Moorgate trains

This from IanVisits. I don't really speak train, so will leave it to others to digest, but seems like a proposal that might improve on the expensive, unreliable and infrequent service we currently have.

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IanVisits

Your guide to London's culture and transport news and events taking place across the city.

TfL bids to take over Moorgate mainline with plan to increase Great Northern services

Published on 4th December 2025 by Ian Mansfield in Transport News

Transport for London (TfL) has formally applied to take over the mainline railway out of Moorgate station north to Welwyn Garden City and to Stevenage via Hertford North.

Although expected, and also suggested as an option in the government’s recent new towns paper, a Freedom of Information request has given some more details of what a TfL run service would look like.

What is known as “Great Northern Inners” comprises the tunnels from Moorgate to Finsbury Park, and just north of Alexandra Palace, it splits to the line to Welwyn Garden City and to Stevenage via Hertford North.

The TfL business case says it would be able to double the off-peak frequency of services on the Welwyn Garden City and Hertford branches – from 2 trains to 4 trains per hour. Unfortunately, due to other trains sharing the same tracks on the Welwyn Garden City line, the four trains an hour on that branch wouldn’t be evenly split to every 15 minutes.

They also propose a possible upgrade on line to Hertford North of six trains per hour, which is the maximum the line can handle. A service every ten minutes is the sweet spot where people start to ignore the timetable and treat the service as a turn up and go.

So the main service upgrade would be on the Hertford North line, with some improvements on the Welwyn Garden City line, which is also served by Thameslink trains anyway.

Although the details need a lot more work, the business case cites a previous proposal that would allow peak-hour upgrades to the service, supporting 12 trains an hour into Moorgate, with a boost to 14 trains for one hour at the busiest time.

That would be subject to a lot of timetable planning, and details wouldn’t be confirmed until closer to TfL taking over the service. Assuming they do.

Although TfL would need to invest in station upgrades, their proposal wouldn’t see them buying more London Overground trains, as they plan to take on the existing Class 717 trains used on the line at the moment

The initial station upgrades will be basically to TfL-ise them, with shelters, more seating, new ticket machines and departure display screens, and at currently unstaffed stations, a staff room.

They estimate that it would cost around £47 million (inc contingency), and if Crews Hill were to get a major upgrade to service the planned housing, that would be in the region of £70 million. However, TfL warns that its investment in the additional stations could result in a reduction in spending elsewhere on the TfL network unless supported by external sources, such as land value capture from the additional housing that the rail upgrades could unlock.

Future upgrades to stations to provide step-free access would come later and are likely to be partially funded by property developers.

The core devolution proposal has a medium cost-benefit ratio (1.75:1), so not outstanding, but also not a loss either.

The main driver for the ambition to take on the line is to support additional housing developments along the rail corridor in North London. There’s the recently announced plan for 21,000 homes in Crews Hill, and they expect to be able to add another 12,000 to that along the railway. They also identify opportunities further north along the railway outside London.

The expectation is that enhanced services under the TfL brand would make it easier to build the new houses, as transport links are a key feature for home buyers.

Obviously, a decision to transfer the service to TfL is as much a political as a practical one, and the business submission suggests approval would deliver a quick win for the government by showing how it’s supporting house building and improving transport services.

If devolution is approved, their ambition is to take over in the autumn of 2027, and, based on previous experience, they would deliver improvements to the service within 2 years of taking over.

In the interim, the business plan outlines how TfL would take over the service, citing its previous experience with Silverlink and Greater Anglia. And to delight the Mayoral haters, the railway will need a new name to fit in with the existing London Overground sub-names.

All being well, at the end of 2027, London Overground branded services will start calling at stations currently served by Great Northern.

Although most services would terminate at Moorgate station, there’s a handful each day that are diverted to King’s Cross, so you could see the London Overground branding arriving at King’s Cross as well.

And wouldn’t that please the trainspotters.