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SWR Missing out stops to make up time

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TrainTube

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They do this on kingston rounders, even 5 mins will see trains skip 5+ stations
 
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DelW

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It's particularly egregious when (as on SWR) many services have been cut, meaning gaps between trains are often twice as long as in normal times.

How "the railway" expects passengers to return when they're treated with such contempt as this is beyond me.
 

Kite159

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Thank you. That explains it.

As usual the customer is worse off for a change on the railway. It needs a re-think: simple way would be for a fail to call to be double the penalty for a delay.

Make it ten times the penalty for the delay, that might make the TOCs reduce the use of skip stopping when a train is a mere 5 minutes late.

How they hope to encourage passengers back when the taxpayer funding tap is turned down
 

davews

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Thanks for the explanation, absolutely crazy. I think a carefully worded message to the complaints team will be on its way from here. And as I pointed out they make sure they only give you a 29 minute delay repay for catching that next train 30 minutes later having made sure that train is 'early'.
 

IanXC

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Make it ten times the penalty for the delay, that might make the TOCs reduce the use of skip stopping when a train is a mere 5 minutes late.

How they hope to encourage passengers back when the taxpayer funding tap is turned down

I'm not sure why the DfT would "make it ten time the penalty" for delivering the objective the DfT have asked for?
 

MontyP

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They've always done this, particularly in the morning peaks. In the old days when things were busy it used to make things worse - they'd run a train non-stop in from somewhere like New Malden, meaning that the build-up of passengers at Raynes Park, Wimbledon, etc. then delayed the following services as it took so long to board.
 

furnessvale

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This has happened a few times in the past with the Manchester Buxton service. Announced at Hazel Grove that the train was now express to Buxton. All intermediate passengers to get off and wait for the next train.

Result, a virtually empty train departing for Buxton and 30 or so on the platform.
 

Bald Rick

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Make it ten times the penalty for the delay, that might make the TOCs reduce the use of skip stopping when a train is a mere 5 minutes late.

How they hope to encourage passengers back when the taxpayer funding tap is turned down

It is a missed stop, and therefore a part cancellation, and therefore attracts the part cancellation penalty. Often this will be far more than 10x the delay.
 

bb21

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Make it ten times the penalty for the delay, that might make the TOCs reduce the use of skip stopping when a train is a mere 5 minutes late.

How they hope to encourage passengers back when the taxpayer funding tap is turned down
A punitive regime almost never works. In any case making things more punitive will just result in such financial risks being built into the contract, as is, costing the taxpayers even more.

Unfortunately you can often lay the blame at meddling by the politicians' feet. The all-singing-all-dancing new metrics turned out not to be such a wonderful utopia after all. I wonder who could have told them that... :rolleyes:
 

Kite159

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A punitive regime almost never works. In any case making things more punitive will just result in such financial risks being built into the contract, as is, costing the taxpayers even more.

Unfortunately you can often lay the blame at meddling by the politicians' feet. The all-singing-all-dancing new metrics turned out not to be such a wonderful utopia after all. I wonder who could have told them that... :rolleyes:

Something dreamt up by a civil servant whose only use of the railways outside London Underground is the rare time they travel for business for some conference?
 

bb21

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Something dreamt up by a civil servant whose only use of the railways outside London Underground is the rare time they travel for business for some conference?
More like those whose mathematics lessons were taught by music teachers.

(It is a metaphor before anyone gets too excited.)
 

nanstallon

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Unfortunately this happens all over the country - punctuality figures are deemed to be far mare important than the convenience of passengers
Oh, come on - you didn't really think that the railways were meant to run for the benefit of the fare and tax paying public, did you?
 

davews

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SWR do it again...
On my trip to town today came back on 2C47 1550 from Waterloo. When I arrived the train had not come in, at one point it disappeared from the departure board but came back. Around 1600 it came in, a 455 instead of the expected 458, 'late leaving depot'. We all got on, departure board on platform still showing all stations. As we pulled out the guard came on but nobody in our carriage could hear a word of what he was saying. When it sailed through Clapham Junction I suspected something.... anyway it continued non stop to Staines, even going via the Hounslow loop, before stopping. Popped out and checked with guard what was going on, yes it was stopping at Martins Heron, which it did, 10 minutes late. Some of the other passengers who got off at Staines were not amused....
 

Dren Ahmeti

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Something else I've noticed anecdotally is performance seems to be worse since everything started stopping at Longcross. Whereas before you had the 3 minutes' recovery by not stopping, you don't get that and 5' late off Staines seems to be the norm these days.
Blame our mate for that, J... :rolleyes:

I once saw a 2C run fast Reading to Waterloo when it was delayed inbound by an hour.
The thing is, when service recovery is deemed a priority - as Wessex would probably not allow it to present late at Waterloo during the peak - it causes situations like this.
 
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