Trivia: Unusual / Interesting Calling Patterns?

[ayubdaud]

Thanks all. Utterly random services! Even down to the 2212 ex Edinburgh not going to the Airport on a Wednesday, but doing so for the rest of the week, and yes it was the 2101 from Glasgow to Preston which called at Penrith (2257) which ran non stop to Preston, and not the later Edinburgh to Manchester (Airport sometimes) service.

There's a Section 4 opportunity at Manchester Airport on Thursday morning which prevented it running the full week.


Something I did notice is that there is an Avanti 1A10 Monday-Friday that is booked to call at Hartford (suppressed at the moment). 1A18 does the same on Saturday.

 

[stadler]

GWR have one train a day on Friday and Saturday only (or on Saturday only from the December 2024 timetable change) that runs fast from Reading to Crowthorne and then as an all stations from Crowthorne to Guildford service. This is the only service that skips Wokingham station. I have never understood this as Wokingham is one of the busiest stations on this line and it skips it. Yet it still calls at quieter minor stations. It is a very weird one. I would be interested if anyone knows why.

GWR also have one train a day in each direction that calls at Winersh station. This has been going on for probably twenty years but it is a really odd one. All other GWR services run non stop between Reading and Wokingham while all SWR services call at Winnersh and Winnersh Triangle and Early stations. But yet you have these once a day in each direction GWR services that randomly make Winnersh calls.

Southeastern have one train a day that starts from Ore in the early morning. This is the one and only Southeastern service to call at Ore and there is no service terminating at Ore in the opposite direction. There used to be a lot more but this is the only one left these days.

It is only once a year but on the afternoon and evening of the 5th of November and early morning of the 6th of November you have a bunch of odd calling patterns due to the Lewes Bonfire resulting in Lewes and the surrounding stations being closed. Some of the London Victoria to Eastbourne trains run non stop from Haywards Heath to Polegate. Some of the Brighton to Seaford trains run non stop from Moulsecoomb to Newhaven Town. You get all sorts of odd calling patterns. Another similar one is trains running non stop between Winchelsea and Appledore during the Rye Bonfire each year.

If we include London Underground then there are a bunch of weird Circle and District and Hammersmith & City hybrid services running in the early morning and late evening. These have odd calling patterns in that they serve parts of the line that are not normally served. One example is the 05:43 Acton Town to Barking 06:53 service which is a train that goes via Paddington and Farringdon instead of the usual via Victoria and Embankment route.

 

[Doctor Fegg]

GWR have one train a day on Friday and Saturday only (or on Saturday only from the December 2024 timetable change) that runs fast from Reading to Crowthorne and then as an all stations from Crowthorne to Guildford service. This is the only service that skips Wokingham station. I have never understood this as Wokingham is one of the busiest stations on this line and it skips it. Yet it still calls at quieter minor stations. It is a very weird one. I would be interested if anyone knows why.

I think this is because, as the last train on Friday and Saturday nights, the service was notorious for disorderly behaviour.

 

[miklcct]

There is a London Overground service on weekdays which runs non stop from London Fields to Liverpool Street for unknown reason. Normally, all trains should stop at the two intermediate stations. It currently departs at 19:36 but I remember it departed slightly earlier a while ago (the current timetable entry started on 23 September). I took this service once and I didn't hear the driver making any announcements to clear out passengers requiring intermediate stations, which is the normal practice when a train needs to run fast.

On the Thameslink route, on weekdays, normally St Alban's trains call at all stations and Luton trains skip Kentish Town, Cricklewood and Hendon, but there are two pairs which have the intermediate calls swapped for unknown reasons (departure times are from St Pancras):
18:28 to Luton (all stations)
18:33 to St Alban's (semi fast)
18:43 to Luton (all stations)
18:48 to St Alban's (semi fast)

I'm more interested in cases where passengers are fined or prosecuted because the train they have been on unexpectedly skip stations where the normal expectation is that they will call.

 

[GW43125]

There used to be (2015-ish) a Gatwick-Reading run which had a lovely fast calling pattern, from memory it was something like Gatwick-Redhill-Reigate-Dorking-Guildford then fast to Reading.

 

[cle]

There used to be (2015-ish) a Gatwick-Reading run which had a lovely fast calling pattern, from memory it was something like Gatwick-Redhill-Reigate-Dorking-Guildford then fast to Reading.

Frankly this is how an hourly fast frequency should be. Especially if one extended to Oxford, as once was.

 

[Harpo]

Until a few years ago it was a daily service from Gloucester.

These trains must be the only time a 170 is seen at Temple Meads in passenger service.

Plus 1P00 05.20 Bristol TM - Cardiff via Parkway, the set for the 06.40 Cardiff - Nottingham. It’s also the only XC service through the Severn Tunnel I believe.

If we include London Underground then there are a bunch of weird Circle and District and Hammersmith & City hybrid services running in the early morning and late evening. These have odd calling patterns in that they serve parts of the line that are not normally served. One example is the 05:43 Acton Town to Barking 06:53 service which is a train that goes via Paddington and Farringdon instead of the usual via Victoria and Embankment route.

Long ago District drivers kept knowledge of the north side of the circle with two District sets working the circle on Sundays only.

Long after rancid C stock had turned everything via Farringdon silver, it was nice to find the odd red train (CO/CP) on a Sunday.

 

[dk1]

Plus 1P00 05.20 Bristol TM - Cardiff via Parkway, the set for the 06.40 Cardiff - Nottingham. It’s also the only XC service through the Severn Tunnel I believe.

Thanks. I suppose it’s just down to Barton Hill really.

 

[infobleep]

Back in the past, probably the noughties, I seeml to recall that th3 First Capitsl Connect services on the Brighton mainline stopped at Balcombe Monday to Saturday but not on Sunday. On Sundays, only Southern stopped.

I believe Monday to Friday relatively few Southern services stopped at Balcome unlike on Sundays when it was hourly. I think it may have been just peak times or early morning.

Being separate companies they both had their own operator restricted season tickets from Balcombe, in addition to the any permitted one.

If you got the First Captial Connect one, you'd have to buy a ticket from Balcome to Three Bridges or Haywards Heath on a Sunday and switch trains.

If you got the Southern one, your best chance to use it would only be one day a week, on a Sunday. Rest of the week you would more likely need to buy an additional ticket to Haywards Hetth or Three Bridges and change trains.

 

[Flange Squeal]

GWR have one train a day on Friday and Saturday only (or on Saturday only from the December 2024 timetable change) that runs fast from Reading to Crowthorne and then as an all stations from Crowthorne to Guildford service. This is the only service that skips Wokingham station. I have never understood this as Wokingham is one of the busiest stations on this line and it skips it. Yet it still calls at quieter minor stations. It is a very weird one. I would be interested if anyone knows why.

GWR also have one train a day in each direction that calls at Winersh station. This has been going on for probably twenty years but it is a really odd one. All other GWR services run non stop between Reading and Wokingham while all SWR services call at Winnersh and Winnersh Triangle and Early stations. But yet you have these once a day in each direction GWR services that randomly make Winnersh calls.

There are a couple of SWR services that skip Winnersh, Winnersh Triangle and Earley - the Mon-Sat 2350 Waterloo to Reading, and the 2352 Reading to Ascot (Mon-Thu) / Staines (Fri-Sun).

In regards to the GWR Winnersh calls, they aren't entirely random - they cater for a school flow to/from Winnersh.

I also heard the same as @Doctor Fegg regarding antisocial behaviour being the reason for the last ex-Reading North Downs Line service running fast Reading to Crowthorne on Fri/Sat nights. Wokingham does now have a later service from Reading in the form of the aforementioned 2352 from Reading, however while I can't remember exactly when that came in, I'm pretty sure it is a relatively recent addition (last 7-10 years?) in comparison to how long Wokingham has been skipped by the current GWR service (I seem to recall it ran like this back in post-privatisation Thames Trains days, so might even date from British Rail times?).

 

[Timmyd]

The 1712 SouthEastern stopper service from London Victoria to Gillingham calls additionally at Crofton Park and Bellingham for no apparent reason.

The calls were added during the Thameslink programme because the Thameslink trains passing through these stations in the morning peak were full by the time they got there. The Catford Loop was extremely overcrowded and while Catford passengers have Catford Bridge as an alternative, these two stations had no other option. A combination of the extra Welwyn trains and home working mean this isn’t an issue any more but the calls remain.

 

[David Burrows]

The first train from Colchester to Liverpool St Mon-Fri (used to be 0450 in the 1970s but has varied by minutes over the last 50+ years) calls at Seven Kings for staff at Ilford Depot, but is advertised to the public.
Interestingly when DOO working was first started on GE in the 1990s, only 315s were permitted to call at Seven Kings due to sighting of DOO monitors, thus, in theory 321s, which formed this train shouldn't have called there, but the need to get staff to Ilford Depot at that time of morning somehow overcame the agreement.

 

[dk1]

The first train from Colchester to Liverpool St Mon-Fri (used to be 0450 in the 1970s but has varied by minutes over the last 50+ years) calls at Seven Kings for staff at Ilford Depot, but is advertised to the public.
Interestingly when DOO working was first started on GE in the 1990s, only 315s were permitted to call at Seven Kings due to sighting of DOO monitors, thus, in theory 321s, which formed this train shouldn't have called there, but the need to get staff to Ilford Depot at that time of morning somehow overcame the agreement.

2F01 04:41 Colchester-Liverpool St as it is now and from next months timetable change continues to set down only at seven Kings at 05:36.

 

[Horizon22]

2F01 04:41 Colchester-Liverpool St as it is now and from next months timetable change continues to set down only at seven Kings at 05:36.

Mainly for drivers getting to Ilford depot no?

 

[dk1]

Mainly for drivers getting to Ilford depot no?

Yes of course. Purely for operational convenience.

We used to regularly stop Intercity services at Seven Kings and Ilford to pick up/set down drivers for unplanned tyre turning purposes.

 

[miklcct]

Yes of course. Purely for operational convenience.

We used to regularly stop Intercity services at Seven Kings and Ilford to pick up/set down drivers for unplanned tyre turning purposes.

There are also a number of unadvertised stops at Selhurst and Cricklewood for such purpose (although no longer at Cricklewood now since the semi-fast overnight trains were removed).

However, when there is disruption, there are occasionally surprise trains calling at Cricklewood (and run non-stop to St Pancras), presumably for staff purposes but advertised to the public.

 

[infobleep]

The 05:06 Monday to Saturday Brighton to Cambridge service stops additionally at Preston Park, Hassocks, Wivelsfield and Balcombe. It is the only service to Camrbidge to do so. All other services that stop at those stations go to other stations north of there and all other services to Cambridge skip them.

There is no return service.

On Sundays whilst almost services that stop at Balcombe go from Brighton to London Bridge or Bedford and the reverse, two of the services to stop there start from London Victoria and end up in Brighton. The 06:32 and 23:31 services are the ones.

There is no service from Brighton to London Victoria that stops at Balcombe though.

 

[BrummieBobby]

Each week day there is a Lancaster - Carnforth - Morecambe service that approaches Morecambe on the North Morecambe Curve via Hest Bank; it is the only booked passenger service to use the North Morecambe Curve all day, it usually being reserved for freights going to and from Heysham Nuclear, as well as engine and tamper moves; all other passenger services approach from Lancaster, via the South Morecambe Curve.

Presumably this is scheduled for route knowledge retention purposes.

 

[cjw714]

Most timetable anomalies have a reasonably obvious explanation but there are a couple of GWR ones that baffle me:

• Monday to Fridays the 20 24 from Exmouth runs to Cardiff Central (on Saturdays the equivalent is an almost as unusual 21 10 service from Exeter Central to Bristol Temple Meads). There doesn't appear to be any similar train in the opposite direction.
• Once a day in either direction from Monday to Friday there is a service that runs between Paddington and Worcester Shrub Hill that goes via the line between Swindon and Gloucester.

 

[HamworthyGoods]

Most timetable anomalies have a reasonably obvious explanation but there are a couple of GWR ones that baffle me:

• Monday to Fridays the 20 24 from Exmouth runs to Cardiff Central (on Saturdays the equivalent is an almost as unusual 21 10 service from Exeter Central to Bristol Temple Meads). There doesn't appear to be any similar train in the opposite direction.
• Once a day in either direction from Monday to Friday there is a service that runs between Paddington and Worcester Shrub Hill that goes via the line between Swindon and Gloucester.

The 07.25 Worcester to Paddington is for school traffic to Stroud.

 

[70014IronDuke]

The Thorpe Culvert stop on 2S93 was inserted to avoid extra standing time at Wainfleet a few years ago (I think it was booked one year to follow the rail head treatment train) and subsequently never removed even though the RHTT path has changed.

Thanks for the explanation.
Maybe it even generated a few passengers?
I do wonder if some of those wayside stations should be better served, most notably Rauceby.

 

[The exile]

Most timetable anomalies have a reasonably obvious explanation but there are a couple of GWR ones that baffle me:

• Monday to Fridays the 20 24 from Exmouth runs to Cardiff Central (on Saturdays the equivalent is an almost as unusual 21 10 service from Exeter Central to Bristol Temple Meads). There doesn't appear to be any similar train in the opposite direction.

The balancing working is the first southbound in the morning. I think these are the final 150 workings into (and out of) Bristol.

 

[Barn]

The Sidcup line has a few morning services that run non-stop from New Eltham-London Bridge, and one return in the evening peak en route to Gillingham. AFAIK no other Southeastern services on the trio of lines feeding into Dartford skip stations between Dartford and the last station on the respective line towards London (Thameslink of course skip some on the NK line).

Although its service was improved in the last timetable change, there are still some peak services that skip Albany Park (e.g. the 0804 from Gravesend).

I also heard the same as @Doctor Fegg regarding antisocial behaviour being the reason for the last ex-Reading North Downs Line service running fast Reading to Crowthorne on Fri/Sat nights. Wokingham does now have a later service from Reading in the form of the aforementioned 2352 from Reading, however while I can't remember exactly when that came in, I'm pretty sure it is a relatively recent addition (last 7-10 years?) in comparison to how long Wokingham has been skipped by the current GWR service (I seem to recall it ran like this back in post-privatisation Thames Trains days, so might even date from British Rail times?).

I remember this happening, and you are all correct that the purported reason was drunken behaviour. I remember signs at the time suggesting it was done in consultation with Thames Valley Police. It was certainly post-privatisation - I would guess sometime around 2000-2002.

 

[kkong]

Given that CrossCountry's main timetable's based around hourly services running to or via Birmingham New Street, I'd say that the ones which don't do so are a bit odd.

The 06:42 CrossCountry Dundee to Aberdeen must be the only passenger service between the two cities which isn't scheduled to call at any intermediate stations.

However, it isn't any faster than the stopping services due to waiting for signals.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The 06:42 CrossCountry Dundee to Aberdeen must be the only passenger service between the two cities which isn't scheduled to call at any intermediate stations.

The 19:35 CrossCountry Dundee to Aberdeen service (19:38 Sundays) also doesn't call anywhere inbetween.

 

[kkong]

The 19:35 CrossCountry Dundee to Aberdeen service (19:38 Sundays) also doesn't call anywhere inbetween.

Oh yes.

A mystery to me is why the 06:42 service runs ECS from Edinburgh to Dundee?

Does a train manager and/or catering host join the service at Dundee?

That would seem odd for CrossCountry to do because they have no crew base either in Dundee or Aberdeen AFAIK.

 

[infobleep]

The 06:42 CrossCountry Dundee to Aberdeen must be the only passenger service between the two cities which isn't scheduled to call at any intermediate stations.

However, it isn't any faster than the stopping services due to waiting for signals.

If it is no faster, why not stop?

 

[Falcon1200]

IIRC the Down early morning and Up late evening XC Aberdeen services were introduced when that operator decided to stop stabling trains overnight at Aberdeen, therefore they are ECS workings in all but name!

 

[kkong]

IIRC the Down early morning and Up late evening XC Aberdeen services were introduced when that operator decided to stop stabling trains overnight at Aberdeen, therefore they are ECS workings in all but name!

The catering host was very surprised when I sat down in First Class on the 06:42 departure from Dundee - looks like they're used to some leisure time on these services.

However I did receive a coffee and a long shelf life pastry.

XC didn't used to offer any catering north of Edinburgh, so I was grateful for the small mercy!

 

[johntea]

On Sunday 15:19 Carlisle to Nottingham (19:59)

Essentially just your standard Carlisle - Leeds then a Leeds - Nottingham but 'direct'

If your joints are still working after 4 hours and 40 minutes straight on a Northern service then congratulations!