Virgin late night paths

[WCML]

Why are some of the last trains of the day operated by Virgin out of Euston timed so pathetically slow and booked slow line all the way to Rugby?

I can stomach the pitiful Saturday night service which ends very early due to the regular engineering blockade but on Sunday night we were sent via NMP and on the 23:30 ex Euston now, again booked slow line all the way to Rugby.

If it is due to mtce work on the fasts then when do the slows get seen to?

 

[yorkie]

Yes, it will allow for engineering works which may necessitate the closure of the fast or slow lines.

 

[sammyg901]

It's a two-track timetable, so the work could be on either set of lines and the thinned out service runs on the other two.

 

[WCML]

It is a thinned out service at the moment ie pretty much nothing running, so why allow 1 hour for Euston to Milton Keynes, then have to sit in MKC for 20 mins???

Why not make it set down only at everywhere north of Euston so the service can run ahead of time? Would be much cheaper to operate that way.

 

[yorkie]

I guess they think the demand for travel northbound from MKC, Rugby, Coventry etc is sufficient to warrant pick-up calls?

This is in contrast to the 2330 from King's Cross, which is set-down only everywhere.

 

[WCML]

I guess they think the demand for travel northbound from MKC, Rugby, Coventry etc is sufficient to warrant pick-up calls?

This is in contrast to the 2330 from King's Cross, which is set-down only everywhere.

Anyone using the WCML can tell you that all late services are well loaded to MKC at which point they become very empty! Its a joke - 2 hours 40 to Wolverhampton. Almost as long as the all shacks London Midland service takes!

 

[Bletchleyite]

It is a thinned out service at the moment ie pretty much nothing running, so why allow 1 hour for Euston to Milton Keynes, then have to sit in MKC for 20 mins???

It's very unusual for it to do that. More usual is for it to sit behind the 2224/2324 LM and take an hour to MKC. I guess more tracks were available tonight than usual.

It was in the past also diesel-hauled regardless of engineering works (possibly for staff training reasons), but now VT have got rid of the 57s I don't believe it is any more.

 

[thenorthern]

Many stops on the very late ones are set down only so that they can time in the engineering works but if there aren't any then they can leave intermediate station early. This is useful as well if there is a diversion and that way there is only a need for rail replacement buses to drop people off at intermediate stations and there isn't a worry about people waiting for a bus in the early hours.

The 23:00 Euston to Manchester train is an example of this as it stops at Watford Junction to pick up only (as with most VT services) and then stops to set down only at Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield and Stockport. Last night it left all the last 3 stops around 30 min early as there were no engineering works.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There's also the last southbound VT from Brum which runs via Northampton, but is set-down only at Northampton and MKC in order that it can run (early) via the Trent Valley if necessary. This is a shame as it would provide a useful later MKC-EUS service if it didn't have that timetabling.

As for the 2230/2330 off Eus, I recall the diesel may have been to allow them to run via Nuneaton.

 

[30907]

Retiming to xx40 would presumably be feasible, but that would potentially cost a couple of freight paths each time.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Retiming to xx40 would presumably be feasible, but that would potentially cost a couple of freight paths each time.

Retiming the LM to xx31 might be better? At that time of the evening the clockface pattern isn't quite there anyway, so people will use a timetable.

 

[IanD]

There's also the last southbound VT from Brum which runs via Northampton, but is set-down only at Northampton and MKC in order that it can run (early) via the Trent Valley if necessary. This is a shame as it would provide a useful later MKC-EUS service if it didn't have that timetabling.

Has been pick up/set down at MKC for a couple of years now, necessitating a long wait if Northampton is missed out.

 

[Amy Worrall]

I _really_ wish they'd make the 10.30pm service faster. I use it to get to Coventry. It'd make my life a lot better if it took less than 1h40!

 

[Class 170101]

As for the 2230/2330 off Eus, I recall the diesel may have been to allow them to run via Nuneaton.

Sometimes they run via Stafford and reverse and call at Wolverhampton and then New Street.

 

[thenorthern]

As for the 2230/2330 off Eus, I recall the diesel may have been to allow them to run via Nuneaton.

Some do run via Nuneaton and Coleshill Parkway if there is diversions in place.

 

[A0]

There needs to be a general tidy up on late departures from Euston. The Northampton service pattern is ridiculous:

You've got

Dep (Eus) Arr (Nmp)

21.49 22.50 - journey time 61 mins
21.54 23.20 - journey time 86 mins
22.24 23.41 - journey time 77 mins
23.04 00.36 - journey time 92 mins
23.24 00.40 - journey time 76 mins
00.04 01.26 - journey time 82 mins
00.34 02.03 - journey time 88 mins

The worst one is the 23.04 / 23.24 - not least because at MKC it means you have a gap of almost an hour from the 23.26 leaving and then two trains within 5 mins of each other - surely it would be better to get a roughly every 30 min frequency with similar journey times?

 

[Bletchleyite]

The worst one is the 23.04 / 23.24 - not least because at MKC it means you have a gap of almost an hour from the 23.26 leaving and then two trains within 5 mins of each other - surely it would be better to get a roughly every 30 min frequency with similar journey times?

Well, as you can't remove the slower services, would you be happy with them all being 90 mins?

 

[Urban Gateline]

There's also the last southbound VT from Brum which runs via Northampton, but is set-down only at Northampton and MKC in order that it can run (early) via the Trent Valley if necessary. This is a shame as it would provide a useful later MKC-EUS service if it didn't have that timetabling.

As for the 2230/2330 off Eus, I recall the diesel may have been to allow them to run via Nuneaton.

1B46 has always been pick up at MKC, it is set down only at WFJ though. Sundays is a different matter when the last southbound VT is set down only at MKC.

 

[A0]

Well, as you can't remove the slower services, would you be happy with them all being 90 mins?

I'd extend the 22.44 ex Euston which terminates at MKC at 23.50 to NMP.

Which since it runs ECS to Northampton, should be fairly straight-forward and should arrive at NMP at approx 00.10.

There could then be a choice of whether to cap one of the others at MKC and run it as ECS or leave them alone.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I do wonder why they don't run them all through if they are going to NMP anyway. I assumed those ones stayed at Bletchley overnight.

Is it perhaps because they have Bletchley guards?

(The 0134 forms the 03whatever-it-is southbound from MKC, it doesn't go to a depot, FWIW)

 

[IanD]

1B46 has always been pick up at MKC, it is set down only at WFJ though. Sundays is a different matter when the last southbound VT is set down only at MKC.

If by 1B46 you mean the 2245 from Wolverhampton to Euston, it has only been pick up at MKC since the December 2013 timetable change