In article , Mark Brader
writes
I suspect the number of passengers wanting to go end-to-end contra-peak
is tiny...
Maybe, but if the train has to make the trip anyway, why not earn a
bit of revenue and benefit those passengers?

Two reasons.

Firstly, passengers can cause delays - the most obvious example being
someone who uses a wheelchair. The trains we're talking about run as
class 3: "ECS to be given priority over any late workings, even class 1
expresses, because it forms a key service". They don't want to risk
delaying the next with-peak working.

Secondly, I believe that TOCs have to pay track usage charges for all
passenger services but get a certain number of ECS workings thrown in
free. So it's cheaper.

Anyway, my question is,
would it affect the trip time if they did?

A little bit, because you have to make the station stops - each probably
costs about 40 seconds. In this case, there are quite possibly *no*
passengers wanting to go end-to-end and not use any intermediate
station.

compared with the confusion caused by having just two or three
non-stop services in an otherwise clockface timetable.
I'm not familiar with the timetable, but from what's been said in
this thread, it's already asymmetrical.

There are more with-peak trains, yes, but the basic pattern of service
is the same - all stops from Moorgate to WGC, Hertford North, Stevenage,
or Letchworth.

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