Trivia: Bizarre services

[trebor79]

I had occasion to change trains at Crewe today, not a station I've visited before. Whilst I was hanging around, I noticed there was an EMR service to Newark Castle via Stoke. The seemed to run semi-fast to Nottingham, then calling all shacks to Newark. Sort of long distance morphing into local stopper.
Any other examples of weird services?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The once per week, 15:20 Carlisle to Nottingham train (Sundays only - Northern service) may hark to the past, but appears to be a strange one, and seemingly only operates as a through service in that particular direction.

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Alternative journey planner featuring full schedule details including platforms and connection times, for every passenger train on the National Rail network.

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[Kite159]

The once per week, 15:20 Carlisle to Nottingham train (Sundays only - Northern service) may hark to the past, but appears to be a strange one, and seemingly only operates as a through service in that particular direction.

BR Times - Train Times & Station Platform Finder

Alternative journey planner featuring full schedule details including platforms and connection times, for every passenger train on the National Rail network.

www.brtimes.com

The outward journey seems to have changed to start from Sheffield rather than Nottingham. Pretty sure from memory it used to run to Nottingham as ECS

Realtime Trains | 1Y18 1017 Sheffield to Carlisle | 20/08/2023

Real-time train running information for 1Y18 1017 departure from Sheffield to Carlisle on 20/08/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

I had occasion to change trains at Crewe today, not a station I've visited before. Whilst I was hanging around, I noticed there was an EMR service to Newark Castle via Stoke. The seemed to run semi-fast to Nottingham, then calling all shacks to Newark. Sort of long distance morphing into local stopper.
Any other examples of weird services?

It's only (generally) 2 hourly it runs semi-fast to Nottingham, the other services call at all stations to Nottingham, which allows the Lincoln trains to be semi-fast.

 

[Cambus731]

Back in 2018 I caught a XC train from Berwick to York that because of engineering works that weekend was a service from Aberdeen to Guildford. Obviously members of this forum will understand the need for this, but to the unwary it does seem at face value an odd pairing of start and end points for a passenger train.

 

[Bill57p9]

The outward journey seems to have changed to start from Sheffield rather than Nottingham. Pretty sure from memory it used to run to Nottingham as ECS

Realtime Trains | 1Y18 1017 Sheffield to Carlisle | 20/08/2023

Real-time train running information for 1Y18 1017 departure from Sheffield to Carlisle on 20/08/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

It's only (generally) 2 hourly it runs semi-fast to Nottingham, the other services call at all stations to Nottingham, which allows the Lincoln trains to be semi-fast.

The Sunday morning Sheffield to Carlisle service definitely used to start in Nottingham.

Another oddity of the Crewe to Newark Castle services is that they are class 1 whilst the usual fayre between Nottingham and Lincoln are class 2. Therefore you often get the odd situation of a class 1 calling all stations between Nottingham and Newark with a class 2 (Lincoln or Grimsby to Leicester) running semi-fast.
The only other example of this I can think of is between Fort William and Mallaig: ScotRail calls all stations as a class 1 with the Jacobite class 2 only calling at Glenfinnan.


Another service I always found a bit odd was Ayr to North Berwick. Yes, basically 3 services bolted together but the end result route was strange.

 

[Statto]

TfWs Manchester - South West Wales service, more so when a 150 is often allocated to the service taking over 6 hours to, from Manchester to Pembroke Dock or Milford Haven, think the original idea behind the service is to fee up platform space at Cardiff Central, so TfW merged the South West Wales service with the Marches line service.

 

[liamf656]

Another oddity of the Crewe to Newark Castle services is that they are class 1 whilst the usual fayre between Nottingham and Lincoln are class 2.

When the Crewe to Derby service was first extended to Newark it also had the oddity that towards Newark it was class 2 (as it took the 2N headcodes of the former Matlock to Newark service while they in turn took 2A headcodes), but towards Crewe it was class 1 as it always was! The May 2023 TT change fixed this and is all class 1 now

 

[InkyScrolls]

The SuX 0641 Bradford (Forster Square) to Carnforth is a good example of two services being bolted together to produce a novel result. All stops, the only service beyond Skipton to originate at Bradford, the only service from Bradford to operate with diesel traction, only in one direction, and the only Bentham Line service which terminates at Carnforth.

 

[jnjkerbin]

The 0705 Faversham - Charing X is a rather odd one. Down the coast through Margate and Ramsage to Minster, reversing there to head via Dover to Ashford, where it attaches a portion from Canterbury West, and then up to Charing X via Tonbridge. A journey time of 3 hours and 44 miinutes (although obviously no sane person uses it from end to end).

Realtime Trains | 0705 Faversham to Ashford International | 06/07/2023

Real-time train running information for 0705 departure from Faversham to Ashford International on 06/07/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

There's another at 0725 which instead goes directly from Ramsgate to Ashford, which is a little more direct.

 

[AzureOtsu]

I still believe it's rather odd for EMR to serve Liverpool Lime Street.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The SuX 0641 Bradford (Forster Square) to Carnforth is a good example of two services being bolted together to produce a novel result. All stops, the only service beyond Skipton to originate at Bradford, the only service from Bradford to operate with diesel traction, only in one direction, and the only Bentham Line service which terminates at Carnforth.

Is that the one that then continues ECS from Carnforth to Lancaster, having first required any Lancaster bound passengers to alight at Carnforth, and then board a following Barrow-in-Furness to Manchester Airport train?

 

[voyagerdude220]

There used to be a 15:20 Blackburn to Clitheroe via Todmorden/Manchester several years ago which effectively did a big loop before returning to Blackburn a couple of hours later and finally going straight to Clitheroe.

 

[SargeNpton]

I still believe it's rather odd for EMR to serve Liverpool Lime Street.

Any odder than Transport for Wales Rail running services that are wholly within England? Or those Tyne Valley services that used to be operated by ScotRail?

 

[InkyScrolls]

Is that the one that then continues ECS from Carnforth to Lancaster, having first required any Lancaster bound passengers to alight at Carnforth, and then board a following Barrow-in-Furness to Manchester Airport train?

That's the one. The reason it can't run through is there's no path available on the WCML at that time.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Jul 2023 ==

Any odder than Transport for Wales Rail running services that are wholly within England? Or those Tyne Valley services that used to be operated by ScotRail?

Officially they may have been operated by ScotRail, but they were crewed by Northern staff.

 

[neilmc]

That's the one. The reason it can't run through is there's no path available on the WCML at that time.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Jul 2023 ==


Officially they may have been operated by ScotRail, but they were crewed by Northern staff.

I don't understand this. Surely an ECS requires exactly the same pathing as a passenger working from Carnforth to Lancaster or am I missing something?

 

[InkyScrolls]

I don't understand this. Surely an ECS requires exactly the same pathing as a passenger working from Carnforth to Lancaster or am I missing something?

You are missing something. The service has to sit in Carnforth loops for an hour before the path is available to continue to Lancaster!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Jul 2023 ==

The ECS movement: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:P58156/2023-07-06/detailed#allox_id=0

 

[moonarrow458]

The 1850 SWR from Shepperton to Waterloo on weekdays is quite the oddity, running nonstop from Shepperton to Twickenham (the only service to do so), and then runs all stops to Waterloo via Richmond, except Queenstown Road Battersea.

Realtime Trains | 2H98 1850 Shepperton to London Waterloo | 24/08/2023

Real-time train running information for 2H98 1850 departure from Shepperton to London Waterloo on 24/08/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

I believe this service previously ran as ECS, but now runs in service to ensure the local stops between Twickenham and Waterloo receive their 4tph in lieu of a Hounslow rounder.

The train an hour later at 1950 from Shepperton to Waterloo also running via Twickenham & Richmond runs as ECS however making the 1850 appear even more odd.

 

[AJDesiro]

LNR’s Euston-Crewe service sort of does this at 1tph. It runs in what I’d consider to be a fast path only stopping at Milton Keynes until it reaches rugby, where it stops everywhere except Polesworth (1tpd) on the Trent valley, before reaching Stafford and heading towards Crewe.

Quite a few people travelling from Birmingham on LNR will change from the XX:36 ex New St at Rugby to join the XX:27 from Crewe, as it is much faster, even with the interchange.

 

[Peter0124]

The last LNR Liverpool to Euston service pre-covid during the night I think, used to call almost everywhere on the WCML including the likes of Harrow and Wembley Central. The Liverpool-Birmingham-Euston LNR has been scrapped now.

 

[Iskra]

The once per week, 15:20 Carlisle to Nottingham train (Sundays only - Northern service) may hark to the past, but appears to be a strange one, and seemingly only operates as a through service in that particular direction.

BR Times - Train Times & Station Platform Finder

Alternative journey planner featuring full schedule details including platforms and connection times, for every passenger train on the National Rail network.

www.brtimes.com

Do Northern still run a token service to Derby too?

 

[liamf656]

Do Northern still run a token service to Derby too?

Not anymore, this was removed in, I believe, December 2022

 

[BeijingDave]

I still believe it's rather odd for EMR to serve Liverpool Lime Street.

Well, there are lots of global examples of transport companies with 'East' in their name (and headquarters located in the East of an area) serving a westerly location.

I have taken China Eastern flights from their Shanghai hub to western China many times, for example.

 

[Llandudno]

I still believe it's rather odd for EMR to serve Liverpool Lime Street.

It’s just as well that they do, not many TransPennine Express make it west of Manchester Piccadilly!

 

[Halish Railway]

Back in 2018 I caught a XC train from Berwick to York that because of engineering works that weekend was a service from Aberdeen to Guildford. Obviously members of this forum will understand the need for this, but to the unwary it does seem at face value an odd pairing of start and end points for a passenger train.

Yes, this was during the lengthy Summer blockade of Derby station when both CrossCountry services were diverted via the Erewash Valley and Castle Donnington, meaning that once they had rejoined the normal route at Stenson Jn / Clay Cross North Jn they had to take the next CrossCountry path, however they went to a different destination than normal, resulting in the core service offering being Newcastle to Plymouth and Edinburgh to Reading with marginal extensions at either end, such as the aforementioned Guildford example.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@trebor79. Just a clarification point. Are we talking here about current "bizarre" services, of which there will be a few, or historic, discontinued ones, as well, of which there must be any number?

 

[70014IronDuke]

The once per week, 15:20 Carlisle to Nottingham train (Sundays only - Northern service) may hark to the past, but appears to be a strange one, and seemingly only operates as a through service in that particular direction.

BR Times - Train Times & Station Platform Finder

Alternative journey planner featuring full schedule details including platforms and connection times, for every passenger train on the National Rail network.

www.brtimes.com

It's also particularly strange in that it's an all-shacks on the S&C (I can't believe there are many Armathwaite to Barnsley or Langwathby to Nottingham through passengers, but maybe @InkyScrolls can put me right on that) - but then something like 45 minutes later a Class 2 train leaves Carlisle and runs semi-fast to Leeds.

I suspect this is down to crewing or/or diagramming reasons.

As someone else notes up thread, the down train used to start from Nottingham (at about 09.20 IIRC). It ran ECS Sheffield - Nottingham via Derby, presumably for route retention purposes.

 

[trebor79]

@trebor79. Just a clarification point. Are we talking here about current "bizarre" services, of which there will be a few, or historic, discontinued ones, as well, of which there must be any number?

Current.

 

[The exile]

If you want splendid isolation - try the 07.20 Clarbeston Road - Fishguard. Doesn’t even connect with anything.

 

[InkyScrolls]

It's also particularly strange in that it's an all-shacks on the S&C (I can't believe there are many Armathwaite to Barnsley or Langwathby to Nottingham through passengers, but maybe @InkyScrolls can put me right on that) - but then something like 45 minutes later a Class 2 train leaves Carlisle and runs semi-fast to Leeds.

I suspect this is down to crewing or/or diagramming reasons.

As someone else notes up thread, the down train used to start from Nottingham (at about 09.20 IIRC). It ran ECS Sheffield - Nottingham via Derby, presumably for route retention purposes.

I couldn't say definitively but given how few passengers travel from the S&C to stations between Leeds and Nottingham generally, one would expect the numbers using the direct service to be very low indeed.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

If you want splendid isolation - try the 07.20 Clarbeston Road - Fishguard. Doesn’t even connect with anything.

That really is bizarre, doubly so when you consider that Clarbeston Road is a request stop!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Jul 2023 ==

The classic Welsh example is Holyhead to Maesteg.