EMT Class 158 coupling and uncoupling procedure at Nottingham

[LateThanNever]

No, the Germans aren't bound head to toe and strangled by unnecessary red tape.

Well, fare enough, but I can endorse

At Salisbury the delay for the door release is usually less then a minute. They are very quick!

- it really is not a problem. And even if it is red tape, if it improves safety ( I presume it does?) then it is the technique that needs to be copied!

 

[David Goddard]

A similar process occurs at Shrewsbury with Chester/ Holyhead to Birmingham workings. We were there a few weeks ago and the additional set (already in the platform) was kept firmly locked until arrival and attachment of the portion from Chester behind it.
Unfortunately the Chester set was running late and the time taken to couple, plus loading of the front set, added to this delay further, such that the closely following LM 170 was also late as it had to leave behind us.

 

[bronzeonion]

I wouldn't call a brake continuity test and pull away test red tape.. but hey ho!

 

[83G/84D]

No, the Germans aren't bound head to toe and strangled by unnecessary red tape.

Not much chance of the return of slip coaches methinks.......

 

[455driver]

I wouldn't call a brake continuity test and pull away test red tape.. but hey ho!

Try them on a 450 and see what happens!

Note, neither can be done becuase the computer shuts the cab down as soon as it detects the other train.

I wouldnt not do them on Tightlock fitted stock though, I make sure the attachment is 'robust', give them a bloomin good pull away test and look to make sure the butterflies are out, just to be sure!

 

[jamesontheroad]

I've been using the EMT service a few times in the last few weeks.

Catching it Nottingham > Norwich yesterday I was reminded of one detail not mentioned above about the separation procedure. In my recent experience this happens on platform 3C. As the train approaches from Liverpool, a member of platform staff takes up position at the far eastern end of 3C, and gestures to the driver "keep coming." S/he has out the arm on the platform edge side beside his/her torso, with the forearm sweeping horizontally in towards him/her.

Presumably this is to draw the driver all the way to the end of the platform, but I would have thought this could have been achieved by the signalling?

IMHO, EMT are managing this operation and this route better than CT ever did. I can't count the number of times under CT that trains were cancelled or curtailed at Nottingham. This attaching and detaching procedure is pretty reliable. I've also noticed that depending on the guard, on train announcements as an ex-Liverpool service approaches Nottingham are much clearer. Having done a full ticket check and advising passengers beyond Nottingham to move to the front of the train, reservation tickets are also cleared from the terminating unit, so the guard can additionally say "look around you, and if there are no reservation tickets you need to move to the front two carriages."

 

[edwin_m]

Each platform at Nottingham is split into up to three sections, some of which are marked by small signs such as "Berth A" but although they appear to be separately track circuited there are no mid-platform signals. Therefore an approaching train gets either a single yellow if the whole platform is free, or a subsidiary aspect if it isn't, and stopping in the correct part of the platform is down to the driver's knowledge of the timetable or to hand signals by platform staff.

I use this route once or twice a fortnight, and ever since it went to four-car I have never seen any valid seat reservations in the portion that attaches/detaches at Nottingham (so this end of the train usually has more free space). Occasionally the front portion detaches at Nottingham instead of the rear one, presumably if there is some problem with this unit, and I guess if this is arranged after the train has been ticketed up at Liverpool the reservations might end up in the wrong part. There can also be some confusion if the guard doesn't set up the coach letters on the doors, so that two coaches are lettered "A" or "B".

 

[LowLevel]

The local instruction at Nottingham is to stop in the middle berth (B) unless you're directed otherwise by the platform staff by means of a hand signal. They drag it down to 3C to allow the xx10 Cardiff departure to be platformed behind it in 3B.

 

[jamesontheroad]

Each platform at Nottingham is split into up to three sections, some of which are marked by small signs such as "Berth A" but although they appear to be separately track circuited there are no mid-platform signals. Therefore an approaching train gets either a single yellow if the whole platform is free, or a subsidiary aspect if it isn't, and stopping in the correct part of the platform is down to the driver's knowledge of the timetable or to hand signals by platform staff.

The local instruction at Nottingham is to stop in the middle berth (B) unless you're directed otherwise by the platform staff by means of a hand signal. They drag it down to 3C to allow the xx10 Cardiff departure to be platformed behind it in 3B.

Thanks both for these explanations.

 

[O L Leigh]

Not true on all stock, I've been on many XC 170s at Leicester that have coupled with the door open.

I doubt that very much. It's not in the working instructions, has never been done in my experience and, if you tried it, all the open doors would slam shut the minute that the couple button was pressed.

As for dividing trains departing without separating, this is technically possible here too. The reason we don't has nothing to do with H&S but simply that you need to ensure that the units have actually separated. Some coupler types are worse than others for failing to separate with Tightlocks being particularly awkward, but there's no guarantee that you won't end up with a unit "hung up" on another with all the associated delays and faffing around. Plus it helpfully delineates one train from another on the platform so that passengers can work out which portion is which.

O L Leigh

 

[theironroad]

When desiros first came to SWT land a decade ago often units were attached with doors open on the portion being attached to. Similarly it would be possible to detach a portion with doors sill open on other portion. ( doors must be closed on portion that the detach is being done from).

However, Siemens didn't seem to like it as it caused various software glitches between units, so sop is that all doors should be closed and door key panels off as well.

Generally the longest part of a attach/ detach is doing the intermediate doors' but with a personal routine that is pretty easy too, or if at Waterloo (only) a shunter/platform staff must be present, which when covering multiple platforms is not always as as easy as it sounds...