[Trivia] Train that run fast for large part of journey and then slow

[infobleep]

the Cambridge "Stopper" from Kings Cross runs fast from Finsbury Park to Potters Bar, skips Brookmans Park and Welham Green and only then calls every station from Hatfield to Cambridge.

the Cambridge Express runs fast KGX to CBG then once an hour continues all stops to Kings Lynn.

Really we can find multiple examples on all lines out of London especially, and that's really how it should be.

Indeed. It is how it should be.

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

[bramling]

the Cambridge "Stopper" from Kings Cross runs fast from Finsbury Park to Potters Bar, skips Brookmans Park and Welham Green and only then calls every station from Hatfield to Cambridge.

the Cambridge Express runs fast KGX to CBG then once an hour continues all stops to Kings Lynn.

Really we can find multiple examples on all lines out of London especially, and that's really how it should be.

There is, or certainly was, a sole early-morning service that calls Finsbury Park then fast to Stevenage, then all stations right through to Kings Lynn. There are also a few others at various times of day which do the same but terminating at Cambridge.

 

[westv]

The direct London to Hull service?
125mph or so London to Selby and then less than half that speed Selby to Hull?

 

[185143]

GC to Bradford. 125 to Donny then a stagger across Yorkshire!

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[All Line Rover]

59 minutes (55 at times) for the 90+ miles from Euston to Coventry, then another 59 minutes for the 30 miles from Coventry to Wolverhampton.

 

[bILLOO]

The old c2c timetable had trains non-stopping between Fenchurch Street and Benfleet then all stations to Shoeburyness, I believe?

A couple of London Midland trains are most stations to Northampton then non-stop to Euston.

Would the majority of HS1 services count?

 

[Esker-pades]

Southern's Milton Keynes to Croydon service. Semi-fast to Wembley, then stopping to East/South Croydon.

 

[MK Tom]

Southern's Milton Keynes to Croydon service. Semi-fast to Wembley, then stopping to East/South Croydon.

I would not call all stops except Cheddington, Apsley and Kings Langley semi-fast. In fact the big problem with this service is that it's way too slow, with too many WCML stops and then the painfully slow section between Wembley and Shephards Bush. I'd rather have it run fast from Shephards Bush to Watford, maybe Hemel, Leighton Buzzard, MKC and then on to Northampton.

Back on the thread my favourite example is the evening LM Euston-Crewe service which is fast to Leighton Buzzard and Milton Keynes then goes all stops via Birmingham. It's so slow it's not even in LM's Euston-Crewe timetable.

 

[onlinespotting]

Longport !!

It does sometimes stop at Longport

 

[Shrimper]

A few evening/late night TPE trains come from Cleethorpes stopping only at the primary stops, but then run slow between Manchester Piccadilly and the Airport, stopping at the 4 intermediate stations.

 

[tbtc]

The 05:21 Nottingham to Liverpool is a "fast - slow - fast" service:

• Nottingham to Sheffield: Stops at one of the five stations it passes through (only Chesterfield - not stopping at Langley Mill, Alfreton Woodhouse or Darnall - since it goes that way round rather than through Dronfield)
  
• Sheffield to Chinley: Stops at all six local stations in between (Grindleford, Bamford, Edale etc)
  
• Chinley to Liverpool: Stops at six of the twenty six stations it passes through (avoiding twenty stations, such as Hazel Grove, Deansgate...)

Obviously because there's no Hope Valley stopper at that time in the morning to mop up the stations

A few evening/late night TPE trains come from Cleethorpes stopping only at the primary stops, but then run slow between Manchester Piccadilly and the Airport, stopping at the 4 intermediate stations.

I don't think this happens now, but there used to be Trans Pennine services that ran fast from Cleethorpes to Doncaster, all stops from Doncaster to Sheffield (in place of the "local" services) then fast from Sheffield to Manchester.

AFAIK the only services that TPE run that stop at Conisbrough etc don't run beyond Sheffield (i.e. they are fast from Cleethorpes to Doncaster then slow from Doncaster to Sheffield, but don't then run "fast" over the Pennines)

 

[43074]

From St Pancras the xx:26 departures are non-stop to Leicester, then call at all mainline stations to Derby, then Chesterfield & Sheffield... an example of fast - slow - fast perhaps, skipping Duffield, Belper & Duffield on the Northern leg?

 

[AnonymousUser1]

The Inverness to Kings Cross HST on a Sunday

Calls at pretty much every station from Inverness to Stirling (omits Dalwhinnie & Bridge of Allan), then Falkirk/Haymarket/Edinburgh then onto a fast Edinburgh - London service

which surely reflects the needs of the service , also i suspect it makes diversions etc easier as 'fast' south of edinburgh / newcastle for a HST diagram means it can run ecml / WCML /MML / Joint line what ever if needed becasue of possessions

 

[Busaholic]

Many Penzance to Paddington services have as many station stops in Cornwall as the rest of the journey combined.

 

[Parallel]

London Paddington - Worcester/Great Malvern/Hereford strikes me as another. Runs fast to Oxford only stopping at Slough, and then stops at most stations to Worcester, then all stations to Hereford.

Most don't call at the halts (Combe, Shipton, Finstock, Ascott), though it always makes me wonder why more don't stop at Ascott-Under-Wychwood (or Shipton) as there seems to be a sizable village near the station.

 

[Deepgreen]

Thameslink has several examples of services which are fast in the North and slow in the South or vice versa.

For example the 0744 from Bedford calls at Leagrave, Luton, Harpenden and St Albans only north of the core, then becomes a stopper to Sutton via Wimbledon.

Or you have the 0734 from St Albans that is all stops to Blackfriars, then non-stop to Bromley South.

Even the Thameslink workings that run 'fast' from Blackfriars to East Croydon are excruciatingly slow south of the Thames, with the ones I regularly catch being exceptional if they exceed 30mph all the way from Loughborough Junction to Purley!

 

[Hadders]

Even the Thameslink workings that run 'fast' from Blackfriars to East Croydon are excruciatingly slow south of the Thames, with the ones I regularly catch being exceptional if they exceed 30mph all the way from Loughborough Junction to Purley!

That's a consequence of the London Bridge works and how the paths north and south of the Thames mash together.

Shouldn't be an issue once Thameslink run through London Bridge again.

 

[thenorthern]

The trains to Barrow-in-Furness from Manchester run fast until Carnforth and then run rather slow, the ones to Windermere are even worse they run fast to Oxenholme Lake District and then run very slow to Windermere.

 

[onlinespotting]

Some of the trains man picc to Blackpool north run slow - fast or fast slow fast if from the airport. The slow but being all the stations through greater Manchester

 

[Deepgreen]

That's a consequence of the London Bridge works and how the paths north and south of the Thames mash together.

Shouldn't be an issue once Thameslink run through London Bridge again.

Oh indeed, but it really highlights the nature of the route, and a number of signaller issues en route - for example, a regular train of mine via Tulse Hill to Three Bridges runs non-stop from East Croydon to Redhill, and is frequently held (while either on time or a minute or two late) behind a Southern train at Stoats Nest Junction, while the latter (also more or less on time) crosses in front, to then stop at Coulsdon South and Merstham before dividing at Redhill (usually a slow process in itself). This usually makes the Thameslink working well over ten minutes late at Redhill. Adopting the reverse priority would result in a net late running of only about three minutes, but this is rarely done. The frustration of the TL drivers was made very clear the other day when one unleashed a P.A. rant about the signallers' abilities while we yet again stood awaiting a path behind the slow train which had been allowed ahead of us!

 

[DeeGee]

I don't think this happens now, but there used to be Trans Pennine services that ran fast from Cleethorpes to Doncaster, all stops from Doncaster to Sheffield (in place of the "local" services) then fast from Sheffield to Manchester.

AFAIK the only services that TPE run that stop at Conisbrough etc don't run beyond Sheffield (i.e. they are fast from Cleethorpes to Doncaster then slow from Doncaster to Sheffield, but don't then run "fast" over the Pennines)

The first one in the morning Mon-Fri runs "fast" Cleethorpes to Scunthorpe (Cleethorpes - Grimsby Town - Barnetby - Scunthorpe) then is a Doncaster commuter service from Scunny (Althorpe - Crowle - Thorne - Hatfield - Doncaster) before going "fast" again from there (Meadowhall - Sheffield - Dore - Stockport - Piccadilly - Airport).

Not that I'd describe any part of the route "fast", but you know what I mean.