[trivia] Journeys were you can pick up slower trains that departed before the faster trains

arb · 6 Oct 2018

Ely to King's Cross, since the May timetable changes.

The direct Great Northern Ely to King's Cross trains wait at Cambridge for so long that for most hours in the day, instead of boarding the xx:47 departure at Ely, you can board the following CrossCountry train at xx:53, and still meet the official connection times to be able to change back onto the Great Northern train at Cambridge. This one is amusing because the train you're catching up with is actually a fast train, not a stopper, although it's fair to say that the "fast" in this case only refers to the part of its journey after it has left Cambridge.

RailUK Forums

vlad · 6 Oct 2018

causton said:
Even worse than that, as I think you mean xx35 from Chester, which means xx56 from Crewe!

Did I read the wrong line in the timetable again? It wouldn't be the first time.... :oops:

Parallel · 6 Oct 2018

If you are travelling from stations Westbury and Bath Spa to Cheltenham Spa, it is 'more time efficient' to wait for the Cardiff train half an hour after the direct one, change at Temple Meads onto XC and get to Chelteham before the stopper arrives. However, for convenience or comfort I just usually get the direct one, especially if travelling onto Worcester.

AndyNLondon · 7 Oct 2018

Another London one are trains to Epsom Downs: from Victoria, if you miss a direct train (departing at xx00 or xx30), rather than waiting the half hour you can catch the next train calling at Sutton (the xx11 or xx41, both to Epsom) and be there 6 minutes before the train you thought you'd missed.

61653 HTAFC · 7 Oct 2018

Leeds to Darton is one:
At Leeds (usually P17) let the Sheffield via Castleford stopping service leave, and board the Lincoln/Nottingham* fast that will usually be at the blocks in the same platform. At Wakefield Kirkgate, alight from the fast and wait for the stopper which was overtaken while doing the Castleford reversal.

*=it's one or the other, not both! Get it wrong and you'll be treated to a tour of the "Five Towns" before getting to Wakefield and will eventually end up back at Leeds again!

agbrs_Jack · 8 Oct 2018

Sundays only:
2149 Manchester Piccadilly to Stoke-on-Trent (Northern) (One of the 5 southbound Northern services on Sundays)
2205 Manchester Piccadilly to Birmingham NS (CrossCountry)

2149 is booked into P3 at Macclesfield for 11 minutes (2218-2229)
Congleton and Kidsgrove passengers can get the later XC service and alight at MAC, changing onto the Northern service.

Crossover · 8 Oct 2018

xx02 Crewe to London Euston, but instead catch the xx19 from Crewe and you will arrive at Stafford significantly earlier than the xx02 due to it going via Stoke (in an old timetable some years ago, I did this and photted the former leaving Crewe and arriving at Stafford)

A specific one, there is a 2103 Stafford to Manchester Piccadilly XC via Stoke which is "overtaken" by the 2104 Stafford to Manchester Piccadilly VT via Wilmslow and Styal - the latter arrives at Piccadilly about 5 minutes earlier than the XC (and misses out Stockport) - when on this the other week, we (on the VT Pendolino) level pegged the Voyager from Stafford to the diversion for the flyover

One that you will get all day is Leeds to Huddersfield via Dewsbury in both directions (the stopper is looped around Mirfield going West and at Dewsbury going East) before one even factors in the via Bradford Interchange stopper as well!

Southern · 9 Oct 2018

Don't know how well this one would works in practice anymore but here it goes:

Missed the xx49 London Bridge - Dover train and need a station East of Ashford? Hot foot it over to Platform 5 for the xx51 to Bedford, changing at St Pancras and catch the xx12 HS1 service to Ashford - if all connections are met, you should be at Ashford 15 minutes before the Dover train.

Esker-pades · 9 Oct 2018

Southern said:
Don't know how well this one would works in practice anymore but here it goes:

Missed the xx49 London Bridge - Dover train and need a station East of Ashford? Hot foot it over to Platform 5 for the xx51 to Bedford, changing at St Pancras and catch the xx12 HS1 service to Ashford - if all connections are met, you should be at Ashford 15 minutes before the Dover train.

2 minutes to change platforms at the new London Bridge is virtually impossible. Especially with large groups of tourists milling around blocking paths.

Kite159 · 9 Oct 2018

FelixtheCat said:
2 minutes to change platforms at the new London Bridge is virtually impossible. Especially with large groups of tourists milling around blocking paths.

You can do it if you know which door of the train lines up with the top of the stairs to allow a fast getaway.

Although if you miss the Dover train it will be likely you will also miss the Bedford service, without the probable extra cost premium of using the High Speed lines (depending on tickets held)

Esker-pades · 9 Oct 2018

Kite159 said:
You can do it if you know which door of the train lines up with the top of the stairs to allow a fast getaway.

Although if you miss the Dover train it will be likely you will also miss the Bedford service, without the probable extra cost premium of using the High Speed lines (depending on tickets held)

I have managed it going from P3 to P5, but it's not something I would want to repeat. Especially when carrying anything.

Southern · 9 Oct 2018

FelixtheCat said:
2 minutes to change platforms at the new London Bridge is virtually impossible. Especially with large groups of tourists milling around blocking paths.

I guess it could be a problem for slow people, tend to avoid London Bridge and Thameslink these days so wouldn't know - simple before the rebuild, perhaps not so much now.

Esker-pades · 9 Oct 2018

Southern said:
I guess it could be a problem for slow people, tend to avoid London Bridge and Thameslink these days so wouldn't know - simple before the rebuild, perhaps not so much now.

I agree with you entirely. It takes twice as long as it used to to change trains. I remember the times when one could pull in parallel to a Charing Cross service, knowing that if one ran, one would be able to get it.

JBuchananGB · 10 Oct 2018

Trainfan344 said:
At least back in July, you could get a fast tpe from Leeds to Manchester Victoria, and then board a Leeds to Wigan local service that left 15-20 minutes earlier.

Certainly still can catch TPE Leeds to Manchester, then jump on the Leeds to Southport service which you have overtaken en route.

Southern · 10 Oct 2018

FelixtheCat said:
I agree with you entirely. It takes twice as long as it used to to change trains. I remember the times when one could pull in parallel to a Charing Cross service, knowing that if one ran, one would be able to get it.

So much for progress eh...I mean I suppose they can run a hell of a lot more trains now but if interchange is so laborious, was it really worth it?

No hope tonight as Thameslink appears to be up a well known creek without a paddle...

big all · 10 Oct 2018

i caught the thames clyde once "for the experience"

off course with a peak it took 12 hours end to end so i would imagine via paddington euston marleybone kings cross and possibly even liverpoolstreet would provide connections in the spirit off this thread possibly even euston to glasgow and back to carlise to pick it up on the way to glasgow :lol:

61653 HTAFC · 11 Oct 2018

Crossover said:
xx02 Crewe to London Euston, but instead catch the xx19 from Crewe and you will arrive at Stafford significantly earlier than the xx02 due to it going via Stoke (in an old timetable some years ago, I did this and photted the former leaving Crewe and arriving at Stafford)

A specific one, there is a 2103 Stafford to Manchester Piccadilly XC via Stoke which is "overtaken" by the 2104 Stafford to Manchester Piccadilly VT via Wilmslow and Styal - the latter arrives at Piccadilly about 5 minutes earlier than the XC (and misses out Stockport) - when on this the other week, we (on the VT Pendolino) level pegged the Voyager from Stafford to the diversion for the flyover

One that you will get all day is Leeds to Huddersfield via Dewsbury in both directions (the stopper is looped around Mirfield going West and at Dewsbury going East) before one even factors in the via Bradford Interchange stopper as well!

The "Dewsbury switcheroo" was far better under the old timetable. Effectively gave Batley a 2tph service to Huddersfield and Manchester, and at pretty much half-hour intervals.

Crossover · 11 Oct 2018

61653 HTAFC said:
The "Dewsbury switcheroo" was far better under the old timetable. Effectively gave Batley a 2tph service to Huddersfield and Manchester, and at pretty much half-hour intervals.

That, plus a change at Dewsbury could speed up a journey from Morley/Batley (possibly Cottingley, I can't remember which service did which of there and Ravensthorpe) as the following TPE would overtake the Northern at Mirfield (as long as the TPE ran RT)

61653 HTAFC · 11 Oct 2018

Crossover said:
That, plus a change at Dewsbury could speed up a journey from Morley/Batley (possibly Cottingley, I can't remember which service did which of there and Ravensthorpe) as the following TPE would overtake the Northern at Mirfield (as long as the TPE ran RT)

The Huddersfield service called Cottingley up only during the day, with the Brighouse/Victoria service doing the opposite. Ravensthorpe was only on the HUD stopper, though the Calder Valley service called additionally in the peaks. The change at Dewsbury was pretty reliable (though on-paper was below the minimum connection time), as you'd know if the TPE had been sent out ahead of the stopper (as it was occasionally) when it flew past you!

Mag_seven · 11 Oct 2018

You can change at Taunton off a West Country - Padd via Bristol service onto a direct B&H service and rejoin the original service at Reading.

leo knight · 13 Oct 2018

XX55 leaves Southampton Central(slow)
XX00 leaves Southampton central(fast)
The fast train overtakes at Eastleigh around XX10 and slow leaves Eastleigh at XX14 you can pick the slower train up down the line at Basingstoke as XX00 arrives bstoke at XX36 and XX55 arrives at XX42 so you can change at basingstoke for fleet farnborough and Clapham Junction or even Waterloo.
The slower train ends up arriving around only 14 mins at Waterloo behind the fast!
The fast train is non stop from Basingstoke to Clapham Junction.

Brissle Girl · 13 Oct 2018

So in summary there are countless examples of this scenario all across the country, and anywhere where a four track railway exists will see examples. It’s so common as to not really be noteworthy.

70014IronDuke · 1 Nov 2018

It's a thing of the past now - but when BR ran some Class 1 trains via the Durham coast, could you leave Newcastle later, run via Darlington and pick them up at York? I strongly suspect you could, even in HST days - when the up train reversed at Middlesbrough, IIRC.
And what about in the 50s and v early 60s - and some Newcastle - Leeds (-Liverpools?) went via Ripon: could you get a later train from Newcastle and change at Northallerton?

TBSchenker · 1 Nov 2018

There is an 0422 Glasgow Central - Manchester Piccadilly TPE service and an 0428 Glasgow Central - London Euston Virgin service.

The 0428 Virgin service is booked to overtake the TPE at Carstairs, but if you wanted Manchester you could catch the Virgin service to Preston (arrive 0654, go and get some breakfast from a cafe and be back at Preston in time for the 0422 from Glasgow to arrive at 0745 and continue onto Manchester with a better breakfast than anyone else who had been on that train from Glasgow.

Bikeman78 · 12 Nov 2018

infobleep said:
The sinario is this:
Stopping train departs before fast train, both from station A. By getting fast train you can pick up stopping train later in its journey.

What examples of this are there? Are there quite a few?

This came about after I noticed tomorrow that the 7.03 Guildford to Waterloo via Cobham arrives into Surbtion at 7.40. That's perfectly normal, abet it doesn't aways arrive on time.

What was interesting to me though was that if you got 7.07 fast Guildford to Waterloo, I worked out that if one changed at Woking for a semi fast service to Surbtion, you'd arrive in at 7.37. Thus unofficially at last, since its under the minimum official connection time of 6 minutes, you could change onto the stopping service later in its journey, despite the fact it left Guildford first. This is due to a strike timetable but I'm sure examples exist elsewhere that are more regular.

When I live in Horsham, the stoppers used to depart from Victoria at xx:10 and xx:40. The xx:17 to Littlehampton and xx:47 to Hastings were much faster and beat them to Gatwick. I used the fast train many times over the years. I can't specifically recall a time when it missed but it was very close on some occasions, only overtaking the stopper at Horley. Then I had to run from platform 5 to 3 at Gatwick.

td97 · 12 Nov 2018

Newcastle or Durham: 1452(NCL)/1505(DHM) 9M13 TPE service as far as Darlington, arr 1521
Darlington: 1527 1E17 LNER service as far as York, arr 1554
York: 9M13 TPE, dep 1609

1E17 departs Newcastle at 1459, 7 minutes later than the TPE, but arrives at York 10 minutes before it

Statto · 13 Nov 2018

Crossover said:
xx02 Crewe to London Euston, but instead catch the xx19 from Crewe and you will arrive at Stafford significantly earlier than the xx02 due to it going via Stoke (in an old timetable some years ago, I did this and photted the former leaving Crewe and arriving at Stafford)

There's also another one, VT a few minutes later at xx25 Crewe-Stafford, although not valid using LNWR only tickets, the xx02 from Crewe arrives in Stafford around xx56, journey planners actually suggest the later departures from Crewe then change at Stafford, same when returning as part of the itinerary.

cactustwirly · 13 Nov 2018

If you take the xx50 service from Paddington, you can catch the xx42 stopper from Slough

30909 · 14 Nov 2018

I thought this was posted elsewhere xx00 Waterloo - Portsmouth Harbour change at Haslemere into xx45 for Liphook, Liss & Rowlands Castle. in the peak also xx30 change into xx15 for those stations.

[trivia] Journeys were you can pick up slower trains that departed before the faster trains

Member

RailUK Forums

Member

Established Member

Member

Veteran Member

Member

Established Member

Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Established Member

Member

Established Member

Member

Member

On Moderation

Veteran Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Forum Staff

Member

Established Member

Established Member

Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Member