What’s the speed improvements following this?
officially 100kph (62mph) on certain sections, though the ATO system seems to have more minor lower restictions programmed in - notably at Neasden where it slows down more than some of the trains did previously.
Overall the difference being that given enough distance between trains, ATO will deliver a consistent journey time and performance between stations where previously there was a larger time difference based on drivers individual driving styles.
You wll fee the quicker acceleration and most trains will reach 100kph whereas in manual mode the S stock was rather slow to reach 60mph, and drivers often opted for speeds between 48 to 56mph.
But the speed changes fairly frequently, the headline 100kph being sustained from Kilburn to Dollis Hill northbound and mainly south of Neasden to just before west Hampstead southbound, which feels quite lively if you are used to ambling in to Finchley Road
To be fair the timetable only demands 7 minutes from Finchley Road to wembey Park, so drivers cuould achieve that with a 50mph speed ceiling. The timetable seems to be based on long scrapped A-stock 50mph timings!
ATO improves the actual journey time to 6 minutes, closer to 5.5!
North of wembley, the signalling changeover at the boundary seems to extend journey times for the semi-fast trains not stopping at Preston Road or Northwick Park slightly - but under the current timetable there are more semi-fast trains although fewer trains on the met network than normal. So if you are heading north of Wembley, there is a chance you could end up on a faster service than a stopper. I think the Amersham Chesham and some Watford's are semi-fast right through the day!