Finally i do not believe that an operational system such as TOPS should be made available merely to allow people to clear classes or track a certain unit! Show me a real world application for this data that genuinely helps the majority of passengers and I will support it. Until then, i am out.
This chimes quite resonantly with the common reasons for not releasing any data. 5 years ago, there was no inclination to publicly release the raw basic timetable feeds as it was felt that all of those who had access to it did all that you could ever want with it. As has been shown subsequently, loads of great stuff with just that data can be done but the vast majority of it has come forward since the release of the data. And not all of that data
is released, see freight running numbers, etc.
I have a number of ideas actually in the area that are discussed and I've been trying to get some stuff directly to see if I can do it. It's a bit of an uphill battle. With all of this data, though, it's worth noting that a lot of the time it's not the data that is released - I totally agree that the coach TOPS numbers are about as helpful as a chocolate fireguard - it's about what can be abstracted from it.
Consider a train service that is formed of coaches (completely made up) 60001, 60002, 60003, 60004 and 60005. From this I can see that it is:
- a 5 coach train
- 60002 represents the first class carriage
- 60003 and 60004 both have 3 cycle spaces
- 60005 has disabled facilities
I can also from that, given some other data, work out where it will stop on a platform and therefore where each coach will be. You can use this information to point people as to where to stand - whether that's via a smartphone app or via the platform CIS.
Let's say that this train is shorter than normal, it's normally a 10 coach train. By delivering the short formation information earlier (which is already done, I agree) you can give people greater information as to whether they want to get on a different service. If they don't, then you can inform people that they need to be in different places on the platform compared to normal. If this service had 30 stops and stopped every 3 minutes for 30 seconds, you have a station being completed every 3.5 minutes. Over the course of an hour, you complete 17 station calls. If the short formation adds 10 seconds to the dwell, that's a potential 3 minute delay (let's say this is the headway on the line as well). If you can reduce that, even by 5 seconds per stop, you can fit more capacity on the line.
