failure to reach 125mph confusion yesterday....

[The Planner]

The Wolverhampton 390 is often 5minutes early at Coventry.

Engineering recovery time and PTT being different to the WTT. 5 is extreme though, 3 I'd believe.
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'Padding' time surely shouldn't be in the sectional running times* in any place, it should be in <x> performance minutes, station dwell times and differential at terminus. Its a bit naughty to put {x} adjustment time in the running times for no good reason.

* I know there are some routes where the [x] engineering time is taken to account in SRTs, but thats not the general regime.

Padding shouldnt be, the issue being is that TOCs claim that times aren't acheivable when everything points to them being so. It then gets to the delay blame game.

Diamond time is an odd one and isn't often used. Box time is taken into account on the Southern only as a 5% allowance in each SRT but I fail to see how that can work with rounding on low timings.

 

[strange6]

Really? In the same way that you operate your bank account right up to your credit limit or as close as possible (because nothing unexpected is ever, er, expected?).

No one with an operational responsibility which faces harsh penalties for failure would operate any system right up against its limits.

Well, as 'The Planner' says, the TOC he works for does and I imagine most other TOC's do as well to most stations. I do notice a bit of leeway sometimes, for example, the Wigan - Rochadale service always turns up at Man Vic 5 - 7 mins early but always bang on time at the other stations when it's been running at max line speeds. So there

 

[The Planner]

Nope, not a TOC, NR.

 

[Hydro]

Nope, not a TOC, NR.

I need to start bribing you to get some decent STP timings for the yellow fleet then

 

[The Planner]

Ha ! not me guv, you should be happy the Banana and UTUs get WTT schedules.

 

[87015]

delete

 

[VP185]

There's two speed restrictions on the GWML into Paddington at present. One at Maidenhead which is 20mph (yesterday morning trains were being stopped and cautioned or routed onto the relief lines from Reading - 90mph maximum) with freight running on the main as far as Slough. There is also another speed restriction in the Acton Main Line area. These restrictions cause trains to back up, especially if you're following a 165/166 ahead which as well as being 90mph maximum, aren't the best accelerating units.

If you know you've got a slower train in front you adjust you're speed accordingly so that you continue to run on greens, basically matching the speed of the train in front.