19:40 from Loughborough to Sheffield

[Trainfan344]

Went to the GCR yesterday and got the 19:40 East Midlands Train service from Loughborough to Sheffield. However, it was delayed by a few minutes due to the fast train from St. Pancras to Leeds being delayed in front of it.

Now this seems like a unique event, However, last year when I went to the same event, the 19:40 was delayed due to the fast train being delayed, and it seems that whenever me or my friends visit GCR and catch the 19:40 it is always delayed due to the fast train being delayed. So either we are very unlucky OR there is a timetabling issue here. If it is the latter can anyone inform me whether or not it is an easy issue to solve?

 

[30907]

The pattern of xx15 Nottingham xx26 Sheffield departures from St Pancras, which are only 5 min apart at Leicester because the former stops at Market Harborough and is timed for HST, is a standard hour one, recurring 58 times a week or around 3000 times a year.

If there is a timetabling issue, it would therefore potentially happen repeatedly, and a check on RTT or similar would show this - or other forum members might comment.

Not sure you can deduce much from a sample of 1!

BTW what sort of delay are we talking about - 2min, 20 min, or...?

 

[Trainfan344]

The fast is due past at 35 and it usually passes between 42-45 and the slow follows about 5 mins later.

 

[louis97]

Sounds fairly standard to me. Even if the HST ahead is on time, it is near impossible for the 222 behind to be on-time. The sectional running times between Wigston and Leicester and between Leicester and Loughborough are quite tight since the 125mph timetable. The Leicester to Loughborough section is not adjusted for trains coming from Platform 1, which has a lower departure speed - 25mph until out of the loop.

 

[Trainfan344]

I'll have another check of realtime trains on Saturday to confirm.