Good morning!
I'm at one of my favourite stations in London
that is London St Pancras through which Thameslink passes through
and that is what we're here to talk about today, because
after 22 years of not being on the Tube Map ...
Thameslink, is making a return!
Here's the history
Thameslink opened in 1988, but it actually first appeared on the 1987 Tube Map in yellow
to promote that it was opening soon
it showed the core section only between Kentish Town and Elephant & Castle, even though trains ran further
Note also, that the Thameslink trains also called at Barbican and Moorgate then
and that the map also showed the Northern City Line
which had once been part of the Northern Line
the section between Moorgate and Finsbury Park.
Throughout most of the 1990's Thameslink remained on the Tube Map
and so it was ... for ten years
So I dug out my old box of tube maps, this is the one from
December 1998, exactly twenty-two years ago
and if you look inside, you can see that it is the last one
that has Thameslink as a white line, running through the middle
It was shortly after this time though, that Transport for London was formed
By the next edition - in June 1999 - Thameslink had gone
and so intruigingly had the North London Line which had also been on the Tube Map for many years
The next year though, was 2000 and that's when Transport for London was formed
And in the first new tube map, of that year the North London Line reappeared
This would of course later be transformed under TfL into the London Overground
Thameslink though ... never came back to the map.
That us, until now! Yes, 22 years later Thameslink really is back
on the December '20 Tube Map.
To find out why, I caught up with Tom the managing director, of Thameslink
So we've wanted to be on the Tube Map
for many years, but I think in the last few months
particularly with COVID, and the need to socially distance we've had some really really helpful
really constructive converstaions with TfL
I think London Travelwatch have also been very helpful
they've raised the need for it, and been very supportive,
so what that's led to is more detailed discussions, and that's where we've got to now
We just think it's just such good news for our customers for everyone in London
that Thameslink is going to be on the Tube Map,
it means that eveyrone whether they're visiting London, or coming into work
can see where our trains will take you, and get there as easily and safely as possible
it is for 12 months ... it is going to be reviewed, and I supposed we'll see where we get to
What I would say though, is that I think people will really see the benefit, of having
TL services on the tube map, as it just gives them as many options as possible and they know
the quickest and simplest way of where they need to get to
So when I heard that Thameslink was coming back to the Tube Map
I assumed it would just be the central core section again, from Kentish Town
down to Elephant & Castle and London Bridge, but no!
it's more than that, it's generally everything
inside Zone 6, includes the Sutton loop goes up to Elstree and down to Coulsdon, out east
in the south east it does also go to Dartford and Swanley which are in Zone 8
and with all these new stops on the Tube Map
it's got me counting ... exactly how many stations are now on the new Tube Map
So if you include the underground, overground, (wombling free)
DLR, trams, and TFL rail there were previously four hundred and sixty stops on the tube map
but the addition of Thameslink has now added forty-nine new ones
to give us a grand total of ...
five hundred and nine stations, on the new map.
And that now means that forty-seven percent of the Tube Map, isn't actually tube
ten percent of it, isn't even TfL!
but two hundred and forty seven of them - that's 49% are shown as being step free
Which for me makes if feel like it's just one step towards
the tube map becomnig a little bit like the London RAIL and Tube map
how long is it going to be before these two products are maybe merged, and we just have one map
and here's some design thoughts, about this map
When you look at that, you realise that it's on there that
London's Rail services are actually shown as dashed lines
which is probably why on the new Tube Map they've replicated that style to show Thameslink
Note though, that they're using quite long dashes whereas the dashed to denote a limited service
to Ken Olympia, are much shorter
also, they've used a shade of pink that looks quite close to being ...
but isn't actually the same shade, as on the Hammersmith & City Line
and it's definetely a different RGB value
to the shade of pink that Thameslink use in their logo
Other things that caught my eye is that Blackfriars which has a Thameslink entrance on either side
as they station spans the river, the blob on the Tube Map, is just on the south side
Looking down at Heathrow, there are no trains stopping at Terminal 4 at the moment, so that is
crossed out, red line through that, and also
there's no service on the Waterloo & City line, hasn't been since March
because of Covid, and so that is also marked as being closed
And another thing that caught my attention is how close Herne Hill,
Tulse Hil and Streaham are, bunched up together
and I can't help but wonder that i could have looked less squashed
by simply angling up the border of Zone 2, underneath Brixton
which would have allowed more space to space those three stations out
but i am - in case you hadn't realised
so excited to have Thameslink on the Tube Map, on screen now
are the figures of how many trains you get passing through, in some cases
it's more frequent than what you get on some parts of the Tube
i'm really excited, in fact am so excited, i'm gonna take a quick trip now
on the core section, and show you a few of my favourite connections
The first one is right here, where i've been filming
if you come out the side - that's the western entrance to St Pancras, which is where Thameslink is anyway
you can cut through the back streets and back alleys to get to Euston
St Pancras Thameslink is a really handy and really fast way to get to Euston
Here at Farringdon ... possibly the fatest connection you can make
between the Tube, and Thameslink ... get out the third carriage
come down these steps from the westbound platform of the tube
is adjacent to this ... the southbound platform
of Thameslink. So fast!
So there's a new dotted line walking connection on the Tube Map
between here City Thameslink, and the Central Line station St Paul's just down the way
but City Thameslink has two entrances, one at the south end ... one at the north end
for St Paul's, make sure you get out here, at the north end
and number four, is i've come to Blackfriars
and actually I just like using Blackfriars because it's awesome
where else in London, do you get a station that spans the Thames? there's an entrance
on both sides, i've come to the southern side
it is actually quite nice though, to get an amazing view
when you step on or off a Thameslink train, over the Thames
there are also two bay platforms here and in the morning, some South Eastern services terminate here
and rather than get onto the crush that is the Tube you can just hop onto a Thameslink
to take you into the city, and Farringdon, and Zone 1
and so on, that way. and that is why ...
Blackfriars is awsome. And now!
A quick summing up.
And so, to summarise, it's like having a brand new tube line
on the new map, the designers have done a great job of fitting it all in
going right through the heart of Zone 1
remember - twelve car trains, they've got toilets, you can use Oyster
to pay the same fares as you can do with other Tube services
think of it, as a brand new Tube line to London
its fantastic, i do love Thameslink!
i'm very excited, about the new December '20 tube map as well
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