Trivia: Journey with a change quicker than the direct service

[mangyiscute]

I had an odd one recently - was travelling from Darlington to Kings Cross on the 16:05 LNER which arrives into London at 19:01 - it's faster to change at Doncaster for the 17:02 Hull Trains service this gets into London at 18:54. This is because the LNER service waits at Peterborough for 10 mins whilst the Hull Trains passes it.

 

[Halish Railway]

Outwood to Sheffield. It’s quicker to get off at Wakefield Westgate and wait for the CrossCountry service that will overtake the Northern stopper whilst it pulls into the Rotherham route.

 

[Alfie1014]

When Norwich in 90 came in on the GEML and many of the EMU services in the evening peak were re-jigged and slowed down to make space on the graph for them it resulted some perversities. It became quicker in at least one case to reach stations on the Clacton line by catching the 18:10 InterCity from Liv St and changing at Colchester. Bizarrely with very cheap advance tickets offered on the IC departures it could also be cheaper to get these trains too, booked far enough in advance a single to Clacton could be cheaper than one at around the same time to Chelmsford. So not only were passengers encouraged to use the longer distance trains but they were rewarded in doing so, bonkers!

 

[DanNCL]

Newcastle to Middlesbrough and Thornaby is often quicker with a change at Darlington instead of taking the direct train via Hartlepool.

 

[Kite159]

I had an odd one recently - was travelling from Darlington to Kings Cross on the 16:05 LNER which arrives into London at 19:01 - it's faster to change at Doncaster for the 17:02 Hull Trains service this gets into London at 18:54. This is because the LNER service waits at Peterborough for 10 mins whilst the Hull Trains passes it.

I've seen a couple times where a LNER "stopper" gets looped at Newark heading south [0940 Leeds to London Kings Cross]

Although that won't be easy for any passengers wanting a faster service as that one doesn't stop at Doncaster

 

[xotGD]

Several stations on the Harrogate loop have a quicker journey to York by changing at Leeds than on the direct train.

 

[TheSeeker]

Once got off the Eurostar at Ashford and took the coast train to Brighton. Fun but I suspect it would have been quicker via London.

 

[Townsend Hook]

Victoria to Bognor can sometimes be quicker if one stays in the Southampton/Portsmouth portion (which runs fast to Barnham), and then changes at Barnham, instead of sitting in the slower Bognor portion.

 

[Watershed]

Leyland to anywhere on the WCML south of Wigan is often quicker changing at Preston. It's not a permitted doubleback though.

The double back is permitted for such journeys, essentially due to the fact that Leyland falls under the same 'flow' as Preston for non-local journeys, and is therefore priced the same.

(This means that Preston passes the fares check and thus is a valid Routeing Point for Leyland)

 

[roversfan2001]

The double back is permitted for such journeys, essentially due to the fact that Leyland falls under the same 'flow' as Preston for non-local journeys, and is therefore priced the same.

(This means that Preston passes the fares check and thus is a valid Routeing Point for Leyland)

Easement 700033 sees to that - "Journeys to or from Leyland via Chorley OR Wigan North Western may not doubleback via Preston. This easement applies in both directions."

It's ridiculous.

 

[Watershed]

Easement 700033 sees to that - "Journeys to or from Leyland via Chorley OR Wigan North Western may not doubleback via Preston. This easement applies in both directions."

It's ridiculous.

That'll teach me for not checking the easements list! I don't think on train staff would know or care though, it's not like you're paying less than you would from Preston.

 

[TXMISTA]

Waterloo to Wembley Park on the Tube. Direct on the Jubilee Line is slower than changing onto the Met at Baker Street

 

[MarlowDonkey]

Waterloo to Wembley Park on the Tube. Direct on the Jubilee Line is slower than changing onto the Met at Baker Street

Similarly Ealing Broadway to Hammersmith. Changing to the Piccadilly at Acton Town invariably overtakes the District line train.

 

[mangyiscute]

also something like Ealing Broadway to Upminster - the district line is so long that its faster to take the central to mile end and change. Although google maps says it would be faster to take the district to tower hill then change to Fenchurch street for a c2c service, and the fastest route is central to bank, DLR to Limehouse then c2c to upminster

 

[MontyP]

How many journeys are there where the quickest route involves passing back through the station you left from?

For example, station B has a direct service to station Z which calls at all stations, but there is another train to station A which leaves earlier, and from there you can change onto a direct service to station Z which passes through station B without stopping.

There are a few of these on SWR e.g. from Raynes Park to Guildford or Wimbledon to Woking where it can be quicker to go back up the line toward London and change at Clapham Junction onto a fast train that then goes through Wimbledon, Raynes Park etc non-stop.

 

[Revilo]

The once a day CrossCountry Bristol Temple Meads to Stansted Airport service springs to mind here. It appears from Bristol that stations between Peterborough and Stansted are quicker to get to via London.

About 2 hours longer on the direct train Bristol to Stansted than via London! You could leave Bristol 40 minutes later than the direct 06:23 and still get to Stansted almost an hour and a half earlier going via Paddington. Direct train is more expensive too.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Chester to Manchester via Crewe is faster than the Northwich route when the Warrington line is closed (which it frequently is).

 

[IslandDweller]

Helensburgh Central to Edinburgh. There's a direct service every half hour via Aidrie. But it is almost always a few minutes quicker to change at Queen Street (lower to high level platforms) for the express service via Falkirk.

 

[d9009alycidon]

The 1E97, 16:11 direct from Glasgow Central to Newcastle takes 3 hours 56 minutes to complete the run, and will today cost £74.50 with no discounts according to the trainline. Alternatively you can leave Central at 17:07 and change into this train at Carlisle for the same price (3 hours) or you can leave Queen Street at 16:15 and one change at Edinburgh gets you there at 19:02, 2hrs 55 mins, this option you can today get 1st class for £45!!!

 

[40129]

I remember back in the 80s you could sometimes (theoretically) save a few minutes between Crewe and Piccadilly by changing on to a fast train at Stockport, thereby missing out the calls at Heaton Chapel and Levenshulme.

I say "theoretically" because the one time my Dad and I tried it, the fast train was running late and then got further delayed due to a bomb scare at Piccadilly, which was kind of ironic as we'd chosen Manchester for a day's spotting over London to try and avoid such issues. And yes, in those days they did announce "bomb scare" instead of "security alert"

 

[snookertam]

Glasgow Central to all points south of Ayr. Direct services run via Kilmarnock and are slower than using the subsequent Ayr service and changing there (at least that was always the case pre covid).