One evening in October 2024 I joined a Herts & Beds regional update meeting of the Rail Future organisation. A GTR representative was there and I got some interesting updates to share on the fast trains, , tap-in ticketing, services in general and station improvements.
I will continue to push for a fair deal for Knebworth commuters on your behalf and am looking to set up a more active working group from folks the Knebworth Rail Users forum on Facebook to help pursue our agenda.
Fast trains – they mentioned the re-introduction of the few fast services which they’ve been working on this year and is very welcomed. These have now since been implemented since mid-December and provide three fast trains in and out of London per day in the short term. However the full restoration is tied up with the ECML timetabling overall changes that is still unresolved, as previously discussed here.
Ticketing – good news (mostly) is that there is a planned extension of the tap-in tap-out ticketing scheme up to Knebworth (and Welwyn North) in 2025, potentially soon. Meaning easier flexible to use the service without buying tickets at machines etc. However there is some concern from other sites that this may limit the availability of super-off-peak fares available via that system. I‘m not an expert on this so if anyone knows more please get in touch and it’s one to watch. It’s covered at the bottom of this announcement:
https://www.gov.uk/…/transport-secretary-fires-the…
Reliability – there was recognition that this is not where is should be for us or other stations, the key underlying cause sounded like driver availability (which is not criticising the drivers, but more systemic problems with overall supply/demand of drivers, reliance on overtime working etc etc).
Frequency of off-peak services, especially when some are cancelled – this was discussed as another stations have similar issues. There was no obvious answer on this, one idea proposed was getting other trains to make additional stops but this sounded complicated especially when it involves multiple train operators.
Station access improvements (lifts, through tunnel) – unfortunately despite GTR & NHDC lobbying for the Access for All central government funding we didn’t get prioritised in this last round. Sadly it’s on a 5 year investment cycle so hard to see an alternative way to get these funded soon, but open to ideas and I’m asking. Maybe government changes will impact this.