FCC also disclose that their target is for 90.32% of planned Thameslink services to run less than 5 minutes late at their final destination. Therefore, in the May – June period FCC underperformed even by their own standards! Why they do not have a target score of 100% is unclear, but at least they are now prepared to admit they do not offer customers a 100% train service, although we don’t we get a 9.68% reduction in our fares!

First Capital Connect’s excuse this time was as follows;

Performance was on target up until near the end of the period, however major signal problems occurred on the 22 June and a combination of factors including infrastructure and driver availability affected performance for the remaining days of the period. FCC is recruiting extra drivers and working with Network Rail to get performance back above target. This was the first period out of the last four, which have been below target. Periods 13, 1 and 2 running from 7 March to 29 May 2010 were above target.

FCC also cite a number of incidents that affected performance including a ‘Staff incident at Blackfriars’ on the 25th June. Could they be any more vague?!

On the great Northern route performance was 93.3%, against target of 94.65%.

The full report can be accessed by clicking here (PDF)

The performance stats are bad – but here at Ihatethameslink.co.uk we believe FCC do not disclose statistics which truly represent the route’s performance. We will shortly be launching a petition to ask FCC to disclose meaningful statistics. The petition will highlight the following points.

1. The Thameslink route is used primarily as a commuter route, but the statistics measure performance at the final destination. This should be changed to i.e. St Pancras International.
2. The statistics combine both rush hour and off peak travel. These should be separated.
3. Cancellation statistics are combined for Thameslink and the Great Northern route. These should be separated.
4. Services should be classified as ‘late’ after 1 minute, and not 5 minutes which is currently used.

If you have any other points to raise please email admin@ihatethameslink.co.uk or give me a shout on twitter @ihatethameslink or leave a comment below!

Following the abysmal service experienced over the Dec/Jan period (when only 62.8% of trains reached their final destination less than five minutes late) First capital Connect continue to disappoint with only 76.8% of training running ‘on time’ in Jan/Feb.

It was also revealed that 8.3% of trains were cancelled for part or all of their journey across the whole FCC network. I Hate Thameslink has previously pointed out that FCC do not reveal how many cancellations occurred on the Thameslink route alone which we feel they should.

It would be interesting (and quite shocking) to learn the percentage of trains cancelled on the Thameslink route alone as this is likely to be sky high, but unfortunately FCC do not publish this information.

As always, if you have been delayed please claim compensation here for what it is worth.

Limited service this eve on Thameslink route, don’t travel unless you have to. Advise that you leave London by 7pm. May not be later trains.

Morning commuter services were severly disrupted, by up to 2 hours in some cases,  and nearly all services were cancelled by mid afternoon. A snapshot of the live departure table, submitted by one of our readers shows the extent of the disruption.

Comments on Twitter suggest that some train operators managed to run an acceptable service (such as Southern), so why did FCC fall on its face once again? Who knows.

Today, FCC are running two service per hour on the Thameslink route, but expect crowded trains, and most probably extended delays later this afternoon.

It wont add up to much, but I encourage everyone affacted to claim compensation from FCC .

It looks like a train broke down which caused unimaginable chaos. This combined with the bad weather and the ongoing dispute with drivers was just just too much for FCC to cope with.

A selection of tweets are posted below. Shocking.

At Kentish Town. There was no service from StP so we got sent there, stacks of us. They kept us on footbridge for 30 mins……then announced to go to plat 1. Then train arrived at plat 2 … so we were trapped on wrong platform…..People crossed the lines to get to train only for the doors to close and not allow anyone on the train.

Broken down train at Farringdon means EVERYTHING cancelled for hours, both directions… You really are a joke…

one guy had a panic attack cos it’d taken him 3 hours to get from city thameslink to kentish tn. They called him ambulance

Wishing today never ended. First Capital Connect are doing their best to make it come true. First train delayed, next two cancelled!

Delay: (First Capital Connect) Kentish Town to St Albans on 10/12/2009 at 00:18 (delayed by 2hrs 30mins)

4 hrs Ldn to flitwick with 1 hr of that spent on a footbridge at kentish town. People crossed live tracks coz of shit crowd control @FirstCC

evidently jealous of #Eurostar, manages a pre-Xmas foul-up of its own: no cross-London service because of failed train #thameslink

Am totally disgusted with FCC – waited at St Pancras for nearly 90 mins with wrong info onscreen – no thoughts for deaf ppl.

2 hours train stuck in tunnel, journey from hell! No more trains till after Xmas. Damn u First Capital Connect!

ASLEF has withdrawn the ballot for industrial action.
The union has considered our revised pay offer and agreed to recommend it for acceptance to members. The offer is spread over two years and includes productivity based increases. We are working jointly with Aslef to encourage our drivers to resume rest day and overtime working, our aim being to provide a full, normal service to our customers as quickly as possible.

Despite this, the reduced timetable is stil in operation. Leaflets were distributed at thameslink stations this morning that state;

Fewer than the anticipated number of drivers have put themselves down to be rostered next week given that they only learned on Tuesday night of the ASLEF decision.

Another poor excuse, and being the betting man I am, I would put money on the disruption lasting longer than just this week.

I have also picked up on a few posts at the Rail Forums (where train industry workers and customers are active) and found the following from an FCC ticket booth officer.

They still think they are going to run a full service next week or the week after……..

They reckon drivers didn’t sign up for rest days this week as they only just found out the new deal and they are hoping that drivers will sign up for the following week. Sorry to disappoint FCC but no one is going t sign up for RD work, well maybe one or two but the majority are staying off.

Happy Christmas everyone!

Thameslink route

Northbound
- 09:37 Sutton – Kentish Town
- 16:18 Elephant & Castle – Bedford (calls at Farringdon at 16:27)
- 16:04 Brighton – London Bridge
- 17:58 Elephant & Castle – Luton (calls at Farringdon at 18:07)
- 18:18 Herne Hill – Bedford (calls at Farringdon at 18:37)

Southbound
- 08:06 St Albans – Sutton
- 08:54 Luton – Elephant & Castle
- 17:11 London Bridge – Brighton

Great Northern route

Northbound
1312 Moorgate to Hertford North terminates at Alexandra Palace
1332 Moorgate to Hertford North cancelled
1442 Moorgate to Welwyn Garden City cancelled
1552 Moorgate to Stevenage cancelled
1638 Moorgate to Hertford North cancelled
1757 Kings Cross to Welwyn Garden City cancelled
1808 Moorgate to Welwyn Garden City cancelled
1823 Moorgate to Welwyn Garden City cancelled
1937 Moorgate to Welwyn Garden City cancelled
2007 Moorgate to Welwyn Garden City starts at Alexandra Palace
2152 Moorgate to Hertford North cancelled
2241 Kings Cross to Welwyn Garden City cancelled
0106 Kings Cross to Letchworth (Saturday morning) cancelled

Southbound
1232 Hertford North to Moorgate terminates at Alexandra Palace
1343 Welwyn Garden City to Moorgate cancelled
1452 Hertford North to Moorgate cancelled
1544 Welwyn Garden City to Moorgate cancelled
1620 Letchworth Garden City to Moorgate due 1726 will no longer call at:  Letchworth Garden City, Hitchin, Stevenage and Watton-At-Stone.
1659 Stevenage to Moorgate cancelled
1736 Hertford North to Moorgate cancelled
2058 Welwyn Garden City to Moorgate cancelled
2310 Hertford North to Kings Cross cancelled
2318 Letchworth to Kings Cross cancelled
0516 Royston to Kings (Saturday morning) cancelled

First Capital Connect have launched a new Twitter service where you can receive custom messages about your specific journey.

Here’s how it works – from the FCC website;

Send our Twitter account, FirstCC, a direct message listing your stations and times. The direct message should look something like this (using commas to separate stations and times, and stating times in 24-hour format):

kings cross, cambridge, 0800, 1800

We’ll receive your stations and times and store them in our database. Then, when major incidents occur on your route within an hour either side of your times, you’ll receive a direct message sent to your Twitter account straight away.

To sign up – head to the FCC Twitter page but make sure you are following the IhateThameslink page first!

This is also a great opportunity to vent your anger at FCC in 140 characters or less!

The 06.52am from Cricklewood arrived at about 06.58am today (only a few mins late, not bad) but on approaching Kentish Town the train just decided to stop…dead. The lights turned out, and we were informed that the overhead power lines had failed. We miraculously regained power for a while and were able to stop at Kentish Town. A further announcement saw mass exodus from the train as the driver informed us he had no idea when we would be moving again.

I decided to wait it out, and we were on the move again within 10 mins, but the whole journey saw me 30 mins late for work. Were you on this train? Suffered similarly? Leave a comment below….

NB In response the the geezer who left the comment below…yes the network is FCC but the London section is commonly referred to as Thameslink, as are many of the stations…..Plonker.