Tight 'connection' at Worcester Shrub Hill

[radamfi]

I've learned a lot tonight.

It is impossible to have connections in a big country.

The Greater Zurich rail network is not very intensive.

It is impossible to maintain connections when a train is 2 minutes late.

 

[87015]

If you were to retime a train 2 minutes later to make it into a connection you would find more problems later into that train's journey. This would then escalate on others and finish up with the knock on effect between Penzance and Wick.

Really, a Malvern terminator which crosses just one train between there and Worcester (and said opposite train has plenty of time in the schedule between Malvern and Worcester) would create chaos across the length of Britain if retimed by a few minutes for a simple connection?

 

[bnm]

I've learned a lot tonight.
<snip>
The Greater Zurich rail network is not very intensive.

Where did you learn that?

 

[WestCoast]

I've learned a lot tonight.

It is impossible to have connections in a big country.

It is impossible to maintain connections when a train is 2 minutes late.

It is possible to do both of those things, the British approach is not the only way to run a railway.

However, holding connections will usually have ramifications further down the line in terms of line capacity or missed connections by other passengers. Therefore it's essential that a balance is struck between maintaining operational efficiency and passenger convenience.

Nevertheless, improved connections should definitely be something to strive for. It's unacceptable to not hold a train by one minute for the sole reason that passengers are connecting from another TOC. That's the nature of the delay attribution system and it's currently in the TOC's interests to not hold services.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

Really, a Malvern terminator which crosses just one train between there and Worcester (and said opposite train has plenty of time in the schedule between Malvern and Worcester) would create chaos across the length of Britain if retimed by a few minutes for a simple connection?

It depends on whether you are arguing about the specific incident or the wider principle. My opinion is that trains leave at their booked time, if there is a timetabling issue then that is a separate discussion and yes, perhaps FGW could look at that connection time in the future but for now it has to go as it is booked. What happens if you hold the train for one person at station X and because you did that three people miss their connection at station y? Or does that not matter because they didnt start a thread whining about it on an internet forum?

 

[martinsh]

If you were to retime a train 2 minutes later to make it into a connection you would find more problems later into that train's journey. This would then escalate on others and finish up with the knock on effect between Penzance and Wick.

You cannot be serious in this case ! The train is only going 10 miles down the line - where it then waits for 50 minutes before coming back !! The only possible conflict is with the previous train in the opposite direction - and that has a 9 minute wait at Evesham anyway.

I would suggest that the 1641 Worcester Shrub Hill to Malvern can confortably be retimed 5 minutes later without have any side effects at all.

 

[PHILIPE]

You cannot be serious in this case ! The train is only going 10 miles down the line - where it then waits for 50 minutes before coming back !! The only possible conflict is with the previous train in the opposite direction - and that has a 9 minute wait at Evesham anyway.

I would suggest that the 1641 Worcester Shrub Hill to Malvern can confortably be retimed 5 minutes later without have any side effects at all.

I was speaking generally but there is much skill involved in timing and even 1 minute can make a difference. It could possibly be done in this instance without any effect on anything else but many TOCs now strive for a clock face timetable. Also with fragmentation one TOC may not know what another is Planning so not having the full picture.