Which timetabled passenger train which has the most reverses?

[Grecian 1998]

Pre-COVID a number of Southampton - Newcastle services would have reversed at Reading and Birmingham New Street.

I think there used to be a 2335 on Fridays from London Paddington - Cardiff Central which went via Bath and so reversed at both Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway. Two reversals in 10 minutes.

 

[Welshman]

A few did try to carry on at interchange

I am not aware of any buffer-stop collisions at Bradford Interchange.

However there was the unfortunate accident in 1964 when a dmu ran away down the hill and collided head on with a parcels train in one of the terminal platforms of Bradford Exchange, sadly killing the driver and injuring 13 passengers, one of whom died of their injuries the day after.

I was in the area at the time, and the memory still haunts me.

Accident 03/06/64 Bradford (Exchange) Station, NER

The history of Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs / railcars) in Britain.

www.railcar.co.uk

To continue with the historical examples:-
In the 1960s, the Halifax portion of the morning train to London Kings Cross used to go to Huddersfield, where it reversed, then go on to Wakefield Kirkgate, where it reversed again, to be pulled up the chord to Wakefield Westgate to siding at the north end of the station, where it awaited the arrival of the main train from Leeds Central, and the portion was then propelled on to the rear.
3 coaches, 3 reversals in about 20 miles, with the fireman of the same tank engine un/coupling and running round.
Such was the importance given to through coaches in those days!

 

[liamf656]

0638 from Nottingham IIRC. Doesn't seem to be running currently but it ran before Covid.

This still runs, but only as far as Reading post-covid

 

[Efini92]

I am not aware of any buffer-stop collisions at Bradford Interchange.

However there was the unfortunate accident in 1964 when a dmu ran away down the hill and collided head on with a parcels train in one of the terminal platforms of Bradford Exchange, sadly killing the driver and injuring 13 passengers, one of whom died of their injuries the day after.

I was in the area at the time, and the memory still haunts me.

Accident 03/06/64 Bradford (Exchange) Station, NER

The history of Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs / railcars) in Britain.

www.railcar.co.uk

To continue with the historical examples:-
In the 1960s, the Halifax portion of the morning train to London Kings Cross used to go to Huddersfield, where it reversed, then go on to Wakefield Kirkgate, where it reversed again, to be pulled up the chord to Wakefield Westgate to siding at the north end of the station, where it awaited the arrival of the main train from Leeds Central, and the portion was then propelled on to the rear.
3 coaches, 3 reversals in about 20 miles, with the fireman of the same tank engine un/coupling and running round.
Such was the importance given to through coaches in those days!

There was one in 2013 and more recently in 2017

 

[BoroAndy]

If someone thought it would be a good idea to run a steam train from Pickering to Middlesbrough, it would reverse at Whitby and Battersby.

 

[zwk500]

If someone thought it would be a good idea to run a steam train from Pickering to Middlesbrough, it would reverse at Whitby and Battersby.

If we're including Steam don't forget all the 3 point turns the locos do to turn themselves round!

 

[D6975]

Can’t remember whether any of the North of Edinburgh - West Country trains back in the day called at Gloucester - but if so they had 4 reversals: Waverley, Carstairs, New Street and Gloucester.

They did, the Aberdeen portion of the 07:xx Plymouth- Glasgow/Aberdeen and the reverse equivalent both reversed 4 times.

 

[158747]

Stopping trains from Westbury (or beyond) to Cheltenham (or beyond) reverse at Bristol and Gloucester.

Trains from Westbury to Cheltenham via Swindon also reverse twice, at Swindon and Gloucester.

 

[Watershed]

Some overnight services between York and Manchester reverse three times, at Leeds, Huddersfield and Salford Crescent. This only happens during certain combinations of engineering works though, for example Monday-Thursday night this week on 1P06.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

In the early 2000s there was a direct Edinburgh to Wick service that used the main line platforms at Inverness, so it reversed twice to depart, then at Georgemas Jcn and a fourth reversal at Thurso to reach Wick.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

In the early 2000s there was a direct Edinburgh to Wick service that used the main line platforms at Inverness, so it reversed twice to depart, then at Georgemas Jcn and a fourth reversal at Thurso to reach Wick.

and in the loco hauled era trains from Thurso to inverness generally had two reversals, at Georgemas and then at Welsh's Bridge Junction prior to reversing into the southbound platforms for the combined benefits of cross platform connections and early release of the loco to go to the depot.

 

[The exile]

and in the loco hauled era trains from Thurso to inverness generally had two reversals, at Georgemas and then at Welsh's Bridge Junction prior to reversing into the southbound platforms for the combined benefits of cross platform connections and early release of the loco to go to the depot.

If it was “generally” then I must have been unlucky - although I wasn’t up there often, between 1978 and about 1992 I only remember doing the Welsh’s Bridge reversal once

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

and in the loco hauled era trains from Thurso to inverness generally had two reversals, at Georgemas and then at Welsh's Bridge Junction prior to reversing into the southbound platforms for the combined benefits of cross platform connections and early release of the loco to go to the depot.

To be fair I was once on a Kyle to Inverness service that had to go up and down the platform several times at Muir of Ord in order to get RETB signal but I don’t think that counts

 

[Peterthegreat]

In the 1990s and on the continental mainland the Interlaken to Prague service reversed at Bern, Zurich, Lindau, Munich, Regensburg and Schwandorf.