Trains would run to time if it wasn't for.......

[whole diary]

[Station Manager]

Trains would run to time if it wasn't for passengers.

That is spoken quite often by railway staff, it's not totally true as all manner of things hold up trains, but these are the big time delays, such as unit failure, signal and track problems.

However when trains loose time in stations it's more often down to passengers and a minute here, minute there and you are soon 10 down and just a few minutes delay causes Network Rail pathing problems especially where routes join, which train goes first?

Information to the public about train formations help reduce station dwell times, the simple act of closing a slam door behind you also helps.

On a visit (off work) to Falmouth for a weekend, I was very impressed with the manual station announcement at Truro about the formation of the train (1st class at front, then carriage E at the waiting room area, trailing back to A at the exterme end of the platform).
This was backed up by the despatch man walking along the platform just before the train ran in checking that only 1st class travellers where at the 1st class end of the platform.

I would estimate about 80 persons boarded and around 20 alighted at Truro and the train was given the  2nd battern to go within 50 seconds of the train doors being unlocked, impressive well done Truro.

Let me tell you of something that happen a while back.

Now at one station close to where I work a service arrives and has a booked station time of 10 minutes, however we had a problem phoned through to use that a mother had boarded her 3 and 5 year olds and then gone to the platform buffet for food or drinks, problem was train was 8 or 9 down on arriving and left on time, you get the picture.

Our problem we had a train coming to use and 2 small children to remove, quite rightly this was passed to the BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) who couldn't attend so civil police arrived, strange but it took several minutes for the free loaders to be located when the train (HST^▸ (High Speed Train)) arrived, whilst it arrived with us on time this incident caused a 14 minute delay in leaving.

I just wonder if there is a lesson to be learnt here.

Why didn't other passengers question such young children travelling alone?
The TM^‡(resolve) knew nothing of this untill the train was almost with use, he had started a search of the train.

Silly things like this will always occur but are totally outside the control of the railways
But at the end of the day "there's none as queer as folk"

ps Mother and Children were reunited very soon after.

[miniman]

Interesting, I wrote a similar thing on my blog this morning.

http://thirdratewestern.blogspot.com/2008/02/you-only-have-yourselves-to-blame.html

[Lee]

Interesting, I wrote a similar thing on my blog this morning.

http://thirdratewestern.blogspot.com/2008/02/you-only-have-yourselves-to-blame.html

Interesting that you again raise the question of whether HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s should call at certain stations.

[Doctor Gideon Ceefax]

Interesting, I wrote a similar thing on my blog this morning.

http://thirdratewestern.blogspot.com/2008/02/you-only-have-yourselves-to-blame.html

Interesting that you again raise the question of whether HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s should call at certain stations.

HST's should only stop at major stations, or stations where there is enough traffic to warrant the use of them. They are designed for limited stop, sustained high speed running, and are not designed for stop start services. The acceleration is not sufficient, and the door layouts are not good for mass loading. Where as there may be a case for stopping them at smaller stations in the west, where there is reasonable demand for services to London or in certain cases Bristol (for example selected stops on the Weston Super Mare line - Nailsea / Yatton), there is no reason to stop at minor shaks such as Devonport, Tvybridge, Torre, Starcross and Exeter St Thomas, which appears to have been done to cut back on regional services, and certainly no reason at all for them to stop at anything East of Didcot, other than Reading, and perhaps Slough.

The Goring, Pangbourne, Tilehurst, Twyford, Maidenhead lark isn't suited for them at all, and from talking to guards who have worked this service, it appears to clog up the turbo services either side of it and always runs late. To put it in persepective, on other lines it would be like using Class 91 + DVT^‡(resolve) on Peterborough semi stoppers to London, or Pendolinos on the Northampton to Euston semi fasts.

[miniman]

Interesting that you again raise the question of whether HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s should call at certain stations.

I just think that stopping the HSTs at local stations that were never designed to cater for them is a sticking plaster and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) (or should I say TRW!) should address the real issue which in my opinion is a lack of capacity and suitable stock for the local services. It is offering a slightly better service to a small number of passengers because of the protests whilst adding more delays to people on HST services, and arguably if an HST gets held up at both Oldfield Park and Keynsham if doors take a while to get shut properly there is a possibility of knock-on to other local and express services caught behind them. I understand that it's not as simple as just getting extra trains for the local services as DafT aren't helping out in that respect.

[Lee]

I absolutely agree that capacity and rolling stock issues should be sorted out for local services, and you will find many posts by me to that effect. The reason that I highlighted the Third Rate Western post was so that miniman could expand on his view, which he has.

By the way, HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s are not timetabled to stop at Ivybridge, but have done so when other services have been cancelled/revised.

[vacman]

Truro station staff are excellent and most of them do the announcements that you say about.

[devon_metro]

By the way, HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s are not timetabled to stop at Ivybridge, but have done so when other services have been cancelled/revised.

Been there, done that 

[Lee]

By the way, HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s are not timetabled to stop at Ivybridge, but have done so when other services have been cancelled/revised.

Been there, done that 

Did everything go ok when you were there witnessing it?

[devon_metro]

Yes, despite having to literally yank coach E open!

[Btline]

Miniman- I think that staff SHOULD stop shutting doors!

Passengers will soon learn- it is the only way for them to learn.

Another approach would be. "We are now departing Worcester. We are running 5 minutes late because passengers who boarded did not bother to close the door behind them. I am therefore NOT sorry for the delay."

Guards must also make an announcement at every stop: "Please remember to shut the door etc." Ditto at stations.

[miniman]

Guards must also make an announcement at every stop: "Please remember to shut the door etc." Ditto at stations.

There's certainly an automated announcement at both Chippenham and Temple Meads (and thus everywhere else I would guess, perhaps with the exception of places like Reading where there's hardly time to fit in all the normal annnouncements) asking people to shut doors behind them. Doesn't seem to have any effect, though. Watched someone get on a train this evening and didn't even glance back to see if he was last on or whether there was anyone behind him.

[Phil]

Completely with you on that, miniman. Although, as it happens, I heard an automatic announcement about shutting doors at Reading today as well, for the first time.

Then again, I do have "supersonic hearing", as pointed out elsewhere 

[Ollie]

The announcement at Reading has been going for a month or so I think

[Chris from Nailsea]

Again, I agree!  As I've posted elsewhere:

I tend to make a point of closing doors, where appropriate, at Nailsea - with suitably frosty looks at those who've alighted without doing so!