BTW▸ the term "Devon Metro" applied to the regular interval timetable for Exeter local services which was tried by Wessex trains around 2004, the term has not been used (even internally) since that was abandoned as un-workable.
Does anyone have a copy of this timetable that they could scan and post? Alternatively, send it to me via e-mail - canber[at]hotmail[dot]co[dot]uk - and I will put it online for you.
Really, you would need a copy of the
WTT▸ for the period as most of it was about unit workings.
In principle the idea was to eliminate
ECS▸ workings i.e. terminating trains at St. Davids having to shunt empty over Red Cow or Exeter Central terminators gonng empty to Exmouth Jcn.
So all trains form Paignton or Barnstaple would continue to Exmouth.
In practice it created a situation where there was no slack, 3 min turnaround at Barnstaple and Paignton and 5 min at Exmouth meant delays just built up until an Exmouth had to be cut out to bring things back on time.
An example of this was the first Barnstaple 05.50 ish from
EXD» would make the 06.50 ish Barnstaple- Exmouth, which in turn would make the 08.24 Exmouth- Paignton.
The 06.50 from Barny would stop at most request stops and loose a few minutes, miss it's path at Cowley Bridge and be 10 late on arrival at Exmouth say 08.29.
This being the principle travel to work train on the Exmouth line leaving at 08.32 maybe 6 late and getting to Exeter Central at 08.55 instead of 08.49 meant a lot of grumbling from our customers because it was happening 3 days per week.
The solution was to split the workings the 06.50 from Barney ran later and had some additional time and formed the 08.54 from Exmouth.
The 08.24 became the back working of a new 07.50 EXD-EXM and hey presto performance was improved.
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