Will proposed new train arrangements mean cuts to services at Hornsey & Harringay?

Last week Cllr Alexander started a discussion about a Thameslink consultation, which I must admit to skimming and passing over somehwat.

The ever helpful Arkady has now chipped in on the conversation, having made a couple of comments on a short thread over on sg.org. In his main comment, he summarised a discussion on train customer forum, London Reconnections. This is what Arkady said:

They’ve been talking about this in detail over at London Reconnections. The gist is this:

a) Once Thameslink trains are serving Finsbury Park through to Cambridge (2018), it is proposed that all the other FirstCapitalConnect services currently running into King’s Cross or Moorgate will be transferred to a new ‘Greater East Cost Franchise’.

b) This would mean that the local trains from Welwyn and Hertford down through Ally Pally, Hornsey, Harringay etc. would be bundled into the current East Coast intercity franchise

It is my view – and I’m far from alone – that this would lead to the continued neglect of the local services and stations. No intercity franchise operator is going to give a shit about improving services and facilities at Hornsey, Harringay, or Essex Road.

I would encourage anyone who cares to respond to the survey making this point. As an alternative solution, I would urge people to ask for a separate local franchise incorporating the Welwyn and Hertford services, and calling for them to bring in evening and weekend services to Moorgate (which will become much more likely once the current segregation works are finished). People might even mention that this ought to be a transitional franchise with the expectation of London Overground taking over at a future date.

Certainly made me sit up and take notice.

I've started this thread as a flag, but suggest that the conversation is kept together over on Cllr Alexander's original thread.