Undesirably long intermediate dwell times

[GordonT]

Are there any notable examples of services or individual journeys where there is a scheduled intermediate standing time well beyond the time taken for pax to decant/board, station duties to be performed etc. to the frustration of "through" pax who just see the timetabled hold as unnecessary delay?

 

[lachlan]

The Sheffield-Scarborough services wait at Hull for anywhere between three and nine minutes. I know I've waited on these services for over five minutes before. Presumably the varying waits are due to working the timetable around crossing the ECML at Doncaster and the single-track sections between Bridlington and Scarborough

 

[Watershed]

The Avanti services from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Blackpool to London via Birmingham have a timetabled dwell of around 9 minutes at Wolverhampton in the up (southbound) direction. This is in addition to the 5 minute dwell at New Street.

During that dwell, they are overtaken by the following XC Reading/Bournemouth service, meaning that journey planners suggest changing for the XC service if you are heading to New Street, International or Coventry - although there is only a saving of around 5 minutes by doing so.

This is of course the legacy of it being a combination of two formerly separate services, from Scotland to Birmingham and Wolverhampton to Euston.

 

[Mag_seven]

Northbound XC services at Derby. Dwell time typically about 9 mins. Also northbound XC services towards Manchester at Birmingham New St as I am literally just discovering!

 

[rower40]

Weybridge to Waterloo via Virginia Water and Hounslow; these wait for 9 minutes at Virginia Water, to allow a Reading to Waterloo train to go through towards Staines first.

 

[Doctor Fegg]

There are a few timetabled waits of ~10 minutes at Evesham and Charlbury to wait for trains in the other direction to clear the single line.

 

[swt_passenger]

The normal timetable‘s Waterloo to Poole stopper, in the down direction has about 20 mins at Southampton and about 30 mins at Brockenhurst.

If you’re at Waterloo, never use the Poole train to get to Poole.

 

[TEW]

Ascot to Aldershot services wait at Camberley for 4 minutes in both directions, may not seem like a lot but for a 30 minute journey it is.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Not super-long, but on the south WCML most station stops are in practice a bit longer than necessary for passengers to board/alight, as it's generally quite slackly timed. It was enough for my Dad to notice it and comment. Sometimes that will come about late at night because services are timed slow-line but run fast-line, but it even happens on the slows.

 

[pdq]

The Huddersfield to Leeds stopper waits at Dewsbury for 5-6 minutes. In the past this was to allow an express through on the centre line, but the current timetable (and that from May) does not appear to have any trains timed through at that point - xx:03 - xx:09.
Can anyone point to a reason why this train couldn't run 5 minutes later throughout (ie leave HUD 5 mins later)? It wouldn't be holding anything up behind it as the next train, to Hull, is timed at Dewsbury at xx:19.

 

[Peter0124]

One of the Glasgow-Hamilton Circle services has a dwell time at Newton of 9 minutes!

 

[BRX]

Sometimes at Elephant & Castle, northbound thameslink services sit there for some time. I think it's mainly on sundays that it happens.

 

[mrcheek]

I ran to catch a Weymouth service at Bristol Temple Meads this week. Need not have bothered, as it stops at Bristol for 20 minutes before continuing the journey

 

[Watershed]

I would nominate services on the Highland Main Line. Quite a number of extended stops to pass other trains on the single line sections.

The Huddersfield to Leeds stopper waits at Dewsbury for 5-6 minutes. In the past this was to allow an express through on the centre line, but the current timetable (and that from May) does not appear to have any trains timed through at that point - xx:03 - xx:09.
Can anyone point to a reason why this train couldn't run 5 minutes later throughout (ie leave HUD 5 mins later)? It wouldn't be holding anything up behind it as the next train, to Hull, is timed at Dewsbury at xx:19.

That would work in most hours (effectively taking the path of the currently withdrawn Scarborough service), but there is an understandable reluctance to change timings when there is every possibility that withdrawn services may be reinstated during the currency of the timetable.

 

[MikeWM]

I ran to catch a Weymouth service at Bristol Temple Meads this week. Need not have bothered, as it stops at Bristol for 20 minutes before continuing the journey

Seems to be a generic problem on that line - the 1455 off Weymouth sits at Maiden Newton for 9 minutes and Westbury for a further 8. Presumably to fit in around other services, but a bit tedious if you're doing a long journey on this service (as I was a couple of weeks ago).

Closer to home, there are a lot of 5-7 minute waits at Cambridge for services to/from Kings Lynn, presumably because when they were timetabled originally they were meant to attach/detach carriages, but there is very little of that going on now so it just turns into sitting there for a while.

 

[Bishopstone]

In the regular Sunday timetable, one of the two Seaford - Brighton services per hour has a 7 minute dwell at Lewes, to facilitate a Brighton connection from the Eastbourne-Victoria via Plumpton service.

 

[Llandudno]

Northbound XC services at Derby. Dwell time typically about 9 mins. Also northbound XC services towards Manchester at Birmingham New St as I am literally just discovering!

Yep, and many of the trains omit a Chesterfield stop and arrive in Sheffield early as a result!

 

[WelshBluebird]

I ran to catch a Weymouth service at Bristol Temple Meads this week. Need not have bothered, as it stops at Bristol for 20 minutes before continuing the journey

The Portsmouth - Cardiff and Taunton to Cardiff services often have a fair bit of dwell time at Bristol too. I think it is more so on the weekends too (on a Saturday especially it looks like the Taunton to Cardiff services often have 15-20 mins).

 

[Western 52]

1B27 1748 SX Paddington to Carmarthen waits 32 minutes at Swansea. Once it leaves, it's virtually empty! There are other trains with long waits there too.

 

[Carlisle]

The Manchester Airport -Windermere service sits outside Oxenholme for around 10 minutes until the northbound service clears the branch .

 

[Cheshire Scot]

The Manchester Airport -Windermere service sits outside Oxenholme for around 10 minutes until the northbound service clears the branch .

Southbound service perhaps!

 

[XC victim]

The Reading / Southampton to Newcastle XC services used to have long dwell times at Birmingham, Derby and Sheffield (and then wait outside Doncaster). All due to pathing

 

[dan4291]

Some LNER services diverted this weekend and some previous weekends between Doncaster and York via Leeds and Garforth have very long dwell times at York, some over 20 minutes.

 

[alf]

The hourly Uckfield to London Bridge runs fast from Oxted to East Croydon missing 4 stations served by East Grinstead trains & travelling up to 85mph.

If it is on time it sits south of the junction with the Brighton line outside South Croydon for 3 minutes every hour.

The pre Covid timetable never did this.

 

[Class800]

Are there any notable examples of services or individual journeys where there is a scheduled intermediate standing time well beyond the time taken for pax to decant/board, station duties to be performed etc. to the frustration of "through" pax who just see the timetabled hold as unnecessary delay?

Regular long dwells at Taunton on southbound XC services at least in 2019 - and some dwells up to 15 minutes at Bristol TM.

 

[357]

I was on an LNER train to Edinburgh last weekend that sat at Leeds for 9 minutes, York for 21 minutes and Newcastle for 8 minutes.

 

[Peter0124]

I was on an LNER train to Edinburgh last weekend that sat at Leeds for 9 minutes, York for 21 minutes and Newcastle for 8 minutes.

If I was on that train I probably would have gone for a walk round York, got something from the platform shop and still got back on the same train.

 

[Class800]

I once had a 10 minute dwell at Plymouth on a Bristol to Penzance early morning class 150 service I boarded at Exeter SD. It was so long the guard announced it and announced the availability of toilets on the platform (better than the train toilet) - most people got off.

 

[JonathanH]

The hourly Uckfield to London Bridge runs fast from Oxted to East Croydon missing 4 stations served by East Grinstead trains & travelling up to 85mph.

If it is on time it sits south of the junction with the Brighton line outside South Croydon for 3 minutes every hour.

The pre Covid timetable never did this.

That has been raised before - the headways at Oxted and the paths through East Croydon mean it needs to wait at South Croydon. It is source of some annoyance when the signaller puts out a peak Uckfield train ahead of a train from Reigate at South Croydon.

 

[Peregrine 4903]

That has been raised before - the headways at Oxted and the paths through East Croydon mean it needs to wait at South Croydon. It is source of some annoyance when the signaller puts out a peak Uckfield train ahead of a train from Reigate at South Croydon.

They can just run it up the RVS though if they need to and have it wait outside East Croydon there.