James Farrar wrote on 05 April 2009 07:44:35 ...
[Assuming you mean "eastbound"...]
[wrong directions now corrected in original post below]

"Recliner" wrote in
:

I was on [an EASTbound] Piccadilly Line train from the Rayner's
lane branch at about 6:45pm on Friday that stopped for a while
at Acton Town, waiting for a relief driver. So far, nothing unusual,

That it should be viewed as "nothing unusual" for a train to stop for a
while waiting for a train operator *in the evening peak* is an awful
indictment of the current management and/or timetable of the Piccadilly
Line.

but then another [EASTbound] Piccadilly train pulled into platform 4 (the
[EASTbound] District platform). Normally only trains from Ealing Common
do this; I don't know which branch the second train had come from. It
would be surprising if another Rayner's Lane train had been following
our train so closely, but very rare for a train from the Heathrow
direction to be using that section of (test) track.

I think you'll find that any eastbound train from Northfields can access
Platform 4, not just those on the 'local' (test track).

I often travel east from Northfields at that time of day (well, any time
between 5:30 and 9:30), and it's not at all unusual to end up on the
outside (District) platform). I would estimate it happens to me more
often than once a fortnight.

It *is* unusual to then run down the slow line to Hammersmith - I can't
remember ever being on a train that did that.

When the District is disrupted, the Picc does sometimes use the District
tracks and stop at all stations, but I agree that it's rare for it to
run non-stop on the District ('local') tracks.

Are there points between Hammersmith and Barons Court that put the
train back where it should have been?

Yes, immediately east of Hammersmith station.

The other train (ie, the one I'd moved from) overtook us along the
way, and was leaving Hammersmith just as we arrived there at the
District platform. [...] As far as I'm aware, the District service was
running, and I think we must have been following a District stopper,
which is why the other Picc train overtook us.

Not necessarily. The speed limit is 35 mph on the District tracks, with
25 mph at the starter signals at each of the 4 intermediate stations,
compared to 45 mph for most of the Piccadilly IIRC.
--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)