P.I.S. poor (on refurbed units)

[SpacePhoenix]

On the Weymouth-Waterloo route, when the PIS is reading out the list of stops, does it have to load a second file? It gets to about Southampton, then there's a noticeable pause before it carries on reading out the stops

 

[mbreckers]

Sometimes the PIS on 156's that operate Kilmarnock - Glasgow Central get confused as to whether they're approaching a station or whether they've left the station.

I've seen the conductor going into the rear cab and it fixing so I assumed they fixed it somehow, seemed to take seconds

 

[Fincra5]

IIRC the Southern region Electrostars run Windows 98, although since Class 379 they've converted to a Linux platform - not sure about Class 376 or 378.

Been upgraded to Windows XP these days

 

[D365]

Been upgraded to Windows XP these days

That's not the impression I get from your avatar

 

[redbutton]

377s run Windows XP as the OS underneath the MITRAC train management system. You see the shutdown animation when you aux-off the unit.

I don't know if the internal comms are Ethernet-based, but the MITRAC system must not be essential to move the train, since it's possible (and a procedure exists) to isolate it.

 

[JaJaWa]

Slightly off-topic but the PIS on Go North East buses is literally built in PowerPoint!

 

[scotraildriver]

Sometimes the PIS on 156's that operate Kilmarnock - Glasgow Central get confused as to whether they're approaching a station or whether they've left the station.

I've seen the conductor going into the rear cab and it fixing so I assumed they fixed it somehow, seemed to take seconds

156 have an oddball Alstom PIS, which works both on GPS but also the door system. It will only move on when the doors are released and is set up with the doors open. Therefore if it gets out of sync it stays that way until the driver resets it. Its not very good really.

 

[TEW]

The system on the FGW Turbos works on door release too, and likewise can get itself out of sync and announce the station one ahead of where you actually are. If the doors are re-released for whatever reason at a station the system automatically jumps forward a station.

 

[OpsWeb]

156 have an oddball Alstom PIS, which works both on GPS but also the door system. It will only move on when the doors are released and is set up with the doors open. Therefore if it gets out of sync it stays that way until the driver resets it. Its not very good really.

The Class 318/320 PIS system is also GPS and door operated. Sometimes you can "trick" it when in tunnels (and therefore no GPS feed) to advance through the stations, but if you out in the open (with a GPS signal) - trying to move it along is hit and miss.

I'm always amazed / disappointed that in this day and age, the PIS on trains is always about 30 years behind the rest of the technology. The Class 334 for example was a technologically advanced train when it came out in 2001, with regenerative braking, combined power / brake controller, remote download facility etc..., yet the PIS can't cope with the train reversing at Springburn!

 

[ADRboy]

PIS systems in general are terrible IMO. Ridiculously hard to sort out faults with and the dot LED displays almost always look odd. Better to run a normal LCD screen that can show more info.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Will they be more reliable to ETCS lines (which could transmit station into to the train)

 

[FordFocus]

Bombardier DMU PIS works on GPS and door release. Frequently gets lost and is quite unreliable.

 

[mbreckers]

PIS systems in general are terrible IMO. Ridiculously hard to sort out faults with and the dot LED displays almost always look odd. Better to run a normal LCD screen that can show more info.

LED displays are generally more readable from a distance, which is required if your sitting away from a display

 

[Kite159]

The PIS on the 458/5s gets a mention when they are on a Hounslow Loop service

On departing London Waterloo, "this train is for London Waterloo, next station is Vauxhall", couldn't SWT fool the PIS into saying that the train is for Hounslow or another station on the loop (before someone gets on it at Vauxhall thinking "it's taking a rather long time to get to Waterloo")

 

[380gk]

In theory, guards on scotrail services should not be operating the PIS at all, as they're not trained on it.

 

[507 001]

I've not normally noticed a problem (save for the drop case) but last week when I was on one, having diverged from what some of the other forumites were up to, I was going from Greenfaulds to Springburn. All was fine until the junction before Springburn "We are now approaching Springburn........." followed a few seconds later with "We are now approaching Barnhill......" followed again by "We are now approaching Bellgrove". On arrival at Springburn we got "This is Bellgrove" and just after I left the train I heard "We are now approaching Glasgow Queen Street..............."



Yes they do. I believe it only works on Manchester to Liverpool runs. Anywhere else and it hasn't been programmed

Can't say I've ever heard it used to be honest! I've been using them for 15 years!


As for Northern 319s, is;
"We are now approaching xxxx. If you are leaving the train at xxxx please remember to take all of your personal belongings and hand Luggage with you. Please mind the gap between the train and the platform" really necessary before every. Bloody. Station????

 

[Goldfish62]

Can't say I've ever heard it used to be honest! I've been using them for 15 years!


As for Northern 319s, is;
"We are now approaching xxxx. If you are leaving the train at xxxx please remember to take all of your personal belongings and hand Luggage with you. Please mind the gap between the train and the platform" really necessary before every. Bloody. Station????

We have similar sh*te on the 458/5s. Every damn station. The 458/0s had "The door buttons are now activated. This is..." Why couldn't they have just removed that and then left it alone? Instead it's now worse.

 

[Juniper Driver]

We have similar sh*te on the 458/5s. Every damn station. The 458/0s had "The door buttons are now activated. This is..." Why couldn't they have just removed that and then left it alone? Instead it's now worse.

Have you seen how confused the good folk get with the door buttons?

 

[tsr]

Bombardier DMU PIS works on GPS and door release. Frequently gets lost and is quite unreliable.

For some reason it also seems that the system on 171s sometimes dislikes local door operation in general, meaning that the carriage in which the local door was last used then has outdated PIS info until the next stop... oh, and not to mention forgetting half the preset auto-announcements which are quite useful for short platforms and the like.

 

[hassaanhc]

We have similar sh*te on the 458/5s. Every damn station. The 458/0s had "The door buttons are now activated. This is..." Why couldn't they have just removed that and then left it alone? Instead it's now worse.

"This is Hounslow please remember to take all your personal items with you when you leave the train"

The best bit however is this when approaching Waterloo:
"This train is for London Waterloo. Calling at , and London Waterloo"

 

[SpacePhoenix]

The 458/0s had "The door buttons are now activated. This is..." Why couldn't they have just removed that and then left it alone? Instead it's now worse.

Could they not have just installed a nice load "door unlocked bleeper", like what the Desiros have?

 

[TEW]

The 458/0 door opening sounds are already pretty loud and piercing. You're far more likely to hear those than the pretty rubbish, and often too quiet PA.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Does all stock after 2020 have to have the loud "door unlocked" bleepers?

 

[Peter Sarf]

Does all stock after 2020 have to have the loud "door unlocked" bleepers?

Well they use a loud sound on the buses I use. Actually not sure if it is to tell you the doors are opening, opened or about to close. All I know is I get off as quick as I can as my head is right close to whatever anti-personnel device it is they use to emit the sound. I always sit as far as I can from the doors (upstairs on a bus) so that I have more chance of relaxing.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

As for Northern 319s, is;
"We are now approaching xxxx. If you are leaving the train at xxxx please remember to take all of your personal belongings and hand Luggage with you. Please mind the gap between the train and the platform" really necessary before every. Bloody. Station????

Oh so familiar. Southern trot that out on approach to Victoria (maybe other stations). So its probably a hangover from Southern/Thameslink.

 

[507 001]

Well they use a loud sound on the buses I use. Actually not sure if it is to tell you the doors are opening, opened or about to close. All I know is I get off as quick as I can as my head is right close to whatever anti-personnel device it is they use to emit the sound. I always sit as far as I can from the doors (upstairs on a bus) so that I have more chance of relaxing.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


Oh so familiar. Southern trot that out on approach to Victoria (maybe other stations). So its probably a hangover from Southern/Thameslink.

I could understand before a terminus. But every station? Every single one????

(Can you tell it annoys me?)

 

[Crossover]

The 458/0 door opening sounds are already pretty loud and piercing. You're far more likely to hear those than the pretty rubbish, and often too quiet PA.

And the fact that half the train has already alighted by the time it says the door controls are now active :P