Railway Myths

[DavidSmith]

Myth 122: The myth numbers for the last few pages where in consecutive order and there was not two 83s.

 

[moonrakerz]

Myth 122: The myth numbers for the last few pages where in consecutive order and there was not two 83s.

Myth 123: "were" is spelt "where"..........
Myth 124: "were" cannot be used twice in the same sentence...........

 

[BrummyBoy]

Myth 125 - People listen to the onboard annoucments on trains

 

[googolplex]

Myth 125 - People listen to the onboard annoucments on trains

Myth 126 - People can always hear the onboard announcements perfectly above the sound of those around them continuing to talk.

 

[Simon Poole]

Myth 127: Wakefield Kirkgate is the best and safest station in England

 

[Flamingo]

Myth 128: In case of disruption, each TOC have got 50 buses on immediate standby within 15 minutes drive of every station on the network - but won't call them because they don't want to pay the diesel.

 

[bnm]

Myth 129. All TOC staff adhere to the Conditions of Carriage.
Myth 130. TOC staff never make up their own rules.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Myth 129. All TOC staff adhere to the Conditions of Carriage.
Myth 130. TOC staff never make up their own rules.

Myth 131. Passengers never try to make up their own rules.
Myth 132. The passenger is always right and has never made a mistake - it's always the railways and the staff members fault.
Myth 133. Passengers always adhere to the ticket restrictions, byelaws and conditions of carriage.

 

[Flamingo]

Myth 134: Passengers can ignore the Conditions of Carriage if they are inconvenient.

 

[Eng274]

Myth 135: Its the guard's fault a class 158's air con doesn't (and has never) worked.
Myth 136: The hopper windows on the said train are for public use, thats why you need a square key to open them (the number of people I've seen half-peel the rubber seal off to find it won't open..)

 

[Sapphire Blue]

Myth 106: The door open buttons work from the second the train stops

Myth 106/B
The door open buttons work quicker if you press them repeatedly. (This is also true for pedestrian controlled traffic lights.)

 

[jon0844]

Actually, on all the rolling stock I use it's easier to just hold it down. However, on newer stock it won't work as you'd need to release and re-press (once the light has come on).

 

[tbtc]

Myth 137. Every single reopening since privatisation has had "higher than expected" passenger numbers

 

[ralphchadkirk]

On my local stock you can hold down the button and as soon as a release is given the door will open.

 

[jon0844]

On my local stock you can hold down the button and as soon as a release is given the door will open.

Doesn't work on the London Overground 378s, so perhaps this is a new feature to stop the doors opening if someone is accidentally leaning (how?) on the buttons.

 

[OuterDistant]

Myth 106/B
The door open buttons work quicker if you press them repeatedly. (This is also true for pedestrian controlled traffic lights.)

Actually true, but only if you tap the button so as to spell "OPENSESAME" in Morse code

 

[me123]

Myth 106/B
The door open buttons work quicker if you press them repeatedly. (This is also true for pedestrian controlled traffic lights.)

It probably is true. For the train doors anyway. You will open them a fraction of a second quicker because you're not waiting for the light to come on, therefore removing your reaction time from the equation.

Interestingly, if you press and hold the buttons on some trains, the doors will open when released by the driver. Again, this will save you valuable milliseconds.

 

[Eng274]

Originally Posted by scotsman
Myth 106: The door open buttons work from the second the train stops

I like to make the people in a hurry behind me suffer, by waiting until it is lit before pressing it, as then you are guaranteed success first time

You can also tell if a passenger is unfamiliar with a 158, as they hit the ceiling when the doors go *hiss...BANG!* before opening..lol

 

[12CSVT]

Myth 13x (lost count) : class 220 and 221 Voyagers sometimes depart Birmingham New Street when they are not grossly overcrowded

 

[MCR247]

Myth 139 - XC choose to have trains that are too short

 

[185]

Myth 140

XC introduced the trolleys to flatten stray standing grumpy commuters in the aisle, improving the environment for its nicer passengers.

 

[Drsatan]

Myth 141: XC removed the shops from its Voyagers and introduced a trolley service to improve customer service.

 

[yorksrob]

142 One I've heard spread by other passengers -

Sliding door trains have faster loading times than slam door ones.

(It took a lot of self control not to intervene in the conversation but I managed to bite my tongue!)

 

[T163R]

142 One I've heard spread by other passengers -

Sliding door trains have faster loading times than slam door ones.

(It took a lot of self control not to intervene in the conversation but I managed to bite my tongue!)

143: Sliding plug doors are faster to open then sliding doors

 

[class156]

144: Subsidy cuts and fare rises are benefitial for the railways.
145: Pacers will be replaced by 2020

 

[matt]

142 One I've heard spread by other passengers -

Sliding door trains have faster loading times than slam door ones.

(It took a lot of self control not to intervene in the conversation but I managed to bite my tongue!)

Depends what they mean by loading times as slam-door stock tends to have a longer dwell time at stations to make sure all the doors are shut etc

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Myth 146. UK railways run more services, carry more passengers and have more seats in service than ever before. (Therefore, we've never had it so good!)

 

[Hydro]

Depends what they mean by loading times as slam-door stock tends to have a longer dwell time at stations to make sure all the doors are shut etc

I always remember passengers being quite good at shutting doors on the slam door stock on the Southern. It held up their journeys as much as everyone elses. If anything I definitely recall some extremely rapid arrivals and departures, especially with the likes of a VEP with a door to every seating bay. Of course, there were times when that one solitary door was left hanging, for the guard to take of. A good shout of "shut the doors!" usually yielded results.

 

[daikilo]

Myth 146. UK railways run more services, carry more passengers and have more seats in service than ever before. (Therefore, we've never had it so good!)

That one would take me a while to calculate even if I had the data, and I don't. That said, its not impossible that the current network (track-km) has never before seen so many passengers (units or pax-km). Seats are less likely given the increase in utilisation, and overcrowding.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

144: Subsidy cuts and fare rises are benefitial for the railways.
145: Pacers will be replaced by 2020

If subsidy increases and fare reductions increase traffic and are beneficial to "rail travel", surely they should be beneficial to "the railways". The opposite presumably has the reverse effect. Railways with reducing traffic are doomed to failure, which is not usually seen as an on-going business plan.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

143: Sliding plug doors are faster to open then sliding doors

three comments:
- 8-10 single slam doors per side (in e.g a -SUB, -VEP, certain DMU) are faster if all doors are closed by pax (simple flow theory).
- A few automatic doors are always faster if one or more slam doors not close to an attendant is/are left open.
- Sliding doors are probably faster than plug doors because the first few seconds movement of a plug door is the unplug phase which does not open a gap sufficient to allow passage, but this is insignificant in this equation and a plug door (rotation) movement after unplug may be faster than a sliding door.

 

[Crossover]

Myth 106/B
The door open buttons work quicker if you press them repeatedly. (This is also true for pedestrian controlled traffic lights.)

There was some twit doing this on my Voyager yesterday...so annoying!

That is opposed to the train I was on before where the guy stood next to the door controls and did nothing while everyone looked at him!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

On my local stock you can hold down the button and as soon as a release is given the door will open.

I know you can do it on Class 185's and I think on Class 350's you can too - so possibly a Desiro thing (assuming the 450's and such allow it)