Punctuality and CIS accuracy at Wokingham

[whole diary]

[mjones]

Not sure if it is just that Iv'e started noticing it more, but I feel that there has been a decline in punctuality over the last few months. I'm often catching North Downs trains from Wokingham to Reading in the evening peak, the 1744 in particular, which used to be pretty reliable but now seems to be routinely 5 minutes late or more. This is frustrating as I used to be routinely able to make the connection to the Taunton train at Reading, but not really any more (yes, I know it isn't within the offical connection time!). Are there any known problems?

Furthermore, the CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) (and online National Rail departures) often show it as being 'On Time' right up until it is due. I've checked train progress on the National Rail website a few times and noticed that it has been showing 'on time' at Wokingham, while predicting 5 minutes late at earlier stations, including Crowthorne, so there is no possibility of recovery. Is there some problem in the interface between North Downs and Waterloo lines information systems that means late running on NS isn't picked up until the train is nearly at Wokingham?

[Louis94]

Furthermore, the CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) (and online National Rail departures) often show it as being 'On Time' right up until it is due. I've checked train progress on the National Rail website a few times and noticed that it has been showing 'on time' at Wokingham, while predicting 5 minutes late at earlier stations, including Crowthorne, so there is no possibility of recovery. Is there some problem in the interface between North Downs and Waterloo lines information systems that means late running on NS isn't picked up until the train is nearly at Wokingham?

Its nothing to do with the interface between FGW^▸ (First Great Western) and SWTs^▸ (South West Trains) information systems, they both run off of the same sources for information.

However the line towards Ash, has limited signalling and therefore if a train is delayed it may take slightly longer for the information system to pick up on this, as it will not know about it until it passes the next signal, this can be a few miles away so could take up to 5 minutes.

Furthermore this signal being a few miles away can mean that the information on how late the train actually is may be incorrect, as there is no way on telling the exact time it left the previous station or stations before the next signal it will reach. Although live departure boards may post departure times from stations on the North Downs route this may not be 100% accurate because of the reasons I just specified, so I would not rely on it.

It is also worth noting that the predictions on National Rail Departure boards do not communicate with the systems at stations, this is generally because information on this system, not just the predictions, but also the departure report that don't interface with Trust are known to be inaccurate, that being the reason why Trust does not take information for certain stations. The reason for your train being reported as being expected On time at Wokingham station and also online is because the system at SWT stations are linked to the online system and is assuming the train will arrive on-time because it is assuming it is at the point in the big signal sections that will make it on time, of course sometimes the train isn't and when it finally does pass the next signal the delay is updated.

[BerkshireBugsy]

Furthermore, the CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) (and online National Rail departures) often show it as being 'On Time' right up until it is due. I've checked train progress on the National Rail website a few times and noticed that it has been showing 'on time' at Wokingham, while predicting 5 minutes late at earlier stations, including Crowthorne, so there is no possibility of recovery. Is there some problem in the interface between North Downs and Waterloo lines information systems that means late running on NS isn't picked up until the train is nearly at Wokingham?

i use this line most days of the week. My experience of the CIS in general is that if a train is less than 3 minutes late it is shown as on time. This is not based on fact, just my experience. Often the 1618 from Gatwick to Reading (the first part of my journey home) will be a couple of minutes late but show of CIS as on time. I would say that at least 80% of the time the train going in the opposite direction (the 1621 to Redhill) is reported as late. In my case, thankfully, I have about 15 minutes changing time at Reading so luckily even if my train is a few minutes late it doesn't cause (me) a problem.

Of course in a few months time we will be in leaf season again and thats when the timings really go out...

[lordgoata]

My experience of the CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) in general is that if a train is less than 3 minutes late it is shown as on time. This is not based on fact, just my experience.

Its been stated on here before, that the new CIS classes a train on time until it is over 3 minutes late. An utterly ridiculous system, which is why I completely ignore the CIS and rely on my phone apps.

[Southern Stag]

It's pretty standard throughout the railway industry. A lot of systems won't display a delay of less than three minutes. A delay that small could well be made up before the next station anyway because of slack in the timings.

[mjones]

Not much chance of a 3 minute delay  being caught up between Crowthorne and Wokingham, or any other pair of stations on a service with frequent stops.