Redhill Platform Lengths?

[Nicholas Lewis]

Tonbridge sometimes gets held because of the crossing moves conflicting with the train into platform 3.

There is no leeway at all exercised to hold a train heading towards Reigate at Redhill, regardless of what is heading into platform 3. The operational instruction to the platform staff is right time departure.

So much for the joined up railway!

People will be reluctant to make journeys where a change is involved if there isn't more reliability about maintaining connections.

In Germany they hold trains for connections

 

[zwk500]

So much for the joined up railway!

People will be reluctant to make journeys where a change is involved if there isn't more reliability about maintaining connections.

In Germany they hold trains for connections

In England they have done so as well, where it doesn't stuff up the rest of the network (e.g. Thames Valley branches). Although it's a long standing issue in other parts of the country, such as on the Marston Vale.

 

[WizCastro197]

So much for the joined up railway!

People will be reluctant to make journeys where a change is involved if there isn't more reliability about maintaining connections.

In Germany they hold trains for connections

View attachment 127223

Redhill seems to be one of the few places they don’t do it, even though it is a fairly useful interchange area. East Croydon and Gatwick often hold for connections I believe, if you trust Southern’s departures tool.

 

[JonathanH]

People will be reluctant to make journeys where a change is involved if there isn't more reliability about maintaining connections.

I get the impression that, on days when there aren't through trains, people will get a connection to Reigate at Redhill if there is one due imminently but if they miss it, or the connection is longer than five minutes they just go and get a taxi. Others will drive to Redhill.

The evening flow onto GWR services at Redhill for destinations beyond Reigate is limited.

I think that has all contributed to Redhill platform staff, and the operational instruction, taking the view that everything should just be sent out right time.

Towards London, the flow through the Purley to Windmill Bridge stretch on the slow line is so tortuous already that Redhill do not want any blame for contributing to delays.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

I get the impression that, on days when there aren't through trains, people will get a connection to Reigate at Redhill if there is one due imminently but if they miss it, or the connection is longer than five minutes they just go and get a taxi. Others will drive to Redhill.

The evening flow onto GWR services at Redhill for destinations beyond Reigate is limited.

I think that has all contributed to Redhill platform staff, and the operational instruction, taking the view that everything should just be sent out right time.

Towards London, the flow through the Purley to Windmill Bridge stretch on the slow line is so tortuous already that Redhill do not want any blame for contributing to delays.

Thameslink are self despatch so they have even fewer trains to deal with now!

 

[Minstral25]

Platform 0 at Redhill is needed. Timetable does not work without Platform 0.

Which Timetable - it is feasible to only use platform 2 for London bound trains with the amendments from Dec. The odd trains that don't currently are because of trains crossing the main line from GWR and Tonbridge - fix these and it works

Most of the Victoria joiners go on platform 2, except the 09:41.

On our workings most attachments are booked on platform 0

Attachments are mostly booked into P0, but often signaller will put into P2 - better to get them all in P2

Gatwick Airport's issues have nothing to do with Redhill's splitting and attaching. I honestly don't see how it changes the platform allocation at Redhill.

The times trains can leave Gatwick for Redhill has a large affect on the usage of platforms at Redhill - the complex arrangements during the rebuild when 2 platforms are out of use at Gatwick have affected the departure times making them uneven - now they can be made more even as P5 and P6 at Gatwick have opened then the need for platform 0 reduces.

I get the impression that, on days when there aren't through trains, people will get a connection to Reigate at Redhill if there is one due imminently but if they miss it, or the connection is longer than five minutes they just go and get a taxi. Others will drive to Redhill.

The evening flow onto GWR services at Redhill for destinations beyond Reigate is limited.

I think that has all contributed to Redhill platform staff, and the operational instruction, taking the view that everything should just be sent out right time.

Towards London, the flow through the Purley to Windmill Bridge stretch on the slow line is so tortuous already that Redhill do not want any blame for contributing to delays.

With Thameslink having high priority to be on-time to make sure delays are not created in the core and the same with GWR services being on time to avoid creating delays at Guildford, there was very little option to hold trains at Redhill for late running passengers. GWR's service goes from half hourly (roughly) to 90 minute gaps so no wonder passengers don't plan to use, but Reigate has a half hourly service in the evening so shouldn't really affect passenger numbers however I think your point is valid that Taxis are often used.

 

[zwk500]

Attachments are mostly booked into P0, but often signaller will put into P2 - better to get them all in P2

If signallers are altering the booked platforms when trains are running on time for operational reasons, they should try and communicate that back to the planning team at MK and get the plan amended to reflect what they are doing.

 

[Sunset route]

If signallers are altering the booked platforms when trains are running on time for operational reasons, they should try and communicate that back to the planning team at MK and get the plan amended to reflect what they are doing.

We’ve had planners from Paddington then Milton Keynes pay visits over the years with problems and conflicts pointed out and nothing changes until the timetable gets recast and even then some still get carried over.

 

[zwk500]

We’ve had planners from Paddington then Milton Keynes pay visits over the years with problems and conflicts pointed out and nothing changes until the timetable recast and even some still get carried over.

This is frustrating but not unexpected.

 

[Minstral25]

If signallers are altering the booked platforms when trains are running on time for operational reasons, they should try and communicate that back to the planning team at MK and get the plan amended to reflect what they are doing.

At Redhill it is a bigger issue as the length of time it takes to get from one end of the 12 coach platforms (P0 or P2) to the other and through the subway is considerable - so often trains depart without passengers who intended to be on them as they are still swapping platforms. Especially as the platform swap is often communicated after the train has passed the last signal before the platform. Obviously not a problem for attachments which sit in the platform for some time, but annoying if you are on wrong platform.

It is part of the terrible design for passengers that the Platform 0 rebuild was, and the passengers have been communicating that to the planning team for some time.

 

[Peregrine 4903]

Which Timetable - it is feasible to only use platform 2 for London bound trains with the amendments from Dec. The odd trains that don't currently are because of trains crossing the main line from GWR and Tonbridge - fix these and it works





Attachments are mostly booked into P0, but often signaller will put into P2 - better to get them all in P2



The times trains can leave Gatwick for Redhill has a large affect on the usage of platforms at Redhill - the complex arrangements during the rebuild when 2 platforms are out of use at Gatwick have affected the departure times making them uneven - now they can be made more even as P5 and P6 at Gatwick have opened then the need for platform 0 reduces.



With Thameslink having high priority to be on-time to make sure delays are not created in the core and the same with GWR services being on time to avoid creating delays at Guildford, there was very little option to hold trains at Redhill for late running passengers. GWR's service goes from half hourly (roughly) to 90 minute gaps so no wonder passengers don't plan to use, but Reigate has a half hourly service in the evening so shouldn't really affect passenger numbers however I think your point is valid that Taxis are often used.

Your forgetting there are other trains that reverse at Redhill that the public won't be privy too, namely seasonal trains.

 

[DelW]

....
All this work for a train service that has now been abandoned (i.e. 3 trains per hour on North Downs). The station is a complete mess from a passenger perspective now.
....

I haven't used the line since the December timetable came in*, but unless it's a big improvement on its predecessor, I'd suggest the NDL timetable is currently a mess too. AIUI it was written around class 769s operating the 3tph service, neither of which has been introduced nor apparently ever will be now. So the timings are slower than the Turbos need, plus the pointless waits by stopping trains at Guildford, introduced so that they could be overtaken by now non-existent Gatwick services.

The amount of money, time and effort wasted in the triple failures of the 769 trains, 3tph timetable, and Redhill platform 0, must have been enormous, yet the outcome has been a worse service for passengers than before, even apart from the connection problems at Redhill. Presumably we'll now be told that there's no money or resources available to fix the mistakes, and the line will be left in its current unsatisfactory state. Ar least the Turbos are getting a well overdue retrim inside.

*because I access it via SWR, and for the last month their services have been unreliable at best and completely absent at worst.