What does 'flighting' of trains mean?

[_Henry_]

Hello All,

I have sometimes heard the word 'flighting' of trains banded about but I don't know quite what it means. I have heard it said about the Channel Tunnel and have idea that it might be to do with putting all your fast trains (the Eurostars) through the tunnel really close to each other and then let all the slow (Le Shuttle) trains follow afterwards. I assume this is to maximise capacity. Is that correct?

 

[800001]

Hello All,

I have sometimes heard the word 'flighting' of trains banded about but I don't know quite what it means. I have heard it said about the Channel Tunnel and have idea that it might be to do with putting all your fast trains (the Eurostars) through the tunnel really close to each other and then let all the slow (Le Shuttle) trains follow afterwards. I assume this is to maximise capacity. Is that correct?

I hear it used when single line working is in operation. So they will let 3-4 trains through in one direction, before doing the same in the opposite direction, then repeat etc.

 

[jfollows]

Yes, it means running fast trains one after the other to then free up the timetable for slower trains.
For example, in the 1974 WCML timetable there were trains from London at

• xx.40 to Wolverhampton
• xx.45 to Glasgow
• xx.50 to Liverpool
• xx.55 to Manchester
• xx.00 to Holyhead/Carlisle with extra stops
• xx.10 to Birmingham SX

then a gap for slower trains until the next xx.40.

The xx.00 stopped at places like Rugby, and then after it there was a long gap for freight trains, especially over the Rugby-Nuneaton and Colwich-Stafford sections which aren't and weren't four-track.

 

[Deepgreen]

It most often applies to single line working as a more effcient way to make use of a single track to pass as many trains as possible. Waiting for one, say, in the up direction to clear then sending a down train, and so on, is very time-consuming.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

One of the most famous instances of flighting to maximise capacity was the May 1977 GWML timetable which made full use of the 125mph-capable HST fleet for the first time, but mixed alongside 90-100mph loco-hauled services on the Main Lines between Paddington and Reading.

The evening peak from Paddington was so well designed that on the 3-minute planning headway, you could have 3 loco-hauled paths ahead of each HST path departing Paddington - the first would run ML to Ruscombe and cross to the RL there, the next would reach Maidenhead East to cross and the third would cross at Dolphin Jn, each with the following HST only just behind them (but timed to see green signals throughout.). Whether it worked well is another question but the train graph certainly looks pleasing to the eye! Of course the other side of the challenge was to flight the UP ML in such a manner that all these flat junction moves worked well…

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The WCML north of Preston has a flighted timetable.
First off is the fast Avanti London-Glasgow, second is the slightly slower Avanti London-Birmingham-Scotland service, both normally 125mph 390s, and third is the TPE service to the opposite Scottish destination with more stops and timed for 110mph 397s.
These three are about 5 minutes apart leaving Preston, leaving the rest of the hour for regional and local services, and most importantly freight.
Since Covid the full timetable hasn't worked quite like that, with more gaps, but that's the basic pattern.