InfoBleep nerdy trip reports

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Today the 7:35 Guildford to Waterlooeft on time and because I was a minute later than yesterday I still missed it. My fault but I just wish myself and the guard could coordinate the days we make mistakes! I'm sure mine are more frequent than theirs though.

So I then did something to fill the time and missed the 7:45 because it departed on time. School holidays.

Though given its the school holidays you might expect the 7:54 not to be delayed like yesterday, especially as the 7:45 wasn't cancelled today. Yet it picked up 11 minutes of delay creep which matched yesterday's delay time.

So I expected the 8:19 to be delayed and it was but only by 1 minute. Why that is never delayed by as much as the 7:54 I don't know as they are both 442s.

Thus I expected the 8:22 to be delayed and this was now the train I planned to get.

It was indeed delayed but not entirely due to the 8:19. That only left 1 minute late. There was a misunderstanding which despatch method would be used today. Guard always doss it one way and platform member of staff was expecting that they would do it another way.

The signal was red though at the end of the platform but maybe that stays red until the platform dispatch button is pressed, assuming it's safe for the signal to change of course. Another interesting thing about how the railways work thay I may have just inadvertently learnt.

I was then hoping they don't cancel stops on this service as a result, as we also got stuck at Woking junction. They didn't on Monday but that was then and this is now. Perhaps being school holidays we would make up some of the now 5 minute delay. We made up time on Monday and surely less people travel on a Wednesday. Alas no. By the time we departed Ehawe we were 5 minutes late. It did at least make up time at Surbtion.

I then alighted and got a delayed train to New Malden. There was a gap prior to the 213 turning up but I could see an X26 was due within 8 minutes so I part run to, two bus stops head. I got there just before the X26. It was slightly early so waited.

The question was, would the 213 catch up and then overtake it. It is half term. It didn't. In fact I suspected the 212 took longer than 10 minutes to reach New Malden Station. Not much longer but enough to make the X26 worthwhile.

At one stage today was it worth changing buses. The X26 didn't do too much waiting around even though it was the school holidays.snd it was running to the standard timetable rather than a holiday one.

This evening I got another X26. This time to East Croydon. I was running late and just had to hope the bus didn't leave early. I needn't have worried as it turned up at the time it should leave, which is when I arrived.

Traffic must still be bad even in the half term. Once every got off, and a lot did get off, we set off. We must have made really good time to Carshalton High Street as the bus waited a while there.

Yet upon leaving their we didn't wait at any other bus stop. In fact the bus got into East Croydon Station at the point at which it should depart.

Now given the small narrow road section between Sutton and Carshalton High Street, you might expect the delay to be greatest therenor at least comparable to the other sections of the journey.

This meant I just missed a train that was on time. Due to Murphy's law the next train was running 4 minutes late due to an earlier operational incident. It was refreshing to see a reason for such a short delay.

I had planned to take a nice train journey up to York in the coming weeks but a friend is driving and I imagine 4 people in one car is cheaper than the train.

 

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Something rather unusual happened a week ago today. The 17:55 Woking to Portsmouth departed on time. That was the first time since the new timetable. As it departed at 17:55½ I doubt the doors closed 30 seconds prior to the departure. It was of course still possible to catch it off the 17:51 arrival from Surbtion.

On Friday Real Time Trains have it as cancelled and they don't lost it for Monsyaor Tuesday so it's a planned cancellation.

As for the18:55, that most definitely was not on time and picking it up not a problem.

I got the 8:46 today from Guildford and it always departs from platform 2. However there is no train using platform 3 when it arrives, so I don't know why it doesn't use that and depart later. It could easily depart 4 minutes later. It is allowed 14 minutes to reach Woking and 16 minutes until it departs from Woking. After all SWR would like to speed up journey times.

 

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This evening I arrived at Surbtion hoping to get the 16:46.

At almost 16:45 the 16:41 turned up. Now if this leaves at 16:41 it should arrive into Clapham Junction at the same time as the 16:46. Both are booked to use platform 1.

So now the issue was do I hoard the late running 16:41 or get the 16:46. The 16:46 wasn't showing on the board.

Once the signalman made the 16:46 wait and it ended up running on the slow line all the way past New Malden and ending up 10 minutes late at Clapham Junction, whereas the 16:41 made up lots of lost time.

Other times it has been rerouted to use platform 2 but that hadn't been announced. So with nothing showing I boarded the 16:41 and hoped we'd make up time as it did that day in the past.

Alas just after the doors closed, the platform for the 16:46 changed. Lovely. Shortly after the trisn pulled in.

I would have expected the platform screen change to be earlier than this as surely it is based on the signals and the signals can't be that close to the platform.

Needless to say the 16:41 ground to a halt in between Berrylands and New Malden. I thought they wbates to stop trains waiting between stations. The 16:46 zoomed past at this point

So this time the 16:41 won't be making up lost time.

No doubt we are now stuck behind a slower stopping train. No announcement of course as to why we have having this delay creep. Actually change that. Just before Wimbledon the guard did apologise for the 6 minute delay

If only there was a more reliable way of working out which train to catch in circumstances like this. I appreciate it's probably impossible. The sooner they put up the platform change information though the better.

 

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The 18:40 Surbiton to Woking was cancelled last night due to staff storages. This occasionally occurred under the previous timetable prior to December when the 18:55 Woking to Portsmouth departed at 18:58.

Still no likely train missed train connections due to the retimed 17:55 and 18:55 Woking to Portsmouth services. In some caees one might need to run but rhata far less than thinking you need to run because the like departure time is inaccurate at Woking, save when the train is on time.

Tonight is planned to catch a train and I saw that the one ahead was delayed. It was due to depart around the same time so I thought fine, mine will be delayed but alas no problem. Alas mine was due to arrive first and in fact it was the former that was delayed.

Thus I missed my train as I'd given mywelf additional time I didn't have. I was less than a minute away from catching the train in question.

When estimating how long until a train departs when delayed, I find it never takes into account other trains running ahead or stops missed out.

It was only a 20 minute wait until the next train, and it should still connect with another train later in my journey. The delay may only be 20 minutes.

 

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Today I'm enjoying a fast service between Effingham Junction and Surbtion. It is a good job I didn't have to get out at a station in between.

Yesterday the 7:12 London Bridge service was started short at Effingham Junction owing to the 7:04 arrive from Waterloo into Guilford being 3 minutes late leaving Effingham Junction! Shows how tight the margins are.

Today the 7:04 arrived in 2 minutes early and the 7:12 was allowed to run. However for reasons not yet unknown, it departed at 7:17. So the 7:16 couldn't depart until 7:21.

As a result of it's 5 minute delay, all stops between Effingham Junction and Surbtion were cancelled. Not sure why they choose all of them. Perhaps they felt it's the only way to get the service back on track.

Previously I might have said it's just an agreed standard but then I came across a day when they only cancelled Claygate and Hinchley Wood so clearly they could cancel less stops.

Needless to say we passed through Hinchley Wood 2-3 minutes after it's arrival time so it was justified to get the train back on time but not helpful towards Mark Hopwood's intention of removing skip stopping. However I've seen the train 2 minutes late on other days without the Hinchley Wood stop being removed.

This train usually gets into Surbtion on time but today it arrived a minute late but was able to depart on time. As the train had been 7 minutes late departing London Road (Guildford) and 6 minutes from Effingham Junction, it shows that it takes 5 to 6 minutes for trains to stop at 4 stations between Effingham Junction and Hinchley Wood. I say 5 to 6 as the train was a minute late into Surbtion.

So that is just over a minute per station.

I wonder if the 7:12 got held up after departing Guildford but that would seem odd as usually if train needs to arrive into Guildford and cross over, the path of another train, they don't depart the preceeding train, so it must surely have got out of the way of the 7:19 arrival. Yet it was 8 minutes late leaving London Road (Guildford) rather than 5. I see it arrives there 6 minutes late, having lost a further minute after its Guildford departure.

 

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This evening I was in Hampton Wick. I had the choice of a 34 minute walk or a 281. My app said the next 281 was in 15 minutes, followed by a second just 2 minutes behind. Regularisation of buses not in action or perhaps that was still to happen on route.

Either way walking would get me to Surbtion station in time for my train. So I did a mixture of walking about running. The running being required as I stopped every so often to take photos.

I got the 23:00 Surbiton to Woking train. I arrived 10 seconds before the doors should close but they didn't as it hadn't arrived yet. The train was late into Surbtion but still arrived just prior to it's departure time. We were in 2 minutes late into Woking.

Once at Woking I heard an announcement for a platform change for the Portsmouth & Southsea service. It would now depart from platform 1. The board said it was expected in 2 minutes. I'd better get a move on. I didn't run all the way as I suspected it wouldn't turn up that quick.. Unusual to travel south from platform 1. Not sure the last time I did this. I know I've done it platform 2. In fact we caused a north bound service from Basingstoke to use platform 2 this evening.

Once on the platform I heard that the last 4 carriages would be detached. Fine. I'm on the train. There was at least three announcements for this train since I'd arrived at Woking.

When the doors closed so they could prepare to detach 4 coaches, I then saw a faster train listed on platform 4. I was on the late running 23:13 but the 23:27 was due. Too late as I couldn't get off.

That train in fact left first! I was so preoccupied with the announcement of the platform alteration that I didn't think to check if another train would depart first. Besises the board no doubt would have listed my train first, even though it would depart second as it cannot factor in the detachment of rolling stock delaying a train. The staff obviously didn't feel the need to point this out to anyone.

Still I did get to travel south from platform 1.

I had previously wondered about getting a pizza in Surbtion prior to heading back but decided to get the 23:00 to Woking. It transpired I could have done that and perhaps got this 23:13 train still as the 23:11 Surbtion go Alton train arrived in before we had departed.

However if that had gone wrong I'd have had some wait as the 23:43 Woking to Portsmouth & Southsea was delayed due to earlier trespassers and hadn't even left Waterloo yet

As for the train I was now on, although there was an apology for this delay creep, no reason was given as to why. Still half is better than silence. Be grateful for small mercies.

 

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So how would passengers fare this past week on off the 17:51 and 18:52 arrivals from Surbtion into Woking this week when cabnging the 17:55 and 18:55 Woking to Portsmouth services.

On Monday the 18:40 Surbtion to Woking was cancelled. That wasn't in conceivable prior to thr two Woking to Portsmouth services being retimed.

On Tuesday the 17:55 did a rare thing and departed on time. The 17:51 arrival was also on time. However although its due to arrive at 17:51 in thr passenger timetable, its actually 17:50½ in the working one and it arrived ½ minute early we at 17:50. So today passengers unusually had 5 minutes to make their connection.

That was the official time between trains when the 17:55 departed at 17:56.

For the rest of the week trans were delayed or moderately to severely delayed, depending on how delay you. Lass severely and in all cases one would make the connection.

 

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The timetable change finally caused passengers to miss the 18:55 when coming off the 18:52 arrival from Surbtion at Woking. I'm not certain though if this change occurred at the last timetable change or the one before.

The 18:30 departure to Portsmouth is now formed off the 17:55 arrival from Weymouth into Waterloo. It use to be something like the 18:13 arrival. Thus last night it was able to depart on time as it had more time to recover from the disruption. Not that it was disrupted as it arrived just before the disruption.

So it left pretty much on time, where as the 18:23 to Basingstoke, which should arrived into Woking at 18:52, arrived later and passengers missed it. It was 16 minutes late, having departed Waterloo 10 minutes late.

To the guards credit, they apologised for the delay. That isn't so common for that service. I'd expect it more on the 19:11 departure from Woking that I picked up at 19:21. It had been due at 19:17 right until 19:20 when for a brief moment if at all, it due at 19:20.

The issue wasn't caused by the 18:55 departing on time at Woking though. As it departed there 7 minutes late.

This morning the 7:12 Guildford to London Bridge was cancelled. From Guildford only of course. I was aiming for the 7:35 though. I just made that. It got held uo at Horsley but thankfully they didn't remove station from its service. The guard said we would be waiting here and if they got any further info they would let us know. I instantly though they won't get any further info. The delay is due to the late running 7:46

Why that was delayed I don't kkow but there was a track issue between Effingham Junction and Guildford. As that service starts at Effingham Junction and I don't know if it was affected

I alighted at New Malden and run down to board the X26, which I made. The 213 was 5 minutes away when I got to New Malden station. When I got to the New Fountain Roundabout it was 5 minutes away. The walk between the two is right minutes. Perhaps five with my running.

Traffic was OK and I got to my destination in reasonable time. Unlike the 7:34, which got further delayed outside Wimbledon due to a broken down train. It departed there 16 late!

 

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Interestingly the 17;40 arrival from Waterloo into Woking was 16 minutes late today.

It was 5 minutes late departing Waterloo and 9 late into Surbiton. It ended up behind the 17:46 arrival from Waterloo, that should run 4 minutes later than the 17:40 arrival between Surbiton and West Byfleet and then get into Woking 6 minutes after the 17:40.

Aa a result though it arrived 17:54 . This caused the 17:51 arrival to be latebabs thus cause passengers to miss the 17:55 to Portsmouth. That departed 17:56¾. In 17:55 use to depart at 17:56 prior to the recent timetable change..

The 17:52 departed at 17:59. Although rare this use to occur prior to the timetable change.

Now such issue with the 18:55 though.

 

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This evening I wished to catch the 16:46 from Surbtion. However my brain was thunk its 16:47. I can only out this down to the fact that on average it departs at 16:47 and there is an 18:47. Today though it departed at 16:46 when it should. It even used platform 1.

I just got into the platform as the doors were closing. In the words of Monty Pthyon's The Bishop, "We was too late".

I was on a bus and could have run but I thought I had time I was also diverted by the budget, which was I reading whilst in the bus and when I got off and saw 16:44 in my phone I thought fine I'll make it. Alas no. I do usually run and keep an eye on the train times but today I had something to do and thus needed to get a bus. I was extremely lucky one was there but less so that I then missed the train.

It means that running would now have been as fast as the next train is a stopping one that departs 11 minutes later. I enjoy running when it is faster or just as fast as a bus when making a connection. At least this train is also on time.

 

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I was at Clapham Junction at the footbridge and the train to Bognor Regis was wvubg advertised. It was 17:13 when it should leave.

I thought maybe I'd board it to East Croydon. By the time I got to the platform though it was the 17:09 that was being advertised. They announced this and as it was being announced by the automatic message, the screens updated to say the 17:02 train to Horsham was due.

I thought OK I'll board this. Alas this one goes via Carshalton and doesn't stop at East Croydon. The guard did helpfully announce this on the train as people got on and so did a manual announcement at the station.

Obviously it took slightly longer for the train to depart. Whilst there a train went south through platform 15 non-stop. The train left about 17:16

After it had left along came a passenger on crutches. They didn't have enough time to get from platforms 15 to 13. On top of that the next train is cancelled.

A member of South Western Railway staff was very apologetic and sounded helpful. Just the kind of customer service you'd want in such circumstances. No idea what time the person will get home.

I guess in times like this they have to do things for the greater good of the railway and passengers as a whole and last minute changes are needed.

I then looked up the issue and saw there was a points failure at Victoria. I decided to jump on the the late running 17:09, as I didn't know if the 17:22, would get delayed on route between Victoria and Clapham Junction.

I wasn't wrong as it did get delayed on route. However there is no other service from East Croydon going south before it there is a 17:22 and 17:29. Then the next one from London Bridge isn't until 17:47 in between that is two from Victoria but they are being delayed by a points failure.

There was a possibility the Caterham 17:09 train would be delayed outaide East Croydon. I was banking on that not occurring and I was kind of hoping maybe something else will be delayed and it will mean I get that from East Croydon. That didn't occur. Rather unusually the 17:09 arrived into platform 3 at East Croydon. Usually its 5 or 6.

I remembered as we neared Selhurst that first class was declassified. So off I went to it in it because I can. I got less than 4 minutes sitting time but it got me closer to the wonderful second footbridge at East Croydon. I say wonderful because Wimbledon has no such thing but seriously could do with one.

I actually needed platform 2 so headed there. Although I got a train that also stopped at Clapham Junction, it was a packed 8 carriage train so I helped releve the numbers by 1 at Clapham Junction. I got a seat on board. Before it left a Gatwick Express zoomed though. We departed some 11 minutes late. As we neared Horley we sold down and ended up departing there some 14 minutes late.

The delay was due to the Gatwick Express. Must have been some hold up with passengers at Gatwick Airport. We at least made up 2 minutes at Gatwick Airport and even more at Haywards Heath, arriving just under 12 minutes late. Every second counts.

 

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This evening my journey highlighted the pointlessness of retiming the 18:58 Woking to Portsmouth service to 18:55.

The 18:40 Surbtion to Basingstoke departed Waterloo on time but was eventually running 4 minutes late. Once I got to Surbtion it said on the departure board it was on time, even though it was already 18:40.

When I got on to the platform is was due at 18:43. This became 1ō:42. It departed at 18:43.

It eventually got to Woking just as thr train to Alton was departing. Great. I'll make the 18:55.

Oh no a door fault. So we waited and waited. Eventually the guard spoke to us to explain. Soon the doors opened. I was thinking I'm going to miss the 18:55. Still that could occur even if it had departed at 18:58

So after 2½ minutes the doors opened. Still no Portsmouth train so I had hope. I Legged it to the other platform island, knowing I didn't need to run the while way.

As I got to the platform arriving was the 18:55. It wasn't too busy tonight. It actually arrived in at 18:58½.

Ot then sat there. And sat some more. As we departed 19:02½, a train was going through platform 5. It was the non-stopping service to Weymouth. This should use platform 4 and if the Portsmouth train hadn't been on platform 4 it could have done. We of course needed to cross the path of the Weymouth train. This wouldn't have been necessary had we been on platform 5. The guard apologised for the delay and explained why we were 7 minutes late. The train had only been 2 minutes late passing through West Byfleet. By the time we hit the junction south of Woking we were 8 minutes late.

Still at least the train is timetabled to depart Woking earlier and speed up people's journey times on paper!

 

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Stop the press. Two extremely rare things happened. The 18:24 Clapham Junction to Haslemere departed at 18:24¼ tonight.That might be a first but I can't be certain. Usually when trains are quieter it wouldn't run. In the working timetable it's usually times to depart at 18:24½ so no idea if the doors closed 30 seconds prior to the passenger timetable departure.

However I can be certain that for the first time ever the 18:55 Woking to Portsmouth, well tonight Fratton, due to a lack of staff, departed on time. Shame it couldn't make it as far as it timetabled destination but one thing at a time. In fact it departed at 18:54¾. No doubt the doors closed at 18:54½.

The 18:52 arrival from Surbtion, arrived at 18:51¾. So long as you were in coach 10 of 12 and ran around the footbridge which was probably fairly empty,, you'd make the connection. Running is good exercise.

The 17:55 departed at 17:56¾. 17:56 is time it departed prior to the timetable change. The 17:51 arrived at 17:51¾. So 5 minute gap.

Alas due to having to practice social distancing, due to being in the government's servely advised category, I couldn't experience it. Such a shame as it's so rare. It may become rather common going forward of course.

Yesterday a train to Portsmouth got held up at Woking blocking platform 5 for a time. I don't know the reason as I didn't check yesterday prior to midnight.

This caused delays. As such the 17:51 didn't arrive into platform 5 until 17:58. No problem as the 17:55 didn't depart until 18:01¼. So a run round would have helped and you'd have made it.

An hour later the 18:52 arrived at 18:51½. The 18:55 departed at 18:56, so less running needed but just in case you might as well do it.

So it seems now that less people are travelling, they have more chance for the train to be on time

However if less are travelling they may cut the number of services and there may no longer be an 17:51 arrival, 17:55 departure, 18:52 arrival and 18:55 departure, not forgetting the 18:24 from Clapham Junction. Trains will run but probably at different times if this occurred.

I don't think the planners are psychics and forecasted this situation. So I still don't see why they changed the time of the 17:56 and 18:58 services.

 

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How times have changed. Today was my first train travel since 16 March. Guildford to Haywards Heath. I was on the 10:37, which nicely connects with a train at Redhill to Gatwick Airport. Alas so many are timed so you just miss a connection. I believe only 3 connect well. So helpful. It ends up making travel via Clapham Junction officially faster, even though Clapham Junction is a greater distance. It also causes them to lose our of revenue. Still revenue isn't an issue right now kf course during the morning high peak fast trains don't stop at Clapham Junction. Actually they do. With so few trains running, it has been possible to stop trains there. Wow. I hadn't noticed this. Shame I don't have an essential reason to change at Clapham Junction in the morning high peak right now. Would be a load of lovely unique journey opportunities.

Interestingly in the morning there is a gap in service for trains via Dorking Deepdene. There is one at 6:43 and then not one until 8:18. The 6:43 is interesting. To get to Haywards Heath using that service, National Rail Enquiries app suggests going to Redhill, getting a train to East Croydon and then travelling back down to Haywards Heath. This gets you in at 8:27. This isn't a permitted route however. If you avoid East Croydon then you get in at 8;33, which is only six minutes later but every minute seems to matter to National Rail Enquiries, even when no valid ticket is available for the journey being made.

Still at least the 8:18 is one that connects well. 1 hour 12 minutes. Best connections of the day.

So given hardly anyone is travelling, how was the train doing? Great.it departed on time from Guildford and arrived on time into Redhill

I wonder more boardly if any trains have left early in recent times because the guards or drivers aren't use to arriving on time or early into stations?! I wouldn't blame them if they did!

However due to the emergency timetable I did have to catch another five trains, so still time for delays to occur. In normal times it would be just another three. So there is still scope for one train to be delayed.. It did however seem less likely.

I was the only person in my carriages so who knows if anyone else was aboard, save the driver and guard.

My next train to Gatwick Airport had more people. So many free seats though and, someone still wanted to stand in the middle of the vestibule. So if you wanted to walk down the train you'd have to go into them. There was to be fair to them a toilet behind me. I'd only wanted to walk down so I could sit in declassified first class.

As I was due to get off at Gatwick Airport, again fully on time, a workman got on thr train, seemingly not bothered that I was getting off. Perhaps they have forgotten about the posters asking people to remain 2m apart. I headed to another door instead. He could have waited. Some people are rude. Don't they know what times we are living in?

I had wanted fo sit in declassified first class on the next connecting train I should have got but I didn't. The 11:40 departed Gatwick Airport on time and arrived into Haywards Heath on time but I wasn't on it.

Nope I was on another different but perhaps for some, confusing train. The 10:28 to Brighton. This is a Southern branded service and with less trains running you might think they would use Southern branded rolling stock. Alas no, it was Gatwick Express rolling stock.

When I looked at the departure summary screen, which was easy to access as hardly anyone about, I saw it was not only 11:28 but that the 11:28 to Haywards Heath from platform 7 was due in at 11:29. I was on platforms 1&2.

No sign of any train on platform 7. Thus with no one to get in my way, I ran round and caught it at 11:29 and it departed at 11:30,

I thus minimised my waiting time at the station, which is more enclosed than stations without a building above them.

The train left Victoira two minutes late and despite hardly anyone on board it doesn't seem to have been able to make up any lost time. Shows how tight the timetable may be - assuming the two minutes wasn't made up and lost again for some other reason.

So there we had it, not every train I took today was on time and I'd yet to return back to Guildford. To be fair this was an unofficial connection but I count the on time per train rather than per journey, as it is a recognition of just how hard it is for train operators to run trains on time not how hard it is to make official connections.

I was very glad I got the late running train as I was getting a blood test done at the Princess Royal Hospital and there was a partly secretive dead line to be met. Not that I knew this. Still don't help the enemy. Careless talk can give away vital secrets.

I had decided the best way to get there was on foot. I could use a bus but I'd have to pass a bus driver and is that fair on them, let alone me? I've been doing less walking lately so it would be good for me to walk. This I did.

Once I arrived there wasn't enough hand sanitizer so I just used old fashioned hand wash and water in the loo.

I then got to the phlebotomy department only to find they were shortly due to close. It was now 12:28 and since 30 March they have been closing at 12:30 instead of 16:30. The only issue is, its not on the hospitals Web Site. The standard opening hours are on third party Web Sites but not the hospital or the NHS one, never mind the changed hours.

I wouldn't have been happy if I'd missed out because of this as this was the key essential reason for travelling. I wonder how many people have made journeys that in hindsight were not essential but they didn't know this because the place theyi were going to didn't communicate properly?

Anyway blood test done I then went off to drop some medical waste off at my parents, where it will be collected during the week. In doing this today I was thus able to wish my mum a happy birthday from a safe distance. Who knows when I'll see my parents again. I may not have an essential reason for some time to go that way. I am lucky that by being in the moderate risk group, people are doing my shopping for me, so I do get to see people from a distance when they drop it off.

Not everyone has that luxury. Being in the moderate risk group and taking into account factors such as my age, one of my specialists deemed it OK for me to go for walks, as long as I seriously keep my distance. I don't do this every day though. Maybe once or twice a week.

After all of that it was time to catch a train. Well 3 trains. I managed to enjoy some declassified first class between Three Bridges and Redhill. Had I wanted a faster journey at an additional cost, I could have done a change of route excess to travel via Clapham Junction I chose not too and thus had a 10 minute wait at Three Bridges and a 20 minute one at Redhill. Going via Clapham Junction would have only saved me -1 minute but it's official faster. The train from Redhill is due in at 19:25 and it actually arrived today just before 19:23.

There was a later train into Redhill but alas no train from Haywards Heath to connect to it. All three trains I got back to were on time though.

Trains were slightly more busy but still more than enough space to socially distance oneself. I really enjoyed my train travel today.

No idea when I'll next be on a train

In the mean time, back to being shut up mostly at home. Still by saying at at home, I'm helping protect the NHS and helping to save lives.

 

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I may need to travel to Surbtion soon. I was surprised to find there are currently 5 trains from Surbtion to Woking between 19:00 and 19:59. In normal times it's only 3 trains. 2 of the additional trains are semi-fast too!

One of the stopping, trains, the 19:21, even goes on to Guildford. This replaces the 19:18 than use to run. However it doesn't get into Woking 3 minutes later. No it still arrives at 19:48! How nice is that.

I know South Western Railway were looking to speed up train times but I didn't expect it from a service such as that.

I appreciate this timetable is due to COVID-19 rather than speeding up services but I'm looking at it in a positive light.

By leaving 3 minutes later it's now 7 minutes later than the 19:14, rather than 4 minutes, so less chance of it being held up by it. I suspect as not so many people are travelling, the 19:14 is probably not as delayed as much.

There is now only 4 trains to Woking between 18:00 and 18 59 compared to the 5 previously. However 2 are semi-fast, so it's only one train becoming semi-fast

I shall look forward to travelling back from Surbiton, if I get the chance to do so and I will probably aim for the 19:21 as it's a service that doesn't usually run.

For direct trains to Guildford there is now only 1 from Surbtion between 18:00 and 18:59 and 2 between 19:00 and 19:59 but one can't have everything.

 

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The Austrian Garnd Prix is on today so I what better than a trip to my parents so that can watch the ORF 1 broadcast from Austria, thanks to my VPN subscription.

As a result I got to travel on declassified first class again and as a bonus treat I got the ability to claim some delay repay to offset my ticket costs! Happy days I guess.

This is my first trip since April 30 and I'm visiting my support bubble.

I'm also in the process of filling out a complaint form on the Advertising Standards Agency Web Site in respect of an advert South Western Railway are currently running on the London broadcast of LBC. The only difference between that and the national is localised adverts.

I woke up this morning around 4am and had to get up. Upom returning to bed I struggled to get back to sleep. I knew I would though as I always do.

However I then missed my 6:55am alarm I'd set last night. My plan was to catch the 07:47.

Last night I purchased a Exter Central to Exeter St David's part time annual season ticket to get a gold card. I was hoping it would be on my Touch smart card but alas no. Buying it online probably was an option but how would I get the gold part to use today? Besides I wasn't 100% certain if it would be issued on gold card stock.

Yesterday I'd seen a cheaper combination of train tickets on Train Split. Guildford to Redhill, Redhill to Three Bridges and Three Bridges to Haywards Heath. I can't get e-ticketing to the Southern/Govia Thames Railway barriered stations so I decided to buy elsewhere. Besides I wanted to try out my new Tough smart card. I got it after hearing the adverts on LBC.

So this morning I went to see what the return price would be and I couldn't get the price to show up again. Only split was at Horley and that may not have been sjitable but as it transpired it was. The save was only something like 30p but then Tesco's use to say, I think, every penny counts.

Great Western Railway are not running services to Gatwick Airport, owning to the stock used to run them, being used to run services to Bedwyn, rather than using the usual stock, which is laying unused near London Paddington I believe. They thought they would have a higher abscence of staff than they did. Thus they didn't think they'd be able to run services to and from Paddington, where the stock is kept.

A reliable service was priotised in the pandemic over an unreliable one. That is fair enough. It seems Govia Thameslink Railway had an ability to run a Saturday service but most other trisn operating companies didn't do didn't.

The government wanted TOCs to run full service from 6 July but that isn't happening on most TOCs, including GWR. They are adding more trains mid July so I don't see why trains to Gatwick Airport cannot be included.

So I got to the station and tried to buy a smart ticket to load onto my Touch card. However the ticket vending machine only presented me with a season ticket option. Now the advert on LBC radio said avoid using the station and buy online with their Touch Smart card and use it the next time you travel with them again

That, waking up late and the fact I couldn't find the fares I came across yesterday, meant I missed the 7:47.

So next service to Redhill was the 8:31. Alas this included a 45 minute wait at Redhill, as the train arrives in 2 minutes after a train to Gatwick Airport departed. It was timetabled to do this. The wait is 4 minutes longer than the journey time from Guildford to Gatwick Airport, when trains are running to that destination from Guildford!

By now I was trying to see if I could buy my touch smart card ticket online. Eventually I downloaded the South Western Railway app, only to find you can't select a via point. Not helpful or smart!

Alas the 9:31 to Haywards Heath via Redhill was 4 minutes slower than travelling via Clapham Junction so only the Clapham Junction one shows up. Never mind the 8:31 being about 20 minutes slower!

The Redhill route is just over £2 cheaper though. It's also faster on the return.

It turns out the only way to select a via point is using the full desktop Web Site. Using that on a mobile isn't easy but I proved it worked. It certainly wouldn't feature in one of their adverts!

It then transpired that smart tickets aren't avilable for the destination I selected, Haywards Heath.Thanks for their Twitter staff telling me that. The app and Web Site does surprisingly have a easy to access feedback option on all pages at least. Let's see if they listen to their cusomters and potential passengers.

Now Govia Thameslink Railway have a smart card called the Key. South Western Railway have a smart card called Touch. Not sure about Great Western Railway but I know the Department for Transport would like people to switch to smart ticketing. Not going to happen if you can't but the tickets!

So I had to go to the station to buy my ticket. I did this and then had to run for the train. Thankfully they didn't close the doors 30 seconds prior to departure and I didn't miss it. So close.

So I got to Redhill only to find engineering works had overrun and there was no train. Also no replacement buses running. I was told I could ask a bus driver if he'd accept my train ticket. The only way they would know there is disruption is if they looked it up themsleves. I'd expect the train company to put acceptance in place myself.

I did after this go online and saw there was no ticket acceptance listed for Redhill. Only central London. Some people give the impression Govia Thameslink Railway don't care about Redhill. I don't know if that really is the case. It's just the impression I get from what I read on here at times on this forum.

Also turns out I could have got a 10:11 to East Croydon and come back down. I saw the 10:07 to Tonbridge on platform 0 but hadn't realised of the problems at this point and didn't notice the change in trains. The train into Redhill goes to the very far end so you need to talk down the platform to reach the stairs. I could have done a cross platform change at Reigate had I known.

Eventually I got on the 10:51 to Gatwick Airport, sat in declassified first class. At Gatwick Airport I saw a Gatwick Express branded train in platform 5. I wondered if this was going to Brighton and stopping at Haywards Heath on route. It was 11:04 when I saw on the board the train departed 11:06 to Brighton. So I ran up the stairs and around to the platform. At the top a member of staff confirmed yes it wa stopping and I got on board, not long before it departed. Close. Running with a mask is OK but you certainly notice it afterwards!

I bought a return ticket as its only 5p more. However it meant my delay repay wi ve reduced as its 50% of half the ticket cost, rather than 50% of the full ticket cost. However I wasn't getting a lift back so needed the return.

There is a direct train from Gatwick Airport to Guildford today but it runs late this evening. It's the only one that runs each week. I think they run it to keep up staff compentacy than for the direct benefit of passengers. If staff don't work a route for 6 months I believe it drops off thier route card and they need to refresh their route. So if it didn't run, indirectly there may be problem when services to Gatwick Airport did return more fully.

So I finally ended up on a Gatwick Express branded services that isn't a Gatwick Express service, despite the branding on the side. It's a Southern service and it got stuck behind another train so I was being further delayed. However that did tip me over the 30 minute mark.

Interestingly from 6 July are will be running Gatwick Express branded trains that don't stop at Gatwick Airport. You know it makes sense.

This evening. I got the 19:48. I thought it might be a Thameslink service but it was a Southern one. I changed at Three Bridges and got in some more declassified first class.

Once at Redhill I boarded the train to Guildford. I was surprised at how quick my journey was. Then I realised it was a fast train. Why wasn't this one starting from Gatwick Airport like the final service of the day? Getting home on time next no further delay repay due.

 

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I wonder if there are any South Western Railway staff who have read the government advice on traveling.

I wonder if any TOC staff more widely across the country have read the National Rail Enquiries advice and the government advice..

I have read both. In the eyes of South Western Railway I might have been a very naughty boy. A very very naughty boy yesterday and in the eyes of government following their guidance as they want us to.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall listening to any top level meetings had at South Wstwen railway where they have of late discussed the advice they are putting out, vers what the government advice is. Have they decided being different from the government advice and why are they, for example?

The problem for SWR Twitter staff is that they might day follow government advice whilst saying essential travel only. Alas the two are not compatible.

Do they fundamentally disagree with the government? Do they think the government advice is weak, wolly and not worth the Web page is displayed on? They couldn't publicly criticise the government but they could do their own thing and ignore them.

Yesterday I took a non essential leisure trip from Guildford to Eynsford. A friend of a friend recommended the place. Never been there before myself. I was meeting two other friends. One own a car so could drive there. They didn't live to far away from me but not being thr same household I or bubble I couldn't car share there. Another could drive but didn't own a car. So took the train. I myself can't drive, even if I owned a car and Ithus I do took the train. Cycling wasn't an option as I can't ride a bike.

From Guildford there are just so many permitted ways one can get to Eynsford and many of them are of a similar length in time. Some don't alas show up as permitted routes when they are but that's due to the complexities of the routing system. I was running late so my original choice of taking a train at either 9:36 or 9:49 to Clapham Junction, then Victoria, next Bromley South and finally Eynsford didn't work out.

I would love to have done cross country via Redhill and Tonbridge. Alas I wasn't ready for the 10:13. Its worth nothing the 10:13 gets one in at 12:01

Theresa were I to leave Eynsford at 16:41.i wouldn't get into Guildford until 19:48! Just goes to show how crticial good train connections are. Their is one ond train an hour from Tonbridge to Redhill and alas it doesn't always connect well with the trains from Redhill to Guildford.

Let's hope that can be improved sometime.

So having missed those changes my next option was the 10:34. Now according to the official journey planner results, if get in at 12:35. Originally I'd planned to get in at 11:41. However I worked out that I had 20 minutes at Clapham Junction to get off my train and onto the train at Victoira. As a seasoned commuter, I new 20 minutes was plenty of time, even if officially it isn't.

Sure enough without any running what so ever, and even with the ability to decide whether to get the train to Victoria due in 2 minutes on platform 12 or the train to Victoira due in 2 minutes on platform on 14.

The platform 14 train would be slower if it stopped at Battersea Park but the platform 14 train arrives into a platform closer to the South Eastern side of London Victoira. The platform 12 train arrived first so that was the one I boarded.

I got onto my connecting train with just 5 minutes spare. Great. I've had much tighter official connections than this. Wimbledon springs to mind.

The trains themselves were not too busy. I mean much busier than 30 April but not to bad at all. People must be listening to thr SWR advice.

I took with me my May to September 1949 Southern Railway timetable book. Back then trains to Eynsford departed from Holborn Viaduct. Now it is London Blackfaires.

At London Victoria I noticed they had announcements saying you must wear a face covering. That's fine but what about those who can't. Well you might think they know this but to avoid confusion thr message just needs to be shortened and clear.

Well tell that to South Eastern who at their stations were broadcasting a slightly longer message that did say some are exempt on medical grounds. So are South Eastern being too generous? I don't think xo.

The train I was on, was first stop Bromley South. Never been there before. I had time once I was there to wait for my connecting train.

There was an up and down arrow on the stairs and some of the benches had do not use stickers on them as for 2m distancing rules, only 1 seat could be used.

No doubt when all this is over the posters and labels will be recycled. I hope some are kept for a museum of the times we have lived in.

I'm sure there is someone wanting to collect such stuff already!

Whilst on route I'd worked out that my final train would be a train with standard class only but I hadn't checked with TOC it would be. It was in fact a Thameslink branded service. Great. That meant first clsss being declassified throughout. I actually sat at the back.

Selfie taken and shared I was very happy. Soon enough I was in Eynsford and on time. Just shows what can happen when the railways have hardly any passengers.

There were no plans as to what we'd do here. So we walked into Eynsford. Lovely village with a Ford and a vehicle route through the Ford opening to weight restrictions on the bridge.

There was no footparh across the bridge for pedestrians but it did have two holds to stand in. But like railways with their holes for the platelayers. However once off the bridge there then was a small bridge with a footpath so that pedestrians weren't having to walk on the road! Two extrems in one short section of highway.
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Seeing the smallness of the village you wonder why there is still a railway statiom here. I guess the place is bigger than it looked. I mean there are 2 trains an hour so it must get some cusrom

I'm sure there are larger places than this though with no railway station any more. Those places may not have been so large when the railways closed. Whitby is large than this though and that had less services.

So once in the village, stopped off for a tKeSay for the later picnic.

We headed on towards a castle. Lillingstone Castle. To get there we had to walk along the side of a road under a viaduct. Eynsford viaduct. Looked beautiful.

The castle was bit open on Wednesdays or Thursdays so we just sat on some grass and had a picnic complete with some rosé wine.

We then walked along the river. Suddenly coming across Lullingtone Country Park. The xofds shop had closed at 3pm, so no chance of a cuppa.

Walking on further we found a route bavk to the station but with a train due in 20, we had to get a move on. However we then saw a sign saying their was a take away at a farm. So down we went, passed some beautiful lavender. When we got to the end though it found a sign saying no pedestrians, cars only and they had to drive a different way in.

Turned out they had problems dealing with pedestrians so decided to exclude them from their shop. They did have a take away at the end of this footpath but not today as they felt the weather would put people off coming along. They had been around all the various signs but forgotten about the sign at the end of the footparh directing us there!

Oh well one place not receiving our money. Could have gone on a lavender tour but decided against that. Ambling back to the station under a road bridge, we got to the station just in time for a 13:35 to Denmark Hill. My alternative was a train to Sevenoaks. This was running 7 minutes late so I'd miss a connection at Sevenoaks.

Besides I could travel via Clapham Junction. Whilst on the train I remembered though that I'd arrive during the period when no cast trains stop at Clapham Junction. I could go up to Waterloo but then I'd be doubling back, which isn't allowed on my return ticket, as far as I'm aware.

So at the next station, Swanley, I decided to get out and board a train to Sevenoaks. Whilst technically I was doubling back, I decided it would be OK as it was more a mistake than a deliberate deciding to double back.

It then also transpired that I could still make the same train at Waterloo, even though I'd miss the connection at Sevenoaks. This was due to the waiting time at Waterloo. I could have got an earlier connection if my train connected at Sevenoaks but that earlier connection at Waterloo would have been unofficial.

Thus I finally ended up on the 18:05 Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour. Despite nit departing at 18:00, this train was still skipping Woking. The train was on busy at all. Yes busier than it might have been on 30 April, had I got a train then. I was in the 5 coach from the front of the 10 car train. Given our quiet it was, I couldn't see why it couldn't stop at Woking. Unless there are platform and lathing issues of course. In place of its 18:00 departure time was a train to Bournemouth.

 

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I just boarded what I thought was the 16:13 to Redhill.

Alas no it was the 16:14 to Reading. The train to Redhill departs from platform 5. This train departs from platform 8.

Now most hours of the day the train to Redhill departs from platform 8. As I've just learnt, only the 16:13 and 19:09 depart from platform 5.

6:08; 6:38; 8:09 and 22:10 use platform 4 and everything else uses platform 8.

I saw a train in the platform from the road and jumped on it without checking. My fault.

Now when fast trains to Watloo use to depart from pajtform 3, as they did occasionally, they woild have signs telling you this. Perhaps they could do something for this service, given the in frequency of it using platform 5.

Annoyingly this is a fast train to North Camp. I only have a 20 minute wiat for a stopping train back but that train then waits at Guildford Station for 13 minutes so I'll be an hour late because of this

Alas the train is waiting for a non existent trisn to overtake it.

They introduced a new timetable but not the trains even without COVID-19 the new timetable would ha e been introduced without the trains.

Shame they couldn't have continued with the pre May timetable, given a lot fo TOCs had to recreate timetables anyway.

If their was direct trains to Gatwick I might have checked the platform better as I'd expect either platform 4 or 8. Still entirely my fault though as I didn't check. Still annoying.