Two trains same platform same time?

[LWB]

Quickie question here .... My daughter rang me to help confirm that her 15:44 train from Oxenholme to Birmingham on Wed 9th April was correctly give as cheap rate and also to query the two trains leaving platform one at the same time. One is marked as direct and the other via Wolverhampton. I assume this is a timetabling quirk?

 

[Sammy h]

There will have only been one train on the platform.

The timetable shows two trains as it is slightly quicker to change trains at Wolverhampton as the train from Oxenholme waits at Wolverhampton for ten minutes or so.

 

[LWB]

Excellent, thank you. That actually makes sense. Thanks again.

 

[John @ home]

My daughter rang me to help confirm that her 15:44 train from Oxenholme to Birmingham on Wed 9th April was correctly give as cheap rate ...

To answer this part of the question, we need to know the origin, destination and route shown on the ticket, and the ticket type. See Please read before asking for fares advice.

 

[MyFriendMary]

There will have only been one train on the platform.

The timetable shows two trains as it is slightly quicker to change trains at Wolverhampton as the train from Oxenholme waits at Wolverhampton for ten minutes or so.

That very thing nearly caught me out the other day when trying to make a tight connection in Birmingham New Street. It was more efficient to cross platform for the XC service than stay on the Virgin service

 

[Sammy h]

That very thing nearly caught me out the other day when trying to make a tight connection in Birmingham New Street. It was more efficient to cross platform for the XC service than stay on the Virgin service

Yes, it is becoming a bit of a pain. For most connections to the South West now. Bristol, Plymouth, Taunton etc etc it is beneficial to make the change at Wolverhampton otherwise you only have seven minutes at Birmingham which is extremely tight. The timetables do tell you this, but people that are used to just one change are having to wait in Birmingham for the next train.

 

[MyFriendMary]

*nods*

And with the tickets my partner had, Advance VN&Connections, we would have followed the instructions of the seating reservations and gone on to Birmingham New Street and played with a bit of fire on the tight connection had I not checked to see the quickest route was change at Wolverhampton.

 

[Sammy h]

*nods*

And with the tickets my partner had, Advance VN&Connections, we would have followed the instructions of the seating reservations and gone on to Birmingham New Street and played with a bit of fire on the tight connection had I not checked to see the quickest route was change at Wolverhampton.

If you had an advance ticket it *shouldn't* have given you a tight connection as it would go off the minimum connection time for Birmingham which is more than seven minutes? Either way it is a faff

 

[MyFriendMary]

That's where things became more fun for this journey.

Connecting train was timed to depart Birmingham New Street at 2044 on Thursday 3rd which gave plenty of time to connect. However the 2044 does not exist and, since the next train would not have allowed me to complete the journey, we had to get on the 2012 service.

But, anyway, that's now a different story :P

 

[Sammy h]

The wonderful world of the railway!

 

[MyFriendMary]

Where logic is left on the way out :P