InfoBleep nerdy trip reports

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I was at Clapham Junction thus lunch time and on platform 7 a train to Alton pulled in shortly after one to Exeter had left the vacinity of platform 8. It probably wasn't stopping.

Then the Alton t win was held so another train could go through platform 8. It was obviously more delayed than the Alton train.

That had been 2 minutes late leaving Woking and it was now 9 minutes late.

It did get me thinking, if only more trains could do that at Clapham Junction, as in get overtaken, could more trains then stop there? The idea being as a train stops to let people on and off, ano her is able to overtake it. I seriously doubt it would ever be possible or they would have done it already but it's a nice pie in the sky dream.

It is the first time I've witnessed an overtaking manoeuvre there though, so that was interesting.

 

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Rear event alert. The 16:03 Woking to Waterloo has had all it's stops after Byfleet and New Haa removed expect for Clapham Junction and Waterloo. I'm use to trains running to Surbtion and then having all the stops cancelled.

Even if they don't do that, not use to Clapham Junction not being cancelled.

On top of that trains from Guildford via Claygate are now running without 30 minute delays and yet the stations between Surbtion and Waterloo haven't been cancelled. That's anther rare event. Even the semi fast services from Woking are stopping at all their usual stations.

Alas I'm not on any of those trains to enjoy the moment on board.

The 16:33 Waterloo to Guildford via Claygate has at least had all its stops removed prior to Surbtion.

The reason for this is due to an earlier trespass incident. They safety got the person from the railway I'm pleased to say.

As for my journey I was warned of delays above the service indicator but so far so good.

 

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Another example of a train changing platform at the latest minute tonight and being announced prior to passe. Gers alighting from a connecting train.

Due to congestion cuaed by at least two trains being late from the depot, my rain was held up into Woking by the stopping train occupaing platform 5.

I kind of expected this. Once we stopped before Woking I look up my train and the 18:58 to Pormouth. Both were due into platform 5. Mine at 18:58 and the Portsmouth one at 18:59.

Now some signallers would make the 18:58 wait for platform 5 to be free. However perhaps this is dependant on how far behind the non stopping Weymouth service is and if its too close to Woking they make the 18:58 wait.

Well after I checked they decided and we started moving they decided to path the 18:59 into platform 4.

Once I saw this I ran through the train to get to as close as carriage 10 as I could.

Once I got out the train at Woking there was no announcement about the platform change. If they announced it and no doubt they did, it was prior to our train arriving.

It is an official connection and if some passengers miss it, they will be half an hour late home. I had stuff to do myself so decided to rub round to platform 4.

I was the second to last person to board. I waited for a short time for another lady to get on. She was out of breath and asked why do they do it?

I didn't have a ime to explain all the reasons and logic so just said because they can. Hopefully no one else missed the train. Be surprised if they didn't though.

I think if I have stuff to do I prefer to get home than claim delay repay but it's an interesting point because had I not run, delay repay would have automatically been due but I'd have been later than I'd have liked.

Of course with such delays as this, you rarely get an announcement from the guard. Perhaps that is more unique to the addional evening Woking stoppers and additional through stoppers than more widely.

 

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Today has taught me a lesson but will I take it on board in the future. It is this:
Current estimate of bus arrival time is no guarantee of future arrival time. You may lose or gain time that you did not expect.

Today I saw there was a K3 bus due at 8:50. I had a wait for it but I could walk to the next bus stop for exercise and still catch it. As I got to the initial. Bus stop though, after about 3-4 minutes walk, suddenly the bus was due in at 8:57. This was about 18 minutes away. Why the sudden jump?

So I set off walking to see how many bus stops I could reach in that time. As I was heading between the second and third bus stop, I noticed the bus had vanished from the starting stop. It wasn't even 8:58 yet.

I'd worked out in this time the gap between the estimated bus arrival and the previous one was 23 minutes. Prior to that it was over 28 minutes, maybe even 30 minutes. The buses are meant to be every 15 minutes.

As I was walking towards the third bus stop, two K3 buses went past in tandoms. A little bit la er suddenly a K3 went passed in my direction. I had to leg it and only because the bus driver waited, did I catch the bus. Thanks for waiting. Very nice of them. They didn't have to wait long but long enough for them to depart without me.

It was now 8:57 and I was on the bus. I'd say its about 4 minutes between the three stops on a bus. Clearly no one wanted the bus today and it make up lost time. Sometimes this bus can be full. I guess it depends how many previous buses have been cancelled before it.

Had I been able to see previous bus departures I'd have known the bus had left. Google maps give you previous deaptures but only for high frequency bus routes. For low frequency they only give you the scheduled deapture times. Note this isn't the actual departure time and most of the time the bus won't keep to it. We'll in peak or just after peak rush hour at least.

So moral of the story is wait for thy bus. However I probably won't learn and will do the same again. After all I once waited for a bus and it turned out it was almost as quick to walk to my destination and the walk is an hour!

 

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This evening I'm playing the game of estimate the delay. The train in front had 4 stops cancelled due to congestion. That was only 2 minutes late when the stops were cancelled too. Trains further up the line were 7 minutes late

I'm estimating 10 minutes but so far since departing Raynes Park, it's only been 1 minute. I'm expecting a slow down from now, although to be fair I was expecting that before New Malden.

The 16:08 from Chessington South departed 4 minutes late and wasn't able to mkae up any lost time. That's what less to the delays. No idea why it departed 4 minutes late.

It's always interesting to try and figure out which train started a delay sequence. It's not always easy to do this of course and it doesn't give you the reason for it

 

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This evening I'm playing the game of estimate the delay. The train in front had 4 stops cancelled due to congestion. That was only 2 minutes late when the stops were cancelled too. Trains further up the line were 7 minutes late

I'm estimating 10 minutes but so far since departing Raynes Park, it's only been 1 minute. I'm expecting a slow down from now, although to be fair I was expecting that before New Malden.

The 16:08 from Chessington South departed 4 minutes late and wasn't able to mkae up any lost time. That's what less to the delays. No idea why it departed 4 minutes late.

It's always interesting to try and figure out which train started a delay sequence. It's not always easy to do this of course and it doesn't give you the reason for it

In the end is I was only 3 minutes late so I was wildly out with my estimate.

The train in front arrived to Waterloo Carlisle Lane Junction 7 minutes early. It had to wait 4 minutes for a platform. I suspect it would have delayed too many other services had it been allowed to run along all its stops.

 

[Kite159]

SWR still up to their usual tricks of ripping out stops for minor delays I see

 

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SWR still up to their usual tricks of ripping out stops for minor delays I see

Indeed but I guess at least they aren't skip stopping likw Govia Thameslink Railway. Unless of course one counts skipping four stations in a row as skip stopping!

There is also one other positive, if you can call it that. I've not seen them state that they vary who is delayed during disruption. South West Trains climes this but I was never sure how they could easily decide which set of passengers were goibgwto be inconvenienced over the other, as surely they want to get the trains running to normal as best as possible. Certainly I don't remember when ever deciding to not skip all the intermediate stations between Surbtion and Waterloo and only skio one or two.

Interestingly the other day due to the 8:24 Hampton Court to Waterloo service being cancelled, after the 8:11 left Surbtion, 3-4 minutes late, there wasn't another service to places like Wimlebdon or Clapham Junction for another 43 minutes. At least the 8:57 was on time. It may have been quicker to circulate via Waterloo for Wimbledon but I didn't look it up. D

I don't know if passengers were advised to go to Kingston instead.

 

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I had to catch just two trains today and it left Guildford on time. Despite the bad weather it even left Redhill on time.

Great it might be a very rare moment when all the trains I catch are on time. It's only two trains so the chances are higher than if it's more than two. Alas no. We experienced delay creep and was 8 minutes late into Gatwick Airport. No reason given or apology. They might not know the reason but even stating that would be good.

At least the train wasn't cancelled at Redhill though.

I did some digging on National Rail Enquiries App. No mention at Redhill or Gatwick Airport of issues in it but lots of trains running with 20+ minute delays.

Going into some of them they had the reason, signalling issue. They may all have said that but I didn't check them all.

Perhaps the platforms at Horley and Gatwick Airport were blocked with delayed trains.

The train back to Reading left 1 minute late. Let us hope it's not delayed outside Redhill, as it might then delay South Western Railway services at Guildford

I now moved to platform 7 and awaited a delayed train.

Apparently signalling issue now fixed. I wonder if they will consider it worthwhile putting up a disruption notice on National Rail Enquiries.

Incidentally the delayed 17:41 came in. A lot of foreign students were waiting outside it but the doors had closed. They were safely back from it though. Soon the doors reopened and two people got off.

Maybe they hadn't got odd in time. Next stop after this is Burgess Hill.

Train was now still in the platform 3 minutes later but students and some other passengers who turned up did manages to get on board.

Train left 31 minutes late and delayed the delayed 17:50 to Eastbourne. It added a further 4 minutes delay to that service.

Of course in the mean time I could ha e rushed round to platform 5 to pick up a dekayes service to Eastbourne. That has now overtaken this train and will further delay us.

Staff weren't to know we'd be delayed by passengers but since being there the only announcements were the continuous stream of automated ones. Nothing about alternative services from platform 5.

We left 18:18 rather than 18:13. At least the OBS apologised once we got on the trainbsbd mentioned delay repay.

Interestingly though I may just be able to claim delay repay. If I do, it will be rejected I'm sure and I'll have to explain that we were not told the other train would depart first as staff didn't know this far enough in advance.

It will no doubt hinge on what time I pass the monitoring point, as opposed to what time the doors open. It could be a close run thing.

 

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Alas train made up some time and was in 14 minutes late. No delay repay due. Wish I'd got the other train now. Lol.

 

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I just missed a train today. Still it was short formed due to engineering works in the Lewes area.

The on board service person even said this would be the case a week ago. That is good communication.

I wonder if a OBS who didn't talk much had been on the service, whether it would have been announced.

This meant boarding the 7:31 to Cambridge. This train arrives in 4 minutes before it's due to depart, so passengers have plenty of time to workout where they might like to board. It's also a class 700, which means it's continuous throughout.

Unlikely oe the train before it, where you have less time to board but it's more awkward to move through it.

I do appreciate the easy of loading is aimed at the core.

Anyway the train departed in time. I soon noticed we were moving slowly. Then I saw a message on the screen saying we were being held at a red signal.
Never noticed that before. Next time I'm on such a train that is held at a red signal I must take a look at the screen.

Of course even when we picked up some speed, we were still being held at a red signal. Eventually we reached Three Bridges a minute down and departed.

Once we got to platform 1 at Gatwick Airport we waited. Soon an automated audio announcement was played stating that we were being held at a red signal. This was correct.

We departed 3 minutes late.

Now I was wishing to catch an X26 at East Croydon and knew it was tight catching the 7:31, so I'd positioned myself down the back of the train, vaguely near the ramp exit.

As we got close I noticed the X26 was due in at 8:06, so slightly late. Thus could of course change. I got off the train, slightly behind the exit, rather than ahead of it. Navigating past the people waiting to board and those coming off the ramp, I ran up the stairs, waving around those coming down, who were of course spread out, I managed to gega clear space.

I ran outside, around the side and there were lots of people at the bus stop. It was looking good but there was no X26 on the board. Another bus was showing as first. Very soon though this changed and the X26 showed up as I saw it head closer down the road.

Now to join the bus and sit in traffic.

This week I am going to try and get off the bus at an earlier bus stop. Last week I didn't go this, thinking the 407 would have already left. It hadn't and despite it stopping at far more bus stops than us, we were never able to overtake it.

Update: It was looking like I would connect with a bus at Croydon Road / Wallington Green but as my bus pulled up I saw their was a 407 in two minutes so I boarded it.

Now to see if this is any faster. It takes me closer to my destination but it stops at more bus stops.

However the other bus is booked to wait at bus stops if early so, if that were the case, this could overtake it. Given the traffic though, possible both are late. In fact Google maps syas the X26 is 14 minutes late and the 407 is 17 minutes late. We are apparently both due in 2 minutes. Given the traffic I think that's a tad incorrect.

So jury is still out on whether this is a faster journey today, changing at Croydon Road / Wallington Green.

Don't know yet what is causing the hold up. That requires research from multiple sources to try and build up a picture as best one can.

I saw the problem. It's the Greyhound Hotel have building works. This is resulting in a single lane. It's tight around there anyway, without that.

I wonder if people doing such works contribute at all to the cost of lost productivity due to traffic delays.

Once I got to my destination I looked up the X26 to see if it was on time or late, however Google kept changing the delay info. At first it had arrived 12 minutes earlier. That seems too long. Then it became 8 minutes, which seemed more reasonable. Soon it was 13 minutes. It did say it was running 38 minutes late at this point.

Looking just now at a much later stop, it says a bus departed East Croydon 6 minutes early and it's currently running 6 minutes early. The bus I was on isn't even listed, assuming the buses are one of the same and Google have all the info wrong.

Bus info on Google Maps can be unreliable at times and not just at times.

 

[Kite159]

The 700 "being held at a red signal" screen does have a habit of remaining on, IIRC it requires the driver to turn it off.

I've seen similar messages popping up on other services, LO 378s spring to mind.

 

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The 700 "being held at a red signal" screen does have a habit of remaining on, IIRC it requires the driver to turn it off.

I've seen similar messages popping up on other services, LO 378s spring to mind.

I clearly don't travel on them enough.

 

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This morning it would have been just as fast to walk than catch a bus. The walk is over 20 minutes and it's on a route operated by 6 bus services. 3 high frequency, 2 every 15 minutes and 1 every 30 minutes.

I got off at Surbtion Station, where a train was terminated short due to signalling issues.

I then got to a bus stop and saw the next bus was 3 minutes away. A 71. It wasn't busy at the stop so I just waited. Bad move Soon lots more arrived and still the bus hadn't turned up.

Now the time was too short to go to a nearby bus stop where I could board or it may not have been but its heard to tell when your bus is due in a minute and it could take you 30 seconds to reach the other bus stop. When the bus did arrive I knew it wouldn't be worth hoarding that bus so I boarded one that had arrived just behind. This was a K3, which had left Hinchley Wood just as my train had turned up at that station.

Then so many people wanted to board this bus that the driver said it was dangerous if he couldn't see the mirrors. Eventually people moved down and people squeezed on we left at 8:54, 10 minutes after I'd arrived at the bus stop. So much for their being a bus 3 minutes away. Lol. The bus that was 3 minutes away definitely didn't leave 3 minutes later.

Had I gone to that nearby bus stop I might have saved 2 minutes but still. Like I said, this a bus route where 6 bus routes operate 3 of them high frequency.

The other day there were 6 buses due in 4 minutes. This was around 8:45. Goes to show how random the bus times can be.

 

[Kite159]

More signalling issues on the SWR main-line? Great

 

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More signalling issues on the SWR main-line? Great

People got a double dose today at Vaxhull and Clapham Junction Not to mention an incident elsewhere. Still trains were only delayed by up to 15 minutes. Well except the 10 that were delayed by over 15 minutes.

Sometimes when they 0ut delays of up to 15 minutes, I think they should add 5 on because inevitably be trains delayed longer than 15 minutes.

I'm not including those having stops cancelled and that delays passengers as those don't count in terms of the delay up to times.

 

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Some delay creep occurred tonight before I'd even boarded one of my trains.

I got to the platform and the train was 2 minutes late, with another train in the platform that was 8 minutes late.

Soon the train I wanted was 3 minutes late. Then they announced a non stopping train was passing through. Eventually my train left 8 minutes late

I'm aware in simply terms of why this occurs. Train leaves terminus on time and then has to fan into a single line and so it gets delayed.

However, as I found out once I reached East Croydon, this evening an emergency cord had been pulled on a train on platform 15 at Clapham Junction. This occurred at 17:00 on the 16:56 to Sutton. Now an incident was created at 17:16 and uodtaed at 17:25 but was any announcement made on the station platform? No.

I purposefully avoided the delayed 17:16 and decided I might as well get the 17:22, which was due very shortly.

That train I think may have been short formed but of course such things are never announced at Clapham Junction.on platform 13. Even if it was, or wouldn't be announced until after the 17:16 had left. Yiur best bet, under such circumstances is to do your own research online, if you have mobile data reception.

Had I got the 17:16 I could have changed at East Croydon. Still I got a seat at East Croydon.

As we got near that station the OBS kindly explained the reason for the delay and the delay creep was now converted into just a delay.

 

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It transpired that the problem on platform 15 was not the only problem. The 16:25 London Bridge to Esom was terminated at New Cross Gate due to train fault. That will have also blocked a line for a time. Interestingly this problem didn't get rolled into the above incident until some time later, depaire occurring earlier!

Then there was an issue at Tattenham Corner.

On top of that there is a track defeat on the Oise Valley . This was only known about when 5he OBS spoke for a second time to apologies for the continued slow running. That incident isn't even mentioned on National Rail Enquiries.

Thar incident itself says delays of up to 15 minutes but currently trains are experiencing delays of over 20 minutes! The trjan I'm on was 16 minutes delayed leaving Gatwick Airport. Currently it's 26 minutes. The Brighton train ahead, which I could have bee On arrived 29 minutes late into Haywards Heath.

If that's using platform 2 and we are pathed into platform 1, why are we stuck in the countryside before the turn off to Ardingly.

I guess in this case even adding 5 minutes on to the up to delay time won't make a difference.

 

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The train eventually arrived 33 minutes late. This is a great example of highlighting the limitations on the online departure boards. Two reasons have lead to the delay but only one is listed. Some passengers will see one and bear another and think they are making up random excuses.

Still I doubt delay attribution could cope. A thud of the delay is train fault and 2/3s is track defect. To be fair it's only suspected. It may turn out 5o be a false alarm. Not that one shouldn't play it self.

 

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It is interesting to see how disruption notices change overtime.

In the case of one last night, the info provided in the original and what I think was the second revision just disappeared to be replaced by entirely new info. I don't know if there was a period where everything coexisted

I didn't capture the original notice before it refreshed but here is the second one:

Disruption in the East Croydon area expected until 19:00

National Rail‏@nationalrailenq
#ClaphamJunction - Disruption through Clapham Junction expected until 18:00

20 Mar 19 - 17:56
National Rail‏@nationalrailenq
#ClaphamJunction - All lines have reopened as the fault on a train at Clapham Junction has now been fixed. Train s… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

20 Mar 19 - 17:26
National Rail‏@nationalrailenq
NEW: Disruption through #ClaphamJunction expected until 18:00 twt.lt/m3q3

20 Mar 19 - 17:17

Incident created
20/03/2019 17:16
Last updated
20/03/2019 18:12
Route affected
DownloadMapof route affected
Between Clapham Junction and East Croydon


TOC(s) affected
Southern;
Description
A number of incidents today in the East Croydon area means all lines are disrupted.

As a result of this, trains may be cancelled or delayed by up to 15 minutes.

Disruption is expected until 19:00.

Customer Advice

Please begin to travel as usual. You are recommended to check your journey prior to travelling, as some services are still delayed.

How is this currently affecting the train service?

All lines have opened, and trains are beginning to return normally with some delay and possible cancellation. These incidents are impacting services travelling south from London Victoria and also London Bridge.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

Earlier this afternoon at approximately 17:00, train crew on board the 16:46 London Victoria to Sutton had advised that an alarm is sounding on the train. Whilst this is being investigated, platform 15 was blocked and services were having to divert away from the situation, resulting in an amended calling pattern.

As of 17:15, safety inspections revealed that no concerns were found, therefore usual train running was able to resume.

In addition to this, the 16:25 London Bridge to Epsom service developed a train fault which was identified as 'dragging breaks'.

Whilst crew went through the repair process with engineers, the train was blocking one of the southbound lines at New Cross Gate, and had caused minor congestion in the area, impacting nearby services.

Due to the location of both these incidents, delays have compounded quite quickly and has lead to multiple late running services.



Train crew at Purley have advised that they are experiencing difficulty in attaching one train to another. At Purley, the train from Tattenham Corner will usually join with another mainline service from Caterham to form one longer train into London.


At present, the 17:09 Tattenham Corner to Purley service cannot join with the 17:20 Caterham to London Bridge service. Train crew and station staff are still in the process of working on this, and a further update will follow shortly.

Version at 19:29, which ended up being the final version and the one still there today, with later Tweets at the side:

Disruption between Three Bridges and Haywards Heath expected until 23:00

National Rail‏@nationalrailenq
CLEARED: #EastCroydon - Trains are now able to run normally between Three Bridges and Haywards Heath following a sp… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

20 Mar 19 - 22:55
#EastCroydon - Disruption between Three Bridges and Haywards Heath expected until 23:00 twt.lt/m3q3

20 Mar 19 - 19:30
National Rail‏@nationalrailenq
Disruption between #EastCroydon and Brighton expected until 23:00 twt.lt/m3q3

20 Mar 19 - 19:11

National Rail‏@nationalrailenq
#EastCroydon - The lines between Three Bridges and Haywards heath have now reopened.

20 Mar 19 - 19:01
National Rail‏@nationalrailenq
#EastCroydon - A number of incidents today between East Croydon and Brighton means all lines are disrupted. As a r… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

20 Mar 19 - 18:29
Incident created
20/03/2019 17:16
Last updated
20/03/2019 19:29
Route affected
DownloadMapof route affected
Between Clapham Junction and East Croydon


TOC(s) affected
Gatwick Express;Southern;Thameslink;
Description
A speed restriction over defective track earlier today between Three Bridges and Haywards Heath means that all Brighton bound lines are now open

Train services running through these stations are returning to normal but some services may still be delayed by up to 20 minutes.

Disruption is expected until 23:00.

How is this currently affecting the train service?

All lines are now open, and services are beginning to return normally on this route.



Can you tell me more about the incident?

Earlier this afternoon we were notified by train crew of a possible track defect at Ouse Valley Viaduct Bridge, affecting all services travelling towards Brighton. Whilst this was being investigated by Network Rail, all trains were instructed to proceed at a reduced speed through the area, with the intent of preventing any additional damage from being caused.



As of 18:45, Network Rail confirm that no defect has been identified, and that services were able to begin travelling at usual speed.



When reports of a track defect and raised to our attention, Network Rail is responsible for ensuring that thorough checks are completed before allowing trains to begin running as normal. These can include sending out engineers to carry out visual checks, or even accommodate the next driver to proceed over the bridge to see if they can spot any inconsistencies.

National Rail‏@nationalrailenq

As can be seen, no reference to the earlier incidents at all by now. Sometimes incidents get recorded separately but other times they just roll it into one. This incident wouldn't affect Caterham trains unless they are backed up at East Croydon due to slow trains ahead. Again it wouldn't affect Uckfield trains, unless they are backed up ahead. Both of those were affected earlier.

I put this out there because I find it interesting, just as others find recording train numbers interesting, whereas I don't.

 

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I just saw something interesting happen at East Croydon and I was thinking just before this, this could happen. I just didn't expect to see it so soon.

Over the tanoy they said go to platform 4 for the 8:04 London Victoira via Clapham Junction service.

This train had been on time when I checked at 8:00 online. There was a 3 minute delayed 7:58 on the platform 4 at thus point. This delayed the 8:01 to Bedford.

As I got to platform 4, it was now 8:03 and 30 something seconds. I heard a platform announcement about the the 8:01 to London Bridge. A lady then got off the train and said to platform staff, isn't this the 8:04 to Victoria?

I can see why she thought that. 8:04 announced over tanoy, train on platform and when she boarded it was probably close to being 30 seconds prior to the timetabled departure of the 8:04, so the doors would be about to close. This of course assumes that she knew the doors 30 seconds prior to the departure of the train.

Lucky she heard the platform announment or she may have ended up in the wrong place, I. E. London Bridge.

Just goes to show how careful one needs to be when making platform announcements

8:04 actually left 8:07 so a bit of delay creep.

 

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This evening I experienced what happens at Woking when they change a trains platform and announce it prior to an incoming train that should connect with said train. 5his seems to happen without fail. Its the 18:58 that switched platforms and the 18:52 that was also late but didn't switch platforms. It was stuck waiting for the delayed 18:49 arrival to clear platform 5. That will soon be a thing of the past as it will continue to Farnham so they won't need to lock it out of use.

Usually it's not a problem when they do change the platform as I can run round and most times catch the train. Tonight however someone made a mistake and cancelled the train on National Rail Enquiries. Thus I didn't know it was running. What they meant to do was cancel only the last two stops I think.

They did eventually correct the mistake but it was too late for me.

One solution would be to announce platform changes before and after incoming trains, rather than just before. Especially when they are official connections.

Bear in mind that anyone who missed the 18:58 and was heading south of Petersfield will be over 30 minutes late.

 

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Another integrating journey today. Roughly 30 minutes before my Lumini light alarm with sea noises was due to go off I set it back 30 minutes.

It didn't go off so I woke up just under 30 minutes after I'd planned to. I kind of thought this might happen

However it wasn't the only over thing to have occurred. The engineering works at Waterloo overran.

At the point I woke up the 7:35 was delayed, as was the 8:07 and 8:22, all stopping services to Waterloo. The 7:03 had run, abet 23 minutes late and the 7:58 was only 3 minutes late leaving.

Once I got to the station the 8:22 was now showing as on time. However staff advised passengers to board the late running 8:18 fast to Waterloo as the 8:22 was not in service yet. Wo set when it will be. Clearly not be 8:22.

It will be interesting to see if the 7:35 and 8:07 ever run.

Today is a prime example of some trains being cancelled and other left with the word delay. The 7:35 has been removed from the National Rail Enquiries App online departure board for Guildford but the 7:30 5o Ascot has not been Surely if the 7:35 departs after the 7:30 and has been removed even though it says delayed, surely the same should happen with the 7:30.

As for the 8:18. That left 6 minutes late as it was waiting for a platform as the previous service was take out of use.

It then got held up outside Woking as it had to wait for the junction to be cleared.

Then got held up after the junction waiting for a free platform.

I can't however figure out which train was blocking the platforms at Guildford. The train used platform 5 and the previous train ran, with only a slight delay.

Afree I got out of the train at Woking, just some 11 minutes late, I saw a class 455 service pull into platform 4. It had Waterloo via Epsom on the front. A tanoy anmounceme said it was not in service and was waiting at a red signal due to a delayed preceeding service.

I wonder where it was going. I image it came from Guildford. Maybe a siding. Surely not one of the platforms Co twining adrkwyed service. Platform 2 was free but platform 1 was occupied when I left, as was platform 3.

So now I'm on the 8:47 from Woking. Let's see if this leaves on time. The 8:34 stopping service from Guildford is delayed.

Well the doors were locked at 8:47 but did we leave? Of course not. They just locked the doors. They clearly don't want us venturing out.
After another 2 minutes the doors reopened and I got off as 8 realised the 8:59 from Southampton to Waterloo, running with a 3 minute delay, would be faster. Must be some fault on this train.

Eventually everyone else got on the 8:47.

Thus allowed a train from Exeter to leave and a engineering train on platform 1 did move forward slightly but then stopped. The 8:46 from Guildford to Waterloo turned up into platform 4, which is a down platform mostly. Then a train to Haslemere turned up into platform 2. This had come from Guildford direction.

There was also a train out of service on platform 5. The Haslemere train was being delayed due to awaiting train crew who were on the down Exeter service. No idea where that was but every platform, bar 6, which they couldn't reach, was blocked.

Eventually the out of service train left platform 5. The 9:02 was delayed. During this time there were lots of tanoy announcements but no mention as to what trains stuck outside of Woking towards Waterloo were doing.

They did say the engineering train should be moving soon.

I don't know what causes the 8:47 to be delayed. However the Exter train is using platform 5 today. So once they arrive, it will allow the Haslemere train to clear from platform 2.

For all I know they will cancel the Surbtion stop for the 8:59.

At 9:07 they finally apologies for the Co to he'd delays towards London. It was caused by a fraight train shuntting in the station. Shame it wasn't possible to shunt it elsewhere.

Trains to Waterloo that were a few minutes late are now easily 15 minutes late. The 8:46 from Guildford which leaves Woking at 9:02, still hasn't left. Not sure why though as it has a guard and driver or you'd hope it does, given its just come from Guildford in service.

The 7:44 from Alton had been running with a 34 minute delay from Brookwood but it's now 54 minutes late. It had a feather 20 minute delay between Brookwood and Woking.

If SWR are lucky, it will arrive just under 60 minutes late.

Its now 9:18 and the 9:02 hasn't left platform 4 yet.

Train on 3 can't go as no train crew. So that explains why the 8:47 didn't run.

However the doors had been open so someone must have been present. So maybe the 9:02 doesn't have trjan crew.

Now a out of service train has go e through platform 2 and just before the 8:55 turned up at 9:22, they announced a platform alteration. Let's hope everyone made it across as its the first train to stop at Clapham Junction. I could have got that train.

The 7:35 from Guildford is now showing as on time. The 8:07, 8:22 and 9:07 are delayed. The 8:24 is cancelled.

Its not easy for the staff. After explaining everything I noticed the 8:59 had switched to platform 2 and it was pulling in so I rushed round. As I did so the tanoy was announcing a train 5hat had switched to platform 1.

Eventually the platform 2 train was announced but at one time did they state it was a platform alteration. They did announce a train alteration for platform 5 though.

Still I stood by the train door just to ensure people could get on. It didn't go that soon anyway. It leet with a 28 minute delay. It had been just 3 minutes prior to Woking.

Still they didn't cancel the Surbtion stop. I reckon I'll just be over 30 minutes late today I suspect.

The engineering works was actually in the Raynes Park area. There was a period when some trains seem to be running but then staff were out of place to take trains forward and the engineering trjan hlc9kes a platform. Thus it added another 25 minutes onto it all. This would still be covered by the up to 60 minute delays though.it will be interesting to see what cusses the overrun. The disruption notice just says all lines to Waterloo are have now reopened and trains couldn't leave a number of depots earlier.

Incidentally the 9:02 from Woking, which had been the 8:46 from Guildford, was delayed further due to awaiting a driver.

Ait was blocking platform 4. I left Guildford 8 22 and I'll be in Surbtion about 9 38.

Interestingly after the 7:41 stopping service to Waterloo left at 8:05, there wasn't another stopping service to Waterloo from Surbtion until the 9:01 left 4 minutes late. After that the next one would have been the 9:27 running with a 26 minute delay but they have cancelled all the stops north of Surbtion. Lovely.

All other trains to places like Clapham Junction are cancelled or delayed.

There was actually 4 trains to Clapham Junction between 7 and 8 but only because 3 of them should have run between 6 and 7!

 

[infobleep]

Tonight's journey should be interesting. The 18:44 Surbtion to Woking left before the 18:40 Surbtion to Woking. The 44 is a stopper and the 40 isn't.

Both are patches to use the slow line. The 40 will now be at the mercy of other train movements and the signallers. However I see that we have just been lathes into the fast line after leaving Surbtion. That's good news.

Although there is still the small matter of the 18:18 Surbtion to Woking stopper. That left 8 minutes late so will likely get in our way.

Well the stopper left West Byfleet 10 minutes late and is due in at 18:53. The staff then need to detrain it and lock it out of use before it can depart.

They have left us on the fast line for quite a bit, I. E. beyond Weybridge, so who knows what is in store.

We are still due into platform 5 and the Portsmouth Harbour one is too. Alton sandwiches in between and using platform 4.

I think tonight things should be OK. Unlike last night where a train was reinstated but someone forgot to update National Rail Enquiries. These things happen.

We are now stuck outside of Woking but on the up fast. This is good as I doubt the Portsmouth Harbour train can overtake us. We are now progressing forward. We indeed headed into Platform 5.

In fact if any passengers wished to travel to Alton, they would get a lucky quick peak time journey as the Alton train had been stuck behind us. That's a silver lining for Surbiton passengers wishing to go to Alton.

I have once managed to catch a fast Alton train without an almost 30 minute wait, having come off a Basingstoke train.

 

[infobleep]

Not a good train travel morning. Rather annoying delay creep, not helped by the connecting train departing on time.

I had a parcel to drop off. I had two options get out at New Malden and get a bus or go to Wimbledon and get a train. I opted for the later. There is a 6 minute connection, which is the official connection.

EDIT it's not 6 minutes but 5. I though my train was due in at 8:19 but not. I was wrong. Oops. It's due to depart at 8:20 like all other services but w of the services are booked to arrive 8:20. In the working timetable is 8:19½ but they round it up for the passengers.

At New Malden we were only 1 minute late and I was 3 carriages from the front. Should be enough time to get to the other platform.

Why wouldn't it be. Its not as if I'm at the back and I'm not in the carriage right by the stairs either, which I've read isn't the fastest carriage to exit a station from. It's a 10 carriage train.

Shortly before the doors were due to close at New Malden I remembered to check National Rail Enquiries App I saw that a train ahead was running 3 minutes late. To late to leave my train. Still the other train is only 3 minutes late, it's surely enough time to get round. I'm towards the front.

Eventually we got into Wimbledon 6 minutes late. Edit: No 5 minutes

I saw my connecting train. Despite being just 3 carriages back I was too far away from the stairs, with enough people in front of me to slow me down. I should have been in the front carriage. I. E. The one closest to the stairs. The one I've read isn't the fastest to alight from. I guess there are exceptions.

Cue a mad dash up and a dash down the other stairs in the hope some fault or issue would delay my connecting train. There were lots of people going up the stairs, across the whole width so I was kind of getting in their way in my rush down. I reached the platform as the train was pulling out.

It departed on time but departed Wimbledon Chase a minute late. Now I'm waiting 30 minutes for the next train.

I could have gone back to New Malden and got a bus. I've done that before now.

Of course the guard remained silent on the delay. It's probably a fairly regular experience for them.

If one wanted to claim regular delay repay, these two services would be a good match. You'd have to be happy to arrive 30 minutes later every day but you'd get back half your journey costs. No you can't. As I've just realised. If the train didn't stop at New Malden you would as then they would delay us arrival time by 1 minute.

At least the next train is on time.

Just looked up recent train time and the average delay for the train is 5 minutes. I've resites my post too as I was giving out misinformation on train arrival and connection times.

In future I shall always get a bus if I need to do this again. Trains not reliable enough.

I'm sure the issue is due to too many passengers wishing to travel at this time of the morning. Half an hour before this the average delay is 4 minutes. From the 7:31 arrival into Wimbledon to the 10:46 arrival, every train is on average delayed by an amber coloured amount. This is for the last 100 days.

In fact only the 0:09 arrival is RT on average. To be fair some average delays are just ½ minute.

 

[infobleep]

More annoying delays tonight. However I was surprised by the lack of a delay to one service. The delays are due to an earlier trespasser on the railway.

If it was someone intending to do harm to themselves then I sure hope they get the help they need and I'm grateful they have been rescued.

Travel wise the train I didn't intent to catch left on time. It leaves 10 minutes before the train I wished to catch. No way I could have caught it even if I ran all the way. It must have just avoided the incident.

When looking up things, everything was OK but this is the railways so what is fine one minute may not be the very next. In between that and getting to the station the stop I was heading too was removed. I can see why they did it. In doing so they made up 7 minutes of time. They removed other stops too.

The train came through fairly empty and I was able to film it passing through at least. They kept in Wimbledon a major stop and then removed a couple of other minor stops so it was then right time.

Unfortunately it's a fact of life that if you go to. Minor station you stop is more likely to be removed.

Cue 20 minute wait for the next train. This thankfully was not delayed due to the trespass incident and at most was 1-2 minutes late on its journey. Given the previous train was 10 minutes late, I was very surprised this train and others were not more delayed.

A train in the opposite direction was late. Eventually 8 minutes late but they didn't cancel any of its stops as it was able to make up some lost time on route.

Train running is a fascinating thing. One day I'll recount the story from Waterloo to Guildford where I was only an hour late whilst most other trains to Guildford were 4.5 hours late. That include those before and after the train I was on.

As for the train I boarded, it had no loos. Nor did the station I was at. The train 10 minutes later did but I decided just to continue the journey.

 

[Kite159]

SWR, the worst TOC for removing stops for any minor delays. Makes Merseyrail look outstanding.

As you said earlier "Trains not reliable enough".

 

[infobleep]

SWR, the worst TOC for removing stops for any minor delays. Makes Merseyrail look outstanding.

As you said earlier "Trains not reliable enough".

To be fair, this was Thameslink.

I wonder what station is most likely to have its stop removed and I wonder which is least likely.

 

[infobleep]

Something unusual happened this morning. Someone announced which train was going to depart first. Amazing. So unexpected.

Usually you are left to figure it out for yourself. I couldn't believe my ears.

I was aiming for the 8:53 as I thought the 7:18, 7:54 and 8:53 were all 10 carriage trains. I thought they made these additional trains 10 carriages because that is shag customers on the Portsmouth Direct preferred.

I appreciate the 8:53 isn't quite an additional service as there is no 8:47. However there is a slow 8:46 to Waterloo via Woking which kind of replaces the 8:47, abet its a stopper and it runs slowly to Woking.

The reason for the 8:53 delay was due to a passe. Her bwjnt taken ill. Hopefully they aren't to ill. This meant the 9:03 left Haslemere first.

The 9:03 turned up into Guildford first and to my surprise was 10 carriages. There were a fair number of people waiting for the 8::53 so I decided to wait. Then as it came in I saw it was a 12 carriage train.

I knew there was space on the 9:03 so I was highly surprised people hadn't switched. I thought people preferred the 444s or is that only case for stations South of Guildford or South of a certain point south of Guildford. Maybe it's just people in Portsmouth and Havant.

Anyway I did actually want a table and plug socket. I'd forgotten that some of the 459s have plug sockets in standard but they most definateky don't have tabels, we'll bar the seats that sit behind other seats.

So I ran around to platform 5 to pick up the 9:03. I knew the 8:53 would leave first at about 9:03. That usually goes via Cobham but today it was probbaly being routed via Woking. However as I couldn't be 100% certain how long I'd have running seemed the best course of action. I stairs were packed so I took the ramp.

I made the 9:03 in good time and it left 3 minutes late.

I indeed got a seat with a table. It was whilst I was on I remembered all sets of seats would have plug sockets as this set of 5 carriages had been converted.

It's interesting to note that it's one plug socket we're two seats. In the original standard class carriages that always had plug sockets, it was 4 per table but no wherelse had plug sockets.

Thus best standard class carriages are still always the ones at the furthest end from first class.

I did wonder if anyone heading to Waterloo with an off peak ticket boarded the 8:54. Technically if they were just going to Waterloo, I imagine they shouldn't have been on it.

It anicdontially shows one thing, people from Guildford don't mind a 450 or maybe if they are delayed they want to take the first train that moves regardless of sock type.

I value the first train that loves except when the sock type on the second train is more to my liking. Then I value that train more.

If only the metro trains had tables. I often travel o Them for 30 minutes, which isn't that far off the time it takes to reach Waterloo on fast trains.

 

[infobleep]

Tonight's delay was a semi regular occuance when I often frequented Harrow and Wealdstone Station but is unusual on the Main Line from Waterloo during the evening rush hour.

I decided I didn't have time to run for my train so I got a bus. I like running for the exercise.

As a result I decided I had enough time to pop into a supermarket. It was touch and go but I made the fast train from Surbtion. Getting to it wasn't made so easy by someone going up the thin down section of stairs.

Great. However as we neared Byfleet and New Haw we slower down. Eventually we stopped.

Aftwe what seemed like several minutes, someone said we were behind held at a red signal as a train was cross in front of us.

Whilst we waited the down trains to Alton and Portsmouth Harbour went past on the down fast.

Eventually we moved on. Once we had pulled into Woking I was the train to Portsmouth depart.

I no longer needed to run. Cue a 20 minute wait for the next train. Anyone going to stations south of Guildford would now automatically be 30 minutes late. That's the cost of missed connections. Still delay repay is owed to the if they claim.

So what was the reason for this sudden delay? On the CIS at Woking Station was the reason delayed fraight train.

Looking it up, it seems the 6Y42 1356 Hoo Junction Up Yard to Eastleigh East Yard left Hoo Junction Up Yard 77 minutes late and never really recovered. It was ashame we were not allowed to run in front of it. I guess as we stopped at Woking it wasn't allowed.

Obviously it wouldn't be allowed in the fast line as it probably runs too slowly.

So we just all had arrive 7 minutes late and for some of us to miss our connecting train.

I these things happen but I do wish it would be on a night when I didn't have something else to do.

I could have left earlier but to arrive earlier I'd need to have left 21 minutes earlier and I'd have arrived in only 10 minutes earlier, had everything been on time.

I could have gone via Cobham, as that train has a 20 minute delay leaving Waterloo and they cancelled all the stops to Surbiton. That got to Surbtion 15 minutes late and would have saved me 9 minutes. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Still at least the crew of the Guildford stopper I ended up on arrived on time or just a minute late. It meant I got in 1-2 minutes early. It even managed it despite being a minute mate leaving Woking.

I don't always use the trains on Mondays and tonight reminded me why.

Incidentally whilst waiting. Havant train zoomed through Woking. Well not quite zoomed but didn't stop. I thought that usually went via Cobham. Still not that they would stop such a train for us.