Grecian 1998
Member
How many stations are there with 3 or more reversing services per (most but not necessarly all) hours? This affects both platform dwell time and overall track capacity (e.g. Paignton -Exmouth services at Exeter St Davids have to pass from the Up Paddington to the Up Waterloo crossing the down Paddington and down Waterloo lines, blocking them in the process), so it's interesting to note how many stations there are where this is a regular practice.
To be clear, I'm only interested in through services, not terminating ones.
Stations I know of:
Bristol Temple Meads : Portsmouth-Cardiff and Weymouth/Brighton/Westbury-Gloucester/Great Malvern services in both directions so 4 tph. The latter in particular seems to be a classic example of operational convenience to avoid too many terminating trains sitting at Temple Meads.
Exeter St Davids : 2 Exmouth - Paignton services each way so 4tph. This service appears to be a mix of operational convenience and the need to give Paignton a through service to Exeter Central.
Birmingham New Street : AIUI all Southampton/Reading-Newcastle services in both directions reverse at the east end of the station. Most Bristol - Manchester services reverse at the west end, but some use the Camp Hill chord to avoid it, as do virtually all Manchester - Bristol services, so this is usually 3tph.
Sheffield : Lincoln - Leeds services in both directions reverse at the north end of the station, Liverpool-Norwich services in both directions reverse at the south end, so usually 4tph.
On that note, are there any stations besides Birmingham NS and Sheffield where trains regularly reverse at both ends of the station?
I might be wrong about any of the above so feel free to correct me.
To be clear, I'm only interested in through services, not terminating ones.
Stations I know of:
Bristol Temple Meads : Portsmouth-Cardiff and Weymouth/Brighton/Westbury-Gloucester/Great Malvern services in both directions so 4 tph. The latter in particular seems to be a classic example of operational convenience to avoid too many terminating trains sitting at Temple Meads.
Exeter St Davids : 2 Exmouth - Paignton services each way so 4tph. This service appears to be a mix of operational convenience and the need to give Paignton a through service to Exeter Central.
Birmingham New Street : AIUI all Southampton/Reading-Newcastle services in both directions reverse at the east end of the station. Most Bristol - Manchester services reverse at the west end, but some use the Camp Hill chord to avoid it, as do virtually all Manchester - Bristol services, so this is usually 3tph.
Sheffield : Lincoln - Leeds services in both directions reverse at the north end of the station, Liverpool-Norwich services in both directions reverse at the south end, so usually 4tph.
On that note, are there any stations besides Birmingham NS and Sheffield where trains regularly reverse at both ends of the station?
I might be wrong about any of the above so feel free to correct me.
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