Wimbledon branch timetable

There was a discussion here on a related thread ...pertaining to the Olympia service.

The Wimbledon branch gets a 5min service compared to a 10min to each of Richmond and Ealing and 15min to Olympia. (5min to Upminster except sundays x10min).

The Wimbledon's are certainly busier than the other western branches, but it is difficult to see where additional paths could be created without having an un-acceptably detrimental effect on the other branches.

Wimbledon's 4 reversing platforms are generally all occupied and shaving some recovery time from the standing there would likely throw the pattern for returns to Upminster / Edgware Road.

The current timetable generally works well, but a minor delay in zone 1 can often result in the Wimbledon's 1 x 5mins running as 2 x 10mins which is when the leading train become crowded (midweek evening games at Chelsea create excessive overcrowding often resulting in the Olympia service being abandoned). Also being at x5mins the Wimbledon service can often "donate" a train to cover cancellations on the other branches. In times of disruption extra trains often run to Parsons Green to reverse. The difficulty in reversing trains going west elsewhere often has a severely detrimental effect on the (unseen by control) service east of Dagenham East where gaps of 30 or even 50 mins to Upminster keep appearing !

I would say that although reversing capacity exists at Putney Bridge and Parsons Green (and Mansion House, Plaistow, Barking and Dagenham) it's the paths through Earl's Court and zone 1 that would be the difficulty, as well as stock provision.

Marginal increase in Wimbo's and reduction in Ealings and Richmonds would throw the pattern of the Edgware Rd and Circles without some major choreography ! Possible, but the residents furthest west may object

Edit: This post was made at exactly the same time as the above two, so I may repeat them!

In actual fact, the WImbledon branch is the best served branch on the DIsrtict. The line is almost full to capacity, with trains running every few minutes... Of course that's during perfect conditions!

The Tory MP for Putney is Justine Greening and she has successfully campaigned to get certain other trains diverted from elsewhere to Wimbledon in the peak. She also has regular meetings with senior District managers, so she's the best one to contact if you have any suggestions.

I'm not quite sure how you see trains 'relatively empty' heading towards Ealing and Richmond... I can assure you that those two branches are just as heavily used as the Wimbledon branch is in the peaks.

From my perspective as ex station staff at Earls Court, the only customers that ever complained on the westbound platforms were Wimbledon bound customers. In fairness though, most of those using Ealing and Richmond trains have other alternatives (ie, Picc to Hammersmith/Acton) - so are easier to please when gaps occur.

The Wimbledon service can suffer from reliability problems in the evening peak, but the timetable has a train every 4 mins - that's every other train coming from as far away as barking with a 4 minute window. Now let's be fair, we do pretty well most days of the week - it's that perception thing kicking again isn't it? A couple of dodgy days, maybe Chelsea are at home - and our names mud again.

IMHO - one of the biggest problems with the Wimbledon branch in the evening peak, is the position of the station exits at Fulham Broadway (was worse), Putney Bridge, Southfields and Wimbledon. These are the busiest stations, meaning the first four cars are always rammed full in the evening peak. If people would actually spread out along the train, the journey wouldn't be half as bad.

And that's something that always makes me laugh - apparently we force people to travel in worse conditions than cattle - since when were all the customers for Southfields banned from using the five other cars? we don't force customers to 'kiss the windows'....they squash themselves on.

Then there's the complaints about the confusing platform indicators at Earls Court............

[note to self - stop ranting!!)

I don't think it is a routine manoeuvre, except for road training etc.

Although during service disruptions C's do turn back there and D's at Parsons Green. Somewhere i was told that D's couldn't turn back at Putney Bridge, as there isn't enough space in the bay.

Which is quite correct, but i pointed out to my friend that there is a crossover just south of the station for D Stock to turn back.

Has anyone got any pictures of such a movement? as i would be interested to see them.

Some time ago the Wimbledon Branch was to become part of a new underground line, the Chelsea - Hackney line, but it was never to be built due to reasons I have forgotten.

But why have they listened to her? She obviously has a biased opinion and is only interested in her branch - if that screws up the Ealing or Richmond lines she doesn't care, because they don't vote for her!

So how do you like your 3 minutely peak service to Wimbledon then?

Wimbledon just cannot cope with a train more than every 4 minutes. Thats why were blocking back from Southfields during the peaks. A 3 minutely service is impossible as it takes roughly 2 mins to get in and 2 mins to get out of Wimbledon. This week came in handy to illustrate our point regarding Wimbledon branch frequencies though.

After the evening peak, say from around 7pm, some trains go out of service. The sensible place to put them at the west end of the line is Ealing Common depot - that is why customers often get the impression of more Ealing trains.

Should the Richmond branch then have a gap in the service, a D stock Wimbledon train may get diverted to go there [as Wimbledon has double the frequency of other braches, it's easier to use one of these].

You are then left with the C stocks supplying the Wimbledon branch service - which leaves customers with the impression that Wimbledon is no longer part of the District line.

i agree when their is a problem in platform 2 the whole service to wimbledon becomes useless why dont lul see that is they did the work in the area then even with a problem in one of the 2 platforms then a good service could still operate through earls court