Thameslink, Southern And Great Northern
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Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) is a
management contract A management contract is an arrangement under which operational control of an enterprise is vested by contract in a separate enterprise that performs the necessary managerial functions in return for a fee. Management contracts involve not just sell ...
for the provision of passenger services on the
Thameslink Thameslink is a mainline route on the British railway network, running from , , , , , and via central London to , , , Rainham, , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying more than ...
and Great Northern routes to , , , , , ,
London Moorgate Moorgate () is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station on Moorgate in the City of London. Main line railway services for Hertford, Welwyn Garden City and Stevenage are operated by Great Northern, while the ...
,
Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...
,
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
and
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
, as well as the whole Southern network (including the
Gatwick Express Gatwick Express is an express rail passenger service between , , and in South East England. It is the brand name used by the Govia Thameslink Railway train operating company on the Gatwick Express route of the Thameslink, Southern and Great N ...
) and the jointly operated
First Capital Connect First Capital Connect (FCC) was a British train operating company, owned by FirstGroup, that operated the Thameslink and Great Northern route, Great Northern sectors from April 2006 to September 2014 which later became the Thameslink, Southern ...
Southeastern services (for example the
Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town, close to Hampstead Heath. Kentish Town likely derives its name from Ken-ditch or Caen-ditch, meaning the "bed of a waterw ...
via ), which were added to the franchise on 25 July 2015, with the Southern and Gatwick Express brands retained. The TSGN franchise is operated by
Govia Thameslink Railway Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is a British train operating company that operates the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise, TSGN rail franchise. Within the franchise, GTR runs trains under the sub-brands: Thameslink, Great North ...
, owned by
Govia Govia Limited is a transport company based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in November 1996 as a joint venture between Go-Ahead Group (65%) and Keolis (35%) to bid for rail franchises during the privatisation of British Rail. History ...
, and is the largest railway franchise in the United Kingdom.


History

The
Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...
decided to create a new Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise with the services jointly operated with Southeastern to be added in December 2014 and the entire South Central franchise in July 2015. In March 2012 the
Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...
announced
Abellio Abellio (also Abelio and Abelionni) was a god worshiped in the Garonne Valley in Gallia Aquitania (now southwest France), known primarily by a number of inscriptions which were discovered in Comminges, in the Pyrenees. He may have been a god ...
,
FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Govia Govia Limited is a transport company based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in November 1996 as a joint venture between Go-Ahead Group (65%) and Keolis (35%) to bid for rail franchises during the privatisation of British Rail. History ...
,
MTR The Mass Transit Railway system, known locally by the initialism MTR, is a rapid transit system in Hong Kong and the territory's principal mode of Rail transport in Hong Kong, railway transportation. Operated by the MTR Corporation (MTRCL), ...
and
Stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
had been shortlisted. The Invitation to Tender was to have been issued in October 2012, with the successful bidder announced 4–6 months later. However, in the wake of the
InterCity West Coast InterCity West Coast (ICWC) was a 1997–2019 railway franchise in the United Kingdom for passenger trains on the West Coast Main Line (and branches thereof), between London Euston, the West Midlands, North Wales, Liverpool, Manchester, Car ...
refranchising process collapsing, the government announced in October 2012 that the process would be put on hold pending the results of a review. In January 2013 the government announced it would be exercising an option to extend the existing contract until March 2014.


2015–2021 franchise

In March 2013 the
Secretary of State for Transport The secretary of state for transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Departm ...
announced the franchise would again be extended until 13 September 2014, and that the future franchise would be a management style contract due to the level of investment and change on the route. In September 2013 a revised invitation to tender was issued. In May 2014, Govia was awarded the new franchise. Now operated by Govia subsidiary
Govia Thameslink Railway Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is a British train operating company that operates the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise, TSGN rail franchise. Within the franchise, GTR runs trains under the sub-brands: Thameslink, Great North ...
, the former
First Capital Connect First Capital Connect (FCC) was a British train operating company, owned by FirstGroup, that operated the Thameslink and Great Northern route, Great Northern sectors from April 2006 to September 2014 which later became the Thameslink, Southern ...
parts of the franchise returned to their former brand names
Thameslink Thameslink is a mainline route on the British railway network, running from , , , , , and via central London to , , , Rainham, , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying more than ...
and Great Northern while the existing Southern and
Gatwick Express Gatwick Express is an express rail passenger service between , , and in South East England. It is the brand name used by the Govia Thameslink Railway train operating company on the Gatwick Express route of the Thameslink, Southern and Great N ...
brands were retained. The franchise is unusual as a management contract where fare income does not go to GTR, which is simply paid a fee for operating the service, so GTR carries less revenue risk. This form of franchise was chosen because of long-term engineering works anticipated around London, which would be a significant challenge to organise within the normal form of franchise. From July 2015 when GTR took over the Southern services to March 2017, 7,7% of planned services have been cancelled or delayed by more than 30 minutes. The most important reason for the delays and cancellations were industry actions (38% of the total). 13% were caused by failures of track and Network Rail assets such as signalling systems. As the Department for Transport in the period from September 2014 to August 2017 has received £3.6billion in fare revenue and had to pay only £2.8billion in franchise payments to Govia, it made a profit for the taxpayer of £760million. In 2017, the Government confirmed it was considering the size of the franchise at its next renewal, indicating it could be broken up. In May 2018, following the announcement of the renationalisation of
InterCity East Coast InterCity East Coast is a railway franchise for passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom from London King's Cross to Hull, Leeds, Bradford, Harrogate, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Aberdeen. It was fo ...
franchise as
London North Eastern Railway London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company which operates most services on the East Coast Main Line. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the Londo ...
, Grayling revealed despite not reaching a decision on the future of Great Northern services beyond 2021 it had been proposed that Great Northern services could be merged with the London North Eastern Railway or transferred to
London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, it now serves a large part of Greate ...
. In March 2022, GTR was given a direct award contract by DfT, replacing its franchise agreement, expiring on 1 April 2028.


References

{{Rail franchises in Great Britain, state=expanded Railway franchises in the United Kingdom