Timeline for How can a train unexpectedly be the wrong way round?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
16 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Mar 19, 2016 at 0:13 | vote | accept | Gagravarr | ||
| Mar 5, 2016 at 20:57 | comment | added | David Richerby | @HenningMakholm Executive summary: it's complicated[TM]. :-) | |
| Mar 5, 2016 at 20:53 | comment | added | hmakholm left over Monica | (Actually, correcting myself again after checking the timetable: Some trains (usually from Cardiff) do call at University; others (usually from Bristol) don't. It's possible that the latter ordinarily arrive into New Street from the east like David remembers). | |
| Mar 5, 2016 at 20:35 | comment | added | hmakholm left over Monica | @DavidRicherby: It's alright -- I had momentarily forgotten the easterly route via Bordesley even existed, so I thought reversing in Birmingham would involve something like reaching the northeast via Manchester. Now since both lines are there, and the XC trains don't call north of Kings Norton anyway, one will almost certainly be available as a short-notice diversion route for the other, in which case the train will end up in an unplanned orientation. So the example is still good. | |
| Mar 5, 2016 at 20:14 | comment | added | David Richerby | @HenningMakholm I edited my answer to remove mention of Birmingham. | |
| Mar 5, 2016 at 20:14 | history | edited | David Richerby | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Removed Birmingham example due to uncertainty
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| Mar 5, 2016 at 19:55 | comment | added | David Richerby | @HenningMakholm Hmm. Now I'm confused. I actually get on the train at Birmingham, which makes me less certain that they reverse. But I think they arrive from the east (they certainly depart that way). And you thinking that a particular line is freight-only suggests much more familiarity with the network than I have, especially given that I managed not to notice the existence of the line via University! If I remember, I'll pay more attention next time I get on that train. (This is an empty promise, since it'll be June at the earliest, so I won't remember.) | |
| Mar 5, 2016 at 19:27 | comment | added | hmakholm left over Monica | @DavidRicherby: Interesting -- the single time I've ridden that train it was routed via University. I thought Kings Norton to Bordesley Junction was freight-only. Sorry for the confusion. | |
| Mar 5, 2016 at 16:38 | history | edited | David Richerby | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
I got the orientation of Birmingham New Street wrong, though it didn't affect the claims made.
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| Mar 5, 2016 at 16:35 | comment | added | David Richerby | @HenningMakholm These trains do reverse at Birmingham: I catch them regularly! CrossCountry's map is misleading around Birmingham because it isn't at a big enough scale to see what's going on. Here's a copy-paste from Google maps with the actual route highlighted; you can check on Google maps that the two lines I highlighted are the ones to Cheltenham (south) and Tamworth (north). | |
| Mar 5, 2016 at 9:46 | comment | added | hmakholm left over Monica | There are a XC few trains between Birmingham and Bristol that call (and reverse) at Gloucester, though. | |
| Mar 5, 2016 at 9:33 | comment | added | hmakholm left over Monica | Actually CrossCountry's current route map shows that SW-NE trains go via Tamworth and Derby, and so don't need to reverse at Birmingham New Street. | |
| Mar 4, 2016 at 19:54 | comment | added | David Richerby | @phoog It also happens outside the UK, for example in Leipzig. I was on a train from Berlin to Jena and had been facing backwards the whole way. At Leipzig, the people on the other side of my table got off, so I took their seats, a new passenger sat where I'd been and the train set off in the opposite direction to what I'd expected, so I was backwards again! | |
| Mar 4, 2016 at 19:49 | comment | added | phoog | This once happened to me on a train in Wales. I think it was Carmarthen, which seems to be accessible only by way of a short spur line. | |
| Mar 4, 2016 at 19:45 | history | edited | David Richerby | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 410 characters in body
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| Mar 4, 2016 at 19:40 | history | answered | David Richerby | CC BY-SA 3.0 |