Late afternoon trains

I had a feeling that Bletchley wasn't as well served by trains for the journey home in the afternoon as it used to be, but I didn't realise how poor things had become until I missed my usual 17:51 (semi-fast) from Euston and the following (all stops) 18:05.  There wasn't a train to Bletchley until 18:29 (semi-fast).

For a long time we've had a gap in trains to Bletchley before 5pm.  If you miss the 16:24 then it's a 45 minute wait for the 17:05.  What we haven't previously had though was gaps after 6pm.

I've got a copy of the timetable that it was in force a year ago (17/5-12/12/2009) so I figured I'd do a comparison based on arriving at London Euston after 17:50.

A year ago there was a semi-fast train departing at 17:54 which got into Bletchley at 18:43 (49 minutes).  If you missed that one then the next train was the fast 18:13 (first stop Leighton Buzzard) which got into Bletchley at 18:50 (37 minutes).  The next was the semi-fast leaving at 18:24 which arrived at 19:17 (53 minutes). 

Today, the last train before 6pm leaves earlier at 17:51 and is a semi-fast getting into Bletchley at 18:39 (48 minutes).  Miss that and it's the all-stops 18:05 which doesn't get into Bletchley until 19:04 (59 minutes).  Arrive at Euston after after that one and the following train is a semi-fast which leaves Euston at 18:29 and gets into Bletchley at 19:18 (49 minutes).

Analyse the above and you see that in 2009 we had:

• 3 trains spread over 30 minutes
• A maximum gap between departures from Euston 19 minutes
• A fastest journey time of 37 minutes and an average of 46 minutes

In 2010 we've got:

• 3 trains spread over 38 minutes
• A maximum gap between departures of 25 minutes
• A fastest journey time of 48 minutes and an average of  52 minutes

Every one of the changes is to the detriment of passengers travelling home from Bletchley.

So what has happened?  Bletchley appears to have been put into the same category as Harrow-on-Wealdstone, Hemel Hempstead, Berkhampstead and Tring.  All get three trains between 17:50 and 18:30, either all-stops or slow (the journey time being a lot less significant for the stations closer to London).  Leighton Buzzard only gets three trains but they still have a 29 minute express (the 18:13).   Passengers from Watford Junction and Milton Keynes are very well off.  Five trains over the same 40 minute period (a mix of slow, semi-fast and express).

Unfortunately I haven't got timetables going back 5, 10 and 15 years but I am absolutely certain that these would demonstrate even better the decline in the Bletchley service.  I seem to remember that we once had a train departing from Euston at 17:40 which was first stop Bletchley, sometime around 18:15.  Those were the days...


(Before anyone points out that the above ignores the 18:13 from Euston changing at Leighton Buzzard onto the Southern service for the final leg to Bletchley, see Rail Delay Claim online.   That posting tells the story of what happens if the connection isn't made.  With trains calling at Leighton Buzzard during the mid-week rush-hour home not stopping at Bletchley it's not a journey that's worth the risk unless you don't mind sitting on a draughty platform for half an hour...)