New timetable comes into effect

Sunday 16th May saw the commencement of the new timetable, with the standard weekday pattern of services starting on Monday 17th.  The biggest change is on the Corby services, which become a largely self-contained service of electric trains branded 'EMR Connect'.  It runs twice an hour in each direction between Corby and London St Pancras, calling at Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford, Luton and Luton Airport Parkway.  In doing so, it also serves as the ‘Luton Airport Express’, complementing similar shuttles for the other London airports.  It also relieves the Intercity services, which serve Market Harborough, of their intermediate calls south of Kettering.  With a few peak-time exceptions, our trains therefore nearly all call at Kettering only on their way to and from London.  This gives a half-hourly connection to all the main intermediate stations, addressing concerns we have expressed about gaps in the timetable from Kettering in particular.  It also means the bus link between Wellingborough and Bedford can be withdrawn.

Blue sparks:  A Class 360 electric EMR Connect train at Corby, on the official ‘launch’ day, Monday 17th May, though they had been running on Sunday 16th.  EMR Connect serves the intermediate stations south of Kettering, enabling Market Harborough’s EMR Intercity services to run non-stop between Kettering and London.
Photo: Steve Jones

The basic daytime pattern is now from Market Harborough to London at xx:26 and xx57 each hour (with minor variations), and roughly xx:03 and xx:32 to Leicester and Nottingham.
There are other improvements, including an earlier first train into London, a more even spread of services out of London in the evening peak, and a later last train south from Derby and Leicester in the evenings.
However, with few exceptions, we lose our non-stop trains to and from London, and direct services to Luton Airport Parkway.  We also would like to see an earlier first train north on a Sunday morning than the present 10:29.
We also lose our HSTs; replaced by Meridians released by the electric trains on the Corby route, plus the small fleet of Class 180 units transferred a few months ago from Hull Trains.
Sadly, the Saturday through train to York no longer runs.  However, if you fancy a slightly different mini-excursion, you can take a weekday lunchtime round trip from Kettering via Corby and Oakham to Melton Mowbray and back.  This gives the opportunity to travel over the iconic Welland Viaduct at Harringworth.  However, it does not run on Wednesdays!
The full timetable is available here on EMR’s website.