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When is a train "on-time"

You are here: Home > Forum > Miscellaneous > The real thing (anything else rail-oriented) > When is a train "on-time"

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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 13:45 #42114
Peter Bennet
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What is the official window of time whereby a train is recorded as being on time/early/late?

By that I mean if a train has a booked time of departure of 07.45, how many seconds before or after 07.45 does the actual time have to be before it is no longer "on time" and either early or late as the case maybe?

Logically right time could be 07.45.00 to 07.45.59 but is it? I can see the argument that it could be 07.44.30 to 07.45.29 or some other 1 minute period based around 07.45- or maybe it's a narrower period than 60 seconds.


Peter

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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 14:00 #42116
vontrapp
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This will show you. The first 3 pics are from Genius-mobile for rail staff, the third being Thales rail staff timetables
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Last edited: 07/03/2013 at 14:31 by vontrapp
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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 14:35 #42117
postal
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" said:
This will show you.
Helpful information but I don't think it addresses the question Peter asked (and it's something I would like to know as well which is why I've butted in). The information also seems to work only on whole minutes although the WTT has 1/2 minute timings.

If a train is due to arrive somewhere at 00:01:00 and it arrives as 00:01:59, does that count as on time? And although the public book only uses full minutes, what is the situation with a train due to arrive in the WTT at 00:01:30 (i.e. when does that cease to be on time - is it 00:02:00, 00:02:30 or some other defined time)?

“In life, there is always someone out there, who won’t like you, for whatever reason, don’t let the insecurities in their lives affect yours.” – Rashida Rowe
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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 14:54 #42118
vontrapp
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There doesn't seem to be any way of finding out, even with TRUST. I would guess that a train has to be a full 1 minute late to be counted as being 1 minute late.


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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 16:22 #42121
Late Turn
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TRUST always rounds down rather than to the nearest full minute, so anything between 07:05:00 and 07:05:59 inclusive would be recorded as 07:05. As a point of interest, booking in TRBs is now done in the same way, whereas previously you'd round up to 07:06 after 07:05:30 - the change being made to ensure consistency with TRUST reporting.

Tom

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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 17:03 #42123
Albert
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The delay indicators on Peterborough sim (and probably a few more old sims) are green when there is less than 2 minutes delay (or earliness); one and a half minute is still counted as on time (green). Other sims that use a last reported status instead of the current delay through ARS, also appear to show "On time" until there is 2 minutes of delay.
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Last edited: 07/03/2013 at 17:04 by Albert
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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 17:10 #42124
Sacro
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Going by PPM, 5 minutes for London & South East and Regional services, 10 minutes for longer distances.

TRUST truncates (ignores) the seconds rather than actually rounding.

Based on your example, the latest it could arrive 'on time' is 07:49:59 (or 07:54:59 on a long distance)

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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 17:53 #42125
Peter Bennet
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" said:
This will show you. The first 3 pics are from Genius-mobile for rail staff, the third being Thales rail staff timetables
Vontrapp


Yes this is the thing I'm talking about where the departure is shown as a minute early at 11.29. Could that in reality be 1 second early 11.29.59?

From what Late Turn says I think the answer is yes, which was my primary conclusion when pondering the point.

Currently I am logging my daily journey details and that of a particular train that is always late in front of my train at Hitchin. That train is often reported 1min early start from Royston and -1 late at Ashwell - my thought being, does it consistently loose 2 minutes or only around 1 in reality over that short distance.

Peter

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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 18:16 #42128
vontrapp
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Well, if it rounds the number down, I would think so.
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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 19:06 #42131
Stephen Fulcher
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Any TDA Clerks on the forum?
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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 19:17 #42132
GeoffM
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" said:
Yes this is the thing I'm talking about where the departure is shown as a minute early at 11.29. Could that in reality be 1 second early 11.29.59?
As timeliness is mostly reported by TDs stepping, I do wonder whether some areas have a built in factor to account for the fact that trains may well take a minute or more before the step happens for the train to accelerate from standing and pass the signal. And whether that factor is somewhat pessimistic sometimes, resulting in some departures being recorded as early.

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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 19:19 #42133
headshot119
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" said:
" said:
Yes this is the thing I'm talking about where the departure is shown as a minute early at 11.29. Could that in reality be 1 second early 11.29.59?
As timeliness is mostly reported by TDs stepping, I do wonder whether some areas have a built in factor to account for the fact that trains may well take a minute or more before the step happens for the train to accelerate from standing and pass the signal. And whether that factor is somewhat pessimistic sometimes, resulting in some departures being recorded as early.
Arrival times at Chester seem to take no account of the TD steps. The train will show as arrived even though it's still around Chester South Junction.

"Passengers for New Lane, should be seated in the rear coach of the train " - Opinions are my own and not those of my employer
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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 20:36 #42134
Colourlight
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A train is usually considered "late" if it is 3 minutes late or more between Trust reporting points.
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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 21:03 #42136
Sacro
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" said:
A train is usually considered "late" if it is 3 minutes late or more between Trust reporting points.
Considered by whom?

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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 21:20 #42137
Peter Bennet
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There is also, from a commuter's point of view, a difference between being late by 5 minutes once a week and being 1 minute late every day in a week.

Peter

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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 22:00 #42138
pedroathome
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I think that could form another question of its own
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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 22:03 #42139
postal
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Network Rail has this to say about punctuality:

"How punctuality is measured

PPM measures the performance of individual trains advertised as passenger services against their planned timetable as agreed between the operator and Network Rail at 22:00 the night before. PPM is therefore the percentage of trains 'on time' compared to the total number of trains planned.

A train is defined as on time if it arrives at the destination within five minutes (ie 4 minutes 59 seconds or less) of the planned arrival time for London and South East or regional services, or 10 minutes (ie 9 minutes 59 seconds or less) for long distance services.

Where a train fails to run its entire planned route calling at all timetabled stations it will count as a PPM failure."

“In life, there is always someone out there, who won’t like you, for whatever reason, don’t let the insecurities in their lives affect yours.” – Rashida Rowe
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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 22:15 #42140
Sacro
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" said:
"... within five minutes (ie 4 minutes 59 seconds or less) of the planned arrival time for London and South East or regional services, or 10 minutes (ie 9 minutes 59 seconds or less) for long distance services..."
Except for the fact that TRUST truncates times, so surely if a train is 5:59 late, it only goes down as 5 late, therefore is within PPM.

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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 22:29 #42141
John
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No, if a train is 5 minutes late it is outside PPM.

If it's 4 minutes 59 seconds it's inside PPM.

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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 22:33 #42143
GeoffM
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" said:
" said:
"... within five minutes (ie 4 minutes 59 seconds or less) of the planned arrival time for London and South East or regional services, or 10 minutes (ie 9 minutes 59 seconds or less) for long distance services..."
Except for the fact that TRUST truncates times, so surely if a train is 5:59 late, it only goes down as 5 late, therefore is within PPM.
5:59 is not "within five minutes". Random Google dictionary result: "[within:] before (a period of time) has elapsed" (WED).

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When is a train "on-time" 07/03/2013 at 23:53 #42144
postal
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I don't see anything inconsistent or contradictory in the points that have been made. As the Network Rail site says "A train is defined as on time if it arrives at the destination within five minutes (ie 4 minutes 59 seconds or less) of the planned arrival time for London and South East or regional services, or 10 minutes (ie 9 minutes 59 seconds or less) for long distance services" then NR could well use TRUST, drawing their data from a back-office calculation based on trains greater than 4 or 9 minutes late in the TRUST data.
“In life, there is always someone out there, who won’t like you, for whatever reason, don’t let the insecurities in their lives affect yours.” – Rashida Rowe
Last edited: 08/03/2013 at 00:00 by postal
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When is a train "on-time" 08/03/2013 at 09:02 #42146
Late Turn
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" said:
" said:
Yes this is the thing I'm talking about where the departure is shown as a minute early at 11.29. Could that in reality be 1 second early 11.29.59?
As timeliness is mostly reported by TDs stepping, I do wonder whether some areas have a built in factor to account for the fact that trains may well take a minute or more before the step happens for the train to accelerate from standing and pass the signal. And whether that factor is somewhat pessimistic sometimes, resulting in some departures being recorded as early.

That's correct, Geoff - there's often an offset built in to report arriving trains a predetermined time after the TD steps into the platform berth (so usually when it passes the last main signal before the station), and to report departures similarly before it steps out of the berth. That might explain what's happening at Chester too.

Around our way, it's most obvious for trains coming off the Up Slow at Syston North Jn, around the north curve at 10mph then passing Syston East Jn - all in the same signal section. It reports at East Jn as soon as it passes the signal at North Jn, but with around a two minute offset - so at 15:36 (for example), TRUST shows it having passed East Jn at 15:38. Looks a bit odd until you realise what's gone on!

To pick up on the points about PPM calculations - this has to use TRUST data in some form, surely, as that's all that's really available!

Tom

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When is a train "on-time" 08/03/2013 at 10:18 #42147
kbarber
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Oh the complications of the privatisation era 'performance regime' and the delights of computerisation.

As Tom says, we used to regard the minute as changing at the 30 second mark, so a TRB entry for 00:00:29 would be booked as 00:00 and for 00:00:31 as 00:01. Then we used to report trains to Control by phone every so often (usually Control would ring for some times when things were quiet). I don't know about other areas but Euston had a concept known as a 'rough tick', which applied to any train recorded up to two minutes late (and I understand it was used by the old Euston PSB as well). But then we didn't have an army of lawyers chasing everyone else in sight for pennies...

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When is a train "on-time" 08/03/2013 at 10:25 #42148
Aurora
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" said:
What is the official window of time whereby a train is recorded as being on time/early/late?

By that I mean if a train has a booked time of departure of 07.45, how many seconds before or after 07.45 does the actual time have to be before it is no longer "on time" and either early or late as the case maybe?

Logically right time could be 07.45.00 to 07.45.59 but is it? I can see the argument that it could be 07.44.30 to 07.45.29 or some other 1 minute period based around 07.45- or maybe it's a narrower period than 60 seconds.


Peter

Depends on the operator. Here in Sydney we have 4 minutes and 59 seconds before it is considered late. Well, for our Suburban trains anyway.

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Last edited: 08/03/2013 at 10:27 by Aurora
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When is a train "on-time" 08/03/2013 at 11:38 #42152
dwelham313
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" said:


Currently I am logging my daily journey details and that of a particular train that is always late in front of my train at Hitchin. That train is often reported 1min early start from Royston and -1 late at Ashwell - my thought being, does it consistently loose 2 minutes or only around 1 in reality over that short distance.

Peter

This is an FCC timetabling anomaly - off peak trains get 5 mins to do Royston - Ashwell, peak time trains get 4! And if said peak trains start back from the down platform it takes longer to get to speed because of the 25mph crossover. There are several in the evening from Ely/Kings Lynn that make additional stops to Hitchin and the timetable is so tight it isn't un-common to be running 10 late at Hitchin.

Last edited: 08/03/2013 at 11:38 by dwelham313
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