Thameslink’s performance today has been further impacted by a Southeastern train from Sole Street getting lost and going onto the through platform at Blackfriars rather than the terminal platform at around 0835.
Following Thameslink services travelling had to reverse back towards Elephant & Castle to allow the Southeastern train to itself reverse and have a second attempt at going to the correct platform.
It’s a complex procedure, as the driver of each train needs to go to the other end and then each train has to be reversed through each signal at slow speed and only after explicit permission has been given, for safety reasons.
Not only did it take 40 minutes to get the Southeastern train to the correct platform, but the knock-on delays to Thameslink services have been expected to continue for the rest of the day.
It seems incredible that a rail industry that has trousered £6.5bn of taxpayers’ money for the Thameslink 2000 2020 project has not invested in the systems, procedures and training that enables trains to be correctly routed reliably.
The knock-on effects for the rest of the day at a time when the Thameslink service is deliberately not even trying to achieve the designed level of performance also raises real questions about whether the full service promised by the rail industry and the Government can ever be achieved.