Small annoying delays that add up

[pnepaul]

Today I was booked on the 15.15 from Birmigham New St to Carlisle. We left on time, all was well until Crewe. We were held outside Crewe station for a short while, then there was a short delay in Wigan station and another one at Preston. As a result we left Preston 15 mins late. As a result I missed my connection to Workington. Faced with nearly and hours wait for the next I was forced into a coffee shop that has free wifi lol

 

[Mugby]

Poor platform work often contributes to this. Many passengers need plenty of good blasts on the whistle to liven them up, some station staff seem reluctant to do this!

 

[syorksdeano]

I arrived in Carlisle about an hour after you did and I'd just missed my connection to Newcastle by about 20 seconds.

Carlisle station could do with a complete referb as it's starting to make Wakefield Kirkgate look posh.

 

[Flamingo]

"Ladies and gentlemen, I do apologise for our ten-minute late arrival, it's for no bloody reason at all..."

 

[RJ]

"Ladies and gentlemen, I do apologise for our ten-minute late arrival, it's for no bloody reason at all..."

I do seem to be very unlucky on long distance GW services. I was travelling up and down between London and Cardiff for a time - 1 in every 2 journeys, there'd be some disruption that would delay the train by well over 30 minutes - or I'd turn up at Cardiff to find it was cancelled!

That said, where I work, without fail the trains are perinnially delayed by a few minutes during the AM peak!

 

[Marklund]

BTF The Pain Train

 

[hassaanhc]

I've noticed, where several passengers are waiting to get on from the same door, they are concentrating on it so much they don't realise a nearby door may be free, and even where it is they may be worried that as soon as they make a move the doors will be closed and they'll get left behind. Yes there are some people commuters who deliberately bunch up at certain places but others who don't use trains as often one of my first two points almost certainly apply.

Although I'd prefer if commuters taking the P managed to get left behind if they take too long but I know if someone was to get injured then the staff involved in dispatch would be in a lot of trouble.

 

[RJ]

At my home station, commuters bunch up at the London end of the platform so they can make a quick escape when they get to London. Often, the front of the 8 carriage sets are so rammed that people get left behind. Yet the rear 4 coaches are half empty, with dozens of seats available.

Such behaviour causes delays - people never seem to learn either, it happens every morning.

 

[voyagerdude220]

Trust shows the delay down to being delayed three times for a few minutes, by late running trains in front. Also delayed at Wigan North Western, Preston and between Preston and Lancaster, due to NA TASS/TILT (presumably the tilt wasn't working at times). But why that would delay the train whilst stopped at stations is beyond me.

 

[hassaanhc]

At my home station, commuters bunch up at the London end of the platform so they can make a quick escape when they get to London. Often, the front of the 8 carriage sets are so rammed that people get left behind. Yet the rear 4 coaches are half empty, with dozens of seats available.

Such behaviour causes delays - people never seem to learn either, it happens every morning.

Hence my comment about commuters causing most of the problems! Unfortunately it is usually these people who try and bunch up at the front that complain the most about overcrowding! :roll: Maybe TOCs should try and nudge them about the end furthest from barriers being empty.
In fact I'd go as far as saying they should do a campaign where they explain reasons for delays in plain English with detail (plus other things like rolling stock procurement) and not shying away from saying passengers were the reason for delays where that is the case. And to take on any negative PR from the gutter press :roll:.
Something similar to what this blogger has done for person hit by train and storm disruption. Some excellent work there

 

[PHILIPE]

Any first little delay could mean loss of path and therefore escalating.

 

[Class83]

On a lot of services, a shortage of luggage space can cause problems with alighting and boarding as passengers extract their case from the bottom of a pile then negotiate around other abandoned items. But I agree, Virgin West Coast do collect a lot of random little delays for seemingly trivial reasons.

 

[martinsh]

just about every train from the south stops outsode Crewe for a minute or two. Which platform did you go into at Crewe ? Using 11 when 6 (or 5) is available loses another 2 minutes.

 

[hassaanhc]

On a lot of services, a shortage of luggage space can cause problems with alighting and boarding as passengers extract their case from the bottom of a pile then negotiate around other abandoned items. But I agree, Virgin West Coast do collect a lot of random little delays for seemingly trivial reasons.

That is another good reason, not long ago at London Bridge I saw a northbound Thameslink where a single doorway had a cyclist and several people with suitcases in the same area getting off, plus many other people stuck behind those people negotiating the PTI gap. Their door took the longest to empty, in fact the dispatcher briefly held up the baton before he realised there was still a queue, he wasn't impressed!

Sent from my SM-T210 using Tapatalk

 

[pnepaul]

Trust shows the delay down to being delayed three times for a few minutes, by late running trains in front. Also delayed at Wigan North Western, Preston and between Preston and Lancaster, due to NA TASS/TILT (presumably the tilt wasn't working at times). But why that would delay the train whilst stopped at stations is beyond me.

I must admit that apart from the delays mentioned there was no other obvious slowing down!

 

[LBSCR Times]

I must admit that apart from the delays mentioned there was no other obvious slowing down!

Hmmm, delay at Wigan as per Trust is;-

9S77 OVERTIME WGN
CCF/TSID CHECKED AND SHOW NO CONFLICTS
NO SIGNAL DELAY CONFIRMED BY: WARRINGTON
TIME OF CONTACT WITH SIGNALLER: 1655
TRACTION NUMBER: 221110
NO KNOWN CAUSE FOR OVERTIME

And Preston...

9S77 OVERTIME PRE
UNEXPLAINED STATION OVERTIME
CCF/TSID Checked, where available, and shows no conflicting
movements. Signallers below reported that this service recei
ved no adverse signals and know of any other cause of delay
when asked. All TSR'S /ESR'S accounted for. No known infrast
ructure problems causing delay to this service. Could FOC/TO
C assist with delay please ?
.


Which is a cue for any reason possible, although it does say it was accepted by user for the first one, but disputed for the second!!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Today I was booked on the 15.15 from Birmigham New St to Carlisle. We left on time, all was well until Crewe. We were held outside Crewe station for a short while,

Held outside Crewe for 1D88 14.10 Euston - Chester, due to a points failure at Ledburn Jct.

 

[The Planner]

Which is a cue for any reason possible, although it does say it was accepted by user for the first one, but disputed for the second!!.

Was it in as A/A or A/C for the first, seen plenty that just get left as a A/C and take the minutes as default.

 

[455driver]

Down at Exeter today, about 10 people waiting at a door to board, I walked up and got straight in the door 10 feet away and walked through the gangway to jump the queue.
If they want to queue up like lemmings then fine but I am capable of independent thought.

 

[LBSCR Times]

Was it in as A/A or A/C for the first, seen plenty that just get left as a A/C and take the minutes as default.

Unfortunately I cannot access the full Trust Incident, so all I can see is 'Accepted by User'.

 

[Oscar]

Sometimes the delays are caused by unrealistic sectional running times.

The busier and more operationally complex (and therefore usually also the closer to London) a railway is, the more likely these delays become because of knock-on effects. I'm currently in Switzerland where railway infrastructure is used more intensively than anywhere else in Europe and almost every train I've been on has had 1-5 minutes' delay at some point in the journey.

 

[hassaanhc]

Down at Exeter today, about 10 people waiting at a door to board, I walked up and got straight in the door 10 feet away and walked through the gangway to jump the queue.
If they want to queue up like lemmings then fine but I am capable of independent thought.

Well spotted that one, I've noticed that too. Like at Woking when I was watching a 444 load up and people were queuing up at a single door and didn't see (or use) the free door to their right, probably inexcusable on end door trains when there are almost always two separate doors next to each other..