UK Train Configuration Website?

[Truckosaurus]

Now then,

Due to an office move, I have started commuting on the train.

The route I use (Alton to Waterloo branch line) seems to have a selection of different train types and a variety of number of carriages (more at peak hours etc).

Is there a website that lists what sort of train is scheduled for each service, so I can aim for fancier/longer trains? Or do they just make it up as they go along?

[forsure]

Try : www.realtimetrains.co.uk

[Ean218]

forsure said:

Try : www.realtimetrains.co.uk

How do you work out from that how many carriages there are?

[forsure]

Ean218 said:

forsure said:

Try : www.realtimetrains.co.uk

How do you work out from that how many carriages there are?

I don't know; it doesn't look as if that info is there.

www.opentraintimes.com provides similar info.

[Dogwatch]

Ean218 said:

How do you work out from that how many carriages there are?

you are expected to use whatever turns up and be grateful!

Most third-rail electric multiple units come in sets of four. For a peak hour commuter train to London you would have at least two if not three sets making up a train, sometimes starting from different points and then linking up. However on a bad day you could find your usual train has been shorn of four (or even eight) cars making life very uncomfortable.

[Amateurish]

Truckosaurus said:

Now then,

Due to an office move, I have started commuting on the train.

The route I use (Alton to Waterloo branch line) seems to have a selection of different train types and a variety of number of carriages (more at peak hours etc).

Is there a website that lists what sort of train is scheduled for each service, so I can aim for fancier/longer trains? Or do they just make it up as they go along?

Ask on Railforums.

https://www.railforums.co.uk/forums/allocations-di...

[Truckosaurus]

The issue is now 50% moot as I have discovered there is a single bonus Slow Train in the morning that is no slower on the segment of the journey I take but is 25mins slower overall into London so no-one uses it, therefore plenty of seats.

There doesn't look like there is an equivalent return service, so I shall just have to experiment with the evening trains.

Thanks for the information provided anyway, it is pretty useful for general geekery.

[rs1952]

Truckosaurus said:

Now then,

Due to an office move, I have started commuting on the train.

The route I use (Alton to Waterloo branch line) seems to have a selection of different train types and a variety of number of carriages (more at peak hours etc).

Is there a website that lists what sort of train is scheduled for each service, so I can aim for fancier/longer trains? Or do they just make it up as they go along?

I don’t know of any website that will give you that sort of detail – most people who are interested in railways wouldn’t be enthralled by it either! However, here is some information that I have deliberately written assuming that your knowledge of railways is limited – apologies if I’ve got the wrong end of that stick.

To help to set the right mindset, I’ll start off with a quote I heard once: “before I worked for the railway I was amazed at how many trains ran late or were cancelled. After I started working on the railway I was amazed at how any trains ran on time”

Each Train Operating Company (TOC) has its own fleet of coaching stock and will have set diagrams to cover every train service they operate. No TOC has, or indeed can afford to have, fleets of coaches sitting around doing nothing so, apart from making allowances for trains being out of service for repair or maintenance, if a cock-up happens it will usually have an effect on train formations, and of course whether or not it runs at all. As someone else has already said, in what used to be the nationalised BR’s Southern Region, electric multiple units (EMUs) are usually in fixed 4 or 5-car formations, so your train will usually be multiples of those.

Realtime Trains already linked to will give you some general guidance eg “Electric multiple unit timed for 100mph”, or some such, but will not give you the full train formation breakdown.

Each TOC has its own “favourite” design (easier to repair and maintain a fleet that is all the same). I know a little more about South Western Trains than I do about the other TOCs operating in the South East, but they have large fleets of class 444 and 445 EMUs. The class can be identified by the number painted on the front (eg. Unit 444 009 would be the ninth in the fleet of class 444s). Here’s a photograph of it to illustrate: https://www.flickr.com/photos/93122458@N08/2544378... A few days observation on your part will tell you the stock that the TOC for your line is using on your trains.

But to get to the crux of your question, if you use a line where there are a number of different TOCs operating on it (eg Crewe to Birmingham sees Virgin, Cross Country and West Midlands trains), or where the same TOC runs completely different services (eg Reading to Paddington where the expresses are HSTs or the new class 800s and the slow trains are of different designs) then you are likely to see more variety, both in terms of speed and comfort. If your commute was from Winchester to Waterloo then you’ll be getting a class 444. Or a class 445...

[outnumbered]

This site can be helpful although it doesn't seem to cover the Alton to Waterloo line:

http://iris2.rail.co.uk/tiger/index.html

e.g.: http://iris2.rail.co.uk/tiger/renderstaffsoad.asp?...

Shows the number of coaches for various trains at Reading.

[Truckosaurus]

rs1952 said:

<Lots of Good Stuff>

Even before I'd read your post I paid attention to the number on the front of this evening train, it was a Class 450 whereas last night's was a more 'long distance' train (numbered seats, longer carriages, inner door between the seats and the exit doors etc.). I shall have to check wikipedia for the class number.

You'll make a Train Spotter out of me yet....

Edit to add: Looks like the 'long distance' style train was a 444 (multiples of 5 coaches) and the 'commuter style' ones are 450 (multiples of 4 coaches).

Edited by Truckosaurus on Tuesday 30th January 17:30

[texaxile]

Is TOPS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOPS available to the general public?. We use it all the time for freight to determine the rake and even the "direction" of the wagons as it gives us the layout, but only applies to running and historical trains, not future ones (and it's a pain to navigate).