this.

Spread the Word

Please let other station users know of our existence and encourage them to join our mailing list and/or follow us on Twitter. We update the Twitter feed on our website with news items etc in between newsletters.

Do let us have details of any other issues and concerns and we will assist in raising them in an appropriate forum.

Help please!- in order to maximise our impact in matters effecting you, we need further volunteers - even a small amount of time would help e.g. info stands at the station, contributing to these newsletters, updating info on our website etc. You can contact us on committee@hatfieldrail.com.

Copyright © 2019 HART - Hatfield Association of Rail Travellers, All rights reserved.


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