Morning Connection from Salisbury at Southampton Central

[whole diary]

[teamsaint]

I tried a new ( for me) route this morning, from Dean to Eastbourne.
Usually drive, due to the minimum 2 changes, time constraints etc.
One of the things previously putting me off using rail is the connection at Central. The 07.02 from Dean ( 6.50 from Salisbury) is scheduled to arrive at 07.30, and the Brighton train departs at 07.33 leaving not much wriggle room. However the Salisbury/Dean train comes in to 3B, and the Brighton one leaves from 3A, so its a 20 second change. Worked like a dream today, and I had a decent trip to Eastbourne/Hampden Park at an excellent price, £28.10 anytime return.

My question is  two fold really. Firstly, the NRE^‡(resolve) search engine doesn't show the connection at Central as a viable option. I know it's only 3 minutes to change , but  if they usually use those platforms, with usual punctuality it is viable.
Second, and given that the two trains actually stand at the same platform,and it must be a useful connection for quite a few people ( I saw several using it today), couldn't a minute or two be found somewhere to make this a  really integrated connection?

Sorry, probably used the wrong terms, and showing amateur levels of understanding, but hope you get my drift !
Thanks.

Edit: after spending a lot of the day on Southern, I suddenly got the feeling that SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) passengers are a bit pampered...we have catering...sometimes....wifi ....sometimes ( although now limited to 30 MB total use).....although neither have charging sockets .No doubt regular Southern travellers are happy just to have a train to travel on.

[rogerw]

The official connection time at Southampton Central is shown as 3 minutes on Table 123 only (nothing on 158, 165 or 186) so it should be an advertised connection

[paul7575]

That 3 mins in table 123 has got to be spurious, surely?  It’s unusual for a station the size of Southampton to have reduced interchange time, especially with multiple TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) operating?

The connection isn’t viable most of the day, in the normal pattern the up Romsey train arrives just after the Brighton has gone.

Paul

[JayMac]

I believe that 3 minutes is a misprint. Southampton is the standard 5 minutes. Unless connection is between South Western, Southern or Southern Western/Southern services. In which case it's 4 minutes.

http://www.brtimes.com/#board?stn=SOU&show=info&date=20171019