how early is acceptable to board train

[LE Greys]

Surely you don't EVER turn a service that has been going for 10 hours around without cleaning? Even Ryanair clean a flight with a tight 20 minute turnaround. Okay, not always perfect but usually pretty good - and certainly better than no cleaning. And we're talking about flights of somewhere nearer 2-3 hours, not 10!

The toilets would always be functional too. For a service like that, the toilets should be refilled with water - and emptied sufficiently elsewhere so they'll never get full in service.

Surely the power cars would need some diesel as well. I'm not sure what the maximum range of a Class 43 is, but I do know that the set off the North Briton has to top up at Aberdeen before heading off to King's Cross. That takes a good ten minutes to do, more if you need to refill the screen wash or something.

I'm not sure if XC trailers have retention tanks, but EC ones consistently run out of water somewhere around Grantham. That's after about five or six hours from Aberdeen or Inverness, so if the loading of the XC service is the same, they need at least one topup at about the half-way point. Trying to start a service with non-functional toilet facilities is probably against some regulation or other (I'm no expert) but perhaps not quite as bad as running out of fuel.

 

[royaloak]

On a Sunday, SWT run an hourly train from Waterloo to Eastleigh, where it splits with the front 5 to Portsmouth and the rear 5 to Poole. On the way back, I was one the Portsmouth section that arrives first, and they did the join with passengers on board and the doors open in the front unit!

The doors on the front unit would have to be shut before the attachment takes place or else the TMS has a hissy fit and wont release the brakes. Any driver that attaches to a Dessie with the doors released would be in for tea and biscuits before his feet touched the ground.

142094 wrote-
Well you didn't say that in your first post. It would have been dangerous if the one with the doors opened was moving.

On a modern unit if the doors are released you wont get the brakes off or be able to take power, and on some older stuff the brakes WILL release but again you will not get power, so whatever unit you are driving it will need the doors locked BEFORE you can move, unless its an old one pointing downhill

 

[MCR247]

The doors on the front unit would have to be shut before the attachment takes place or else the TMS has a hissy fit and wont release the brakes. Any driver that attaches to a Dessie with the doors released would be in for tea and biscuits before his feet touched the ground.

Thats not what happened with me :? To explain in detail

The Portsmouth set arrived first onto the platform. The doors opened, people got on and off. The section from Poole came in. It joined to the front section, which had the doors open. Then the doors in the poole unit opened.

 

[bluebottle]

Thats not what happened with me :? To explain in detail

The Portsmouth set arrived first onto the platform. The doors opened, people got on and off. The section from Poole came in. It joined to the front section, which had the doors open. Then the doors in the poole unit opened.

Take a look at http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/uploads/ptt28[0].pdf

It happens on a daily basis at Southampton Central. I've never seen the doors closed on the Bournemouth stopper.

 

[royaloak]

Well if I am driving the one in to attach I wont go on until the doors are all closed on the other unit, end of!

 

[MCR247]

Take a look at http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/uploads/ptt28[0].pdf

It happens on a daily basis at Southampton Central. I've never seen the doors closed on the Bournemouth stopper.

Thats what I mean

 

[Geezertronic]

London Midand seem to split and join their 350's all over the shop Well not literally but I have seen them split and join at Birmingham New Street (was on one once, doors were locked on both units and there was a jolt when the units came together), London Euston, and they also run a EUS-BHM service that splits at Northampton with the rear unit remaining at Northampton

VT split and join their double Super Voyager services to North Wales at Chester as far as I am aware.

 

[Bellwater]

oh well never mind