XC Birmingham to Derby - why so slow on Sun?

[Jamp]

Hi All,

Sorry this may be a rather dull question, but I'm just looking at some tickets to Birmingham this weekend, and I can't get over just how slow XC is on New St - Derby on a Sunday!

It will take me ~3hr for Selly Oak - Sheffield on Sunday, compared to 1hr30 on Saturday. Some are actually quicker going via Leicester! I recall them usually being slower on a Sunday, but not this bad, is there something going on? The through trains also seem to be scheduled to wait at Derby for 15 minutes for some reason, so that will be frustrating.

Sorry for the grumpy first post!

Cheers,

Jamp

 

[miked]

i did derby-bham 2 weeks ago, trains are being diverted between derby and bham as the lines at burton are being replaced, trains are going via leicester, the reason for them being so slow is because they get stuck behind the bham-leicester stopper, then if there delayed behind that stopper they then get stuck brhind a emt service, took me an hour last time, hope this helps

 

[The Planner]

Also probably down to the Water Orton re-signalling aswell.

 

[Masbroughlad]

One of the SW-NE trains last Sunday, diverted as above, half an hour stand at Derby for on time departure-LATE into Sheffield! What a shambles!

 

[yorkie]

It will take me ~3hr for Selly Oak - Sheffield on Sunday, compared to 1hr30 on Saturday. Some are actually quicker going via Leicester!

I don't quite understand what you mean by that? They're all going via Leicester. If you are asking why it is quicker to change at Leicester, that is because train planners are forced to give priority to existing service trains. The diverted trains get absolutely rubbish paths.

They are probably waiting in Derby to pick up the "normal" path. If they gave it a sensible path between Birmingham and Derby in the first place then it would be able to run in the earlier path from Derby.

It's the same (or worse) for Railtours, a couple of weeks ago we had to wait ages for slow LM trains to get ahead of us, despite the fact that we were faster than these trains!

The reason, ultimately, is due to minimising risk of delay to existing services, and NR's enjoyment of red tape and making things as difficult as possible and ensuring that customers spend as much time as possible waiting at junctions or in stations. NR are a terrible organisation, almost everyone I know who has worked for or with them has had plenty of bad things to say about them!

 

[The Planner]

It's the same (or worse) for Railtours, a couple of weeks ago we had to wait ages for slow LM trains to get ahead of us, despite the fact that we were faster than these trains!

Railtours have no contractural rights whatsoever, which is why they get crap paths. Nothing will get moved for them in the timetable.

 

[martinsh]

It may be quicker to go via Stockport

e.g. Sheffield 1041 Stockport 1125
Stockport 1136 Birmingham 1258

Not sure if this is a valid route ? It certainly should be !

 

[yorkie]

It may be quicker to go via Stockport

e.g. Sheffield 1041 Stockport 1125
Stockport 1136 Birmingham 1258

But it isn't, at least not in that direction...

e.g Sheffield 1057 Birmingham 1245

...though the OP is doing the opposite direction, where the trains via Derby take even longer, so it might be! It's around 2h14 direct. Via Stockport you can get this down to 2h7 but that's quite tight at Stockport - only 6 mins for the connection, though it's a valid connection (minimum 5 mins at SPT).

Not sure if this is a valid route ? It certainly should be !

Hmm, WebTIS says it's not. I certainly agree, it should be. It would probably be accepted.