Train not stopping when departure board said it would

[enginedin]

I was at Worcestershire Parkway on Tuesday (travelling from Birmingham New Street), and missed a connection (the 1812) to Oxford by 2 mins. The next service was meant to be 2 hours later (cue lots of angry passengers...) but the ticket office then phoned Control and arranged for the next service to stop (only every other Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington service is scheduled to stop at Worcestershire Parkway). The service then appeared on the departure boards, and there were announcements about it, but the train didn't actually stop. The "hourly" services are slightly offset, so in my photo below it's the 1930 departure (which, as Real Time Trains shows, isn't scheduled to stop: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:P75642/2023-12-05/detailed#allox_id=0)

There was clearly some miscommunication somewhere... Anyone got any idea what might have gone wrong? To be fair, the ticket office folk were very apologetic and seemed very confused as to what happened.

(as an aside, would it be normal practice for the 1812 to have been held given there were a significant number of people who clearly had a connection? I've seen plenty of trains be held to wait for a late incoming service, but never know what the protocol is. In this instance, it wouldn't have affected any other service if it had been held by 2 mins)

 

[skyhigh]

There was clearly some miscommunication somewhere... Anyone got any idea what might have gone wrong?

Control may have failed to ask the crew to stop (or it took too long for the message to be passed through).

 

[enginedin]

Control may have failed to ask the crew to stop

Wouldn't it be Control who would have updated the departure board info tho?

(or it took too long for the message to be passed through).

they had about an hour's notice

 

[_toommm_]

Wouldn't it be Control who would have updated the departure board info tho?

It could also be driver error. They’re not booked to normally stop at the additional call on the service, were subsequently given it as an additional call, and may have forgotten.

I believe additional calls are given on separate forms, so I imagine it might be easy to forget.

 

[enginedin]

It could also be driver error. They’re not booked to normally stop at the additional call on the service, were subsequently given it as an additional call, and may have forgotten.

I believe additional calls are given on separate forms, so I imagine it might be easy to forget.

yeh, someone else wondered that. Wouldn't that have meant they (potentially) went through a red signal though? (which presumably would be a "no tea or biscuits" meeting)... or are the signals much less frequent on single track lines?

 

[skyhigh]

Wouldn't it be Control who would have updated the departure board info tho?

There is more than one person in 'Control'. It is entirely possible that the person who is responsible for the boards made the change, but nobody told the crew. Or several other communication issues.

It's possible the driver forgot to stop but generally in my experience when you're given an additional stop order it sticks in your head enough that you remember it. However, the train continued without picking up any delay until much later in the journey - if the driver became aware they had missed a station they would be required to report it to the signaller/Control which would take time. Given that, I think it's unlikely to be driver error.

Wouldn't that have meant they (potentially) went through a red signal though?

Signals are not put to red at the end of platforms just because the train is stopping there. If the route is set and there's no obstructions/trains ahead, it'll be green.

 

[zwk500]

or are the signals much less frequent on single track lines?

In general you will only get a signal on a Single track line approaching a junction. Worcestershire Parkway almost certainly does not have a signal at the platform end for trains towards Oxford.

 

[glasgowniteowl]

Theres could be any number of reasons why it didnt stop.

Drivers were in industrial action last week, driver could have refused the stop order as it may have taken him over his day or affected a break

The special stop order maybe wasn't actually handed to the driver or guard and there could be various reasons why that didn't happen, ie unmanned stations, staff error at other stations, control not contacting the relevant stations etc

As mentioned control not contacting the actual train crew again number of reasons different people responsible for different things in control, mobile failure of the guard

Also a 2 minute hold in reality would probably end up nearer 5 given passengers having to change platforms and would then have to wait for slower passengers to get across, that could then have a knockon further up the line especially as train heading into London etc

Also I believe its preferred to not have a train come in against a red as that itself slows the train down further from the station and can extend the time actually needed to serve stations so a fail to call would probably not have been against a red in this case if there had been a signal at the platform end