377501 in service

377501 leaves City Thameslink leading 377208 northwards to Bedford

377501 in service

377501 during its first day.

Southern 377's start working on Thameslink

The first unit in service 377207 formed 2T27 bedford (09:24) to Brighton (11:59) which due to a fault at Farringdon ran fast from East Croydon to Brighton.

Finally after a long period of testing and training the first Southern 377 unit ran a passanger service over the Thameslink metals prior to full services from monday. Although the inital jounery was marred by a 25min delay changing power at Farringdon, the introduction went smoothly with a service being provide. Inside the first class FCC head have been attached to the Southern seating but still feel very werid to be in, especially at stations like City Thameslink. They service also saw staff from FCC, Network Rail and Bombarbier aboard to ensure a pretty smooth running jounery. This wasn't always the case but as with any first time there are always problems.

The service ran

Bedford (0924) 0929, Bedford South Junction (0926) 0930, Filtwick (0937) 0938, Harlington (0937) 0943, Leagrave (0942) 0948, Luton (0948 ) 0951, Luton Airport Parkway (0950) no time recorded, Harpenden (0956) 0959, St Albans (1004) 1005, passing through not calling at - Hendon (1014) 1016, West Hampstead (1016) 1018, Carlton Road Junction (1018 ) 1019, Kentish Town (1019) 1021, St Pancras International (1024) 1030, Farringdon (1029) a. 1034 d. 1051, City Thameslink (1032) 1055, Blackfriars (1035) 1059, London Bridge (1042) 1107, Bricklayers Arms Junction (1045) 1111, Sydenham (1050) 1115, Norwood Junction (1052) 1117, Windmill bridge Junction (1053) 1119, East Croydon (1055) 1125, Purley (1059) 1128, Stoats nest Junction (1100) 1130, Earlswood (1105) 1134, Gatwick Airport (1111) no info, Three Bridges (1115) no info, Balcombe Tunnel junction (1118 ) no info, Haywards Heath (1127) no info, Keymer Junction (1131) no info, Preston Park (1143) no info, Brighton (1149) 1259.

This is the unit on its return jounery to Bedford although the side displays showed St Albans.

377501 At Bedford Depot

Well the first of First Capital Connect's 377/5 4 car units was finally deliveried on friday and has made it safely to Bedford as the images above show. Currently only 377504 is the other completed until and is still under going testing on the Brighton main Line at night. It seems with the deadline of the 22nd March for the new timetable a major rolling stock movement is about to begin that will see 350/1 Desiro's working the Southern service between Milton Keynes and East Croydon recently reported on. This would free up some of Southern's 377/2 units for FCC to use on its Thameslink route while Bombarbier get the other 21 377/5 built and working.

West Coast's Full Timetable

Chasing trains
Originally uploaded by MackenzieBlu

Good news for travelling using West Coast services from Euston and Southern's West London Line as Network rail have announced today that as from monday the full West Coast timetable will be in operation. This comes after Southern's ex Brighton - Watford Junction service was due to be changed in december's timetable change to become Milton Keynes - East Croydon. Due to Virginn West Coast invoking its protected access for the West Coast Main Line (WCML) as part if that lines £9bn upgrade. This lead to the ORR (Office of Rail Regulation) getting invloved in wording in West Coast track access right which saw it having to define what "calls at" and "starts or terminates" actually mean in a legal sense when applied to the railways. Finally the matter has been sorted and now the following enhancements can be made

Virgin Trains - 16 extra services a day

London Midland - 6 extra services a day

Southern - Extending all 32 services from Watford Junction to Milton Keynes

Chris Burchell, managing director of Southern said: "I’m very pleased we can now put in place the final pieces of our timetable. Southern’s hourly service will provide direct trains for people travelling between towns along the West Coast main line and locations in west and south London, including Wembley, Shepherd’s Bush and Kensington Olympia. With connections to many other destinations at Clapham Junction and East Croydon I am sure these trains will prove very popular."

Robin Gisby, Network Rail’s director of operations and customer service said: "Passengers have already seen the massive benefits that the £9bn investment in the west coast route has delivered with much more frequent, faster trains. With the new timetable now bedded in, we can introduce the final few services that complete the picture of improved services along the West Coast main line."