Cross City Line Leaf Fall Timetable

[Batman]

An announcement has been made on the London Midland website that the annual leaf fall timetable that was due to come into effect on Sunday will not now happen and that the current timetable will continue till December.

In other words, the central section from Four Oaks to Longbridge will still get a 6tph service (instead of 4tph) on weekdays and the 2tph that start and terminate at Lichfield City will continue to call at Blake Street and Buttlers Lane in the off peak.

It's been left very short notice and I doubt many members of the public will know that the timetable changes won't happen. New timetables have been available at stations for several weeks now, although the downloadable version is no longer available on the LM website.

 

[SS4]

An announcement has been made on the London Midland website that the annual leaf fall timetable that was due to come into effect on Sunday will not now happen and that the current timetable will continue till December.

In other words, the central section from Four Oaks to Longbridge will still get a 6tph service (instead of 4tph) on weekdays and the 2tph that start and terminate at Lichfield City will continue to call at Blake Street and Buttlers Lane in the off peak.

It's been left very short notice and I doubt many members of the public will know that the timetable changes won't happen. New timetables have been available at stations for several weeks now, although the downloadable version is no longer available on the LM website.

I only found out from reading it on the Centro Network West Midlands app. I'd have thought they'd have jumped at the chance to decrease services with their staff shortages or perhaps it's because the weather isn't playing ball and there aren't many leaves on the line, certainly in my back garden the leaves have largely fallen already. It was only announced yesterday according to the aforementioned app.

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http://www.londonmidland.com/about-...ble-for-cross-city-line-from-22-october-2012/

Better timetable for Cross City line from 22 October 2012

Date: 18 Oct 2012

The autumn ‘leaf fall’ timetable on the Lichfield to Redditch line, which runs annually from late October until mid-December, incorporates longer journey times and a reduced frequency. This is to compensate for the different driving style required due to the build up of leaf mulch on the rails.

However, following customer feedback from last year and taking into account the recent poor performance on the CrossCity line, we have decided to cancel this year’s revised service. As a result, the published timetable that has operated since May 2012 will remain unchanged until December.

Although punctuality may suffer on certain days, we believe that planning to run a higher frequency service through the autumn will benefit more of our passengers overall. In particular, the impact of any cancellations should be reduced, both in terms of the length of delays and the ability to board the following train.

We will closely monitor the service to help us assess the best timetable options for autumn 2013 and beyond.

To download the latest version of any London Midland timetable, please visit londonmidland.com/times

Interesting is the admittance of punctuality taking a hit. It will be interesting to see how that affects services on a line with a core service of ten minutes.

 

[London_Midland]

The decision has been taken partly as a result of passenger feedback (the reduced service doesn't work too well at weekends during the Christmas shopping period) and partly due to the relatively low proportion of days over the last couple of years on which leaves have caused major issues. However, as an aside, the leaf fall timetable does not actually save any driving turns, despite its lower frequency, due to the longer journey times.

Hope that helps,

David

 

[Batman]

I only found out from reading it on the Centro Network West Midlands app. I'd have thought they'd have jumped at the chance to decrease services with their staff shortages or perhaps it's because the weather isn't playing ball and there aren't many leaves on the line, certainly in my back garden the leaves have largely fallen already. It was only announced yesterday according to the aforementioned app.

I thought that as well. I'm surprised that LM management weren't jumping up and down with excitement at the opportunity to run fewer trains for a few weeks, especially as the cross city is the line most affected by recent staff shortages. But I'm more concerned as to how short notice they've left it. It might have been easier to have let the leaf fall timetable run this year and run a trial 'normal timetable' during the leaf fall period in 2014.

Although despite that, I am of course glad that my local station at Blake Street will be keeping it's 4tph service.

 

[SS4]

The decision has been taken partly as a result of passenger feedback (the reduced service doesn't work too well at weekends during the Christmas shopping period) and partly due to the relatively low proportion of days over the last couple of years on which leaves have caused major issues. However, as an aside, the leaf fall timetable does not actually save any driving turns, despite its lower frequency, due to the longer journey times.

Hope that helps,

David

I was thinking about turnaround but thanks for confirmation. Definitely glad to have 6 tph to town though

 

[Batman]

I was thinking about turnaround but thanks for confirmation. Definitely glad to have 6 tph to town though

The 2 minute turnarounds at Lichfield City twice an hour looked a little hit and miss.

 

[Simon11]

I've heard that the leaf fall requires around 3 additonal shifts, so actually requiring more staff which they clearly don't have!

 

[87015]

The 2 minute turnarounds at Lichfield City twice an hour looked a little hit and miss.

Wouldn't have been a two minute turnaround in WTT - thats not legal.

More likely to be seven minute turnaround with +5 differential / ppm fiddle time on the inward.

 

[The Planner]

Will keep a few people happy, leaf fall causes a right pain as freight paths have to be split and re-timed as trains sit at Longbridge for an age.

 

[Batman]

Wouldn't have been a two minute turnaround in WTT - thats not legal.

More likely to be seven minute turnaround with +5 differential / ppm fiddle time on the inward.

The Timetable shows trains tacking 14 to run non-stop from Four Oaks to Lichfield City where they terminate, there is the a 2 minute turnaround and they have 10 minutes to run non-stop back to Four Oaks.

So It's actually a 6 minute turnaround, or 5 if you add an extra minute onto the northbound journey time to take account of the train having to slow down to use the crossover on the approach to Lichfield.

 

[The Planner]

5 minute turnaround minimum for that sort of service, LM won't accept less unless it really screws the path.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

Would ASLEF accept anything less than a five minute turn around? That is the absolute minimum we get at Chiltern, but I'm not sure if we get extra time due to ATP fitted stock.

 

[WCML]

Good. The trains get absolutely packed when the leaf fall timetable is in operation.
Don't think the punctuality problems will be an issue as it seems youre lucky to board a train thats running on time at the moment.