Early running trains

[AndrewR232]

Today, I boarded 2K98 (1654 Irvine to Glasgow Central) at Lochwinnoch station, and the train left nearly 5 minutes before the scheduled departure time.

Has anyone else experienced trains running early like this?

After checking it was not an earlier train running late, I sent an email to ScotRail asking why it left Lochwinnoch (and the next couple of station stops) a few minutes early. I'll be interested to see their response...

 

[Be3G]

Yep, once disembarked from a GOBLIN train that was running six minutes early a few years ago. The only possible excuse I can think of was that engineering works meant it was running to a temporary timetable, so maybe the driver got confused somehow!

 

[455driver]

Looks as if somebody wasnt looking at their schedule card until they got to Johnstone where they had a 'oh sh+t' moment.

I am sure the driver will appreciate you dropping him in the sh+t!

Normally it isnt possible to catch up that much time so it might have been running to a more leisurely timetable for some reason.

 

[jopsuk]

Surely this will have been noticed long before management go browsing internet forums?

 

[Cherry_Picker]

It would show up on Trust immediately.

 

[TB93]

Here's me thinking people normally complain when they are late!!

 

[455driver]

Here's me thinking people normally complain when they are late!!

They complain when we are late, early or even on time!

Sometimes I do get the feeling we just cant win!

 

[High Dyke]

Here's me thinking people normally complain when they are late!!

If you're the member of Network Rail operations staff getting it in the neck at an unstaffed station because the train has departed early then it isn't funny... Had a question raised about trains departing early from a station a few weeks ago by a TOC manager. It was pointed out that the trains usually depart on-time, in relation to CIS information, but where signalling staff input departure times into Train Reporting systems the system uses Working Timetable (WTT) times as a default. If you change to Public Timettable times (GBTT) you get an error message.

 

[nicobobinus]

Yep, once disembarked from a GOBLIN train that was running six minutes early a few years ago. The only possible excuse I can think of was that engineering works meant it was running to a temporary timetable, so maybe the driver got confused somehow!

Would this have been during the blockades on the eastern end of the line? I remember one Sunday evening watching my intended 150 roll over the bridge and out of South Tottenham about 10 minutes early vs. the temporary timetable.

 

[Philip Elliott]

It would show up on Trust immediately.

But it doesn't get flagged up automatically in bugle so can easily get missed, so yes passengers should report early running.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I've experienced it at Aylesbury last year, late on a Sunday evening too (when the trains are hourly). Most trains dwell for a minute or two after coming down from Vale Parkway, but this one was timetabled to wait for 12 minutes. Needless to say it left 12 minutes early, with me waving it goodbye from the car park. Most annoying thing was they'd stuck a 168 on the diagram (which might explain the error) so I missed out on the free wifi.

I didn't want to drop the driver in it but did want my Charter refund for being an hour late. I think they might have noticed what happened though! Would have loved to have seen the driver's face when he realised what he'd done

 

[Be3G]

Would this have been during the blockades on the eastern end of the line? I remember one Sunday evening watching my intended 150 roll over the bridge and out of South Tottenham about 10 minutes early vs. the temporary timetable.

Nope, the journey I made was from Barking to South Tottenham. Still, it's interesting that the problem has occurred on more than one occasion in a similar situation. Wonder if there's more of a systematic failure somewhere, in that case.

 

[O L Leigh]

They complain when we are late, early or even on time!

Sometimes I do get the feeling we just cant win!

Now you're getting it.

We are the willing, lead by the incompetent to achieve the impossible for the ungrateful.

O L Leigh

 

[LowLevel]

How depressing gents

 

[455driver]

Nope, the journey I made was from Barking to South Tottenham. Still, it's interesting that the problem has occurred on more than one occasion in a similar situation. Wonder if there's more of a systematic failure somewhere, in that case.

Oh so 3 or 4 trains running early out of many 1000 is a systematic failure is it! :roll:

 

[transmanche]

Oh so 3 or 4 trains running early out of many 1000 is a systematic failure is it! :roll:

Late-running may not be the fault of the train crew, early running is.

Bus drivers have been sacked for persistent early running. But whether bus or train, I can't think of a reasonable excuse for it.

 

[Tomnick]

...or a diagram error, or (admittedly a traincrew error, but not deliberate) misreading diagram, or a faulty watch...and so on!

 

[LBSCR Times]

And it isn't unusual for the drivers schedule to be different to that in Trust......
Sometimes by 2 or 3 minutes, especially when there are engineering works.

 

[455driver]

And it isn't unusual for the drivers schedule to be different to that in Trust......
Sometimes by 2 or 3 minutes, especially when there are engineering works.

it isnt unusual for the drivers docket to be different to the guards either!

 

[Be3G]

Oh so 3 or 4 trains running early out of many 1000 is a systematic failure is it! :roll:

Quite possibly yes, because I would imagine that the normal ratio of trains running over five minutes early is something more like <1 in 1000. I didn't say it was a systematic failure with the driver either – I just meant that perhaps something is going wrong somewhere which is resulting in drivers running very early when works take place on the GOBLIN.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

....Bus drivers have been sacked for persistent early running. But whether bus or train, I can't think of a reasonable excuse for it.

Human error? or.... what is it the passengers say when they are caught out?...oh yes, "a genuine mistake".......:roll:

 

[northernchris]

I've seen a few trains depart Shipley early recently. Many services have a couple of minutes dwell built in at Shipley, presumably to help recover any lost time on what is quite often tight running times on the Airedale / Wharfedale lines. A few weeks ago I was on a Bradford - Skipton service which had a 3 minute wait at Shipley but unfortunately the conductor didn't appear to realise this. He closed the doors and gave the RA to the driver, who must have realised the error as he waited until the correct departure time before leaving. However in the meantime passengers were arriving at the train and trying to open the doors, which were obviously locked and the conductor was unable to open as he had already buzzed the driver. It would have been interesting had anyone made a complaint against the service leaving early as technically it didn't so would show up on systems as leaving on time, but doors were locked 3 minutes before departure

 

[transmanche]

Human error? or.... what is it the passengers say when they are caught out?...oh yes, "a genuine mistake".......:roll:

The difference being, only one of those parties is being paid for fulfilling their role...

 

[plastictaffy]

On the route I sign, some of the stopping patterns/timings in the morning and evening peak times can be bizarre. Often, we can leave a station 3 minutes late, and arrive at the next one 2 minutes early.
So then you might have got it into your head that you're late, so you open the doors, let people off and on, shut 'em up and give 2 on the bell. Then you realise you've left 2 early. Easy done.