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[trivia] Journeys where you can start on a slow train, switch to fast one and pick up slow again

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infobleep

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Are three any journeys where you can switch from a slower service to a fast service and then pick up the same slower service again later in its journey? I appreciate one might be waiting at a station for the slower train to catch up and you might be thinking whats the point. Well because you can!

Thai thought came to be me after I noticed something similar but not quite the same. I'll post a separate trivia thread on that.
 
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AlexNL

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I did this in the Netherlands, a few years ago.

I was on a slow service from Den Haag Centraal (The Hague) heading for Roosendaal. This service did not have a toilet, but I felt an upcoming need to go to the bathroom. I left the service at Rotterdam Centraal, and joined an intercity service for Venlo which did have a toilet. At Dordrecht, I left the intercity and re-joined the slow train to Roosendaal, happy to have been able to relieve my bladder. :)
 

bb21

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Start on the Down Poole semi-fast, change to the Weymouth behind at Southampton, and change back onto the Poole at Brock.

Possible on the Met in the peaks thanks to fast running of some services.
 

infobleep

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Start on the Down Poole semi-fast, change to the Weymouth behind at Southampton, and change back onto the Poole at Brock.

Possible on the Met in the peaks thanks to fast running of some services.
Whenever I waited for a fast train in the peaks on the Met, I often found it was slower than staying on the stopping service. I must admit I didn't use it very often and if I did, it meant disruption between Euston and Harrow and Wealdstone
 
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causton

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Not checked it with the current timetable, but before I have done back in First Capital Connect days...

Hatfield - Potters Bar on a stopping 313
Potters Bar - Finsbury Park on a fast 317
Finsbury Park - Moorgate, not only on the stopping 313, but the one ahead of the original one I boarded (due to it running late)!
 

USBT

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Waterloo-Hampton Court.

Take the xx06/36 Hampton Court train from Waterloo, get off at Clapham Junction, take the Basingstoke train, watch it overtake the original around Raynes Park, change and rejoin the HMC train at Surbiton.

Requires a 4 minute change between platforms 11 and 9 at CLJ.
 

USBT

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There used to be quite a few of these on Southern before the May timetable recast.

The Caterham-Victoria stopper (and Tattenham Corner-Victoria evening stopper), change to a fast at East Croydon and back again at Clapham Junction. And I think the CAT-London Bridge stopper could be done by changing to the Horsham-London Bridge at East Croydon and back on at New Cross Gate.

But now there’s no longer a CAT-VIC ot TAT-VIC evening, the CAT-LBG stopper goes via Streatham, and no semi fasts to LBG call at New Cross Gate. That Southern recast certainly took out a lot of redundancy.
 

USBT

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I’ve found a current Southern. Epsom Downs to Victoria (via West Croydon/Selhurst), change at Sutton to a Dorking-Victoria via Mitcham Junction, and back to the original at Clapham Junction.
 

RailAleFan

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Sundays

09:32 Crewe to Stafford (LM 1U26 a. 10:15)

10:45 Stafford to Milton Keynes Central (VT 1A09 a. 11:45)

12:07 Milton Keynes Central to London Euston (back on LM 1U26 a. 13:01)
 

PeterC

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Whenever I waited for a fast train in the peaks o the Met, I ofrnr found it was slower than staying in the stopping service. I must admit I didn't use it very often and if I did, if meant disruption between Euston and Harrow and Wealdstone
I have known southbound Met fasts be held to let slows go first where the line drops from four tracks to two.
 

bramling

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Not checked it with the current timetable, but before I have done back in First Capital Connect days...

Hatfield - Potters Bar on a stopping 313
Potters Bar - Finsbury Park on a fast 317
Finsbury Park - Moorgate, not only on the stopping 313, but the one ahead of the original one I boarded (due to it running late)!

The new timetable has scotched that one - virtually every single KX-Cambridge/Cambridge North stopping service is now booked to remain on the slow lines.

Unless there's anything which happens to overtake something using the DS2/US2 between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace, the only chance of overtaking otherwise is if there's late running.
 

eastwestdivide

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Rainham Kent to Luton e.g.
1058 Thameslink from Rainham as far as Gravesend 1128, wait for the next Javelin at 1144 to St Pancras, hop off at 1205, have a leisurely coffee, go downstairs and re-board the same Luton train at 1243
 

GW43125

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Sometimes I do this if I know the driver and want to surprise them, I can take an Up Weybridge as far as Staines/Ashford/Feltham, change onto the Up Windsor then at Putney back onto the Weybridge.
 

Ianno87

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Once managed to find an Advance fare from Cambridge to Manchester:

Cambridge > Ely
Ely > Peterborough (EMT)
Peterborough > Doncaster (then VTEC)
Doncaster > Sheffield
Then...

Sheffield > Manchester on the same EMT service that had been alighted from at Peterborough!
 

peteb

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It's possible (when engineering works don't divert the XC train) to travel from Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester on the xx41 GWR DMU, change at BPW onto the following XC (which departed BRI xx00) voyager or HST, then alight at CNM for a short wait on same platform to catch the original DMU and continue to WOS. This is possible because the DMU diverts into Gloucester, then reverses on the triangle to continue to CNM whereas the XC by-passes Gloucester and thus overtakes the preceding train.
 

swt_passenger

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Start on the Down Poole semi-fast, change to the Weymouth behind at Southampton, and change back onto the Poole at Brock...
As you’ll know, it’s better than that, as not only can you use the first following Weymouth train, but also the XC to Bournemouth that follows that one, and the next Weymouth train half an hour later.

There probably won’t be many others like that...
 

CatfordCat

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Sometimes I do this if I know the driver and want to surprise them, I can take an Up Weybridge as far as Staines/Ashford/Feltham, change onto the Up Windsor then at Putney back onto the Weybridge.

i do hope you're not the guard...

;)
 

CHAPS2034

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Certainly used to be the case that you could catch a mid morning stopper from Paignton to Newton Abbot and then change to an HST to Exeter St Davids and then catch the same stopper again down to Exmouth. The stopper waited at Newton Abbot until the HST had left if everything was running to time.

Often had a laugh with the guard when he saw us getting on again at Exeter.:smile:
 

paddy1

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You can do it on a tube journey from Central London to Stanmore by travelling on Jubilee line to Finchley Road changing there onto a fast Metropolitan line service to Wembley Park and then back onto Jubilee line service to complete the journey to Stanmore.
 

bussnapperwm

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Would it be possible to do Birmingham to Coventry on a LNWR semi fast, Coventry to Milton Keynes/Watford Junction by Virgin then the same LNWR unit into London (and avoid the Northampton loop at the same time)?
 

Beebman

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Back in the eighties the Waterloo-Reading/Aldershot line had a mixture of fast and slow services with the latter being held for a few minutes at Ascot to connect with the former. Once I was travelling from Richmond to Earley on a slow service when I needed to make a phone call but of course there were no mobiles in those days! So I got off at Staines, found a call box just outside the station, made the quick call, then returned to the station in time to catch a fast service going to Guildford via Aldershot. I travelled on that to Ascot where I crossed the platform to the train I'd originally caught which was waiting to make the connection for stations to Reading!
 

MikeWM

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Once managed to find an Advance fare from Cambridge to Manchester:

Cambridge > Ely
Ely > Peterborough (EMT)
Peterborough > Doncaster (then VTEC)
Doncaster > Sheffield
Then...

Sheffield > Manchester on the same EMT service that had been alighted from at Peterborough!

I actually did something very similar last year, though not on an Advance.

Ely -> Peterborough on EMT, PBO to Leeds on VTEC, LDS to Manchester Picc on TPE and then back on the original EMT to Liverpool...

Probably no longer possible now most TPE go to Manchester Victoria.
 

Ianno87

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I actually did something very similar last year, though not on an Advance.

Ely -> Peterborough on EMT, PBO to Leeds on VTEC, LDS to Manchester Picc on TPE and then back on the original EMT to Liverpool...

Probably no longer possible now most TPE go to Manchester Victoria.

It's when you see examples like this, you can see some logic in splitting the service at Nottingham. It is basically stuck in the journey times and paths it achieved in about 1993, whilst the surrounding main lines have got quicker and more frequent.

Either forget it, or give it a chance and reinvent it (e.g. bypass Sheffield vis Dore South curve to accelerate Manchester-Nottingham/Anglia)
 

Esker-pades

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The direct Aberdeen to Penzance is very slow. It is possible to start off on it, change at Edinburgh for an ECML service to London, cross London, board a GWR service to Plymouth and then get back on the Aberdeen to Penzance service there.
 

Pshambro

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From any of the stations between Reading and Didcot Parkway you can take the stopping service to Reading, change for a semi-fast to Paddington (normally originating from Oxford or Cotswolds) and change at Slough, where upon you can wait for the stopping service you left at Reading, which will take you to Paddington. This is also possible in the reverse direction.

On the Underground between Acton town and Barons Court in either direction you can leave a District line and cross platform to the Piccadilly line, which misses out 4 intermediate stations then cross back to the district line. Going Eastbound it is highly likely you will be on district line train preceding the one you alighted from.
 

notlob.divad

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I am pretty sure, you can at certain times do Liverpool to Blackpool as:

Liverpool -> Wigan North Western: Change to VT Wigan -> Preston: Then get back on the original Liverpool -> Blackpool train to finish your journey.
You would be outside the the minimum connection time at Preston and possibly at Wigan too, but as both changes would be cross platform, a relatively healthy person would make it.
 

Ianno87

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The direct Aberdeen to Penzance is very slow. It is possible to start off on it, change at Edinburgh for an ECML service to London, cross London, board a GWR service to Plymouth and then get back on the Aberdeen to Penzance service there.


Or change at Haymarket (~9 minute connection), travel via the WCML, then change again at Birmingham New Street. At New St, you can even make a Penzance train one hour earlier!
 

sd0733

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An odd LNW/VT example is to board the 19:43 Euston to Crewe to Milton Keynes, change onto the 20:19 LNW service (19:46 ex euston) to Stafford or stoke then reboard the same pendo you left Euston on.
 

bionic

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In SE land you could get on the stopper from Sevenoaks to Orpington, change onto the fast at Orpington, overtake the stopper around Chislehurst, and then change back onto it at London Bridge for the run into Charing Cross.

This also works for pretty much any Thameslink stopper going to Luton. Travel on it from the south, change at St Pancras for a Bedford fast to St Albans, and then change back to the stopper again.

Why you'd want to do either of these things is another matter entirely.
 
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