Plans to introduce the next round of rail timetable changes in December have been scrapped in an effort to avoid a repeat of the travel mayhem that affected large swathes of the country in May and June.
It prompted the Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, to criticise rail companies for “wholly unsatisfactory levels of disruption” following the changes.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It now appears that criticism has been taken to heart, with Govia Thameslink and Northern among eight rail franchises that will abandon plans to add new services in December and leave timetables unchanged, according to The Guardian.
Network Rail chairman, Sir Peter Hendy, said: “The railway industry has taken a long, hard look at its plans for the next timetable change in December and, taking into account recent painful lessons, the industry has scaled back its ambition and tempered it with a more cautious, phased approach to introducing the new timetable”.
The delay means train times across the network, including alterations for scheduled engineering works, will now not be confirmed to passengers at the standard 12 weeks’ notice until mid-2019.
This could affect the ability of passengers to buy cheap tickets in advance.