Which service is the most punctual in the UK?

[baz2277]

Hi all,

Just wondering after hearing so much about late trains, which are the most consistently on-time services in the UK and has anything been made of the fact that they are providing a great service?

I find that most of the trains I catch are either on time or within a minute or two of the schedule (I'm not a particularly regular user but use them on average around once or twice a month).

Cheers

 

[adrock1976]

I would imagine some of the usual suspects would be Stourbridge Junction - Stourbridge Town, Brockenhurst - Lymington Pier, CArdiff Queen Street - Cardiff Bay/Bute Road, and Grove Park - Bromley North.

All of the four above are self-contained shuttles, and do not interact with any other railway traffic along the line of route.

There will be other suggestions of regional and Intercity trains that may feature, but bearing in mind they mix with other railway traffic at some point during the course of their journeys.

 

[hexagon789]

I believe the Isle of Wight is supposed to have the most punctual rail services in the UK.

 

[TEW]

I would imagine some of the usual suspects would be Stourbridge Junction - Stourbridge Town, Brockenhurst - Lymington Pier, CArdiff Queen Street - Cardiff Bay/Bute Road, and Grove Park - Bromley North.

All of the four above are self-contained shuttles, and do not interact with any other railway traffic along the line of route.

There will be other suggestions of regional and Intercity trains that may feature, but bearing in mind they mix with other railway traffic at some point during the course of their journeys.

I'd imagine the Stourbridge Town branch is the best of that lot as it has its own dedicated train crew too. The rest don't so there's always the potential for delays on other routes to knock on to them by preventing train crew being in the right place.

 

[The Planner]

It does LM a favour as it artificially inflates their overall PPM.

 

[stut]

It does LM a favour as it artificially inflates their overall PPM.

So their PPM improves their PPM

 

[TheDavibob]

It does LM a favour as it artificially inflates their overall PPM.

Is PPM reliability calculated on a per-stop basis?

 

[The Planner]

It is calculated on the lateness at the end of the journey so it normally needs a failed unit to not meet PPM.

 

[pdq]

Does the Grove Park - Bromley North ever get held at Grove Park to connect with a delayed through train? If so, I guess that would impact negatively on its statistical reliability but increase its perceived performance.

 

[ComUtoR]

Does the Grove Park - Bromley North ever get held at Grove Park to connect with a delayed through train? If so, I guess that would impact negatively on its statistical reliability but increase its perceived performance.

They used to hold it and wait for passengers coming over the bridge but were told in no uncertain terms that the practice needed to stop.

 

[Dai Corner]

Along with the signallers we discussed a while ago who had had very little traffic past their boxes, driving these must be the most boring jobs on the railway.

Are staff put on these for a whole shift or is their duty split up?

 

[Deepgreen]

Along with the signallers we discussed a while ago who had had very little traffic past their boxes, driving these must be the most boring jobs on the railway.

Are staff put on these for a whole shift or is their duty split up?

I would put the LU Waterloo and City line quite high up in that league.

 

[higthomas]

They used to hold it and wait for passengers coming over the bridge but were told in no uncertain terms that the practice needed to stop.

Why? And by whom?

 

[Dai Corner]

I would put the LU Waterloo and City line quite high up in that league.

I think we have a winner there. Nothing but tunnel walls and the same two stations to look at.

 

[rd749249]

Romford/Upminster, though delayed shunting moves from the depot could potentially delay things.

 

[Lrd]

I would put the LU Waterloo and City line quite high up in that league.

The W&C is driven by Central Line drivers, so they do see daylight occasionally. Although some drivers do prefer to work down there.

 

[Kentish Paul]

Hi all,

Just wondering after hearing so much about late trains, which are the most consistently on-time services in the UK and has anything been made of the fact that they are providing a great service?

I find that most of the trains I catch are either on time or within a minute or two of the schedule (I'm not a particularly regular user but use them on average around once or twice a month).

Cheers

Not sure what it is like now but I commuted on HS1 from Ashford International to Stratford International for 18 months from March 2013. Only 1 delay up in the morning due to a problem with the emergency crossover near Leeds Castle.

£15 pound delay repay on my season ticket for a 61 minute delay ! Every other trip never more than 2 minutes late.

 

[tsr]

The W&C is driven by Central Line drivers, so they do see daylight occasionally. Although some drivers do prefer to work down there.

From what I usually hear, Tube drivers are way more content with that sort of work than mainline drivers. I believe there were a couple of Southern duties not so long ago which involved days consisting of, shall we say, tens of shuttles between London Victoria and Clapham Junction, with minimum turnarounds. I don't believe it was received terribly well! And you have a decent view on that route (in fact, you even have a potential diversion route too!).

 

[168lover]

Surely the chiltern Paddington parliamentary is pretty punctual?

 

[Busaholic]

Does the Grove Park - Bromley North ever get held at Grove Park to connect with a delayed through train? If so, I guess that would impact negatively on its statistical reliability but increase its perceived performance.

When it ran half-hourly, this happened quite frequently, as it didn't necessarily impact on its return journey, but now it's every 20 minutes....

 

[185143]

When it ran half-hourly, this happened quite frequently, as it didn't necessarily impact on its return journey, but now it's every 20 minutes....

Plus when it was half hourly, if a train load of passengers missed it, they would be eligible for delay repay...

 

[bb21]

Plus when it was half hourly, if a train load of passengers missed it, they would be eligible for delay repay...

Performance penalties will easily outweigh any Delay Repay in the vast majority of cases.

 

[craigybagel]

Are staff put on these for a whole shift or is their duty split up?

I can't speak for the other routes, but as mentioned the Stourbridge PPM has its own dedicated crews who work nothing else, and from the diagrams I've seen crews working Cardiff Bay are usually only on there for an hour or 90 minutes as part of a longer job - although an hour is still 5 round trips!

Interestingly enough, the Wrexham Bidston branch is also entirely self contained (bar the odd steel train to/from Dee Marsh, but with extremely tight turnaround times (in minus figures if you go by the public timetable!) any issue earlier in the day is very hard to make up, as was the case today with one of the units running late for trip after trip......

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Watford - St Albans can be 100% RT all day.


(when the 319 hasnt broken down)

 

[frodshamfella]

Helsby to Ellesmere Port is very punctual.

 

[Andyh82]

How about Slough to Windsor & Eton Central?

 

[306024]

Watford - St Albans can be 100% RT all day.
(when the 319 hasnt broken down)

As can Romford -Upminster. It prompted one very senior manager to once ask if it could run every 20 minutes rather that every 30 minutes to get more PPM bankers in the bag. It is a 9 minute run, you do the math

Surely the chiltern Paddington parliamentary is pretty punctual?

Wasn't when I rode it. If it fails PPM just once, it will take two and a half months of punctual running to get back to 99%.