Ok, so on the Helensburgh-Edinburgh (via Airdrie/Bathgate) line services are booked to run Helensburgh to Dalmuir, then non-stop from Dalmuir to Hyndland via Yoker.
However, a few weeks ago I overheard a conversation by TE's on my train that one (yes, just one) during the day goes via Singer. The conversation was fairly amusing, with one TE asking the other if they'd imagined it, or fallen asleep, or if a giant magnet had moved the train from platform 4 to platform 2 at Dalmuir... however, a driver later joined them and confirmed that one train each day runs via Singer (still non-stop between Dalmuir and Hyndland) rather than via Yoker.
Today, I was standing at Singer station, and managed to spot this train passing through - right behind a stopper that it would normally 'overtake' by running express via Yoker.
So it's the 1540 from Helensburgh-Edinburgh... and this little swap of the jigsaw pieces appears (at first glance) to serve no purpose other than to increase journey time on the Helensburgh-Edinburgh train by a grand total of 6 minutes and have it running behind the Larkhall service as opposed to in front of it when passing through Hyndland and Partick.
Dare I ask, what kind of operational reason would require this once-a-day swap? Seems really odd that a train in the middle of the afternoon has a different path over part of its route compared to every other service during the day.
Apologies if you're not familiar with the route. If I haven't been clear (which given I'm rambling a bit, there's a fairly high chance of...) then feel free to ask for more details!
So yeah, once a day. Why?
However, a few weeks ago I overheard a conversation by TE's on my train that one (yes, just one) during the day goes via Singer. The conversation was fairly amusing, with one TE asking the other if they'd imagined it, or fallen asleep, or if a giant magnet had moved the train from platform 4 to platform 2 at Dalmuir... however, a driver later joined them and confirmed that one train each day runs via Singer (still non-stop between Dalmuir and Hyndland) rather than via Yoker.
Today, I was standing at Singer station, and managed to spot this train passing through - right behind a stopper that it would normally 'overtake' by running express via Yoker.
So it's the 1540 from Helensburgh-Edinburgh... and this little swap of the jigsaw pieces appears (at first glance) to serve no purpose other than to increase journey time on the Helensburgh-Edinburgh train by a grand total of 6 minutes and have it running behind the Larkhall service as opposed to in front of it when passing through Hyndland and Partick.
Dare I ask, what kind of operational reason would require this once-a-day swap? Seems really odd that a train in the middle of the afternoon has a different path over part of its route compared to every other service during the day.
Apologies if you're not familiar with the route. If I haven't been clear (which given I'm rambling a bit, there's a fairly high chance of...) then feel free to ask for more details!
So yeah, once a day. Why?