0929 Clapham Junction to Alton 17/09/24

[74A]

Waiting at Clapham Junction for this delayed train. Ran through non stop. I assume because it was running late ?

Unfortunately no one seems to have informed the people operating the info screens.

As a result it didn't display stand clear next train not stopping at this station.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Waiting at Clapham Junction for this delayed train. Ran through non stop. I assume because it was running late ?

Unfortunately no one seems to have informed the people operating the info screens.

As a result it didn't display stand clear next train not stopping at this station.

Looks like Clapham Junction was indeed skip-stopped to try to catch up time. Looks like it left Waterloo maybe 15 minutes down, but is gradually now part clawing it back.

Realtime Trains | 0924 London Waterloo to Alton | 17/09/2024

Real-time train running information for 0924 departure from London Waterloo to Alton on 17/09/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Presume you'll now be eligible for some 'Delay Repay'?

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Looks like Clapham Junction was indeed skip-stopped to try to catch up time. Looks like it left Waterloo maybe 15 minutes down, but is gradually now part clawing it back.

Realtime Trains | 0924 London Waterloo to Alton | 17/09/2024

Real-time train running information for 0924 departure from London Waterloo to Alton on 17/09/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Wow, looking at that, I can't help wondering whether the padding in the normal timetable is too excessive. The train made up 11 minutes between London and Woking just by skipping 2 stops (Clapham Junction and West Byfleet) and then a further 3 minutes between Woking and Alton, total 14 minutes of time made up. Seems hard to believe that 2 stops could make so much difference.

 

[LAX54]

Wow, looking at that, I can't help wondering whether the padding in the normal timetable is too excessive. The train made up 11 minutes between London and Woking just by skipping 2 stops (Clapham Junction and West Byfleet) and then a further 3 minutes between Woking and Alton, total 14 minutes of time made up. Seems hard to believe that 2 stops could make so much difference.

You would be surprised how much a couple of skipped stops can make up, no slowing down, no dwell time, no acceleration up to line speed needed, can easily make up 5+ on one stop, its also why trains dont always wait for late runners / connections, the knock on can add up to hours of delay.

 

[Flange Squeal]

Wow, looking at that, I can't help wondering whether the padding in the normal timetable is too excessive. The train made up 11 minutes between London and Woking just by skipping 2 stops (Clapham Junction and West Byfleet) and then a further 3 minutes between Woking and Alton, total 14 minutes of time made up. Seems hard to believe that 2 stops could make so much difference.

There’s a good few mins slack in the West Byfleet to Woking section alone, as the down Portsmouth services are generally booked to cross onto the slow in front of the down Alton in order to use Woking platform 5. I’ve noticed many drivers tend to take this section slower and keep the train rolling, rather than race up to the red and wait. On occasions where the Portsmouth goes into 4, or is delayed/cancelled, an on time Alton can arrive into Woking several minutes early.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

You would be surprised how much a couple of skipped stops can make up, no slowing down, no dwell time, no acceleration up to line speed needed, can easily make up 5+ on one stop, its also why trains dont always wait for late runners / connections, the knock on can add up to hours of delay.

I can believe one stop could make 5 minute's difference if you're talking about - say - a Pendolino having to slow down from 125mph, and then having an extended dwell time because the end-carriage single doors don't allow quick boarding. But here we're talking about a commuter train with a pretty good acceleration, with the train designed for frequent stops on a line that doesn't have an exactly massive linespeed anyway. I'm struggling to see how 5 minutes for one stop in that context is reasonable.

 

[Deepgreen]

Timetables are padded, without doubt. In today's compensation-based atmosphere, TOCs seek as much slack as they can get - very many journeys are now significantly slower than a few decades ago. Missing CJ here would I imagine recoup the dwell time (which should be a minute or so) plus the slowing from 60mph to 0mph to stop, rather than 60mph to 40mph for a non-stop, and the acceleration back to 60mph again. Estimate 100-120 seconds saving overall.