Trivia: Quietest service?

[Clansman]

As the title says, are there any services which are persistently quiet or "dead" most of the time?

I can only think of the Carnoustie to Dundee morning all stopper as the quietest up here, unless there's any other ones which are equally or more quiet?

 

[47271]

As the title says, are there any services which are persistently quiet or "dead" most of the time?

I can only think of the Carnoustie to Dundee morning all stopper as the quietest up here, unless there's any other ones which are equally or more quiet?

Still keeping it local for you, having been the only passenger on the 0553 Dundee-Glasgow as far as Perth (don't ask) on a couple of Saturdays last winter then it must be in with a shout!

 

[rg177]

The 0555 Newcastle to Chathill often leaves empty or with only one passenger.

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

 

[grumblingalong]

0659 Ipswich - Harwich International (ex Lowestoft), 2101 Ipswich - Harwich International (ex Cambridge) and return working 2138 Harwich International - Ipswich (for Lowestoft) run frequently empty or with few passengers. Most I ever had in two years working those was 6 on the 2101.

 

[Gathursty]

The first southbound full run of the HOW line from Shrewsbury to Swansea. I recall being alone on it until Llandrindod Wells.

I bet the first northbound run is also as quiet.

 

[All Line Rover]

An 11-car Pendolino from Euston to Crewe on a Saturday evening with just 10 passengers on board? The guard decided to let everyone sit in first class for free!

This isn't a regularly scheduled service but it is "dead" whenever it does run. The whole of standard class accommodation, empty.

 

[91103eastcoast]

1208 London King's Cross to Newark Northgate - had no more than 10 people in my carriage and seemed the same for the other carriages between London and Peterborough. By that point, I had a carriage to myself for the journey to Newark.
I was on a CrossCountry service between Darlington and Newcastle recently and had the entire first class carriage to myself. Standard seemed pretty empty too.

 

[darloscott]

Must be a joy for the crews working these empty services. I know as a bus driver myself when you've been busy all day, a quiet trip at the end of the day makes it a nice wind down! Or equally at the start of the day like the Newcastle-Chathill trip unlikely to carry anyone!

Did fairly recently almost have a full coach to myself on a lunchtime York-KX nonstop run! Bliss!

 

[47271]

First Class after Newcastle on the 2000 King's Cross-Sunderland just about any day of the week. I've been on my own in the coach on all but one of six or seven occasions. There might be one other passenger alighting at Sunderland - on more than one occasion very confused European businesspeople - but sometimes nobody.

Standard isn't much busier to be honest, I can't see that VTEC opened up the service for any reason than to annoy Grand Central.

 

[Clansman]

First Class after Newcastle on the 2000 King's Cross-Sunderland just about any day of the week. I've been on my own in the coach on all but one of six or seven occasions. There might be one other passenger alighting at Sunderland - on more than one occasion very confused European businesspeople - but sometimes nobody.

Standard isn't much busier to be honest, I can't see that VTEC opened up the service for any reason than to annoy Grand Central.

On lucky occasions where I've been travelling first class on a 225 (replaced a HST) from Edinburgh to London have I had the coach to myself due to the increase in first class seats - same goes for standard class on a HST where a coach is unreserved as it replaced a 225 for that service. Both of which were completely dead until Newcastle, and as always (and expected), throws on the punters and the train heaves up till York.

Although I got a pleasant surprise last Friday (23/12) when I turned up for the Highland Chieftain and it was sat in Perth - it obviously didn't head up to Inverness that night so I was lucky to have the carriage to myself again until at least Falkirk, and was treated to a lovely bacon roll.

We could be doing without Newcastle and Darlington on Scotland to London services...as Michael McIntyre once stated about what all passengers think in unison whilst arriving into a packed tube station: "We don't need them!"

 

[scotraildriver]

The 20:36 Oban to Glasgow Queen St rarely carries more than 10 passengers even in the height of summer. It's quite busy Oban to Taynuilt but dead after that.

 

[Springs Branch]

I remember several trips in 1977 or 78 on the 16.36SX Wigan Wallgate to Bolton train, calling at Ince, Hindley & Westhoughton.

This was either a Class 105 Cravens or Class 108 Derby 2-car DMU and you had a 50% chance of bagging a seat with a view behind the driver (depending which way First Class happened to be facing) - on account of the small handful of passengers who used this train.

My point here is how times have changed. I can't imagine travelling on the same route today at that time of a weekday afternoon with only 2 or 3 passengers in your coach, plus a similar number in the rear carriage. Nor being on a train which only potters from Wigan to Bolton.

 

[dk1]

Every stupid GA service early morning on the 27th December that they insisted on running rather than let staff enjoy more of Christmas as well as the ridiculous half hourly services Norwich to Witham complete with catering. Been a pleasure to work with sometimes 1 person per carriage but such a wasteful excercise. Will be worse with everything running on NYE

 

[janb]

Was on the 0513 Lancaster - Euston on Christmas Eve last year, more staff than customers, was glorious.

As for regularly empty, 0546 Lancaster to Windermere always seems to be empty passing Carnforth, I presume business picks up a bit on the Oxenholme to Windermere section.

 

[sd0733]

The 19-01 Birmingham to crewe is always dead from Stafford. Often arrives in crewe totally empty, think the busiest I've ever had was 3 on a Friday night!

 

[DelW]

Chiltern's once a day route-knowledge services to and from Paddington must be among the emptiest daytime trains in the southeast.

 

[AlanFry1]

05:30 Liverpool Street to Enfield Town via Clapton and South Tottenham (Bar the current GOBLIN closure) on Saturdays.
Trains around Beckenham Junction that go via Crystal Palace are a shout in the London area.
The parliamentary train from Paddington to Northolt (?) on a weekday.

 

[rg177]

Every stupid GA service early morning on the 27th December that they insisted on running rather than let staff enjoy more of Christmas as well as the ridiculous half hourly services Norwich to Witham complete with catering. Been a pleasure to work with sometimes 1 person per carriage but such a wasteful excercise. Will be worse with everything running on NYE

Reminds me of when East Coast ran Leeds to Doncaster shuttles with catering during engineering works. The person on the Foodbar stepped off at Wakefield Westgate and screamed down the platform at station staff "this is pointless!!" which was pretty much right.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

When the 1705 SX Paddington-Bristol TM HST used to run (diverted to Westbury since May 2016) it was usually dead after Pewsey. Then the Pewsey stop was removed and it became dead after Bedwyn. I did a passenger count once on the Bedwyn-Trowbridge non-stop leg and the count was 4 in Standard, none in First. Amazing when you think that's one of the most overcrowded departures from Paddington in the evening peak. (Majority alight at Twyford/Reading/Newbury.)

 

[the101]

2042 Derby to Crewe a little while ago. End-to-end, no more than three people including myself in one carriage of the class 158 that worked it.

There must be quite a few early morning reverse peak workings that carry nobody at all or close to it.

 

[dk1]

Reminds me of when East Coast ran Leeds to Doncaster shuttles with catering during engineering works. The person on the Foodbar stepped off at Wakefield Westgate and screamed down the platform at station staff "this is pointless!!" which was pretty much right.

Utter madness mate :roll:

 

[tsr]

Basically anything contra-peak on the Uckfield Line, south of East Croydon or perhaps Oxted, the occasional school run traffic excluded. Likewise anything against the regular flows at the weekend, except if there's a festival at Eridge or something.

I am reliably informed that on the first train heading down in service on the 27th, the only passenger was the onboard cleaner, and the next wasn't much better. The third only had about 10 people over the whole journey from London Bridge, and after that I think everyone stopped bothering trying to work out how much fresh air was being carried.

Though by far the most pointless were (apparently) the Oxted-Ashurst shuttles they ran on one or two Sundays during the platform extension works. Yes, having to use buses from anywhere north of Oxted and anywhere south of Ashurst, which is in the middle of nowhere, connecting with an hourly train which the CIS couldn't track under pilotman working and just showed as "Delayed", was really going to be very useful...

 

[Minilad]

Of the trains I work I would say the 2145 Reading to Birmingham is up there. Often around 4 or 5 on when leaving Reading. At most 10-15 on at it's busiest

 

[Andyh82]

Reminds me of when East Coast ran Leeds to Doncaster shuttles with catering during engineering works. The person on the Foodbar stepped off at Wakefield Westgate and screamed down the platform at station staff "this is pointless!!" which was pretty much right.

Considering the FoodBar would usually open a bit after departure and close a bit before arrival, was it open for about 5 minutes per trip?

 

[godfreycomplex]

2P03 and 2P86 (first Guildford-Portsmouth Harbour and last return) - often seen them empty at Haslemere, and even when it isn't passenger numbers often in single figures. Fairly regularly formed of 10 x 444 as well

 

[rg177]

Considering the FoodBar would usually open a bit after departure and close a bit before arrival, was it open for about 5 minutes per trip?

I can remember it opening as we passed over the junctions heading out of Leeds (I was sat in Coach H, and yes I was alone in there) and so it probably managed about 20 minutes with likely no sales considering that only Coach C had any great deal of passengers who would have likely arrived at Doncaster sooner than they'd trudged down to the Foodbar, got served then gone back.

During engineering works in January, VTEC are running Darlington to York shuttles on a Saturday evening (some of which are extras rather than running in place of timetabled services) I wouldn't be surprised if they're fully catered too.

 

[All Line Rover]

I wonder how busy the weekday 06:11 Crewe to Manchester VTWC Pendolino is? It is booked to be 11 cars. It is little more than an ECS move: on arrival into Manchester it forms a service to London Euston. The xx:11 from Crewe to Manchester would normally have departed London 90 minutes earlier but, as a 04:40 departure from Euston would be much too early, the 06:11 turns out to be the only regularly scheduled Pendolino, of any day of the week, to commence its journey at Crewe.

I also wonder if "the shop" (buffet) is open on the 06:11? I suspect the answer is yes, as my understanding is that all VTWC services are supposed to have "the shop" open for at least part of the journey. But considering, on a London to Manchester via Crewe service, "the shop" normally closes by Wilmslow, what would be the point of opening it at all on a service from Crewe?

 

[DelayRepay]

I also wonder if "the shop" (buffet) is open on the 06:11? I suspect the answer is yes, as my understanding is that all VTWC services are supposed to have "the shop" open for at least part of the journey. But considering, on a London to Manchester via Crewe service, "the shop" normally closes by Wilmslow, what would be the point of opening it at all on a service from Crewe?

I don't know if "the shop" is open or not, but if the catering people board at Crewe they may as well open. Even if they only sell a couple of cups of coffee, it's still a (very small) amount of revenue being generated by staff who are there anyway.

The same would apply to catering on the short shuttle services during engineering works mentioned above; if you have staff who are contracted to work, and therefore have to be paid regardless, it makes sense for them to try to generate some revenue.

 

[birchesgreen]

I've been on the GWR Banbury-Oxford service a few times on a Saturday morning and had the carriage to myself (and don't think there were many other on the rest of the DMU)

 

[Doctor Fegg]

The 21.51 from Hereford to Paddington (arr. 01.23) is very quiet, especially through the Cotswolds - a full HST with usually a single-figure number of passengers on it. (Not sure whether it livens up from Oxford.)