Split tickets, advance fares and connecting trains

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Early trains happen surprisingly often, I suspect.  My Sunday trip to Cambridge ... pressed the button at Melksham (because the screen is reporting a data problem) and the chap on the other end assures me that my train will be along soon because "it left Trowbridge one minute early".

[bobm]

The snag with my train - it connected with the last train of the day to London Paddington. 

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

Trains should not leave early NOW. In days past, it depended upon the accuracy of the train manager's watch if the train was at a station with no platform clock. However one of our friendly Cotswold Line train managers (or is it Senior Conductor?) showed me not very long ago his FGW^▸ (First Great Western) branded watch, one of the type that keeps time to the second by adjusting the watch time to the national radio time signal from Rugby (or wherever it is). He said that FGW had issued these watches to train crew for just the above reason, i.e. trains leaving earlier or later than published time because the member of train crew had said that his watch had been found to be a minute or so out even though most watchs are quartz controlled.