Station Stop times.

[Class325Guy]

Hello, I am currently making a scenario on the Chatham Mainline route from Dover to London Victoria, I am not from the UK but want to make it somewhat realistic and wanted to know, what are the average station stop times for this route if there are any? I tried looking at a timetable for the route but was confused on the times.

Thanks

 

[ollie_hunt1660]

Most trains on the Chatham mainline arrive and depart at the same time, the only ones that seem to stop for longer are:
Shepherds Well: 1 minute
Canterbury East: 1 minute
Favershan: 2 minutes
Sittingbourne: 1 minute
Gillingham: 1 minute
Rochester: 1 minute
Bromley South: 1 minute

Here is the website that I got this information from:

Realtime Trains | 1018 Dover Priory to London Victoria | 12/02/2024

Real-time train running information for 1018 departure from Dover Priory to London Victoria on 12/02/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

I hope this is all useful to you.

 

[Class325Guy]

Most trains on the Chatham mainline arrive and depart at the same time, the only ones that seem to stop for longer are:
Shepherds Well: 1 minute
Canterbury East: 1 minute
Favershan: 2 minutes
Sittingbourne: 1 minute
Gillingham: 1 minute
Rochester: 1 minute
Bromley South: 1 minute

Here is the website that I got this information from:

Realtime Trains | 1018 Dover Priory to London Victoria | 12/02/2024

Real-time train running information for 1018 departure from Dover Priory to London Victoria on 12/02/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

I hope this is all useful to you.

Thank you, I think from what you're saying most stops last under a minute except for the ones you listed, is that correct? Also, as long as we're on the subject I am currently using a class 465 for this scenario which I think is also operated by Southeastern but want to make sure they run this route in real life.

 

[hexagon789]

Go into detailed mode and look at the Working Timetable (WTT) timings, you'll notice it works to the half minute and station dwells are thus a minimum 30 seconds, but longer at certain stations.

 

[jfollows]

The train planning rules can be seen at, for example, https://sacuksprodnrdigital0001.blob.core.windows.net/operational-rules/Operational Rules/TPR 2024/V4/TPR 2024 V4 SX.pdf and they define the minimum standard values such as "Dwell Time" (30 seconds) and exceptions for specific locations (eg Clapham Junction 1 minute).
EDIT The Kent one at https://sacuksprodnrdigital0001.blob.core.windows.net/operational-rules/Operational Rules/TPR 2024/V4/TPR 2024 V4 KT.pdf is probably the specific one you want. For example, Bromley South dwell time for all services is 1 minute, as observed above from the working timetable.
The working timetable, at least when it was a real book rather than a messy spreadsheet as it is today, assumed 30 seconds for a station stop so that when there was only a single entry for a station call it was shown as a departure time (to the half minute) and the arrival time was assumed to be 30 seconds before that time, unless it was explicitly shown otherwise - for example the letter "a" between the hour and minute times denoted an arrival time 1 minute earlier. This 30 second assumption pretty much covered the country, although there may have been exceptions.

EDIT For reference:
Train Planning Rules at https://www.networkrail.co.uk/industry-and-commercial/information-for-operators/operational-rules/
Working Timetable at https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/the-timetable/working-timetable/



== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Feb 2024 ==

The 1965 working timetable for the route (Section B, main lines via north Kent and Chatham) explicitly says

A half minute is allowed for station duties in the case of locomotive hauled or diesel-electric trains or 20 seconds in the case of electric trains unless separate arrival and departure times are provided or more time is specified by letter indication.

 

[Class325Guy]

This is very helpful, thanks. Also don't know if you can answer my second question, but do class 465's run on this route IRL?

 

[jfollows]

This is very helpful, thanks. Also don't know if you can answer my second question, but do class 465's run on this route IRL?

I can’t, but hopefully someone else can.
IRL == in real life?

 

[hexagon789]

This is very helpful, thanks. Also don't know if you can answer my second question, but do class 465's run on this route IRL?

They do, but not all the way from Dover to London.

 

[Class325Guy]

They do, but not all the way from Dover to London.

Thanks. What train would do the whole route, if any?

 

[jfollows]

Thanks. What train would do the whole route, if any?

Class 375 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_375

 

[hexagon789]

Thanks. What train would do the whole route, if any?

375 as mentioned above, with 395s doing the High-Speed route to St Pancras.

 

[Purple Train]

I'm not particularly au fait with TSW routes, so my apologies if you are referring to a route in that game - but in Train Simulator Classic, at least as of when I last tried making a scenario, the minimum dwell time is 35 seconds, which does occasionally cause issues with metro scenarios.

 

[CarrotPie]

I'm not particularly au fait with TSW routes, so my apologies if you are referring to a route in that game - but in Train Simulator Classic, at least as of when I last tried making a scenario, the minimum dwell time is 35 seconds, which does occasionally cause issues with metro scenarios.

Still is, and it's quite the pain in the proverbial too!