| Clockface timetables - a good idea? Posted by grahame at 16:17, 6th February 2026 |     |
Many public transport services run to what we call a "clock face" timetable - the train or bus goes the same number of minutes after each (or sometime alternate) hour. But some service don't follow that pattern - here's an example
Do members think that clock face timetables are a good idea?
| Re: Clockface timetables - a good idea? Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 16:27, 6th February 2026 | |
That all seems perfectly clear to me. [Image from here is not available to guests]
| Re: Clockface timetables - a good idea? Posted by bobm at 16:30, 6th February 2026 | |
Ignore the dash in the rain, where the D1 moves by a few minutes on some hours it can make the connection to the London trains at Bath Spa uncomfortably tight.
| Re: Clockface timetables - a good idea? Posted by eXPassenger at 17:30, 6th February 2026 | |
I voted Yes - With odd exceptions.
My preferred answer would have been Yes - Where possible, recognising that other services / activities may prevent it and this will be more common than 'odd exceptions'.
| Re: Clockface timetables - a good idea? Posted by Marlburian at 21:38, 6th February 2026 | |
Occasionally I deliver friends to Tilehurst Station for trains to Paddington and have sometimes been caught out by minor differences in time, meaning hanging around for a few extra minutes or a dash across the footbridge.
(Two weeks ago one friend very patiently explained how I could swap data to a new phone, making me feel old and stupid. I was quite pleased and relieved when before leaving my house we both checked to see if the next train was on time. Her interpretation of the National Rail website was that the 1659 was due at 1556, whereas mine showed all trains were on time.)
| Re: Clockface timetables - a good idea? Posted by Hafren at 14:46, 7th February 2026 | |
For suburban routes and core Intercity routes.... definitely Yes.
For many rural and secondary routes it often wouldn't be practical. Maintaining connections, planning for efficiency to avoid an extra train/bus in the cycle, managing single track sections and other capacity constraints, dealing with varying stopping patterns (e.g. varied extensions of the core route, stations where it would be genuinely wasteful to stop all trains etc), slotting in occasional freight where capacity is limited, peak variations (where not simply a case of adding an extra journey), even ripple effect of routes affected by these things on other routes because of connections and capacity, etc...
| Re: Clockface timetables - a good idea? Posted by johnneyw at 20:07, 7th February 2026 | |
My thoughts are that a clock face service would be a desirable starting point for a Metro style service before it could achieve a "turn up and go" frequency, (when it becomes something of an irrelevance).
| Re: Clockface timetables - a good idea? Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 21:52, 7th February 2026 | |
I'm rather inclined to rename this topic as, 'Clocky MacClockFace' - but I won't. [Image from here is not available to guests] [Image from here is not available to guests] [Image from here is not available to guests]
