I drove Teresa to crèche and caught the train from Lilydale. I had a choice of catching the all stops train right in front of me or wait about 15 minutes for the limited express. I hopped on the all stops because it gave me the open option of getting off at the next 10 or so stations to catch the limited express while I analysed the problem.
Looking at the timetable it became clear that the all stops train would still get me to work earlier than the limited express which made me stop to think, why bother with the limited express?
I mean, I like catching the limited express. It makes me fell good. This is not because we zoom past unfortunate people in inner suburban stations as they wait forlornly for their all stops train. I think it feels good to be going fast and taking less time. It feels like a value proposition.
But my a analysis of the timetable reveals that this is a very small gain. In the morning I probably get to work 7 minutes before I would have otherwise arrived. The fact that my bus is early and I usually get the 6:55 train rather than the 7:02 means I get to work 14 minutes earlier.
On the way home the express makes no difference as I have to wait 14 minutes for the bus.
In the end my decision to catch the all stops train was a good one, as I got off the train at Ringwood and after a wait of two minutes, caught the limited express that had come from Belgrave. My express train passed the stopping all stations strain at Mont Albert.