[Trivia] Passenger Trains That Often Carry No Passengers For Entire Route

[The exile]

Things are run for whoever will hand you the concession again!

QED

 

[MikeT]

When running, the weekday late evening Marston Vale services tend to be near enough devoid of passengers.

What a memory you must have! Remembering when trains ran on the Marston Vale line after 6pm.

 

[route101]

Do you reckon they had Friday nights out in Motherwell town centre?

I am not sure. Perhaps someone coming home from or to shift work.

 

[FtoE]

For a while there was a very early service from Perth to Inverness - it was the only ScotRail that got in from the south before 0900. But it left Perth too early to allow a connection from Glasgow or Edinburgh. The twice I travelled on it there were never more than 4 people on it - including north from Kingussie / Aviemore where you think there might have been a few commuters.

 

[ServerHoster]

With a 70-80% cancellation rate and (presumably) no replacement buses, the stupidly timed trains between Ellesmere Port and Helsby must have many empty workings

Oh yes, when I did that train I was the only one on it until Helsby.

 

[RuralSquad93]

1H68 23.10 Corby to Kettering nearly always empty. 8 car formation since Dec change too.

 

[RHolmes]

2308 (1K40) Hull to Leeds usually carries more carriages than passengers

 

[AlistairCowell]

Maybe on some last on a late Sunday night, but I might be wrong though.

Also during the Spring 2020 COVID-19 lockdown for a start, giving how strict of everyone having to ‘Stay at Home’.

 

[E100]

The only time I've done this I was the only one on board. Ran fast to Stockport via Altrincham as a route learner but now runs via Warrington despite not actually stopping at Warrington! if anyone knows why let me know.

 

[MontyP]

I've been on the last train on the Cobham line in the London direction, even on a Fri/Sat night it is virtually empty so I imagine earlier in the week when it only runs as far as Wimbledon then it is a ghost train.

 

[12LDA28C]

The Chiltern Railways 'Parliamentary train' from Aylesbury / High Wycombe / Gerrards Cross (depending on timetable / year) to Paddington and back over the years famously hardly ever had anyone on board except the driver and guard with only the occasional crank turning up to get the 'rare' track in. Of course when the last service ran from Paddington back on 7th December 2018 the whole world suddenly took an interest so it was lucky that Chiltern train planning had provided a 3-car unit vice the usual diagrammed 2-car.

This lack of passengers continued when Chiltern then began running from South Ruislip to West Ealing but similar scenes were witnessed on the last day of that operation too with many people turning up to ride the final train.

 

[Russel]

Guessing most of these are positioning moves that would otherwise run as empty stock moves anyway, rather than the railway throwing money away on running empty trains because no one has looked at weather the services are actually needed?

 

[12LDA28C]

Guessing most of these are positioning moves that would otherwise run as empty stock moves anyway, rather than the railway throwing money away on running empty trains because no one has looked at weather the services are actually needed?

Indeed although of course 'parliamentary trains' are run purely to keep a route open rather than because the service is actually required to satisfy passenger demand.

 

[Krokodil]

View attachment 151032

The only time I've done this I was the only one on board. Ran fast to Stockport via Altrincham as a route learner but now runs via Warrington despite not actually stopping at Warrington! if anyone knows why let me know.

Why doesn't it run via Stockport or why doesn't it call at Warrington? Route knowledge via the Mid-Cheshire has been cut to save money (it was hardly used because paths were hard to come by without upsetting the level crossing risk assessments). Warrington gets locked and left when unstaffed so trains can't call.

 

[E100]

Ah that explains the lack of stop at WBQ. I presumed as much in terms of the Cheshire Lines. Thanks for the info.

 

[Killingworth]

Detailed knowledge of how railways work may be thin on the Labour benches. As an example from 2020 look at https://nowthenmagazine.com/articles/sheaf-valley-railway-mps-submit-bid-to-reopen-axed-stations

It got nowhere.

Sheaf Valley Railway: MPs submit bid to reopen axed stations Louise Haigh and Olivia Blake back reopening of Heeley and Millhouses stations as part of "just, green recovery" from Covid-19.​

Two Sheffield MPs have submitted a bid to reopen closed railway stations at Heeley and Millhouses as part of a proposed expansion of passenger services in the Sheaf Valley.
Louise Haigh and Olivia Blake have responded to a call from the Department for Transport, who have asked for suggestions of axed services that could be restored.

The Labour MPs also want to see a brand new station built at Totley Brook, as well as an expansion of the existing Dore and Totley station.
"After Covid-19, we need a just, green recovery," said Blake.
"Restoring rail services along the Sheaf Valley - to provide greener and more affordable access to transportation - will allow Sheffield to play its part in responding to the climate crisis and reducing air pollution, but also creating a fairer, greener economy."
The government's £500m Restoring Your Railway fund aims to reopen parts of the rail network that were lost during the infamous Beeching cuts of the 1960s.

The former Heeley station. Photo by Nigel Thompson (Wikimedia Commons).
Both Heeley station, near the Sheaf View pub, and Millhouses station, near Millhouses Park, closed on the same day in June 1968.
These were among 2,363 stations recommended for closure in Richard Beeching's Conservative-commissioned report of 1963, which saw the railways as having been superseded by road travel.

The MPs argue that the reopening of these stations on the existing Sheaf Valley line would boost the local economy, improve connectivity with the city centre and reduce congestion on Chesterfield Road.
The move would also create direct connections to Manchester and Leeds for communities in south-west Sheffield.
"Reopening these stations will help to make us less dependent on cars, which will benefit us all," said Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh.
"Congestion will be eased, local air quality will be improved, and we'll be producing fewer greenhouses gases."
The government says an expert panel will consider the bids and announce an outcome by the end of the summer.
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[jubilee_line]

There is a 22:50 service from Knottingley to Wakefield Westgate, caught this a couple of times and both times I've got it, I've been the only passenger on it.

Ha, I clicked on this thread to say this. I sometimes work this service and 9/10 times there's no one on it. I think the maximum number of passengers I've seen on it is three (and even then, not all three were on at the same time).

 

[BeijingDave]

I remember catching a York to Selby train in the middle of the day to do one of the curves on to the Leeds - Hull line and there was only other passenger who only did a part journey.

With a 70-80% cancellation rate and (presumably) no replacement buses, the stupidly timed trains between Ellesmere Port and Helsby must have many empty workings

I was about to suggest Helsby to Ellesmere Port.

There used to be a Warrington to Ellesmere Port mid afternoon. Once I absentmindedly boarded it when travelling Warrington-Chester because I grew up in Warrington and just boarded the multiple unit on Platform 1 without checking, which was always a Chester-bound train.

The ticket inspector was very surprised that anyone was on it and said it was almost always empty, and saw my Chester ticket and told me it was actually an Ellesmere Port train. I had to get off at Helsby and wait about 20 minutes for a Chester train.

*I can't imagine many people have done a Warrington-Chester journey changing at Helsby either, except shack-bashers.

 

[Krokodil]

*I can't imagine many people have done a Warrington-Chester journey changing at Helsby either, except shack-bashers.

Liverpool <-> North Wales itineraries sometimes pushed changing at Helsby instead of Chester.

 

[zero]

The Chiltern Railways 'Parliamentary train' from Aylesbury / High Wycombe / Gerrards Cross (depending on timetable / year) to Paddington and back over the years famously hardly ever had anyone on board except the driver and guard with only the occasional crank turning up to get the 'rare' track in. Of course when the last service ran from Paddington back on 7th December 2018 the whole world suddenly took an interest so it was lucky that Chiltern train planning had provided a 3-car unit vice the usual diagrammed 2-car.

This lack of passengers continued when Chiltern then began running from South Ruislip to West Ealing but similar scenes were witnessed on the last day of that operation too with many people turning up to ride the final train.

I took these routes a number of times, not on any special occasions but just because I was going in that general direction and prefer a quiet train instead of a more crowded and stopping tube. There were always at least 2 or 3 others, sometimes even up to 10 on board.

 

[Doctor Fegg]

It’s certainly not empty for its entire route, but the 2200 M-F Hereford to Paddington is very little used. It’s the last intercity arrival at Paddington every night (0115) and a full nine coaches of IET. On the rare occasions I’ve caught it between Worcester and Charlbury there’s never more than half a dozen passengers on board.

 

[L401CJF]

View attachment 151032

The only time I've done this I was the only one on board. Ran fast to Stockport via Altrincham as a route learner but now runs via Warrington despite not actually stopping at Warrington! if anyone knows why let me know.

I've worked this one quite a few times - of course it runs to Manchester Airport rather than Piccadilly - the most I have picked up on it from Chester is about 10 people, but I have never worked it with nobody onboard. The quietest I have had it was 1x airline staff member from Chester until Piccadilly, where I then picked up about 20 people. Often get Airline staff on it from Chester and people setting off for early morning flights. On a Saturday morning it isn't uncommon to pick up people going home from Chester after a night on the booze! Dont think I have picked up anybody on it at the stops between Chester and Newton le Willows though, although I have had people alight enroute.

 

[12LDA28C]

I took these routes a number of times, not on any special occasions but just because I was going in that general direction and prefer a quiet train instead of a more crowded and stopping tube. There were always at least 2 or 3 others, sometimes even up to 10 on board.

You must've been lucky (or unlucky, depending on your viewpoint). I certainly never saw 10 people on board on the regular weekday services, although of course there were many more when trains were diverted into Paddington on weekends when Marylebone was closed for planned engineering work.

 

[Aldenham]

I didn't see anybody else on the 05:16 Chesham to Watford* the one time I had to use it.

*At least, I didn't see anybody between Rickmansworth and Watford, but I doubt there'd have been anybody on at Chesham, Chalfont or Chorleywood that early, unless connecting on to the Amersham to Aldgate service five minutes later.

There is usually a dozen or so passengers on at Chesham, who generally bail at Chalfont or Ricky to get on the train from Amersham that's 7 minutes behind that followds the normal route to the City. I must admit generally the only people I see carried beyond Ricky are people that have fallen asleep!

 

[kacper]

This weekday service often runs empty. It runs once a day.

Realtime Trains | 1759 Beckenham Junction to London Blackfriars | 09/04/2024

Real-time train running information for 1759 departure from Beckenham Junction to London Blackfriars on 09/04/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[BrianW]

Just wonderin' ... Was the idea to pass on the observations in this thread to the Rail Minister (or devolved equivalents?) as suggestions/ examples for cost-cutting service reductions?

 

[CarrotPie]

This weekday service often runs empty. It runs once a day.

Realtime Trains | 1759 Beckenham Junction to London Blackfriars | 09/04/2024

Real-time train running information for 1759 departure from Beckenham Junction to London Blackfriars on 09/04/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Its sole purpose is to get the stock back up to Blackfriars for another peak working.

 

[thenorthern]

A couple of times I have been on the last train of the day from Birmingham to Rugley Trent Valley and been the only person on the whole train north of Cannock.

I regularly saw the corresponding train leave Rugeley Trent Valley going to New Street leaving Rugeley Trent Valley empty and it wouldn't surprise me if that was the case all the way to New Street.

 

[Horizon22]

Its sole purpose is to get the stock back up to Blackfriars for another peak working.

Yes, it would probably be easier to run ECS but might take longer for staff than to lock up that driver changing ends and going. Examples of that (albeit less post-Covid) all around London & SE that do the same. Elizabeth line runs peak Gidea Park <> Liverpool St trains which do run ECS in the contra-peak but there’s scope in the timetable to do that.

I also doubt it has nobody on all the time even if it’s just single digits!

 

[kacper]

I also doubt it has nobody on all the time even if it’s just single digits!

I’ve ridden it a few times and only once there was another passenger on the train