Joining and splitting trains en route

[duffield]

There are some East Midlands Trains services from St. Pancras that split into Corby and Leicester* portions at Kettering. I was on one a few weeks back. I can't identify it in the timetable though.
Might have been a one-off I suppose.

*And beyond

 

[30907]

Am I right in thinking that a few years ago there was a service in the peak which split at Westbury, front portion carried on to Warminster with the rear portion going to Frome where both parts would rejoin at Westbury to head back towards Bristol?

Might be as far back at Wessex Trains days

Fairly certain you are right, but not able to check.

 

[IKB]

You'd be hard pressed to beat Purley for the number of daily attachments/detachments.

4 to 5 attachments and the same number of detachments in the peaks, 2 attachments and detachments per hour off peak.

Some days it goes smoothly, others it's a total mess.

It only needs one portion to be late or for a driver to be displaced for the whole stack of cards to collapse.

I see the benefit it brings of reducing the overall number of trains through busy junctions, but simultaneously it introduces a major potential failure point into a trains journey which has a disproportionate impact when things aren't running smoothly. For that reason I'm not much of a fan of the practice with trains in service.

 

[Esker-pades]

Does the 12 car London Bridge to Horsham/Reigate/Tonbridge service still run? I can't think of any other service that divided twice in one journey.

 

[GW43125]

Does the 12 car London Bridge to Horsham/Reigate/Tonbridge service still run? I can't think of any other service that divided twice in one journey.

No, there are no through Tonbridge services anymore.

 

[Cricketer8for9]

Basingstoke on the South Western Main Line used to have the front 4 head off to Salisbury and the rear 8 head down to Southampton. What was different was that the front 4 was a 4TC set behind a class 33 and the rear 8 were 2x4VEP and so under electric power. Both diesel and electric were under power out of Waterloo.

 

[swt_passenger]

Basingstoke on the South Western Main Line used to have the front 4 head off to Salisbury and the rear 8 head down to Southampton. What was different was that the front 4 was a 4TC set behind a class 33 and the rear 8 were 2x4VEP and so under electric power. Both diesel and electric were under power out of Waterloo.

Only once a day though, wasn’t it? Hardly a major feature of the service.

 

[Cricketer8for9]

Yes, but where else did diesel and electric split?

 

[30907]

Yes, but where else did diesel and electric split?

Bournemouth, probably, but I don't think as a booked working.

 

[dk1]

Anglia & later NXEA obviously did with 170s attatching/detatching at Ipswich for Norwich/Bury/Lowestoft & this may happen again soon. Plans are for the first 'Norwich in 90' service to be formed of a pair of BMUs so possibly this will be one of the franchise commitments to restore through workings to the East Suffolk line. But then being a very tightly timed train the faffing around & all that entails these days with some TOCs may preclude this.

 

[swt_passenger]

Bournemouth, probably, but I don't think as a booked working.

As you say anything could happen during perturbations, but the split at Bournemouth was normally only a traction change, combined with reducing capacity of the train, so would still be excluded on the basis that it wasn’t a split to two different destinations as the OP asked.

 

[43055]

There are some East Midlands Trains services from St. Pancras that split into Corby and Leicester* portions at Kettering. I was on one a few weeks back. I can't identify it in the timetable though.
Might have been a one-off I suppose.

*And beyond

It use to be the 1700 to Corby and Sheffield before May but due to the changes in the timetable it is now two separate services which the Sheffield starting at Kettering off the 1627 ex Derby and the Corby is now 1650? With a HST from London I think

 

[duffield]

It use to be the 1700 to Corby and Sheffield before May but due to the changes in the timetable it is now two separate services which the Sheffield starting at Kettering off the 1627 ex Derby and the Corby is now 1650? With a HST from London I think

That would explain it then. Thinking about it, it was definitely more than 'a few weeks ago'.