Trivia: Early-running passenger services

[Purple Train]

Just a small thought.

Realtime Trains indicates that today, the 12.29 Manchester Airport to Corkickle (altered/extended due to the closure of Whitehaven Tunnel) arrived at Preston 16 minutes ahead of schedule. Link, of course only accessible for the next week.

(Mods: instead of a quote, I've attached a screenshot, also for those who wish to view the thread after the expiry of the link.)

It got me wondering, though - what other examples of passenger services running very early can people remember? Being in commuter-world, the best I can manage off the top of my head is a measly four minutes on one of my longer-distance forays, arriving at Swindon westbound, but I'm sure there must be some fairly impressive examples.

(Note: this is not intended to be for services departing early - a whole different kettle of fish which has been discussed on the forum relatively recently.)

Image description: a Realtime Trains screenshot showing a train getting progressively earlier and earlier and passing Ribble Junction, south of Preston, 15 minutes early. I can't fit the entire early section in one screenshot. Sorry.

 

[Gwr12345]

Just a small thought.

Realtime Trains indicates that today, the 12.29 Manchester Airport to Corkickle (altered/extended due to the closure of Whitehaven Tunnel) arrived at Preston 16 minutes ahead of schedule. Link, of course only accessible for the next week.

(Mods: instead of a quote, I've attached a screenshot, also for those who wish to view the thread after the expiry of the link.)

It got me wondering, though - what other examples of passenger services running very early can people remember? Being in commuter-world, the best I can manage off the top of my head is a measly four minutes on one of my longer-distance forays, arriving at Swindon westbound, but I'm sure there must be some fairly impressive examples.

(Note: this is not intended to be for services departing early - a whole different kettle of fish which has been discussed on the forum relatively recently.)

The 2200 ex Kings Cross to Newcastle regularly arrives around 30 minutes early due to generous timings

 

[MikeOff]

The 2330 Kings Cross - Leeds often runs very early partly due to the intermediate stations being set down only so no need to wait to time.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There are some late evening Avanti services that are timed very slowly for the 2 track timetable or for running via Northampton. If four tracks are available or running via Northampton is not possible, these services often arrive at MKC nearly half an hour early and have to wait time.

 

[The Planner]

Just a small thought.

Realtime Trains indicates that today, the 12.29 Manchester Airport to Corkickle (altered/extended due to the closure of Whitehaven Tunnel) arrived at Preston 16 minutes ahead of schedule. Link, of course only accessible for the next week.

(Mods: instead of a quote, I've attached a screenshot, also for those who wish to view the thread after the expiry of the link.)

It got me wondering, though - what other examples of passenger services running very early can people remember? Being in commuter-world, the best I can manage off the top of my head is a measly four minutes on one of my longer-distance forays, arriving at Swindon westbound, but I'm sure there must be some fairly impressive examples.

(Note: this is not intended to be for services departing early - a whole different kettle of fish which has been discussed on the forum relatively recently.)

Its got a load of pathing time presumably for something infront of it that wasn't there.

 

[styles]

The Caledonian Sleeper is very often early, e.g. the southbound Lowlander services arriving an hour early at Watford Junction and Euston is reasonably common.

 

[Silver Cobra]

The Caledonian Sleeper, particularly the southbound Lowlander, can often arrive at it's destination far earlier than scheduled. The timetable for the Sleeper has a lot of padding to accommodate overnight engineering works and the like, so on nights with very little work it can get a clear run allowing it to arrive early.

This morning the soutbound Lowlander arrived into Euston 47 minutes early. When I used it back in 2016 we managed to arrive into Euston just after 6am, so over an hour ahead of schedule.



**EDIT: I was beaten to it XD

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Its got a load of pathing time presumably for something infront of it that wasn't there.

14.5 minutes of allowances between Deansgate and Preston (2mins Engineering, the rest pathing)

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Realtime Trains indicates that today, the 12.29 Manchester Airport to Corkickle (altered/extended due to the closure of Whitehaven Tunnel) arrived at Preston 16 minutes ahead of schedule. Link, of course only accessible for the next week.

It looks like it was booked to be behind 1S58 1130 London Euston to Glasgow Central, but made it to Golborne early enough that it could go ahead, and the Southbound 1M11 1038 Glasgow Central to London Euston was running late so it's path to cross was clear.

 

[Purple Train]

It looks like it was booked to be behind 1S58 1130 London Euston to Glasgow Central, but made it to Golborne early enough that it could go ahead, and the Southbound 1M11 1038 Glasgow Central to London Euston was running late so it's path to cross was clear.

Judging by how early or otherwise it's run on the other days of this week, that seems to be so. A rather poor indication of Avanti's punctuality that a similar sequence has transpired three days running, though! It's not my area so I confess I don't know the layout at Golborne - is it just a standard flat junction there?

 

[pokemonsuper9]

It's not my area so I confess I don't know the layout at Golborne - is it just a standard flat junction there?

Yes, all the junctions there are flat. There's basically no grade seperation around here, except at Springs Branch depot where there's an underpass for some reason.

 

[The exile]

Once arrived at Kings Cross 40 minutes early on an overnight IC225 service and was of course kicked off straightaway. Even in June, 04.something is cold!!!!

 

[styles]

Once arrived at Kings Cross 40 minutes early on an overnight IC225 service and was of course kicked off straightaway. Even in June, 04.something is cold!!!!

Had this in Barcelona once being kicked out at 5am ish. I found an early morning walk was the only thing for it!

 

[The exile]

Had this in Barcelona once being kicked out at 5am ish. I found an early morning walk was the only thing for it!

Fortunately I was on an all-liner so a warmish 313 out to Cuffley and back was the preferred option to while away the time.

 

[noddingdonkey]

The overnight TPE services to Manchester Airport that are booked via the Calder Valley for retention purposes can sometimes take the direct route instead if there is a possession on the booked route and sit at Piccadilly or Victoria for ages.

 

[sammyg901]

Arrived 8 minutes early into Great Missenden on a Marylebone-Aylesbury met line service this week. No pesky Metropolitan line trains getting in the way. Had to wait time though!

Realtime Trains | 2157 London Marylebone to Aylesbury Vale Parkway | 10/09/2025

Real-time train running information for 2157 departure from London Marylebone to Aylesbury Vale Parkway on 10/09/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Interestingly RTT shows that we waited time at Wendover instead which isn't correct. I believe this is a quirk of the limited signalling & tracking on that line that some timings are estimated

 

[ChrisHogan]

The Western Region 'Jumbo trains' of the 1980s were timed D455 and were notorious for running early. I had the 0932 Penzance due 1537 into Paddn 42 mins early once.

 

[Adrian1980uk]

Generally before the timetable change to stop at Stratford, the 18:30 to Norwich used to arrive just outside Colchester 10 minutes early to follow the train in front in.. now the Stratford stop is in it's only 2 to 3

 

[rubin]

will they leave a station early like 3 minutes before (excluding setting down only stations), leaving passengers having to catch the next one if they just came to the platform like 2 minutes before

 

[185143]

The last Manchester-Sheffield/first Sheffield-Manchester will arrive about 40 early if they divert via the Hope Valley which I assume can happen occasionally.

Been mentioned above, but that last LNER to Leeds, I comfortably caught that on an Interrail once, went to McDonalds and comfortably made the -4 onto the TPE to Manchester!

Southbound Lowlander again is another regular, particularly infuriating when I did that, also on an Interrail and then had to spend 4 hours festering for a Eurostar when there was an earlier one I could have got a reservation for had I known my actual ETA into London. (And don't get me started about being kicked off my booked train and onto one 2 hours later as it was short formed...)

I believe Lumo, and other OAOs for that matter had some excellent runs on ASLEF strike days, particularly with the evening services. Though Lumo probably arrive early often due to their lack of calls over long distances?

I arrived 6 early into Warrington on a Northbound Avanti a few years back, just before they introduced the emergency timetable due to crewing issues. That felt very impressive indeed covering the 188 miles in 99 minutes.

 

[D1537]

The 2200 ex Kings Cross to Newcastle regularly arrives around 30 minutes early due to generous timings

A colleague of mine was left kicking his heels on York station after midnight for that once when it was running around an hour late, by the time it got to Newcastle it didn't even qualify for the 30 mins delay repay!

I presume it's timed like that in case it needs to go via the coast due to engineering work.

However, the previous train, 1N34, unlike the above one picks up at all intermediate stations, so is timed normally to Durham but is then given 28 minutes to Newcastle, which looks very much like timetable padding to me.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I presume it's timed like that in case it needs to go via the coast due to engineering work.

It's a while since I got the 2100 and 2200 trains from London to Newcastle, but when I did it was fairly common for them to run 'wrong line' for large parts of the journey from Northallerton to Newcastle. Presumably it was the equivalent of retaining route knowledge for a diversionary route.

When running 'wrong line' on the bi-directional sections the signalling is degraded and so they're limited to 60mph IIRC, so the timetable is structured for that.

You see similar on the southern WCML when it is timetabled to be two-track on a Saturday evening and a Sunday morning. Everything is timetabled to use the slows so it's not uncommon to see the Avantis having ten minutes to kill at Milton Keynes when the fasts are open.

 

[D1537]

You see similar on the southern WCML when it is timetabled to be two-track on a Saturday evening and a Sunday morning. Everything is timetabled to use the slows so it's not uncommon to see the Avantis having ten minutes to kill at Milton Keynes when the fasts are open. th

That's every night, not just Saturdays, for the last 3 Euston-Wolves.

The last two are booked via Northampton as well on a Friday. Occasionally they go via Weedon and end up 20-25 minutes early at Rugby. Rugby is not a set down only stop...

 

[30907]

will they leave a station early like 3 minutes before (excluding setting down only stations), leaving passengers having to catch the next one if they just came to the platform like 2 minutes before

They shouldn't, but it does happen occasionally, and there are one or two places where this is permitted (it came up not so long ago) because there are so many trains. Waterloo East going to Charing X, etc.

This thread is slightly different because it's basically about trains arriving very early (the title isn't so specific).

 

[Jimini]

That's every night, not just Saturdays, for the last 3 Euston-Wolves.

The last two are booked via Northampton as well on a Friday. Occasionally they go via Weedon and end up 20-25 minutes early at Rugby. Rugby is not a set down only stop...

We don't live there anymore, but when we were in Coventry some of those late night journeys were nothing short of excruciating.

Miss the 2136 (I think)? Tough times ahead. That was the last ~1 hour train back from town.

The subsequent departures were painful when the fasts / Weedon was open. 30 minute sit at MK. 20 min wait at Rugby. Two hour journey end-to-end. If only it were set down only rules between Euston and Rugby inclusive where the potential engineering works might have been...

Throw in the egregious removal of super off peak ticketing as well -- man alive I don't miss that journey!