Plans for less crowded Thameslink service unveiled by MP

Date: 16/6/2011

Approximately 1,200 new rail carriages are to be built in order to ease overcrowding and boost service frequency on the Thameslink route.

Longer trains will be able to provide more frequent and faster connections to cities and towns to the north and south of London, while the carriages will be designed for greater energy efficiency, the Department for Transport announced.

The new carriages are part of the £6 billion upgrade to the Thameslink. It is thought that up to 3,000 people will be employed under the project at the peak of construction.

Theresa Villiers, Rail Minister, commented that "thousands" of commuters will enjoy higher-quality travel as a result of the new carriages.

She added that the multi-billion pound transformation will include "major improvements to central London stations such as Blackfriars, Farringdon and London Bridge. It will reduce crowding by almost doubling capacity on the central section of one Britain's busiest railway."

Commuters have also seen travel improvements in the form London Underground's new east London extension, which experienced a 75 per cent increase in passengers in its first six weeks, Transport for London revealed.

Posted by Nick Anderson