South Western Railway - Chaos

[Southernman46]

Hmmm - 90 minutes late into Waterloo last evening 🙄 after the 3rd major point failure in a month on the SWML in the Woking area, this time 2100's at Berrylands, last week Woking Junction itself and before that 2236's at West Byfleet - could do better NR !!!!

 

and how did my former PW area get so littered with wetbeds ............................... 😵

 

Never mind this months' collective Delay Repay has paid for one of my Accurascale 31's so there's a silver (or GFYE) lining 👍

[DY444]

On 10/03/2024 at 22:06, phil-b259 said:

 

So we are all supposed to shut up about the fact that the 'controlling mind' - which could have easily prevented 90% of the things folk have been moaning about (seating quality, types of couplers, types of bogie, trains ordered then binned after a couple of years use, etc) was deliberately smashed into so many pieces solely for party political / ideological reasons.

 

Even after 30 years I have no intention of letting the Politicians (or the party which did it) off the hook for that action!

 

Pick your saying- "Old Sins have long shadows", "you reap what you sow" the bottom line is that the majority of the railways woes can be traced directly due to its privatisation - and specifically the manor of its privatisation in 1994 whose overarching goal seems to have been to smash it into so many bits it would be impossible to put it back together again in 1994!

 

If we're in the business of apportioning political blame then the other lot had the opportunity to rectify much of the alleged damage between 1997 and 2010.  Moreover said other lot spent all of the period between 1994 and 1997 telling anyone that would listen that they would undo it.  And then they didn't. 

 

In fact they achieved the impossible, they made it worse.  The PUG2 fiasco happened on their watch, they foisted PPP on the tube which proved to be an expensive unmitigated disaster and then the piece de resistance, they created NR and let it borrow whatever it liked with impunity thus baking in NR's expertise at over spending on everything.  That gem is proving extremely difficult to turn around and the financial consequences of it are still being felt today.  They were also responsible for allowing the idea that electrification was pointless to get a foothold inside the DfT.  Let's not forget that Hatfield happened 4 years into their watch too.  They talked big and did nothing and kept doing nothing until two fatal accidents in under a year.  Then what they did just made it worse.

 

Yes privatisation has created a lot of problems but the idea that only one flavour of Government is responsible for all of its ills and how it has played out is partisan political tunnel vision. 

Edited May 16 by DY444

[Northmoor]

Some recent experiences of SWR suggest they really are passing the point of caring. 

 

One evening two weeks ago, I had just missed the Alton train so took the route home via Ascot instead.  At that point it would seem the lineside fire at Sunningdale hadn't been reported, so not until we joined the queue of delayed trains outside Staines did the guard mention it.  About 25 mins late we pulled into Egham where it's announced (on a unit with the common issue of very quiet PA) that the train will terminate at Virginia Water.  The guard says tickets will be valid on local bus services.  How we laughed.  What local bus services continuing along the line of route are there in Egham at 10pm?  We might as well have been invited to continue our journeys using a local hot air balloon service.  The sole member of staff on Egham station had access to what was on the screens and the SWR app on her phone (which I think was telling us to go back to Waterloo).  Every passenger could have seen that themselves!  On LU, staff are able to contact control directly, or are notified by global message with updates.  SWR policy seems to be to tell staff as little as possible and let them face the public (alone), while ticking the box for alternative travel provision regardless of whether it actually exists or not.  I was talking to a lone young female trying to get to Reading; she should not have had to sort out her own travel arrangements in an unfamiliar area late at night.

 

I know lineside fires are a menace and the decision to run or not is in the hands of the fire brigade.  A car fire in a car park is usually quickly extinguished so it is easy to say services will probably restart in 30 minutes.  A fire in a lineside industrial unit won't get the all-clear until the lead fire officer is certain there are no gas bottles or anything else likely to flare up (or worse) later.  So if it's that type of incident, SWR should say straight away that the service will be suspended for the rest of the evening and direct passengers accordingly.  Don't just say, we don't know, that is just avoiding making a wrong decision by not making any decision.

 

As it was, I got home via a Weybridge service (change), on to Woking (change), take a Basingstoke service to Farnborough.  My ticket isn't strictly valid to there but at that time of night, getting to within just over a mile of Frimley was a result.  I'd have walked back were it not so late by that point so resorted to a taxi.  Total journey time from Waterloo to Frimley: nearly four hours.

 

[The Stationmaster]

On 29/05/2024 at 13:45, Northmoor said:

Some recent experiences of SWR suggest they really are passing the point of caring. 

 

One evening two weeks ago, I had just missed the Alton train so took the route home via Ascot instead.  At that point it would seem the lineside fire at Sunningdale hadn't been reported, so not until we joined the queue of delayed trains outside Staines did the guard mention it.  About 25 mins late we pulled into Egham where it's announced (on a unit with the common issue of very quiet PA) that the train will terminate at Virginia Water.  The guard says tickets will be valid on local bus services.  How we laughed.  What local bus services continuing along the line of route are there in Egham at 10pm?  We might as well have been invited to continue our journeys using a local hot air balloon service.  The sole member of staff on Egham station had access to what was on the screens and the SWR app on her phone (which I think was telling us to go back to Waterloo).  Every passenger could have seen that themselves!  On LU, staff are able to contact control directly, or are notified by global message with updates.  SWR policy seems to be to tell staff as little as possible and let them face the public (alone), while ticking the box for alternative travel provision regardless of whether it actually exists or not.  I was talking to a lone young female trying to get to Reading; she should not have had to sort out her own travel arrangements in an unfamiliar area late at night.

 

I know lineside fires are a menace and the decision to run or not is in the hands of the fire brigade.  A car fire in a car park is usually quickly extinguished so it is easy to say services will probably restart in 30 minutes.  A fire in a lineside industrial unit won't get the all-clear until the lead fire officer is certain there are no gas bottles or anything else likely to flare up (or worse) later.  So if it's that type of incident, SWR should say straight away that the service will be suspended for the rest of the evening and direct passengers accordingly.  Don't just say, we don't know, that is just avoiding making a wrong decision by not making any decision.

 

As it was, I got home via a Weybridge service (change), on to Woking (change), take a Basingstoke service to Farnborough.  My ticket isn't strictly valid to there but at that time of night, getting to within just over a mile of Frimley was a result.  I'd have walked back were it not so late by that point so resorted to a taxi.  Total journey time from Waterloo to Frimley: nearly four hours.

 

I suspect - unless things have changed drastically - is that the re-location of South Western NR Control is still reverberating in practical situations.  Almost all the former staff took redundancy and a lot of newbies (to Control work) were put in and you need to know a lot am nd have certain patterns of thinking if you are going to do a good job in a Control.

 

Sometimes the old hands passed on poor knowledge to newbies but usually the majority assed on good background and practical information.  But however good the Controllers are if there are insufficient on duty at that time of night it won't help one bit.

[Northmoor]

Another update from the resident regular SWR commuter.

 

I'm getting a feeling SWR have shortened some services.  My previously regular Alton-Waterloo service seems to normally be 8 coach, not 12 (it's no longer apologetically announced).  On the busier days, 8 is not enough.  Meanwhile this morning's Farnham-Waterloo via Ascot was 2x450s instead of the usual 2x458s.  I will see over the rest of this week whether this is the norm for the new timetable, because the loss of two coaches was making things rather crowded by Feltham and tempers were starting to fray by Twickenham with some left behind (and I sit towards the back where things tend to be quieter......).  I'm sure the DfT can produce some statistics that mean this is perfectly acceptable.

 

Meanwhile at 0840, Waterloo concourse was busier than I've seen it at any time in the last five years.  I'll say it again: anyone who thinks "No-one commutes anymore, it's the new normal", clearly hasn't visited London recently.

[ess1uk]

Why so many trains in Marchwood?

 

[Oldddudders]

Think D-Day celebrations. 

[rodent279]

12 hours ago, Northmoor said:

Meanwhile at 0840, Waterloo concourse was busier than I've seen it at any time in the last five years.  I'll say it again: anyone who thinks "No-one commutes anymore, it's the new normal", clearly hasn't visited London recently.

Certainly my recent experiences in the UK and Spain suggest that commuting is very much still a thing, though maybe spread over a wider timeline each day than pre-COVID

[The Stationmaster]

15 hours ago, Northmoor said:

Another update from the resident regular SWR commuter.

 

I'm getting a feeling SWR have shortened some services.  My previously regular Alton-Waterloo service seems to normally be 8 coach, not 12 (it's no longer apologetically announced).  On the busier days, 8 is not enough.  Meanwhile this morning's Farnham-Waterloo via Ascot was 2x450s instead of the usual 2x458s.  I will see over the rest of this week whether this is the norm for the new timetable, because the loss of two coaches was making things rather crowded by Feltham and tempers were starting to fray by Twickenham with some left behind (and I sit towards the back where things tend to be quieter......).  I'm sure the DfT can produce some statistics that mean this is perfectly acceptable.

 

Meanwhile at 0840, Waterloo concourse was busier than I've seen it at any time in the last five years.  I'll say it again: anyone who thinks "No-one commutes anymore, it's the new normal", clearly hasn't visited London recently.

The car park at Twyford (WEML) has been a problem for a long time due to inadequate space for commuters and it is now back on most days I've seen it to pre-pandemic levels of occupation (and I tend to travel mainly on Mondays - allegedly a quiet day for commuting).  Plus additional pre-bookable parking season ticket spaces for commuters have been established by re-purposing what were previously kiss & ride spaces (so there are no longer enough of them).

 

And I doubt it has much to do with the Liz Line and a lot more to do with further acceleration, latterly including off-peak trains, of GWR services to Paddington where 12 car formations are still crowded on the key commuter workings.

[Dunsignalling]

 

 WTF has been going on today. On my trip into Exeter, the very late 1L13 ran fast from Axminster to Exeter, whilst, behind it, 1L17 (much less late) got an extra stop. The only advantage seems to have been a saving of ten minutes delay on 1L40, a reactionary delay then being split equally between 1L13 and 1L17.

 

Delays thus cemented in then led to 1L25 being cancelled west of Yeovil, and 1L56 starting from there.

 

None of this herculean effort cured anything, because some idiot then held 1L33 (only 11 minutes late) at Honiton for a further half-hour to save an 11 minute reactionary delay to 1L60 (which I was on) at Pinhoe.

 

Thereby neatly restoring the groundhog sh1t at 1600 back to exactly the same depth it had been five hours earlier.

 

The mind boggles....

 

FWIW there was (and may still be) a regulating plan, devised when the service first went hourly, that calculated the optimum recovery practice at Honiton, all other things being equal, was for down trains delayed by no more than 17 minutes to get priority over up services booked to cross them at Pinhoe.

 

Edited June 11 by Dunsignalling

[Southernman46]

15 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

 

 WTF has been going on today. On my trip into Exeter, the very late 1L13 ran fast from Axminster to Exeter, whilst, behind it, 1L17 (much less late) got an extra stop. The only advantage seems to have been a saving of ten minutes delay on 1L40, a reactionary delay then being split equally between 1L13 and 1L17.

 

Delays thus cemented in then led to 1L25 being cancelled west of Yeovil, and 1L56 starting from there.

 

None of this herculean effort cured anything, because some idiot then held 1L33 (only 11 minutes late) at Honiton for a further half-hour to save an 11 minute reactionary delay to 1L60 (which I was on) at Pinhoe.

 

Thereby neatly restoring the groundhog sh1t at 1600 back to exactly the same depth it had been five hours earlier.

 

The mind boggles....

 

FWIW there was (and may still be) a regulating plan, devised when the service first went hourly, that calculated the optimum recovery practice at Honiton, all other things being equal, was for down trains delayed by no more than 17 minutes to get priority over up services booked to cross them at Pinhoe.

 

Welcome to my frequent hell .......................... s'exactly why I've spent so much time on various topics growling noisily at NR & SWR's lack of operational nous 🙄

[Dunsignalling]

30 minutes ago, Southernman46 said:

Welcome to my frequent hell .......................... s'exactly why I've spent so much time on various topics growling noisily at NR & SWR's lack of operational nous 🙄

 

What really pi55e5 me off is that they can have a similar scenario two or three days in a week and attempt to deal with it differently on each occasion.

 

At the start of yesterday's festivities, I was intending to catch 1L17. I'd seen on Open Train Times that 1L13 was heavily delayed, but should have made a half-decent cross at Honiton with 1L40. I therefore went up to the station in time to catch it, rather than 1L17 which I expected to be held until 11.56!

 

I was astounded as to what was attempted; an awful lot of juggling  with  predictably little benefit to anyone, and which may have been at the root of the later part-cancellations.

 

I was forcibly reminded why, prior to re-control, we generally sorted things out locally and, if possible, presented control with a fait-accompli.....

 

 

Edited June 12 by Dunsignalling

[The Stationmaster]

2 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

 

What really pi55e5 me off is that they can have a similar scenario two or three days in a week and attempt to deal with it differently on each occasion.

 

At the start of yesterday's festivities, I was intending to catch 1L17. I'd seen on Open Train Times that 1L13 was heavily delayed, but should have made a half-decent cross at Honiton with 1L40. I therefore went up to the station in time to catch it, rather than 1L17 which I expected to be held until 11.56!

 

I was astounded as to what was attempted; an awful lot of juggling  with  predictably little benefit to anyone, and which may have been at the root of the later part-cancellations.

 

I was forcibly reminded why, prior to re-control, we generally sorted things out locally and, if possible, presented control with a fait-accompli.....

 

 

Back to my earlier comment about the recently appointed amateurs  whose brewery visits I would never be inclined to attend if advertised as some sort of alcoholic beverage event.

[Southernman46]

23 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

 

What really pi55e5 me off is that they can have a similar scenario two or three days in a week and attempt to deal with it differently on each occasion.

 

At the start of yesterday's festivities, I was intending to catch 1L17. I'd seen on Open Train Times that 1L13 was heavily delayed, but should have made a half-decent cross at Honiton with 1L40. I therefore went up to the station in time to catch it, rather than 1L17 which I expected to be held until 11.56!

 

I was astounded as to what was attempted; an awful lot of juggling  with  predictably little benefit to anyone, and which may have been at the root of the later part-cancellations.

 

I was forcibly reminded why, prior to re-control, we generally sorted things out locally and, if possible, presented control with a fait-accompli.....

 

 

I am reminded of the occasion about 2 years ago when on 1L13 on a Saturday AM arriving at Andover to be stuck behind a Freightliner between there & Grateley that was out apparently of fuel !! (said a lot about Freightliner engine preparation too - no one thought to look at the fuel gauge since Trafford Park😲 ?) Anyhow, lots of SWR staff about (i.e about 4) saying we've ordered the bus - it'll be about 2 hours. At which I pointed out to them that the UP line was still open and clear and that it would be possible to shunt 1L13 out & back to the Up platform as 5L13 where we could all re-join and have the train worked wrong line under caution to re-join the Down at Laverstoke North Junction as  a signalled move through the dummy - thereby getting 200+ people beyond the incident and continuing their journey's. This was all demonstrated to them using the OpenTimeTrains maps on my phone FFS !!!

"Oh no" said they - "Control have already told us we're bussing and the Controller is XYZ he's got 10 years railway experience" - to which I responded then they were unlikely to even understand the rules & possibilities for SLW because they'd probably never ever done it but why not give it a try ???

No joy - I even offered to speak to said Controller and explain it - No joy !!!

Unfortunately it wasn't possible to enlist the help of the train crew who had been instructed to FO back towards Basing and weren't interested either - very very disappointing ...................................  I went and found a brick wall 🤦‍♂️

Edited June 13 by Southernman46
1L13 not 1L13

[caradoc]

19 hours ago, Southernman46 said:

At which I pointed out to them that the UP line was still open and clear and that it would be possible to shunt 1L13 out & back to the Up platform as 5L13 where we could all re-join and have the train worked wrong line under caution to re-join the Down at Laverstoke North Junction as  a signalled move through the dummy

 

Would that move, for a passenger train, have been possible without instituting full Single Line Working, ie with a Pilotman? And if it was, would the Signaller not have suggested it to Control (although maybe they did)?

 

[phil-b259]

18 hours ago, caradoc said:

 

Would that move, for a passenger train, have been possible without instituting full Single Line Working, ie with a Pilotman? And if it was, would the Signaller not have suggested it to Control (although maybe they did)?

 

 

In short - yes it would be perfectly possible.

 

You would be surprised how often Wrong direction moves take place these days - particularly where trains are not platformed at stations as the increasing tendency for passengers to 'self evacuate onto the track' (and thereby make the original incident hundreds of times worse) means shifting 'stranded trains' to a station is more important than ever.

 

That said, in the incident described by Southernman46 above the train was safely platformed at Andover so the additional risks (and lets not forget that any un signalled move or move which involves using shunt signals for passenger trains brings with it increased risks  - shunt signals are not fitted with TPWS for example) may not be considered acceptable.

Edited June 14 by phil-b259

[The Stationmaster]

20 hours ago, Southernman46 said:

I am reminded of the occasion about 2 years ago when on 1L13 on a Saturday AM arriving at Andover to be stuck behind a Freightliner between there & Grateley that was out apparently of fuel !! (said a lot about Freightliner engine preparation too - no one thought to look at the fuel gauge since Trafford Park😲 ?) Anyhow, lots of SWR staff about (i.e about 4) saying we've ordered the bus - it'll be about 2 hours. At which I pointed out to them that the UP line was still open and clear and that it would be possible to shunt 1L13 out & back to the Up platform as 5L13 where we could all re-join and have the train worked wrong line under caution to re-join the Down at Laverstoke North Junction as  a signalled move through the dummy - thereby getting 200+ people beyond the incident and continuing their journey's. This was all demonstrated to them using the OpenTimeTrains maps on my phone FFS !!!

"Oh no" said they - "Control have already told us we're bussing and the Controller is XYZ he's got 10 years railway experience" - to which I responded then they were unlikely to even understand the rules & possibilities for SLW because they'd probably never ever done it but why not give it a try ???

No joy - I even offered to speak to said Controller and explain it - No joy !!!

Unfortunately it wasn't possible to enlist the help of the train crew who had been instructed to FO back towards Basing and weren't interested either - very very disappointing ...................................  I went and found a brick wall 🤦‍♂️

Alas you preached the seeming bête noir of today's railway - Single Line Working (of a sort).  although nowadays it is far simpler to introduce than was ever the case in the past it seems to be regarded as the work of the devil and to be avoided at all costs by human beings unless full reversible signalling has been installed.

 

But it does need trained people and they - of course - are increasingly thin on the ground in order to pay for all those in HQ offices who apparently nowadays don't even do ops 'On Call' but leave everything to Controllers (see previous comment).

[caradoc]

23 hours ago, phil-b259 said:

You would be surprised how often Wrong direction moves take place these days - particularly where trains are not platformed at stations as the increasing tendency for passengers to 'self evacuate onto the track' (and thereby make the original incident hundreds of times worse) means shifting 'stranded trains' to a station is more important than ever.

 

Not surprised at all, having been responsible as a Controller for agreeing and arranging many such moves with Signallers; But in all cases these would have been a short distance back to a station platform where passengers could detrain. Running a passenger train for 16 miles in the wrong direction with neither bi-directional signalling in place nor single line working instituted is a very different thing, and even when the section concerned was under the control of the same Signaller this did not, ever, happen during my time; The only exception being when, for example a train had failed on the WCML and a wrong direction move between the nearest crossovers was agreed to get an assisting loco to the front of the failure. 

 

[SM42]

On 13/06/2024 at 13:46, The Stationmaster said:

Alas you preached the seeming bête noir of today's railway - Single Line Working (of a sort).  although nowadays it is far simpler to introduce than was ever the case in the past it seems to be regarded as the work of the devil and to be avoided at all costs by human beings unless full reversible signalling has been installed.

 

But it does need trained people and they - of course - are increasingly thin on the ground in order to pay for all those in HQ offices who apparently nowadays don't even do ops 'On Call' but leave everything to Controllers (see previous comment).

 

The problem with Single Line Working nowadays is that it is often totally impractical due to the ever increasing distances between crossovers. 

 

Andy

[DLT]

There have been some disruptions in the Exeter area recently, more specifically Cranbrook. 

Earlier this week was a report that somebody had been hit by a train at Crannaford crossing, later put down as a hoax.  Trains were stopped and fire appliances and the air ambulance attended.

Earlier three was a report of a child wandering on the line, that I believe also came to nothing.

I've been told this by Cranbrook residents.

[Dunsignalling]

8 hours ago, DLT said:

There have been some disruptions in the Exeter area recently, more specifically Cranbrook. 

Earlier this week was a report that somebody had been hit by a train at Crannaford crossing, later put down as a hoax.  Trains were stopped and fire appliances and the air ambulance attended.

Earlier three was a report of a child wandering on the line, that I believe also came to nothing.

I've been told this by Cranbrook residents.

 

The disruption I described on Tuesday seems to have had its roots in 10-15 minute delays to several trains somewhere in the Woking area, the impacts of which snowballed once the delayed workings hit the single-line sections west of Salisbury.

 

That is difficult to deal with but not inevitable. However, such regulating expertise that remains within SWR/WICC seems to be focussed on the four-track commuter routes. 

 

Down West, strange decisions are being made somewhere, and far too often.

 

John

[Oldddudders]

My recollection of my Control days 50+ years ago, where I was a London Area Controller, is that my colleagues on the country Areas tended to have a consultative relationship with signalmen and supervisors. Locals know what works best in most cases, but occasionally other imperatives must take precedence. 

 

OTOH, this story, which I have probably told before, predates my time in Control. It is steam days, and a down evening peak train is running a bit late leaving East Grinstead for Tunbridge Wells West. The line is single, and Forest Row is the only passing place. The signalman there rightly consults Control, as he has had an on-time up train offered by Ashurst Junction, at the other end of the single line - should he accept that or give the down train the run? The Area Controller, given that the down service is a reportable train in the evening peak statistics, tells him to let the down train go. "Cor - you won't half cane the up one!" Now by the time a down train left Forest Row, the number of passengers would not be significant, and the up service, on arrival at Victoria, then went light-engine to Clapham Yard for something to Bricklayers Arms or some such, all of which would be delayed. So my colleague reversed the decision. Back came the response "Cor- you won't half cane the down one!" It was at this point that said colleague comprehended the utter futility of his calling......

[Dunsignalling]

2 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

My recollection of my Control days 50+ years ago, where I was a London Area Controller, is that my colleagues on the country Areas tended to have a consultative relationship with signalmen and supervisors. Locals know what works best in most cases, but occasionally other imperatives must take precedence. 

 

OTOH, this story, which I have probably told before, predates my time in Control. It is steam days, and a down evening peak train is running a bit late leaving East Grinstead for Tunbridge Wells West. The line is single, and Forest Row is the only passing place. The signalman there rightly consults Control, as he has had an on-time up train offered by Ashurst Junction, at the other end of the single line - should he accept that or give the down train the run? The Area Controller, given that the down service is a reportable train in the evening peak statistics, tells him to let the down train go. "Cor - you won't half cane the up one!" Now by the time a down train left Forest Row, the number of passengers would not be significant, and the up service, on arrival at Victoria, then went light-engine to Clapham Yard for something to Bricklayers Arms or some such, all of which would be delayed. So my colleague reversed the decision. Back came the response "Cor- you won't half cane the down one!" It was at this point that said colleague comprehended the utter futility of his calling......

 

When it comes to regulating over single line sections, it's an art as much as a science, not all of which is logically explicable or defensible!

 

I remember a sequence of 50-50 decisions over a period of disruption (local infrastructure issues). Try as we might, working it out on paper, there was no "right" way to do it.

 

However, over a period of a couple of weeks we discovered that, when we ran the down, somewhere further up the line (beyond Salisbury), the up usually gained at least half of the delay back, which we attributed (probably wrongly) to the higher line speed.

 

However, if we ran the up, it almost always copped enough in further delays to cancel out the advantage we gave it, but we could never establish a consistent reason why!

 

Sometimes it's just "The Ghost in the Machine".       

[Southernman46]

12 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

 

When it comes to regulating over single line sections, it's an art as much as a science, not all of which is logically explicable or defensible!

 

I remember a sequence of 50-50 decisions over a period of disruption (local infrastructure issues). Try as we might, working it out on paper, there was no "right" way to do it.

 

However, over a period of a couple of weeks we discovered that, when we ran the down, somewhere further up the line (beyond Salisbury), the up usually gained at least half of the delay back, which we attributed (probably wrongly) to the higher line speed.

 

However, if we ran the up, it almost always copped enough in further delays to cancel out the advantage we gave it, but we could never establish a consistent reason why!

 

Sometimes it's just "The Ghost in the Machine".       

The platform dwell times at Waterloo are the longest for the WOE service hence the ability to run in v. late and leave OT. I've had 1L72 services run in at 22:18 and leave booked 1L73 at 22:20 due some smart work by the crew. However these dwells are apparently also a hinderance and the reason why the WOE Ups are terminated at Basing so often. The Up service is also very loosely timed - the CJ to WL section in particular, 13 minutes for 4 miles on some services.

If the Government can shell out vast sums of money to dual bits of the A303 (£135 million for 2 miles Sparkford to Podimore) - much appreciated by the way for those times I have to drive to work in the Summer when the Grokkles are about, then surely some of the remaining single line can be eliminated ........................

[PaulRhB]

The rules only allow a long wrong direction movement if there is no other way round to release the train under normal signalling. In the case mentioned returning to Basingstoke to go via Southampton would be the safest method. To go around would require single line working and as noted above having the staff available would be the deciding factor. You have to have pilotman riding with the train OR if they send it, as opposed to riding it,  you also require a Handsignaller opposite SY29 on the Down to control approach to the ground signal at Laverstock North SY201. 
Additionally if SLW is in place you then block getting the assisting loco the front of the train ;) 

Edited June 15 by PaulRhB