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Cross City clashes!
- Thread starter TheWalrus
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Well for a start xx42 bristol services go out towards birmingham international, and via camp hill, not mainline through five ways, not sure about why xx12 leaves one min before xx13 redditch
In my cynical way, I'd say that the problem's solved because the XX12 and XX42 XC services never leave on time! Of course, they can't pass until King's Norton; however, I have been on several of these XC services recently which have used the Camp Hill line (though I don't know if this is a regular thing).
That's interesting, does it take longer via camp hill?
Old Timer
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The Camp Hill is in regular use as I believe that every alternate Cross Country service is routed that way.
The route is slightly longer and will extend the duration of the journey by a few minutes because of the need to approach from the south via St. Andrews and Grand Jcts.
swt_passenger
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It was definitely stated at the time of the route changes (following franchise renewal) that all Manchester - Bristol trains would normally go via Camp Hill. Is is surprising that after nearly three years it is still considered unusual...
Sorry, am I being thick here? Why would there be an issue with a stopping service following an inter-city one?
Presumably, because a train which leaves at xx.12:00 (the XC fast train) will probably not pass the end of the platform until after xx.12:10 and will probably not clear the block after the end of the platform within 30 seconds, meaning that the starter signal for the local train won't clear until after xx.12:40, meaning the dispatch staff can't give the station work complete signal to the guard and have all the doors closed and the signal not showing red ready to give the driver the RA at xx.13:00.
In the old timetable Cross-city trains departed at xx.04, xx.14, etc. giving two minutes between the XCs and the stopper, and it was possible for a Cross-city to leave bang on time. Given the station work complete signal needs to be given at least 20 seconds beforehand for the train to depart exactly on time, I doubt it can be done (but would love to be proven wrong!)
I don't have a copy of the working timetable, but it may very well show the scheduled departure time one or two minutes after the public.
The Planner
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WTT has XCs leaving at xx:12 and the Cross City at xx:14. 2 minutes gap is fine as the XC is long gone by the time the Cross City is approaching Five Ways. The signallers have said it works and they would soon kick up a fuss if it didnt.
sprinterguy
Established Member
That's travelling inbound towards New Street though, which is a different kettle of fish to what's being talked about here. I don't know how the spacing pans out for these services, it's not hugely surprising that the faster XC services get slowed down between Kings Norton and New Street because of the stoppers, Cross City is a very frequent service.
The Planner
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The XCs are timed to catch up around the Selly Oak/University area.
So they catch up around King's Norton due to the padding in the timetable?
The Planner
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All XC and freight trains approaching Kings Norton have 1 minute engineering allowance in them. It is that tight up there though that if a Cross City is 1 or 2 late in conjunction with the engineering time you catch up a lot earlier.
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