There are other factors that have a bearing on this: for instance delays are often cumulative - Why do trains often start their journey late? Because often they arrived late. Then because of the long block sections on some routes (I'm thinking Shrewsbury to Chester with some very lengthy block sections, and a single line section as well) then if one train is delayed then those following it have to wait for it to clear the section, which then makes those ones late as well, and so it goes on. This doesn't just affect that route, but also the other routes that particular unit will be operating on during the rest of the day.
Because the 175s have gone, but not all the 197s have arrived, older 150/153s are being used away from their usual routes, which don't always fit with the expectations of the timetable. For instance yesterday I caught a 150 from Wrexham that was supposed to go to Birmingham International. It started from Holyhead and was about 10 mins late at Wrexham. When we got to Shrewsbury (where I was leaving the train) the train (by now about 15mins late) was terminated and passengers for Birmingham transferred to a 158 in the adjacent platform (delaying things further) - possibly because the 150 wasn't suitable for the next service it would form from Birmingham - to Aberystwyth, which of course is out of bounds for 150s and needs the specially equipped 158s.
For another example, earlier in the month I again was going to Wrexham from Shrewsbury in the early morning, with an eventual destination on the Borderlands line. My train was delayed at Shrewsbury due to a late running freight train going to Dee Marsh on the Borderlands line. We were then held further at Gobowen waiting for the freight to clear the section at Wrexham. Meanwhile at Wrexham the Borderlands 230 was delayed by the same freight train being sent on ahead of it. Often the freights are held in platform 3 at Wrexham to give priority to the passenger trains, but on this occasion platform 3 was needed by my train that was terminating at Wrexham and platform 3 is the only platform signalled for that move. Holding the freight would have left my train waiting outside Wrexham, and the following Holyhead train waiting at Gobowen which would then would complicate things on the single line north of Wrexham heading towards Chester. So that one freight train delayed at least two passenger trains following it up the mainline with knock on effects on the North Wales Coast line, the line back to Shrewsbury and onto Birmingham (the next move for my delayed train), and a totally disrupted timetable on the Borderlands Line (which many would have blamed on the - on this occasion - totally innocent 230).
The answer to some of this will come once all the new trains are running (hence giving a more uniform and compatible fleet), and everyone is fully familiar with them, but the infrastructure also needs improving to increase capacity, and enable greater flexibility, and increase reliability - too often we hear of delays due to signal or points failures
www.dailypost.co.uk
