Weird Additional Sutton to Horsham Only Train Tonight

[Capvermell]

I have just spotted a weird addition to Southern's timetable tonight in the shape of the additional 0024 service originating at Sutton and running south through all the usual stations via Dorking to Horsham except that this train is a Set Down Only at all stops en route effort instead of just south of Dorking as the 2325 from Victoria is once it leaves Dorking at 0026. This special extra late night train can be seen at www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:X58428/2022-10-26

The reason this additional extra service from Sutton to Horsham appears to be running is because the regular 2325 from Victoria to Horsham via Dorking is being diverted after Clapham Junction due to engineering works via Selhurst, West Croydon etc to Sutton hence missing out Mitcham Eastfields, Mitcham Junction, Hackbridge and Carshalton. But instead of Southern running a Rail Replacement Bus all the way from Balham to Dorking as you might perhaps expect they are running an RRB from Balham (leaving 2319) through to Sutton (arriving Sutton at 0016) and then the extra train from Sutton at 0024 all the way down to Horsham and arriving at Horsham at 0113.

But the question surely arises why are Southern doing this when you would think it would be simpler to run an RRB from Balham to Dorking to cover the missing rail service and there should be no need to run it south of Dorking because Holmwood, Ockley and Warnham have already been served on a Set Down Only basis by the 2325 train from Victoria diverted via Thornton Heath and West Croydon. Running a whole extra train from Sutton to Horsham seems like a huge and unnecessary cost by those doing the scheduling compared to just running the RRB down to Dorking. Also in the real world just running the RRB from Balham to Sutton and offering taxis for any unlikely theoretical passengers trying to travel from Mitcham Eastfields, Mitcham Junction, Hackbridge and Carshalton beyond Sutton (there would probably be none as almost no one gets on instead of off the train at these stations going south at this time of night) would seem like a cheaper option.

Bottom line is that this seems like inefficient train planning to cope with engineering works between Clapham Junction and Sutton that isn't necessary when an RRB from just Balham to Sutton would almost certainly have sufficed.

 

[OliverH68]

Maintains last connections from Balham - stations to Sutton then providing a train service to Horsham as normal. Plus also required for stock balancing for the next morning.

 

[Capvermell]

Maintains last connections from Balham - stations to Sutton then providing a train service to Horsham as normal. Plus also required for stock balancing for the next morning.

Yes true in principle but previously they have only run a bus from Balham all the way to Horsham when the 2325 is diverted via Selhurst, West Croydon etc to Sutton and hence doesn't call at stations between Clapham Junction and Sutton as it normally would. I got this bus I think some time In Jan or Feb when Southern had decided to stop running any evening services south of Dorking on the grounds of the last great period of Covid shutdown but the RRBs had been scheduled quite some time before this last Covid shutdown and so still ran as the right and left hands clearly don't seem to talk that well at Southern when a rail service gets deleted after an RRB is already set up. Or rather the RRB was clearly needed from Balham to Dorking but not to Horsham (in terms of replacing train services) although it certainly suited me that it ran given that we had no evening trains south of Dorking in this period.

Anyway when I got the RRB from Balham in something like February (actually I took it twice now I think about it harder) it ran either picking up or setting down (so had to stop at each station til the scheduled departure time came up, which was usually several minutes later having ludicrously slow RRB scheduling) from each station between Balham and Epsom and then after Epsom ran on a Set Down Only basis. So as I was the only passenger after Epsom (I think I was in fact the only passenger at all from Balham on one of the two trips I took) it ran non stop from Epsom to where it dropped me off at the bus stop on the A24 in Ockley that is en route to Horsham but nearer to my home than Ockley station.

But as there were no passengers boarding after Sutton it surely might have been cheaper to have paid for a taxi to take me from Sutton to Ockley. But anyway a few months later they have now decided to run an extra train from Sutton to Horsham instead of the RRB that I imagine would probably be totally empty. This train was presumably an extended scheduled train from London Bridge to Sutton but why was it cheaper or more convenient for them to do this than run an RRB since this train does not normally travel down to Horsham?

 

[louis97]

Bottom line is that this seems like inefficient train planning to cope with engineering works between Clapham Junction and Sutton that isn't necessary when an RRB from just Balham to Sutton would almost certainly have sufficed.

This is very normal, running a train means passengers can get to their destination quicker. It happens in multiple examples for first and last connections. I'd say inefficient train planning would be running a bus through to Horsham and then running an empty stock from somewhere else instead. Also any reduction on bus requirement is worthwhile when you consider the shortage of bus drivers currently.