Completely Empty Trains

tsr · 1 Feb 2019

181 said:
I once had a carriage to myself and a train with only one other passenger on it on the London Underground in the rush hour

-- it was on the Aldwych branch, travelling south in the evening peak.

Had that going south on the Mill Hill East branch in the evening peak as well.

RailUK Forums

MontyP · 1 Feb 2019

2230 Bristol TM to Paddington one midweek night last week. Had an entire carriage to myself from Chippenham to Paddington. Not even a conductor or trolley came through.

LancasterRed · 2 Feb 2019

Late night trains out of Morecambe and the Cumbrian Coast towards Lancaster and Preston barely attract any passengers from my experience. In the case of the former, that's testament to the quality of the local buses in that area, more so now with the recent fleet upgrade.

ParleLover · 2 Feb 2019

Whistler40145 said:
Probably not completely empty, but I wonder how many passengers are on the Stockport to Stalybridge parly service?

Only Parle-Lovers!

I've been on that service quite a few times and it's usually very only old train geeks that are travelling (usually the same ones too!). Very few people actually get off in between Stockport - Stalybridge.

You do get the odd member of the GP appearing though...

ParleLover · 2 Feb 2019

pdeaves said:
Philosophically, if you were on the train, was it completely empty?

Realistically a train can never be empty as there is always a driver and usually a guard o_O

ParleLover · 2 Feb 2019

Wilts Wanderer said:
If anyone is familiar with Geoff Marshall’s channel on YouTube, you may have seen his recent video about early morning / late evening services Mon-Fri between Kensington Olympia and Earls Court (and thence seemingly a variety of destinations) which are unadvertised services in the sense that Kensington Olympia officially has services only weekends and event days, and therefore these unadvertised services are very lightly used indeed.

Are there any other examples of services not being used because they are not advertised at all?

Hmmmm... The Wolverhampton to Walsall (via Portobello Jn.) comes to mind....
[Parliamentary Train that is rather difficult to plan as it doesn't show up on National rail sometimes....]

ParleLover · 2 Feb 2019

frodshamfella said:
I think the evening Helsby to Ellesmere Port return service would be, it was when I went on it. When there were two returns of an afteŕnoon there were normally a few passengers, even passengers from Ince and Elton.

Yup I used to travel on that line a fair bit (until Northern changed the timetable). Had the whole train to myself usually!

700007 · 2 Feb 2019

Kite159 said:
08:03 is a bit early for the weekday leisure market from London as I would imagine anybody travelling from London to Cambridge that time of day will mostly be using anytime tickets

Indeed it is but I think having special advance and off peak ticket acceptance on this service and the 0833 will generate some extra usage.

gnolife · 2 Feb 2019

I had this afternoon's 14:35 Anniesland to Glasgow QS to myself as far as Possilpark & Parkhouse, where I got off without replacement

Dai Corner · 2 Feb 2019

Are we counting preserved lines?

I had a return trip as the only passenger on the Gwili Railway's DMU a year or two ago.

Poolie · 3 Feb 2019

Pre Grand Central, on a Sunday, travelled Kings Cross - Darlington. Changed for the Hartlepool terminator and I was the only passenger/customer all the way, so literally had the full service to myself (could that be a new thread)?

iphone76 · 3 Feb 2019

If you want to experience an empty 7 car 345 try later tonight between Romford and Shenfield with TfL Rail. They aren’t running any further into London due to works and the evening services are lightly loaded / non loaded.

dk1 · 3 Feb 2019

iphone76 said:
If you want to experience an empty 7 car 345 try later tonight between Romford and Shenfield with TfL Rail. They aren’t running any further into London due to works and the evening services are lightly loaded / non loaded.

The other week the drivers where having a bit of fun & where displaying Paddington on the onboard PIS. Wishful thinking for XR & especially as it was terminating Romford & very quiet indeed.

700007 · 3 Feb 2019

iphone76 said:
If you want to experience an empty 7 car 345 try later tonight between Romford and Shenfield with TfL Rail. They aren’t running any further into London due to works and the evening services are lightly loaded / non loaded.

Yes, especially this weekend as there are engineering possessions either side of Romford/Shenfield!! Absolute ghost train.

iphone76 · 3 Feb 2019

Annoyingly I forgot to make a note of some western destination PIS codes when I last visited the west side or I would had joined in when doing some ECS moves.

Modron · 5 Feb 2019

Done Maesteg-Bridgend a few times as the only passenger in a 143 carriage.

mikeg · 6 Feb 2019

Most times I have travelled between Morecambe and Heysham Port I have been the only one on the train. The number of passengers has never gone above single figures in my experience.

underbank · 9 Feb 2019

mikeg said:
Most times I have travelled between Morecambe and Heysham Port I have been the only one on the train. The number of passengers has never gone above single figures in my experience.

Not really surprising when there is a train only for the lunchtime sailing. No trains for the night crossings. So useless for a lot of people wanting travel in both directions. You really wouldn't get a train one way and then make alternative arrangements the other. Ironically, a night service would be a lot better used when there are fewer other options. The port station is also useless for people living in Heysham as it's too far from where people live. Also, a lunchtime only service is as much use as a chocolate fireguard for workers at the port or power station. A classic example of a pointless train - either scrap it or put on some proper services (and a proper station to serve the people of Heysham!).

Statto · 9 Feb 2019

Bletchleyite said:
I must admit to not understanding at all what the point of the extra dog-leg on that was. I think your report of low loadings confirms that there in fact was no point in it.

I used to catch that quite often Liverpool South Parkway-St Helens, quite refreshing being able to pick your seat as it was always empty, rather than hoping to beat the inevitable scrum to get a seat at Lime Street. Think the idea behind the Liverpool South Parkway[LPY] extension was passengers going to JL Airport, could stay on at Lime Street rather than changing trains, then changing to bus/cab at LPY.

fowler9 · 11 Feb 2019

Statto said:
I used to catch that quite often Liverpool South Parkway-St Helens, quite refreshing being able to pick your seat as it was always empty, rather than hoping to beat the inevitable scrum to get a seat at Lime Street. Think the idea behind the Liverpool South Parkway[LPY] extension was passengers going to JL Airport, could stay on at Lime Street rather than changing trains, then changing to bus/cab at LPY.

It was my favourite way to get from Parkway to town. I heard it was just a way of getting the unit out of the way at Lime Street.

philthetube · 12 Feb 2019

mikeg said:
Most times I have travelled between Morecambe and Heysham Port I have been the only one on the train. The number of passengers has never gone above single figures in my experience.

underbank said:
Not really surprising when there is a train only for the lunchtime sailing. No trains for the night crossings. So useless for a lot of people wanting travel in both directions. You really wouldn't get a train one way and then make alternative arrangements the other. Ironically, a night service would be a lot better used when there are fewer other options. The port station is also useless for people living in Heysham as it's too far from where people live. Also, a lunchtime only service is as much use as a chocolate fireguard for workers at the port or power station. A classic example of a pointless train - either scrap it or put on some proper services (and a proper station to serve the people of Heysham!).

When I have caught that it has been busy, 100 plus on one occasion. 345786 estimated entries/ exits 2017/18, over 100 daily allowing for no Sunday service, and this is one station where the figures are likely to be accurate.

bramling · 12 Feb 2019

philthetube said:
When I have caught that it has been busy, 100 plus on one occasion. 345786 estimated entries/ exits 2017/18, over 100 daily allowing for no Sunday service, and this is one station where the figures are likely to be accurate.

Only been on it once, but was fairly busy. I’d say at least 75% of seats taken both ways. Lancaster to Skipton was pretty empty though.

causton · 12 Feb 2019

mikeg said:
Most times I have travelled between Morecambe and Heysham Port I have been the only one on the train. The number of passengers has never gone above single figures in my experience.

It was actually quite busy when I last took it! (In 2015...)

185143 · 12 Feb 2019

I had 150268 to myself last night between Kirkham & Wesham and Preston. I suspect it had been empty from Blackpool South.

vlad · 12 Feb 2019

causton said:
View attachment 59051 View attachment 59052

It was actually quite busy when I last took it! (In 2015...)

I've done it once and it was absolutely heaving. I think my family were the only passengers who didn't head straight for the ferry.

I appreciate this was in the early 1990s (before the closure of Morecambe Promenade) so things will have changed!

SeanG · 12 Feb 2019

Do the Heysham on a winter Saturday - I am sure it will be quiet/empty then as the boat goes to Birkenhead

Deafdoggie · 13 Feb 2019

underbank said:
Not really surprising when there is a train only for the lunchtime sailing. No trains for the night crossings. So useless for a lot of people wanting travel in both directions. You really wouldn't get a train one way and then make alternative arrangements the other. Ironically, a night service would be a lot better used when there are fewer other options. The port station is also useless for people living in Heysham as it's too far from where people live. Also, a lunchtime only service is as much use as a chocolate fireguard for workers at the port or power station. A classic example of a pointless train - either scrap it or put on some proper services (and a proper station to serve the people of Heysham!).

The problem is where would a night train go? There are no services at Lancaster at that time of night, so you would just strand people somewhere else. Station usage figures suggest a reasonable number use the service as it is.

70014IronDuke · 13 Feb 2019

Kite159 said:
I would imagine the 0449 Shrewsbury to Llandrindod service will be empty most days, likewise for the 0453 Carmarthen to Llandovery

And the last trains of the day? Except for the summer, I can't imagine there will be many on for the last hour or 90 minutes of the journies, certainly this time of year? BICBW, of course.

craigybagel · 13 Feb 2019

70014IronDuke said:
And the last trains of the day? Except for the summer, I can't imagine there will be many on for the last hour or 90 minutes of the journies, certainly this time of year? BICBW, of course.

Very true. The last up service is routinely empty on arrival at Shrewsbury - in fact I've known it to be empty all the way from Llandrindod.

70014IronDuke · 14 Feb 2019

craigybagel said:
Very true. The last up service is routinely empty on arrival at Shrewsbury - in fact I've known it to be empty all the way from Llandrindod.

Hmmmm. I suspect the same is true at the southern end. Even though Swansea is a major destination, given the paucity of service, I really can't see many people waiting at Llandeilo at 21.10 for the last train south. In fact, that is a kind of neither here nor there time - too early to go out for a drink in the countryside in summer, and it gets into Swansea too late to do anything. It does go to Cardiff though, which might attract the odd extra passenger.

Completely Empty Trains

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