Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
A very good point. Even simple things need fixing.
At present, Ormskirk-Preston is operated on a "circuit" of Ormskirk-Preston-Blackpool S-Preston-Colne-Preston-Ormskirk. However, each leg is shown as a separate train in the timetable even though it is actually three through services - Ormskirk-Blackpool S, Blackpool S-Colne, Colne-Ormskirk (with a reverse).
The effect of this is that if you try to plan a journey from Ormskirk to Blackpool South, the connection "misses" at Preston (as the stop is only 2 minutes) and so you get shown a journey 62 minutes longer than it actually is. You could think "well, nobody will do that" - but how's about a family day out from Ormskirk to Blackpool Pleasure Beach? No, they'll drive in half what the journey planner tells them.
This is utter lunacy and will be putting people off travelling by train, and it would be so easy to fix. I believe the reason for not showing as through services was to avoid confusion by the lack of direct "train pairs" i.e. that you can get a direct train out but not back. But the downsides to my mind outweigh the upsides massively.
To add insult to injury, RTT suggests that LNR are about to do exactly the same thing at New St.
At present, Ormskirk-Preston is operated on a "circuit" of Ormskirk-Preston-Blackpool S-Preston-Colne-Preston-Ormskirk. However, each leg is shown as a separate train in the timetable even though it is actually three through services - Ormskirk-Blackpool S, Blackpool S-Colne, Colne-Ormskirk (with a reverse).
The effect of this is that if you try to plan a journey from Ormskirk to Blackpool South, the connection "misses" at Preston (as the stop is only 2 minutes) and so you get shown a journey 62 minutes longer than it actually is. You could think "well, nobody will do that" - but how's about a family day out from Ormskirk to Blackpool Pleasure Beach? No, they'll drive in half what the journey planner tells them.
This is utter lunacy and will be putting people off travelling by train, and it would be so easy to fix. I believe the reason for not showing as through services was to avoid confusion by the lack of direct "train pairs" i.e. that you can get a direct train out but not back. But the downsides to my mind outweigh the upsides massively.
To add insult to injury, RTT suggests that LNR are about to do exactly the same thing at New St.