Southeastern Mainline calls at Kent House 27/6

[Southern]

Anyone able to shed any light as to why the Victoria - Headcorn/Minster services are calling at Kent House this Sunday? RTT suggests that it's not to pick/up set down staff or enable anything to pass, the only thing I can think of is that it's to ferry people to/from the coast?? Appears to start with the 0957 (Headcorn) down and repeats every half hour until 0027, alternating with the Minster. Up calls begin with the 1811 (1715 ex-Headcorn) and finish with the 2311, oddly enough none of the services from Minster call in the up direction at all...the only other thing that springs to mind is the Big 7 National Scooter Rally taking place at Hop Farm this weekend.

 

[yorksrob]

Anyone able to shed any light as to why the Victoria - Headcorn/Minster services are calling at Kent House this Sunday? RTT suggests that it's not to pick/up set down staff or enable anything to pass, the only thing I can think of is that it's to ferry people to/from the coast?? Appears to start with the 0957 (Headcorn) down and repeats every half hour until 0027, alternating with the Minster. Up calls begin with the 1811 (1715 ex-Headcorn) and finish with the 2311, oddly enough none of the services from Minster call in the up direction at all...the only other thing that springs to mind is the Big 7 National Scooter Rally taking place at Hop Farm this weekend.

Could they be waiting for something to pass in the loops ?

 

[Horizon22]

Looks like a weird bunch of engineering works. I am presuming the mainline via Grove Park is shut and these are previously trains that would start at Charing Cross - Hastings services are also going via Beckenham Junction for instance - are starting at Victoria.

1Nxx services are extensions of the usual Victoria - Ashford / Maidstone services, and 2Vxx services are the trains moved from the Mainline to Victoria.

Additionally looks like there's buses Minster - Ramsgate. But the Kent House stop does seem like a mystery considering it still receives its standard service!

 

[Southern]

Could they be waiting for something to pass in the loops ?

Doesn't look like it as they all have the standard 30 second stop

Looks like a weird bunch of engineering works. I am presuming the mainline via Grove Park is shut and these are previously trains that would start at Charing Cross - Hastings services are also going via Beckenham Junction for instance - are starting at Victoria.

1Nxx services are extensions of the usual Victoria - Ashford / Maidstone services, and 2Vxx services are the trains moved from the Mainline to Victoria.

Additionally looks like there's buses Minster - Ramsgate. But the Kent House stop does seem like a mystery considering it still receives its standard service!

Yeah, Kent Coast are to/from Victoria on both the Saturday and Sunday. And yes it is a bit baffling...

 

[30907]

I would suspect a mistake as it is Down only!

 

[Ianno87]

I cannot see any obvious reason for the stop for pathing reasons.

 

[CarrotPie]

Just checked RTT for this time tomorrow (link) and the only calls are Sevenoaks to Victoria, although there are a lot of Herne Bay-Victoria passes.

 

[CarrotPie]

The Victoria to Sevenoaks services seem to replace the Orpington stoppers over the weekend, as they call at all stations Sevenoaks-Orpington-Victoria.

 

[CarrotPie]

Charing Cross has:

• 2tph to Dartford (Lewisham/Woolwich)
• 2tph to Gravesend (Lewisham/Bexleyheath)
• 2tph to Hastings via New Beckenham (1 semi-fast from Tunbridge Wells, 1 all stations)

 

[Southern]

I would suspect a mistake as it is Down only!

Up after 6pm until 11 so would suggest it's to move a crowd, from where to where is anyone's guess...

I cannot see any obvious reason for the stop for pathing reasons.

Yeah it usually seems to be either the 2xxx or ECS that get looped there...very strange indeed

 

[30907]

Up after 6pm until 11 so would suggest it's to move a crowd, from where to where is anyone's guess...

I can't find those on RTT - though they are on NRE!

A major event in Cator Park or at the HSBC Sports Ground might justify something but all Google produces is a morning walk and a club cricket match respectively!

 

[Southern]

I can't find those on RTT - though they are on NRE!

A major event in Cator Park or at the HSBC Sports Ground might justify something but all Google produces is a morning walk and a club cricket match respectively!

Ok so plot twist, not only have the Up been removed, the down Headcorn services are also gone as well, just leaving hourly calls in the down Minster from 1027 until 0027...I wonder if someone read this thread and flagged it up

Realtime Trains - 1N06 1013 London Victoria to Minster

Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Update: Interesting to note that the above train appears to have had it's Kent House stop removed, instead passing around 3 minutes earlier than planned...the remaining services at 27 are recorded as stopping, with some lengthy looking wait times compared to the usual Networker stock. Given the abrupt removal of the Headcorns and the Up evening calls, seems like an error was made...someone more informed will probably know but is there a set amount of advance warning they need to provide before altering a calling pattern?

 

[Medicy]

Looks like it's happening again - this Saturday (10th July 2021), Ramsgate-London Victoria trains via Dover Priory are also calling at Kent House.

Link to a service on Realtime Trains

 

[CarrotPie]

Looks like it's happening again - this Saturday (10th July 2021), Ramsgate-London Victoria trains via Dover Priory are also calling at Kent House.

Link to a service on Realtime Trains

However, looking at this week's engineering works map, (attached below), there is no obvious reason why. There is all weekend engineering work again between Petts Wood and Hither Green, disrupting SEML services, and Saturday work between Bromley North and Grove Park.

 

[30907]

However, looking at this week's engineering works map, (attached below), there is no obvious reason why. There is all weekend engineering work again between Petts Wood and Hither Green, disrupting SEML services, and Saturday work between Bromley North and Grove Park.

There wasn't an obvious reason last time either.... Kent House has limited value as an interchange, and is not fully accessible.
https://www.recenttraintimes.co.uk/ doesn't show the extras stopping on 27 June.

 

[CarrotPie]

There wasn't an obvious reason last time either....
https://www.recenttraintimes.co.uk/ doesn't show the extras stopping on 27 June.

The service linked in post #13 would normally go to Charing Cross up the SEML. Some services will go via New Beckenham, which makes me wonder why these services won't.

Kent House has limited value as an interchange, and is not fully accessible.

Begs the question why the aren't being stopped at Beckenham Junction for tram and Southern interchange. It's being stopped in platform 1, which is the UPL, so it could be for pathing resons.

 

[Watershed]

It's not unheard of for NR to add in a station stop instead of pathing. And to then forget to mark it as a non-traffic stop.

It then falls to the TOC to check the schedules they are offered to make sure this hasn't happened, but as an entirely manual process, errors and omissions do happen...

 

[Ianno87]

It's not unheard of for NR to add in a station stop instead of pathing. And to then forget to mark it as a non-traffic stop.

It then falls to the TOC to check the schedules they are offered to make sure this hasn't happened, but as an entirely manual process, errors and omissions do happen...

Though I cannot see any obvious reason for the pathing at all, nor any reason why it specifically needs to be at, or anywhere near, Kent House (as a pretty random station on the route - it's not even a Mandatory Timing point)

 

[Peregrine 4903]

Though I cannot see any obvious reason for the pathing at all, nor any reason why it specifically needs to be at, or anywhere near, Kent House (as a pretty random station on the route - it's not even a Mandatory Timing point)

It is a mandatory timing point. It got added in recently.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

Though I cannot see any obvious reason for the pathing at all, nor any reason why it specifically needs to be at, or anywhere near, Kent House (as a pretty random station on the route - it's not even a Mandatory Timing point)

There has been a recent trend with this sort of thing in NR schedule planning, for a pathing reason sometimes miles down the line. (Not saying it specifically is in this case, just that it might be.)

 

[30907]

The service linked in post #13 would normally go to Charing Cross up the SEML. Some services will go via New Beckenham, which makes me wonder why these services won't.

Capacity issues at the CHX end with the various engineering works?

Begs the question why the aren't being stopped at Beckenham Junction for tram and Southern interchange.

Neither of those are that useful towards London Bridge.

It's being stopped in platform 1, which is the UPL, so it could be for pathing resons.

1/2min stops are an odd way of doing pathing, but you may be right. The UPL may be easier for non-DOO dispatch (or to avoid confusing pax waiting for the stopper?).