Why a difference in the same journey?

[michael74]

Looking at a local journey for a swift couple of pints in Paignton, I noticed a difference in times for the same journey, why?

[FONT=Courier New]Torre    1834
Paignton 1846[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New][FONT=Courier New]Paignton [/FONT]2230
Torre    2237[/FONT]

 

[michael74]

Forgot to add, all trains either way call at Torquay.

 

[NSEFAN]

Presumably that's the padding for the arrival at Paignton where the train will terminate, allowing for potential delays in lowering the crossing barriers before the arrival of the train? I would expect the actual journey time to be a bit quicker. Perhaps someone a bit more local can confirm?

 

[iantherev]

Presumably that's the padding for the arrival at Paignton where the train will terminate, allowing for potential delays in lowering the crossing barriers before the arrival of the train? I would expect the actual journey time to be a bit quicker. Perhaps someone a bit more local can confirm?

The 18.34 IIRc is Cross Country from Manchester and the 21.08 ex Paddington which might explain the additional timing allowance.

 

[Busaholic]

St Erth to Penzance is another example - trains can often arrive 5 minutes 'early' due to the padding.

 

[causton]

Please don't say you're actually using the trainline to buy tickets!!!

As an example, see this one:

[FONT=Courier New]Torre    [B]2107-2109[/B]  2107-2108[I] 2106-2108[/I]
Torquay  [B]2111-2113[/B]  2111-2112 [I]2110-2112[/I]
Paignton [B]2120       [/B]2122      [I]2118[/I]
[/FONT]

The difference will be in padding time, as you can see the times listed here are:
a) the working timetable (what the driver will work to)
b) the passenger timetable (what the passengers see)
c) the estimated times worked out on how late the train is etc.

As you can see, there are extra minutes for closing the HST's slam doors etc given, an extra 2 minutes (shown on the extreme right) possibly for the crossing allowance mentioned above and then the customers are told an extra 2 minutes just in case there is any further delay. So it can all add up on a relatively short journey!

 

[michael74]

I see, thanks all, and no, I only use trainline for timetables, its a 2 stop journey, no savings to be had anyway.