TheOneKEA wrote:

I believe that a secondary reason why the fast Amershams started to stop
at Wembley Park in the off-peak was because they were mostly empty,
leading people to complain about half-empty trains zooming through the
station and full trains stopping. Crew changes are of course the primary
reason, but stopping a half-empty train to allow people to get to Harrow
or Baker Street for onward connections probably doesn't hurt in the
off-peak.

London Underground can hardly be blamed for the fast Amershams being
virtually empty most of the time, as people choose to use Chiltern
services instead, even opting to wait half an hour at Marylebone for the
next train if they've just missed one!

It remains to be seen if that remains the case when the new "S" stock is
introduced, mind you.

Classic example occurred on Thursday just gone. 16:57 from Marylebone
(booked as 4 coaches) had "issues" coupling, so they used the 2 car unit
that should have formed the rear portion of the 17:57 instead. As a
result, it was full and standing and cleared down well before departure,
given there's no point advertising a train that you physically can't get
any more passengers on.

I wouldn't be surprised to find that the 16:30, 16:40, 17:00 and 17:10
departures from Baker Street were all virtually empty though.

Cheers,

Barry