Leicester station throughput

[Railperf]

Coes anone know why Leicester down platform 1 does not seem to accept EMR Intercity services while platform 2 is occupied. There are frequent instances of two Intercity services from St Pancras to Sheffield and Nottingham being close together where the Nottingham behind could be routed jnto P1, but isn't and simply waits for P2 to become vacated by the Sheffield service.

Whereas ex Birmingham services do get routed into P1 if an EMR Intercity is occupying P2.

 

[Nottingham59]

Coes anone know why Leicester down platform 1 does not seem to accept EMR Intercity services while platform 2 is occupied.

Is it a linespeed issue? P1 is 25mph

 

[Roast Veg]

Pre-covid, this was common and confusing. Automated platform alteration announcements would overlap, with passengers not always clear on which platform the train their particular advance ticket was valid on would occupy. This was obviously even worse in the up direction.

 

[The exile]

Is it a linespeed issue? P1 is 25mph

Surely 25mph is better than 0mph sitting at a red waiting for a platform to clear?

 

[midland1]

Might be something to do with the signal overlap at the top of platforms 1and 2, with a train signalled out of 2 a train for 1 has to be brought to a stand before getting a yellow into 1. Also passengers would have to cross over to 1, if you are halfway along 2 would have to walk up or down the platform to get round to 1

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Nov 2025 ==

Oops just come to me just after I posted #5 the layout at the top of number 1 was changer a year or two back so that the overlap goes straight along not running into the down fast.

 

[Nottingham59]

Maybe it's that the usual hourly pattern is for northbound EMR trains to run fast to Sheffield, whilst the following Nottingham calls at Market Harborough. So in the normal course of events, the Nottingham will always be 5-6 minutes or more behind the Sheffield. Which should be enough for the Sheffield to vacate P2, or at least be close to dispatch.

But a XC to Stanstead Airport could present itself at Wigston North junction, where their paths converge, at the same time as the EMR, and follow it into Leicester at minimum headway for the Down Line. So the EMR could still be only halfway through its platform occupation?

The sooner they reinstate three tracks all the way between Wigston and Leicester the better.

 

[Spartacus]

It does happen, not a lot, but it does. Trouble is it causes confusion on the platforms, people on the wrong trains, and station overtime as a result, but it messes up the XC services, which find they've two occupied platforms in front of them, and nowhere to go. Could in theory go into 3 or 4 but that's frankly more trouble than it's worth unless something's seriously gone wrong. And that raises a final point. Usually you'd want one to go into 1 when one's having overtime in 2 for some reason. Now, if that trouble spreads to the train in platform 1 (maybe it's disorder), or another problem develops on the train in 1, you've suddenly effectively reduced Leicester to a loop on a single line, and that panel's already got a heavy workload. Yeah, there's ifs and buts, but why make them a possibility if it's not needed?

 

[Spaceship323]

P1 is occupied by the Birmingham terminator for 25' every hour anyway. If an XC is in conflict with an EMR it is usually held at South Wigston (I've been sat there on a XC for seems like ages)