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Throughput Timings Thread

Apologies for being late, but I just remembered that I had a series of throughput timings to share from my trip to Blackpool Pleasure Beach last month. Due to relatively short queues, some of the averages were not as comprehensive as I might usually have liked, but the throughput timings I was able to get were as follows:
  • Avalanche (Theoretical: Unknown on 3 trains) - 266pph (1 train, average of 3, 30th April 2025)
  • Big Dipper (Theoretical: Unknown on 2 trains) - 241pph (1 train, average of 2, 30th April 2025)
  • Big One (Theoretical: 1,700pph on 3 trains) - 361pph (1 train, average of 2, 30th April 2025)
  • Icon (Theoretical: 1,070pph on 3 trains) - 573pph (2 trains, average of 2, 30th April 2025)
  • Steeplechase (Theoretical: Unknown on 3 sides/unknown number of cars per side) - 200pph (2 sides/unknown number of cars, average of 2, 30th April 2025)
If I were to offer a general opinion, operations at Blackpool were definitely somewhat more sluggish than on my last visit in 2019. Every coaster that can run multiple trains was running 1 train with the exception of Icon, which led to some rather slow dispatch times, and even Icon itself was notably slower than in 2019, where I remember it getting 1,000pph on 3 trains.

It wasn’t a major problem for me personally, seeing as I managed 26 rides, but even still, some queues were surprisingly long given that the park wasn’t overly busy; I still waited a solid 30 minutes for an Avalanche reride at one point when the queue was not even out of the station building.
 
I have some throughput timings from my trip to Alton Towers on 26th and 27th July that I’d like to report!

Across the two days, I managed to grab the following throughput timings:
  • Galactica (Theoretical: 1,500pph on 3 trains/2 stations): 1,207pph (3 trains/2 stations, average of 4, 26th July 2025)
  • Nemesis Reborn (Theoretical: 1,400pph on 2 trains): 1,163pph (2 trains, average of 5, 26th July 2025), 1,130pph (2 trains, average of 5, 27th July 2025)
  • Oblivion (Theoretical: 1,900pph on 7 shuttles/2 stations): 787pph (5 shuttles/2 stations, average of 3 dual dispatches, 26th July 2025) (Note: This figure was obtained in a brief moment when the ride did not have a batcher, so the platform staff were having to multitask), 939pph (5 shuttles/2 stations, average of 4 dual dispatches, 26th July 2025), 644pph (4 shuttles/1 station, average of 2, 27th July 2025)
  • Spinball Whizzer (Theoretical: 950pph on 8 cars): 631pph (6 cars, average of 2, 26th July 2025 (Note: While I got relatively few readings for Spinball, I had a longer timing that I accidentally messed up by missing one, and the longer timing had a very similar, if not slightly faster, average; ops seemed pretty consistent on here for the whole time I was in the area)
  • The Smiler (Theoretical: 1,200pph on 5 trains): 882pph (4 trains, average of 10, 26th July 2025), 830pph (4 trains, average of 6, 27th July 2025) (Note: This figure was skewed downwards slightly by one instance of a larger guest who didn’t fit needing to be rechecked and evicted; the average of the other 5 readings was higher)
  • Thirteen (Theoretical: 1,100pph on 3 trains): 1,272pph (3 trains, average of 7, 26th July 2025) (Note: This reading was skewed down by 1 or 2 instances of larger guests needing rechecking, as well as 1 instance where guests lingering from the prior train needed ushering off the exit platform prior to dispatch)
  • Toxicator (Theoretical: 1,200pph): 482pph (average of 3, 27th July 2025)
  • Wicker Man (Theoretical: 952pph on 3 trains): 970pph (3 trains, average of 10, 26th July 2025), 1,080pph (3 trains, average of 6, 26th July 2025), 991pph (3 trains, average of 7, 27th July 2025)
Overall, I thought operations were broadly excellent across the weekend! In terms of a few specific thoughts that stick out to me:
  • After a bit of a slip in efficiency last year, Nemesis seems to have returned to its pre-retrack form in terms of operations; they were brilliant on there all trip, with little to no stacking, and there were staff members hurrying people along on the platform and at batching!
  • It has been a bit inconsistent on some trips in the past, but I have to say that Galactica was doing brilliantly last weekend! They were killing it on 3 trains and 2 stations; I rode it twice and didn’t stack either time, and whenever I was in the station, it seemed very common for there to be a notable gap between a train leaving my station and the train behind re-entering it. The train was frequently slowing down on the lift hill (because the train in front hasn’t cleared the block yet) too. Brilliant!
  • The key throughput highlight of the weekend was probably Thirteen. Given that my 1,272pph average was skewed down by a couple of larger guests needing rechecking, I think it’s fair to say that the Thirteen staff were doing brilliantly! It was on 3 trains, and they were throwing the trains out; when they were on a roll, they were getting dispatch intervals as fast as 50s, and the vast majority of dispatch intervals were under a minute! There was a dispatch where the staff had checked the train so fast that they had to usher the guests still exiting from the previous train off the exit platform to dispatch. Isn’t that awesome? It was like being in Europa Park or Universal! That ride really is a queue muncher when it runs to its full potential!
  • The one bleaker spot on the otherwise excellent throughput picture was Oblivion. When I encountered the ride on Saturday, it was lacking a batcher at one point; that 787pph figure is probably the worst I’ve ever measured on 2 stations, and it was almost solely due to the platform staff having to duck out from the platform to come and batch people at periodic intervals. They did regain a separate batcher later in the day, but even then, the operations were not exactly staggering, with the average still being above 2 minutes between dual dispatches. It was also only running one station on Sunday, which definitely isn’t ideal in the summer holidays. This is the one ride that notably doesn’t quite hit its potential; I think baggage is the key thing that stymies it, as it takes a long time for people to cross those long rows. If it had a baggage hold or fancy cages like Yukon Striker, I think the throughput on Oblivion would go up two-fold.
  • Wicker Man was doing really well as usual, with frequent cases of a train going up the lift hill before the one in front hitting the brake run, but I do think it might now be time to dispense of the compulsory pre-show. I noticed that they were often having to wait for the pre-show to end before they could fill the airgates (the station queue was running out of people before the doors were opening to let a new batch in), which did seem to slow dispatches down in some cases.
Overall, the weekend boasted broadly excellent operations, and no queue was very long at all! It’s weekends like this one that make me disagree with the common consensus that Alton Towers have dreadful operations; I’d argue that figures like these suggest that the park actually do very well on throughputs in general, with most rides running on full capacity and dispatching promptly!
 
I have some more throughput timings from my trip to Thorpe Park yesterday that I’d like to report!

I managed to grab the following timings in the park yesterday:
  • Colossus (Theoretical: 1,300pph on 2 trains): 717pph (unknown number of trains, average of 3, 20th September 2025)
  • Hyperia (Theoretical: 1,050pph on 2 trains): 833pph (2 trains, average of 10, 20th September 2025)
  • Nemesis Inferno (Theoretical: 1,150pph on 2 trains): 977pph (2 trains, average of 5, 20th September 2025), 1,024pph (2 trains, average of 4, 20th September 2025)
  • Saw: The Ride (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 8 cars/2 stations): 742pph (unknown number of trains/2 stations, average of 10 singular cars, 20th September 2025), 788pph (unknown number of trains/2 stations, average of 4 dual dispatches, 20th September 2025)
  • Stealth (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 2 trains): 975pph (2 trains, average of 10, 20th September 2025)
  • The Swarm (Theoretical: 1,100pph on 2 trains): 1,046pph (2 trains, average of 9, 20th September 2025)
In terms of some specific insights:
  • Stealth had possibly the best operations I’ve ever seen on there; these operations were phenomenal! The staff were sprinting down the platform, and they were very frequently outpacing the 40s dispatch timer on the platform, something which I’d largely thought redundant in previous years! 70-75 second dispatch intervals were being hit very consistently, and the slowest I saw was about 80s, which is incredible!
  • The Swarm was also operated very well given that it seems to have been a tad inconsistent as of late. When I was in the area, the ride was consistently achieving minimal to no stacking, the staff were efficient, and I saw some dispatch intervals as quick as 90s or below. Great job!
  • Hyperia was operating well, and seems to have improved compared to its opening year, with 80-90 second dispatch intervals being attained pretty consistently where closer to 100-120 seconds seemed par for the course in 2024. From what I could see, the ride was consistently not stacking and was very often dispatching before the train in front hit the brake run; at its quickest, I saw them dispatch when the train in front was negotiating the final outerbank after the splashdown. I do think the slow brake run on here makes throughputs slower than they could be when the ride isn’t stacking; if the brake run was faster, I think it would shave at least 10 seconds off the dispatch interval!
  • Nemesis Inferno seemed to be operating well, with minimal to no stacking being quite frequent. I noticed the staff were trying to hurry people along on here.
Overall, then, I thought operations were broadly very good at Thorpe yesterday! Stealth was phenomenally operated, I also thought The Swarm was particularly well operated, and overall, most things seemed to be doing well! I’ve given up hope of Colossus ever attaining a particularly decent throughput at this point, but even that didn’t appear too slow by Colossus standards.
 
I have spent the last two days at Alton Towers and resultantly, I have some throughput timings to share for anyone who’s interested! The timings I managed to gather were as follows:
  • Galactica (Theoretical: 1,500pph on 3 trains/2 stations) - 611pph (2 trains/1 station, average of 8, 27th March 2026)
  • Nemesis Reborn (Theoretical: 1,400pph on 2 trains) - 1,183pph (2 trains, average of 10, 27th March 2026), 1,227pph (2 trains, average of 3, 28th March 2026), 1,161pph (2 trains, average of 10, 28th March 2026) Note: The 27th March reading was brought downwards by 1 anomalously slow dispatch, with the average interval being around the 90s mark prior to this.
  • Rita (Theoretical: 1,150pph on 2 trains) - 636pph (2 trains, average of 10, 27th March 2026), 715pph (2 trains, average of 10, 28th March 2026)
  • Spinball Whizzer (Theoretical: 950pph on 8 cars) - 513pph (5 or 6 cars, average of 10, 27th March 2026) Note: This number assumes 4 riders to a car, and the ride was running with 3 riders to a car on my ride, so the actual number would be more like 385pph. It is also worth me noting that this figure was brought down by 1 or 2 particularly slow dispatches, with the average interval sitting at a pretty consistent 23s otherwise.
  • The Smiler (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 5 trains) - 790pph (4 trains, baggage hold closed, average of 10, 27th March 2026)
  • Thirteen (Theoretical: 1,100pph on 3 trains) - 1,025pph (3 trains, baggage hold closed, average of 3, 27th March 2025), 901pph (3 trains, baggage hold closed, average of 10, 27th March 2025), 1,022pph (3 trains, baggage hold open, average of 5, 28th March 2026) Note: The 28th March reading was brought downwards by 1 anomalously slow reading caused by guest faff at the end of the timing period, with the prior readings producing an average dispatch interval of 57s.
  • Wicker Man (Theoretical: 952pph on 3 trains) - 854pph (2 trains, average of 8, 27th March 2025), 901pph (unknown number of trains, average of 8, 28th March 2025)
If I were to offer a few general insights, I would say the following:
  • Operations were overall pretty good, but perhaps a little inconsistent, in my view. There were a couple of areas of weakness.
  • Nemesis Reborn was a consistent area of strength. On the Friday night in particular, they were slamming trains out at a relatively consistent interval of 90s or so, with little to no stacking; the average above was brought downwards by 1 anomalously slow dispatch. Saturday was a little less consistent, maybe averaging around the 100s mark, but even still, the operation was relatively smooth with minimal stacking. The staff were flying on here!
  • Thirteen was another area of strength when the baggage hold was open on Saturday, perhaps proving the impact a baggage hold can have for throughput, in my opinion. My average above caught one particularly anomalous dispatch with some guest faff in the mix, but they were averaging under a minute prior to this and were whacking the trains out at a rate of knots! Other than the one anomaly, 65s was the slowest dispatch while I was in the station earlier today; the operation was very, very slick! Stacking was minimal, and when I was on the ride, our train came out of the crypt to the sight of the train behind going up the lift hill to enter it! Friday was definitely slower on Thirteen when it was closed, with my snapshots showing a throughput more around the 900-1,000pph mark and an audibly slower average dispatch interval of more like 70-80s.
  • Wicker Man was a weird one. On Friday, it was running 2 trains, but was going fast enough that I thought it could have been running a slightly sluggish 3 train service; the staff were flying on there! On Saturday, the ride was running faster again, hitting around 900pph. I think 3 trains was possible based on the speed, but it seemed to run in a clockwork alternating manner of one very quick 80s dispatch interval followed by one slower dispatch interval of 2 minutes or so, which makes me think that it could have been a very fast 2 train service again today. The staff were doing incredibly well on here on Friday, but I think 3 trains would not have gone amiss given the crowd levels.
  • Galactica was a massive stinker compared to the other rides. The staff were trying their hardest, but my goodness, that queue moves slowly when the ride only runs 2 trains and 1 station. 600pph really isn’t ideal when the park is that busy.
  • I do think baggage holds on Smiler and Thirteen may have come in useful on Friday. Thirteen’s was open on Saturday, but I think the throughput boost from them being open could have been of use on Friday too. My readings from Thirteen would show that those holds really do speed things along, in my view!
 
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