My idea to allocate route numbers to train services

[PTR 444]

It’s common practice for bus services and commercial airline flights to be given numbers for reference, but the same isn’t true for trains. We have to rely on departure time to refer to a specific service and although many people are used to it, it can be confusing when the train is delayed or you are meeting with someone boarding the train later and have to communicate the service to them by a different departure time.

My idea is to give each daily national rail service a unique code so passengers can rely on just that for a specific service they need to catch. Each route will be numbered based on the road numbering system, so for example London Waterloo - Portsmouth will be route 3. A suffix letter after that will denote different stopping patterns, with each one being unique for a time slot past the hour as follows:

Route 3A: Fast services to Portsmouth departing Waterloo at 00 mins past the hour.

Route 3B: Fast services to Portsmouth departing Waterloo at 30 mins past the hour.

Route 3C: Stopping services to Portsmouth departing Waterloo at 45 mins past the hour.

Route 3H: Services terminating at Haslemere departing Waterloo at 15 mins past the hour.

Different letter suffixes would be used for peak, evening and Sunday services.

Another letter after that would ensure a unique code for each service during the day. Since there are 26 letters in the alphabet but only 24 hours in a day, running out of letters shouldn’t be an issue. The off peak route number allocation for the Portsmouth Direct Line would therefore look like this:

3AA: 0800 WAT - PMH

3HA: 0815 WAT - HSL

3BA: 0830 WAT - PMH

3CA: 0845 WAT - PMS

3AB: 0900 WAT - PMH

3HB: 0915 WAT - HSL

3BB: 0930 WAT - PMH

3CB: 0945 WAT - PMS

3AC: 1000 WAT - PMH

3HC: 1015 WAT - HSL

3BC: 1030 WAT - PMH

3CC: 1045 WAT - PMS

3AD: 1100 WAT - PMH

3HD: 1115 WAT - HSL

3BD: 1130 WAT - PMH

3CD: 1145 WAT - PMS

And so on until the hourly pattern changes for the evening peak. The above codes will be reused every weekday.

 

[transmanche]

My idea is to give each daily national rail service a unique code so passengers can rely on just that for a specific service they need to catch.
3BC: 1030 WAT - PMH
3BD: 1130 WAT - PMH

There are unique codes for each service already. Your 3BC service has the code 8127 - or more specifically SW8127 in the manner of flight numbers - and your 3BD service is SW8131.

Many routes in the south/south east also have/had route numbers which would have been displayed on the front in the manner of a bus route number. I think your 3BC and 3BD services may well have been route 81.

 

[PTR 444]

There are unique codes for each service already. Your 3BC service has the code 8127 - or more specifically SW8127 in the manner of flight numbers - and your 3BD service is SW8131.

Many routes in the south/south east also have/had route numbers which would have been displayed on the front in the manner of a bus route number. I think your 3BC and 3BD services may well have been route 81.

The route numbers/codes I am proposing are intended to be displayed in timetables, digital departure boards and on the front of the train. I think shorter codes like 3BC, 3BD etc are better for this purpose as the general public are more likely to remember them.

 

[transmanche]

The route numbers/codes I am proposing are intended to be displayed in timetables, digital departure boards and on the front of the train.

The short route codes were displayed on the front of trains and in timetables for decades.


Image shows an SWT Class 455 displaying a destination of Windsor & Eton Riverside via Richmond with route code 58.

The longer 'flight number style' codes were shown on the external displays by Virgin Trains and are still shown by Cross Country.


Image shows close-up of Cross Country train with external display showing the train number.

I think shorter codes like 3BC, 3BD etc are better for this purpose as the general public are more likely to remember them.

I disagree. For metro/suburban routes, with regular stopping patterns, a route number is all that's needed - just like on a bus.

For long-distance services, where many people with be travelling on non-flexible tickets, a unique train number is useful to ensure you catch the correct train. And for those on flexible but TOC-specific tickets, the operator prefix makes it easy to identify which trains you can use.

 

[bb21]

Erm, no.