Noticed a strange timetabling issue this morning, travelling from Havant to
Eastleigh. For most of the day SWT provide an hourly direct service, the
xx57 Brighton to Basingstoke/Reading service. Two of the hourly paths as
far as Fareham appear to be used by Wessex Trains services to Bristol,
though with the same intermediate times, and stopping pattern as far as
Cosham.

In the morning a train arrives ECS from Eastleigh and starts in service at
Fareham, [1], and effectively provides the service to Basingstoke for that
hour. However it is timetabled to start from Fareham at 1005, 5 mins before
the Wessex service from Brighton arrives, at 1010. At nearly every other
hour of the day, the departure time from Fareham is xx09. This makes sense,
because the Northbound service can't actually leave Fareham yet , as the
equivalent Southbound service arrives at xx09, from the singled section
through Fareham Tunnel.

The cynical view would be that SWT have manipulated the timetable to prevent
a sensible connection with another TOC's service. Anyone got a better
explanation?

[1] I think one of only two uses of Platform 2 timetabled during a weekday.

Paul