[trivia] Stations having a better service during engineering works than noramlly

[paddy1]

Corby on a Sunday or at other times when the direct Kettering to Leicester line is closed for engineering works. Gets all day direct trains to Leicester and beyond.

 

[swt_passenger]

Chandlers Ford becomes an all day call in the GWR Portsmouth - Cardiff service when GWR cannot run through Southampton Central, fairly common during planned engineering works.

Not only a completely different longer distance route, but a different operator...

 

[Peter0124]

Newton (Lanarkshire) ?

Direct services to Uddingston, bellshill and stations out towards Lanark today. Loses out on links towards the west end however it still gains a new service.

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/G80276/2019/04/28/advanced

 

[Ianno87]

Seven Sisters gets Stansted/Cambridge trains when the main line via Tottenham Hale is closed.

I think very occasionally Shelford, Great Chesterford etc get a direct Stansted service when there are works south of Stansted.

 

[Kite159]

When the line between Bristol and Gloucester is closed, XC services are diverted via Swindon also calling at Bath Spa so both stations gain an hourly XC service.

Although Bath tends to be pick up only heading towards Swindon and set down only towards Bristol. Probably to try and prevent the trains getting swamped out by all the Bath tourists from Bristol

 

[TheDavibob]

I recall Virgin CrossCountry services calling at Longbridge during the Proof House Jn blockade in 1999/2000.

Similarly Lichfield City (not TV) picked up the Tamworth stops frequently on Sundays, I think during TV4 works, which gave somewhat exotic destinations like Edinburgh. I imagine these days it would be Lichfield Trent Valley that would pick up the corresponding stops, given the much improved service between Lichfield and Tamworth due to TV4 probably reducing the need for buses.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

This one is historical, but pre-2000 Mirfield had only Huddersfield to Leeds and Wakefield Westgate services (though at times the Wakefield services ran through to Manchester Victoria) with nothing towards Brighouse (which hadn't yet reopened) and Halifax/Sowerby Bridge. However when engineering works closed the line through the Standedge tunnel it had calls from Trans-pennine expresses (which were diverted via Calder Valley) with a shuttle from Huddersfield. This even meant regular use of platform 2. Reversals at Huddersfield (as used today) for the Calder route weren't possible in the late 1990s as the Bradley curve was OOU.

 

[43055]

East Midlands Parkway is going to get up to 3 per hour to London at the end of May for a week when the main line south of Leicester us closed.

 

[Nunners]

Swindon also got extra London services due to the Newbury diversions, but it was only the handful a day stopping at Westbury

 

[Dr_Paul]

Last Saturday, when the line through Twickenham was not working, the Kingston loop service went to Shepperton, running non-stop between Teddington and Shepperton, thus giving Shepperton a 15-minute interval service rather than the normal half-hour one, and half of them running fast for some of the journey.

When the Windsor line is not working between Barnes and Clapham Junction, the Reading to Waterloo service reverses at Twickenham and runs fast to Kingston and then Clapham Junction and Waterloo only, thus giving travellers from Kingston a quicker run to Waterloo. The Kingston loop service is run as a shuttle between the Kingston bay and Barnes, and is replaced between Waterloo and Kingston by the Windsor service, stopping at all stations, which reverses at Twickenham. As the Shepperton service runs as normal, Kingston gets its usual four stoppers plus two fasts to and from Waterloo each hour.

 

[GW43125]

When the Waterloo works were on (and still even now on the odd occasion the mainline's closed), some mainline trains had stops put in at Staines. If you lived in Staines this gave you 4tph next stop Clapham, 2 Reading semis, 2 Windsors and the 2 Weybridge (though were they running?), making 10. Not bad.

 

[Dr_Paul]

When the Waterloo works were on (and still even now on the odd occasion the mainline's closed), some mainline trains had stops put in at Staines. If you lived in Staines this gave you 4tph next stop Clapham, 2 Reading semis, 2 Windsors and the 2 Weybridge (though were they running?), making 10. Not bad.

I didn't know that some main-line diversions stopped at Staines. That must be handy, especially if they only stop at Clapham Junction on the way to Waterloo; a bit like when the Reading services are diverted via Kingston, as in my earlier post. That also reminds me of when I was a kid, when some of the Waterloo to Reading services ran non-stop to Staines.

 

[GW43125]

I didn't know that some main-line diversions stopped at Staines. That must be handy, especially if they only stop at Clapham Junction on the way to Waterloo; a bit like when the Reading services are diverted via Kingston, as in my earlier post. That also reminds me of when I was a kid, when some of the Waterloo to Reading services ran non-stop to Staines.

It was quite handy, especially given I was trying to tick off 444s!
However they only came this way on the way up, we still had to get the Reading back to Staines.

 

[RichJF]

Redhill sometimes gets direct Brighton/Coastway services as well as Southeastern services to Hastings during times of engineering works (in addition to the usual TL/Southern locals).

 

[Ianno87]

Redhill sometimes gets direct Brighton/Coastway services as well as Southeastern services to Hastings during times of engineering works (in addition to the usual TL/Southern locals).

I've boarded a direct London service at Moulescoombe during engineering works.

 

[mm333]

When Settle and Carlisle services are bustituted, Kirkby Stephen town centre gets a service (the town's station is about a mile from the town) and the buses call at Hawes (as they have to go that way from Garsdale to Ribblehead).

 

[Sprinter150]

Around a month ago when Stoke-on-Trent station was closed, Stafford got a much better Sunday service to Manchester than it probably ever had. I think there were 2tph at certain times of the day, calling to connect with replacement buses, but handy for me as I didn't have to take the dread XC Voyager and got a Pendolino with dozens of empty seats in each carriage instead. Plus, the journey was quicker as it went via Crewe (without stopping) and Wilmslow.

 

[noddingdonkey]

When Leeds was being remodeled there was a blockade that resulted in Transpennine services being diverted York-Castleford-Wakefield K-Huddersfield.

Unusually these services called at Castleford, I think to connect with RRBs. This resulted in Platform 2 temporarily being brought back into use via a scaffold staircase vice the condemned footbridge.

 

[brad465]

Among the trio of SE Metro lines, if one of the Sidcup, Bexleyheath or Woolwich lines is closed one or two of the other lines often gets key services bolstering the existing service pattern.

 

[Regeff]

When Hastings-Charing Cross services are diverted to Victoria for weekend engineering works, they stop at Bromley South thus giving a direct service between there and Hastings which does not normally exist.

 

[infobleep]

Hampton Court is getting 4 trains an hour later today. Don't know if that is due to engineering works but suspect it is. Berrylands still only getting two every other station seems to be.

So it's also the rare chance to enjoy a non stop service from New Malden to Surbiton. There are two regular non stop services from Surbiton to New Malden on Mondays to Fridays but not aware of any in the reverse.

 

[Dai Corner]

The Ebbw Vale branch sometimes has direct services to Newport (instead of Cardiff) during engineering work, typically saving passengers for there or further east 40 mins or so.

 

[6026KingJohn]

Similarly Lichfield City (not TV) picked up the Tamworth stops frequently on Sundays, I think during TV4 works, which gave somewhat exotic destinations like Edinburgh. I imagine these days it would be Lichfield Trent Valley that would pick up the corresponding stops, given the much improved service between Lichfield and Tamworth due to TV4 probably reducing the need for buses.

Unlikely given that TV high level only has one platform Also, the number of diverted trains calling at City has virtually ceased over the last few years.

 

[thenorthern]

A couple of times when the line into Leeds has been closed the Lancaster/Carlisle to Leeds trains have run through to Bradford Forster Square.

 

[pompeyfan]

When Winchester is closed, Fareham gets a super fast service via the direct, and when Havant is closed Fareham get super fast next stop Woking (depending on events), also when Havant is closed on a Sunday GWR Brighton trains all start from Portsmouth which is an extra 5(?) trains during the course of the day.

If Fareham is closed the 2 Southern services to Southampton per hour travel to Portsmouth, which means there’s actually more SN services than SWR, even though SWR is the more expensive fare to Clapham/London.

 

[A Challenge]

If Fareham is closed the 2 Southern services to Southampton per hour travel to Portsmouth, which means there’s actually more SN services than SWR, even though SWR is the more expensive fare to Clapham/London.

Southern is still slower though.

 

[pompeyfan]

Southern is still slower though.

Only slower than the 1Pxx services. It’s negligible between the 2Pxx and 1Jxx services.

 

[Graham H]

Only slower than the 1Pxx services. It’s negligible between the 2Pxx and 1Jxx services.

and Southern has far superior 377's with many tables for 4, most windows line up properly, 2+2 seating mostly. Much better than the suburban 450's with their 3 + 2 rub knees and elbows with your neighbours that SW serves up at the weekends.

 

[pompeyfan]

and Southern has far superior 377's with many tables for 4, most windows line up properly, 2+2 seating mostly. Much better than the suburban 450's with their 3 + 2 rub knees and elbows with your neighbours that SW serves up at the weekends.

To be fair though you can blame DfT for 450s at weekends as it’s all about seats in the same vein passengers on the GW Cardiff - Portsmouth passengers have to suffer turbos. 444s on the other hand are still decent even if they could do with some extra luggage space.

 

[Mag_seven]

Due to engineering works, from 9am heading south and 10am heading north, Guildford has 5 trains an hour between Guildford and Woking today, where as usually its just 4. In the North direction they are also more evenly spread out. In addition to that, on the Friday and Saturday just gone, as well as tomorrow, the number of trains an hour was and will be just 2 and they are T x40 and x47. Again this is due to engineering works. There are no supplimentry buses running on any of the days.

Dueung other engineering works Shalford has had a doubling of services to either Gatwick or Reading. It does mean that in the opposite direction it is a bus but that is still double the provision.

Godalming and Farncombe has had double the frequency of services on Sundays during engineering works, when it was served by buses instead of trains. This being 2 buses vers 1 train. Godalming now gets 2 trains an hour on Sundays but Farncombe is still only 1, so still has that doubling of frequency.

When trains to Alton from Waterloo have been diverted to run via Guildford, I seem to think it's lead to a doubling of service to Aldershot on a Sunday.

Thread reopened.