18.40 glasgow-new street service,connection query??

[Tin Rocket]

Hi all,thinking about using the saturday evening VT 18.40 out of glasgow central in to new st at 22.47,and then the last LM service onward to Rugby at 22.53,any one got any stats as to wether this service has been running to time?? 6 mins is not a lot to play with,any info gratefully recieved cheers.

 

[MCR247]

You probably wont make it. And the minimum connection time is 12mins, so if you missed it you would be by yourself on getting home, whereas if you left 12mins, but the VT was late, I think they would have to get you a way home. Although TBH i'm not sure on the last bit though

 

[tony_mac]

There is a later VT train, so no worries about being stranded.

6 minutes at New Street is definitely not a lot to play with!
I have no idea, but you could check the national rail departure boards to see what is happening over the next couple of days.

The train running at the moment is 30 mins late at Oxenholme, but estimated to arrive on time at New Street.

 

[bengolding]

On a weekday, the last VT to Euston leaves Wolves at 22:45 and New St at 23:10. This train calls at Rugby. I don't think this train runs on Saturdays though.

 

[tony_mac]

oops, sorry, I didn't check the day!

 

[me123]

The train running at the moment is 30 mins late at Oxenholme, but estimated to arrive on time at New Street.

If it's got that kind of slack in it, you may be OK. On the whole, though, I've heard horror stories about Birmingham New Street. Even Cross Country, who use the station as a "hub" of sorts, suggest you change elsewhere. Allowing the 6 minutes, however, will not allow for any delay for your arrival into Birmingham.

There is no later service; I would seriously allow extra time to at least ensure the connection. If you can, for example, take an earlier train such as the 18:00, then I would strongly advise that you do that; this is the last train that you can take to guarantee a connection to Rugby the same day. If you can spare the extra 40 minutes in Scotland (of course, I appreciate that if you're on an Advance ticket you may not be able to do this) then I would suggest you take this course.

 

[voyagerdude220]

The train running at the moment is 30 mins late at Oxenholme, but estimated to arrive on time at New Street.

Please note that the New Street estimate often shows 'on time', regardless of the delay which the service into New Street may be suffering, because of the fact it's linked to the actual arrival/departure system at New Street, which doesn't appear to update itself as much, compared to the automated system used on NRES elswhere.

The best way of telling, is making sure that NRES's estimate includes 15 minutes travelling time between Wolverhampton and Birmingham New Street- the minimum needed, based on a straight though run without any stopping/slower services getting in the way.

The 17:40 Glasgow to Birmingham left Oxenholme 31 late, Wolverhampton 37 late and NRES states that it supposedly arrived into New Street just 11 late- yes that's right- "departed Wolves 22:10, arrived New Street 22:02".. if that's right.. erm..

And to answer the OP's question- I don't have any stats etc, but would personally predict that your chances are very slim of an on time arrival, simply based on the fact that i think it only takes a few minutes delay on the service in say Scotland/Cumbria/Lancashire, for it to be stuck behind slower services, particularly south of Warrington- LM services ex Liverpool and the Wolves-New Street bottleneck spring to mind.

 

[harz99]

As others have said, 12 minutes is the MINIMUM connection time at New Street; and in reality 20 is much safer.

If the OP insists on trying to make this 6 minute connection for whatever reason, he needs to have an alternative plan for getting himself to Rugby when he misses the 2253 departure.

Failure to observe the laid down minimum connection between scheduled arrival/departure times will result in no help whatever from staff at the station to get him home.

 

[snowhill]

As a Birmingham area resident and fairly frequent user of the Wolverhampton to BNS line can I just make a comment based on experience.

The service is frequently subjected to delays during peak periods due to lack of capacity (only 2 tracks). However, most services have quite a bit of recovery time built in to the timetable and it is not uncommon to sit impatiently in Wolves, or inside the BNS tunnel, for sometime and still arrive on time or even a minute or two early.

Two things mitigate in the OP favour. Namely this service is allowed 24 mins from Wolves to BNS, at the dead of night, and could easily cover the ground in 15mins with a clear road. The Rugby service is booked off platform 4A. I can't find a platform booked for the Glasgow arrival but, as I assume its a voyager, it could well be 4B or 5A/B Even 2/3 or 5/6 would only require around 3mins for a determined and agile person - I often manage to make an 11 min connection walking from BNS to Moor Street although, at 77y.o., I do get a bit puffed these days.

All that said, for the sake of 40 mins,the 18.00 off Glasgow Central has a booked connection at Wolverhampton (arr 21.31) into the 21.45 Pendolino (Rugby arr 22.41) and with both using Platform 3 theres no problem changing platforms. I would be inclined to play safe and use this if an 1800 departure can be achieved

Dave

 

[harz99]

Hi all,thinking about using the saturday evening VT 18.40 out of glasgow central in to new st at 22.47,and then the last LM service onward to Rugby at 22.53,any one got any stats as to wether this service has been running to time?? 6 mins is not a lot to play with,any info gratefully recieved cheers.

Have you done it yet? If so, how did it go?