Recently, Avanti have started diagramming 1M20 (15:40 Glasgow Central - London Euston via Trent Valley) to run as 2 x 221's as opposed to the normal 390 that would operate this route.
Strangely, it seems as if the timing load has not been adjusted to account for the lower EPS speeds permitted for the 221 sets compared to the 390's. As a result, this service has ran consistently late over the past week:
Monday - Left Glasgow Central on time at 15:40, was running 5 minutes late by the time it arrived in Carlisle, remained roughly 5-7 minutes behind schedule as far as Crewe, picked up time and arrived into Euston only 1 minute late.
(https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/Y30511/2021-03-22/detailed#allox_id=0)
Tuesday - Left Glasgow Central on time at 15:40, was running 9 minutes late by the time it arrived in Carlisle, this then increased further to running 15 minutes late by Lancaster, which continued most of the way to Euston, where it arrived 13 minutes late.
(https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/Y30511/2021-03-23/detailed#allox_id=0)
Wednesday - Left Glasgow Central on time, was running 3 minutes late by Carlisle, increased to 5 mins late by Penrith, then maintained a roughly 1-5 minute delay throughout the journey, arriving into Euston 6 mins late.
(https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/Y30511/2021-03-24/detailed#allox_id=0)
Thursday - Left Glasgow Central on time, was running 4 minutes late by Carlisle, ran roughly 1-4 mins late throughout the journey, arriving into Euston only 30 seconds behind schedule (this wasn't too bad today).
(https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/Y30511/2021-03-25/detailed#allox_id=0)
Friday - Left Glasgow Central on time, was running 11 minutes late by Carlisle, this increased to 16 mins late by Preston and 22 mins late by Crewe. Arrived into Euston 25 mins late.
(https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/Y30511/2021-03-26/detailed#allox_id=0)
Why is this being done? It's clear that, with the train arriving into Euston within 5 minutes of it's stated time on only 2 days out of 5, the train running 10+ mins late on 2 out of 5 days, and the train not arriving on time into Carlisle once during the week, the 221 is not able to keep up with the timing load of a 390. Avanti should not be advertising these times on their timetable if they are not confident they can be kept to and, whilst I'm sure the timetable/planning/allocating dept. wouldn't simply overlook this, is there a valid explanation for why this is consistently happening?
Strangely, it seems as if the timing load has not been adjusted to account for the lower EPS speeds permitted for the 221 sets compared to the 390's. As a result, this service has ran consistently late over the past week:
Monday - Left Glasgow Central on time at 15:40, was running 5 minutes late by the time it arrived in Carlisle, remained roughly 5-7 minutes behind schedule as far as Crewe, picked up time and arrived into Euston only 1 minute late.
(https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/Y30511/2021-03-22/detailed#allox_id=0)
Tuesday - Left Glasgow Central on time at 15:40, was running 9 minutes late by the time it arrived in Carlisle, this then increased further to running 15 minutes late by Lancaster, which continued most of the way to Euston, where it arrived 13 minutes late.
(https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/Y30511/2021-03-23/detailed#allox_id=0)
Wednesday - Left Glasgow Central on time, was running 3 minutes late by Carlisle, increased to 5 mins late by Penrith, then maintained a roughly 1-5 minute delay throughout the journey, arriving into Euston 6 mins late.
(https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/Y30511/2021-03-24/detailed#allox_id=0)
Thursday - Left Glasgow Central on time, was running 4 minutes late by Carlisle, ran roughly 1-4 mins late throughout the journey, arriving into Euston only 30 seconds behind schedule (this wasn't too bad today).
(https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/Y30511/2021-03-25/detailed#allox_id=0)
Friday - Left Glasgow Central on time, was running 11 minutes late by Carlisle, this increased to 16 mins late by Preston and 22 mins late by Crewe. Arrived into Euston 25 mins late.
(https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/Y30511/2021-03-26/detailed#allox_id=0)
Why is this being done? It's clear that, with the train arriving into Euston within 5 minutes of it's stated time on only 2 days out of 5, the train running 10+ mins late on 2 out of 5 days, and the train not arriving on time into Carlisle once during the week, the 221 is not able to keep up with the timing load of a 390. Avanti should not be advertising these times on their timetable if they are not confident they can be kept to and, whilst I'm sure the timetable/planning/allocating dept. wouldn't simply overlook this, is there a valid explanation for why this is consistently happening?