£5.5BN Thameslink Programme one step closer as first platform extensions completed

The multi-billion pound Thameslink upgrade programme moved a step closer to completion today as Network Rail finished work to extend the platforms at First Capital Connect-managed station Luton Airport Parkway.

The station is the first to have its platforms extended on the Thameslink route before 2012. All four platforms have been extended by 80 metres to accommodate 12-car trains. Work is well under way on the next station due for completion, Mill Hill Broadway, and work has just begun at West Hampstead station.

Overall, the scheme will see more than 4km of platforms lengthened along the Thameslink route (around twice as long as the runway at London Luton Airport) and, by 2012, will enable a 50 per cent increase in capacity through longer trains and more services during the morning and evening peaks. This will be realised as new trains are introduced from 2012 to 2015.

To mark the official opening of the newly extended platforms, Luton MPs Margaret Moran and Kelvin Hopkins and Councillor Hazel Simmons, Leader of Luton Borough Council, joined representatives from Network Rail and First Capital Connect at Luton Airport Parkway today.

Andy Mitchell, Network Rail Thameslink Programme Director, said: "Work started on Luton Airport Parkway just a few weeks after the funding for the Thameslink Programme was secured and I'm delighted to be here barely a year on to mark this major milestone. The congestion-busting Thameslink expansion will deliver what passengers need - more capacity, more seats and less crowding."

Elaine Holt, Managing Director of First Capital Connect, said: "When I talk to customers, overcrowding is their number one issue. This project will enable us to increase capacity by up to 50 per cent through brand new, longer trains that will start entering service in 2012."

Kelvin Hopkins, MP for Luton North said: "Our railways are a precious national asset and have a vital role for the future. The Thameslink Programme is a very exciting prospect and, as a daily passenger on the route for 39 years, I am really looking forward to seeing it happen. The Luton Airport Parkway extension is a welcome step on the way and will be of great benefit to Luton."

Margaret Moran, MP for Luton South, said: "The Thameslink upgrade has the potential to bring real benefits for people in the Luton area, making cross London journeys easier and more comfortable for local people as well as the many thousands who use our airport each day."

Cllr Hazel Simmons, Leader of Luton Borough Council, said: "The expansion will do much more than reduce congestion; it will also benefit the town as a whole by further improving Luton's already superb rail connections and transport links, used by thousands of people travelling into, around, and out of the Luton area each year."

The Luton Airport Parkway extension is just one element of the comprehensive Thameslink upgrade programme. This scheme will hugely increase north-south journey opportunities through London and will more than double passenger capacity on one of Europe's busiest stretches of railway - the core route through London Bridge, Blackfriars, Farringdon and St Pancras International - benefiting tens of thousands of passengers daily. The scheme could also more than triple the number of stations used by direct north/south services and increase the possible length of trains from the present eight carriage services to 12.