Minimum Connection Time York Station.

[TRAINLINCS]

We are travelling from Inverness to Newark Northgate 1st April with an East Coast Rewards tickets on the Highland Chieftain arriving York 13-56. Our conneection to Newark departs 14-01. Will 5 minutes be enough time. We will not be able to use stairs with luggage and are fairly slow walkers. Does anyone know the platforms used by these services and should we be worried. Perhaps we shouldn't be as these are the trains allocated by East Coast on line booking engine so they must feel that we have comfortable time to make the connection.

 

[philjo]

Those trains are normally a cross platform connection - the train from Inverness should use Platform 5 and the stopper start from the adjacent Bay platform 6 however the Inverness train could use another platform if it is late or other services are late.

Last time I made that change the train from Scotland was a couple of minutes late but it had to go first anyway before the stopper could leave so the cross-platform connection was held.

 

[Holmbridge]

It would appear that today's Inverness train was a little late but the onward train via Newark was held as the chieftain runs non stop and needs the path clear. So unless it is well late you should be fine

 

[TRAINLINCS]

Thanks for quick reply. I have misread the arrival time of The Chieftain. It should read 13-53 - so that gives us 8 minutes in total - should just about do it if on time.

 

[Crossover]

If EC have allowed it to be booked as a through service, it'll meet the connection times required and I would imagine that a missed connection that wasn't your fault would be covered by EC in allowing travel on the next available service

 

[SeanG]

the HC could use Platform 3, however, which would be a longer walk.
Though if you get off around the middle of the train, you'll be near the lifts for the subway, which bring you out next to the north end of platform 6

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I think the minimum stated connection time at York is eight minutes.

 

[High Dyke]

the HC could use Platform 3, however, which would be a longer walk.
Though if you get off around the middle of the train, you'll be near the lifts for the subway, which bring you out next to the north end of platform 6

Which would be near the back of the Newark train.

 

[brompton rail]

All of the York - Kings Cross stoppers are booked to depart from platform 6. Also all of the trains they connect with, including the Highland Chieftain, are booked on platform 5, thus making the cross platform very straightforward and convenient. On those occasions when the Chieftain is really late the connection will depart at booked time. Onward connections from York then depend on how late it is, and it is not unknown for the Chieftain to make additional stops.

 

[DarloRich]

East Coast tend to cross platform these trains and hold the stopper till the express arrives.

I often use the 16:01 from York and it is often a few minutes late away waiting for passengers off the express

 

[SeanG]

Very refreshing to see EC doing this in the modern times of the railway. A good bit of common sense

 

[yorkie]

If the connection is missed (ie, if the Chieftain is more than about 15 minutes late) then you'd be on the 1430 from York which, if on time, would get you into Newark 22 minutes late, so you'd not be eligible for Delay Repay. Of course, if further delays were encountered and you arrived at Newark at or after 1425, then Delay Repay would be applicable.

the HC could use Platform 3, however, which would be a longer walk.

Unlikely - they made the Chieftain wait nearly 10 minutes today for Platform 5 (a queue of less important trains were blocking Platform 5, one of which should really have been re-platformed).

 

[Hadders]

I did this exact connection a week ago. Train to train is a mere 10 paces across the platform!

When I did it a few months before the Chieftain was running 10 minutes and the 1401 departure was held because as others have said the Chieftain can't be held up behind a slower service!

It's interesting to see how tightly timed the services are at this time.

The 1356 Chieftain departure runs non-stop to Kings Cross arriving 1550
The 1401 EC stopper arrives KGX at 1625
The 1406 Grand Central service also runs non-stop to KGX arriving at 1611.

The GC service overtakes the EC stopper at Doncaster but this demonstrates how tightly timed it all is - the EC stopper cannot go first as it would significantly delay the GC and Chieftain. I guess the only time this will happen is when there are severe delays.

 

[yorkie]

They can overtake at Doncaster, Retford, Newark, Peterborough. If the 1401 was let out on time that wouldn't necessarily delay the Chieftain as it could still overtake, but they are reluctant to do that as it would make many people miss their connections (some would be 1 hour late as a result).

However when different Companies are involved, the stopper tends not to wait, as the Company operating the stopper would want to be compensated. The priority for many TOCs is delay attribution money, not customer service. It makes financial sense for EC to hold a stopper for their customers coming off their train, as EC would be the ones paying out if it didn't wait.