Circle Line to Barking

[ijmad]

Interesting configuration of SSR services today due to Engineering Works:

A special Circle line service operates between Edgware Road and Barking (via Victoria) and Hammersmith & City line trains operate between Hammersmith and Kings Cross St Pancras

Has the Circle Line ever run out to Barking before?

Obviously it's all the same trains and I know the same drivers cover Circle and H&C diagrams (so they'll have route knowledge out to Barking), but this is usually via Aldgate junction. Does their route knowledge include Minories junction, or are pilots from the District Line involved for the Tower Hill to Aldgate East part of the route?

 

[rebmcr]

Yes, many times for weekend engineering just like this. There are even regular weekday positioning services that are District-Circle hybrids.

 

[ijmad]

Makes sense. I hadn't noticed a special Circle Line service in this configuration before but perhaps there have been some!

 

[Dstock7080]

Does their route knowledge include Minories junction, or are pilots from the District Line involved for the Tower Hill to Aldgate East part of the route?

Circle and Hammersmith & City drivers are trained between Tower Hill and Aldgate East.

 

[DAN WOODHOUSE]

I think it was WTT 7 that introduced Circle Line starters and finishers to/from Barking Sidings on Saturdays.

2 of them were outer rail in the morning and inner rail in the evening (meaning they ran via Tower Hill) i always made a point of getting on one just to see the publics reaction when they realised it was not an H&C service

 

[AlbertBeale]

I think it was WTT 7 that introduced Circle Line starters and finishers to/from Barking Sidings on Saturdays.

2 of them were outer rail in the morning and inner rail in the evening (meaning they ran via Tower Hill) i always made a point of getting on one just to see the publics reaction when they realised it was not an H&C service

So if a train's coming in from Barking, and going via Tower Hill not Liverpool Street, is it described on platforms and so on as a District until it picks up the Circle Route? Or is it called a Circle all the way along? Similarly an Edgware Rd, anti-clockwise Circle, Barking one - does that start off being described as a Circle? It must confuse people who navigate by lines to see a train flagged to its true final destination if that destination clashes with the line it's starting out as (even though just giving route - ie via as opposed to line - and destination is logical, and fine for people with a mental map of the network).

I've enjoyed occasions when there's disruption on the H&C, and the Circles end up being switched to being real circles again. I'm never sure whether that confuses people, or comforts long-time users!

 

[Flinn Reed]

Wouldn't it make more sense for the special Edgware Road-Victoria-Barking services to be run as District Line?

 

[Dstock7080]

Wouldn't it make more sense for the special Edgware Road-Victoria-Barking services to be run as District Line?

That is exactly how it’s shown on the train.

 

[AlbertBeale]

That is exactly how it’s shown on the train.

So if it's flagged as a District from when it leaves Edgware Road, do they have special announcement on the train at High St Ken, warning people that despite being a "District" it's cutting the corner and not going to Earls Court?

 

[bluegoblin7]

No.

I’m not sure how the switch over of SMA1/2 has affected things (in theory true destinations can now be shown on platforms throughout that area), but prior to the switchover things worked as follows:

Inner Rail to Barking ex-Edgware Road:
-Described as Circle line via Victoria as far as Embankment, then Barking
-Displayed as Circle line via Victoria as far as South Kensington, then District line to Barking

Outer Rail to Edgware Road ex-Barking:
-Described as Special as far as Tower Hill then Circle line to Edgware Road
-Displayed as Circle line via Victoria/to Edgware Road throughout

The on-train displays often varied at the whims of the individual train operator.

 

[bionic]

There used to be a an outer rail circle on a Saturday morning that diverted from Liverpool Street to Whitechapel to reverse, then went back onto the outer rail at Tower Hill. This was historically done to even out wheel wear when circles were circles.

 

[moogal]

The on-train displays often varied at the whims of the individual train operator.

I've seen quite a few trains call at Bow Road westbound, described as "Special" on the platform, and correctly as a a "Circle line via..." service on the train itself.

 

[bluegoblin7]

I've seen quite a few trains call at Bow Road westbound, described as "Special" on the platform, and correctly as a a "Circle line via..." service on the train itself.

Exactly as it should be!

 

[PeterC]

Exactly as it should be!

As a boy I always wondered why all the light boxes had "special" on them. It seemed odd to have excursion trains on the District which was all I associated with the term back then.

 

[bluegoblin7]

Special is used for anything that isn’t an ordinary destination, including empty trains. In most places the CIS systems will now display a Special as ‘Not In Service’.