goodyear2013
A woman is planning a trip that involves 3 connecting trains that depart from Stations X, Y, and Z, respectively. The first train leaves Station X every hour, beginning at 6 a.m., and arrives at Station Y 1(3/4) hours later. The second train leaves Station Y every half hour, beginning at 9 a.m., and arrives at Station Z 2(1/3) hours later. The third train leaves Station Z every 45 minutes, beginning at 8 a.m. What is the least total amount of time the woman must spend waiting between trains if all trains depart and arrive on schedule, and if she arrives at Station Z no later than 3:30 p.m.?
15 minutes
25 minutes
1 hour 15 minutes
1 hour 40 minutes
4 hours 30 minutes
We see that the total wait time is the total time waiting at stations Y and Z assuming that she doesn’t have to wait at station X. Let’s also let the trains leaving at stations X, Y and Z be trains X, Y and Z, respectively.
Assuming she arrives at station X exactly on the hour, except for arriving at 6 am at station X, she must wait 15 minutes at station Y for train Y. For example, if she catches train X at station X at 7 am, she will arrive at station Y at 8:45 am and catch train Y at 9 am. If she catches train X at station X at 8 am, she will arrive at station Y at 9:45 am and catch train Y at 10 am.
We see that the minimum wait time at station Y is 15 minutes. Now let’s see how we can minimize the wait time at station Z. Since train Z leaves station Z every 45 minutes beginning at 8 am, train Z leaves station Z at 8 am, 8:45 am, 9:30 am, 10:15 am, 11 am, 11:45 am, 12:30 pm, etc. Also, since train Y takes 2 hours and 20 minutes to arrive at station Z and it leaves station Y every 30 minutes beginning at 9 am, train Y will arrive at station Z at 11:20 am, 11:50 am, 12:20 pm, etc. We see that the minimum wait time is 10 minutes if she can arrive at station Z at 12:20 pm and take train Z at 12:30 pm.
Thus the minimum total wait time is 15 + 10 = 25 minutes.
Answer: B