Today (Sunday) I spent half an hour observing operations at Exeter St. Davids from the car park.
I’ve been under the impression that, since privatisation, connections are no longer held except for the last train of the day. This is what I saw happen today -
I could see from RTT that both the 13.03 Paddington - Plymouth 1C83 and the 14.15 Plymouth - Paddington 1A87 (cancelled from Penzance) were running around 10 minutes late. These were scheduled to arrive St. Davids at 15.11 and 15.13 respectively. A Barnstaple train (2B79) was due away at 15.19 and it was in platform 3 on time. I assumed it would leave on time and any passengers on the two InterCity trains wanting Crediton or Barnstaple would have an hour’s wait.
In fact 2B79 did not depart until 15.25, by which time both the IETs had arrived. There was a cross-platform connection (4 to 3) from 1C83 of 4 minutes and some passengers made use of it. From 1A87 however the “connection” was only 2 minutes from platform 5, which would have required a sprint over the bridge. The delay to the Barnstaple train meant a delayed crossing at Crediton but both these trains made up most of all of the lost time.
Assuming 2B79 was ready to leave on time, what procedure would have been followed by GWR staff to ensure at least one connection was made? Would they not need permission from Control to hold a connection?
I’ve been under the impression that, since privatisation, connections are no longer held except for the last train of the day. This is what I saw happen today -
I could see from RTT that both the 13.03 Paddington - Plymouth 1C83 and the 14.15 Plymouth - Paddington 1A87 (cancelled from Penzance) were running around 10 minutes late. These were scheduled to arrive St. Davids at 15.11 and 15.13 respectively. A Barnstaple train (2B79) was due away at 15.19 and it was in platform 3 on time. I assumed it would leave on time and any passengers on the two InterCity trains wanting Crediton or Barnstaple would have an hour’s wait.
In fact 2B79 did not depart until 15.25, by which time both the IETs had arrived. There was a cross-platform connection (4 to 3) from 1C83 of 4 minutes and some passengers made use of it. From 1A87 however the “connection” was only 2 minutes from platform 5, which would have required a sprint over the bridge. The delay to the Barnstaple train meant a delayed crossing at Crediton but both these trains made up most of all of the lost time.
Assuming 2B79 was ready to leave on time, what procedure would have been followed by GWR staff to ensure at least one connection was made? Would they not need permission from Control to hold a connection?