Show caption TransPennine Express services will be affected by the timetable changes. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian Rail fares Off the rails: Train timetable shake-up sparks anger among passengers Sunday sees the biggest ever change to UK train times – many users claim there will be fewer stops and much longer journeys Miles Brignall Sat 19 May 2018 07.00 BST Share on Facebook

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Commuters could be in for a chaotic start on Monday morning as they struggle to come to terms with the biggest change to timetables in living memory. The biggest upheaval will be across the Southern, Gatwick Express, Thameslink and Great Northern networks run by GTR, which account for a quarter of all UK rail journeys, but services in and out of Manchester and Hull are also set for a major overhaul.

For the first time, trains will run through the capital, offering no-change services between Cambridge to Gatwick and Brighton. The new timetables will see every train time change on the GTR-run services, and in some cases trains will start and terminate at different stations.

TransPennine services in the north of England also face big timetable changes that experts warn will make a huge difference to passengers’ lives. Some trains will no longer stop where they used to, making some journeys untenable.

GTR dismisses claims that services will deteriorate. “We are adding almost 400 more trains a day to our timetable (a 13% increase), with a huge uplift in capacity across the region, especially at peak times when it is needed most,” it says. “We strongly refute the claim that this is a ‘serious downgrading’, and are confident it brings a radical overall improvement in services. Passengers will see huge benefits as a result of the changes, with space for an extra 50,000 passengers travelling into London in the morning peak, and new through-London routes serving 80 more stations.”

But passengers who live in some commuter towns have described “decimated services”, much longer journeys, and more time spent standing where they now get a seat.

Others say timetable changes will force them to start travelling in the pre-9.30am peak period, when tickets are much more expensive.

Across the board, journey times are rising to allow passengers to get on and off trains – up from 30 seconds to a minute – and to create a timetable that operators can stick to. Some off-peak journeys will take 12 minutes longer. Critics say some of the changes are to help train operators avoid “delay repay” costs.

Operators first published proposed timetables last year for consultation. Passenger groups say the exercise now looks as though it was designed to soften them up so that when the companies reinstated lost trains, passengers would fail to spot by how much the overall service had been downgraded.

East Midlands trains to St Pancras will no longer call at Luton at peak times. Photograph: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

Anthony Smith of passenger group Transport Focus says the changes will be hugely disruptive.

“Many passengers have built their lives around current timetables in order to get work, pick up kids or simply make their lives work,” he says. “Changes which mean longer journey times, fewer trains or having to catch an earlier peak fare train will hurt. While other passengers will be pleased by the new services and destinations, the fairness of the overall timetable will need to be kept under close review.”

Below we examine some of the communities most affected.

Bedfordshire

Changes to the Thameslink timetable mean that East Midlands Trains (EMT) to St Pancras will no longer call at either Bedford or Luton at peak times. Trains between Bedford and Wellingborough will be replaced by buses. The Bedford Commuters Association says the new timetable is a major backwards step and claims the EMT “bombshell” was announced with no proper consultation.

This also affects those further down the line, with the resulting removal of existing services to Flitwick, Leagrave and Harpenden. Harpenden users were promised eight trains an hour but will only receive six.

Welwyn Garden City passengers claim the changes are a ‘major step backwards’ Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Hertfordshire

The seven peak-time trains to London that originate at Royston now are being reduced to three. When the timetable changes were first announced, Edward Carder who lives in Royston and commutes each day to London, says he felt “physically sick and thought the only solution was to move house”.

He formed the local rail user group and joined forces with other areas to fight the proposals. Govia has reinstated some of the “lost” trains, but he says the new service is still a major downgrade and many more passengers will have to stand. Royston commuters pay £6,000 a year.

In Letchworth, Leanne Stott, who runs the garden city’s passenger group, talks of a decimated service that will hit off-peak users particularly hard. Lots of fast trains that used to run into London in 30 minutes will no longer stop there. Working parents who used to drop kids off and then take the 9.45am train into London face a 55-minute journey into town rather than the 30 minutes currently. Returning trains are similarly longer, adding several hours to weekly commutes. Passengers returning from a night out in London face 50-minute journeys rather than the current 30.

In Welwyn Garden City, Govia says there will be a big improvement from next week – but Malcolm Cowan of the local users’ group says the changes are a “major step backwards”. Peak trains to London will be slower for many; trains back currently take 26 minutes, rising to 35 next week. “It’ll be quicker to take a fast evening train to the tiny Welwyn North station and a connecting train back to WGC. We have 2.6 million passengers each year; the small Welwyn North has just 600,000, but they have kept their fast service. It’s crazy,” he says.

Manchester

Transport Focus says delays to electrification between Manchester and Bolton, and a shortage of diesel rolling stock, mean many of Northern’s planned improvements have had to be deferred. Commuters from Levenshulme and Heaton Chapel into Manchester are going from four trains an hour to three at off peak. Peak-time users face waits of up to 49 minutes for a train.

Passengers on the Southport line will see almost all trains switching to Manchester Victoria rather than Piccadilly.

Hull

Currently passengers taking the early evening train from King’s Cross to Hull can link to a train to Bridlington and on to Scarborough. Northern has brought forward its departure, meaning its passengers will miss it and face a 90-minute wait. TransPennine Express trains that start in Hull and head over to Manchester have been downgraded, according to the local rail user group. TPE claims the additional four stops will only add four minutes to journey times, but the group expects this to be significantly longer.

Southern will run fewer trains from Brighton to Clapham Junction. Photograph: Hannah Mckay/EPA

Sussex and Surrey

Brighton could be said to be a winner of the timetable shake-up, with the new through-service to Cambridge, more destinations and more trains, but one unintended consequence is fewer trains to Clapham Junction on the line into Victoria.

One Brighton commuter, Henry Hughes, says the changes will force him to stop commuting altogether. He says: “There used to be two direct peak-time Clapham Junction trains, 6.45am, 8.45am, and returning 5.12pm and 6.37pm. Now the first is at 9.33am, and the first in the evening is 7.30pm. I’ve moved into an office in Brighton and will be handing in my season ticket.”