Effects of Watford DC/Lioness Line on WCML train crew south of Watford

[Egg Centric]

Do all train crew operating south of Watford on the WCML have to have third rail training, given that there are DC lines there? Or given that some routes could reasonably be expected to avoid it are there some who don't need it? And if so presumably they would have to deny certain routes around the Euston throat?

 

[Nippy]

I can’t talk about crew competency, but all trains go over all routes between Camden and Euston. Can you imagine the confusion or disruption if Avanti, for instance, could not run Slow Line from Willesden to Euston? Or cross the station throat from platform 1-7 to the Down Fast if Line X was out of use?

 

[AlterEgo]

There is a stretch of third rail on the down fast through Watford Junction, so good luck avoiding that!

 

[LowLevel]

Do all train crew operating south of Watford on the WCML have to have third rail training, given that there are DC lines there? Or given that some routes could reasonably be expected to avoid it are there some who don't need it? And if so presumably they would have to deny certain routes around the Euston throat?

It's not a big thing, it's just a handful of extra questions on a personal track safety assessment to allow the competency file to be endorsed AC/DC.

Any crews who work through that area will be competent to work over 3rd rail, though not necessarily to the extent that Southern Region or Merseyrail crews for example are - for example I have a DC lines PTS competency for working through Hunts Cross on Merseyrail, but my trains aren't equipped with short circuiting bars and nor would I have the foggiest idea how to use one.

 

[philthetube]

Very slightly off topic.

Metropolitan line underground drivers do a network rail parallel running course. This included things like how to make contact with Network rain in an emergency, laying detonators to Network rail rules and overhead power, although we will never go anywhere near it.

 

[swt_passenger]

It's not a big thing, it's just a handful of extra questions on a personal track safety assessment to allow the competency file to be endorsed AC/DC.

Any crews who work through that area will be competent to work over 3rd rail, though not necessarily to the extent that Southern Region or Merseyrail crews for example are - for example I have a DC lines PTS competency for working through Hunts Cross on Merseyrail, but my trains aren't equipped with short circuiting bars and nor would I have the foggiest idea how to use one.

IIRC there was a discussion a few years back about FGW/GWR DC line training, for the areas of south Hampshire, North Downs line, Brighton etc, and I think they did carry short circuiting bars?

Can’t find it in the forum search so far though...

 

[Sprinter107]

Thats just reminded me that the first two 172s, 331 and 332 were delivered with short circuiting bars. Quite why i dont know. They were gone when they started in passenger service.

 

[Egg Centric]

I can’t talk about crew competency, but all trains go over all routes between Camden and Euston. Can you imagine the confusion or disruption if Avanti, for instance, could not run Slow Line from Willesden to Euston? Or cross the station throat from platform 1-7 to the Down Fast if Line X was out of use?

I was thinking about charters rather than TOCs but sure I get the point! Interested to hear from @LowLevel it's not a big deal - one gets the impression on this forum every single competency is a big deal

 

[dodecahedron67]

Indeed I have DC PTS despite not signing Hunts Cross purely because my TOC goes there!

 

[Seehof]

I remember having to demonstrate how I would cross a live rail by using pieces of wood on the floor when I did my guard’s training years ago.

 

[Egg Centric]

I remember having to demonstrate how I would cross a live rail by using pieces of wood on the floor when I did my guard’s training years ago.

There are two different ways to parse that sentence! Which is it?

 

[TEW]

Indeed I have DC PTS despite not signing Hunts Cross purely because my TOC goes there!

And the other way round; all SWR train crew have AC PTS regardless of whether they go to Reading or not, which is the only location served with AC electrification.

 

[Elecman]

When I did my initial PTS DC lines at Hall Road training centre in Liverpool we had to actually demonstrate using the shorting circuiting bar on the live training track there fed off it’s own breaker in the substation.

 

[Nym]

"Back in my day". (Wow I sound a lot older than I am).

We trained initially for our ops training on dead track but geometrically correct.
Then when we did our actual track training, the test was "Cross that line", that line being live and in traffic hours with 12tph running on it. Then spent the next 6 or so years working adjacent to live rail basically all the time. We did have to do an "Appreciation of AC" for parallel running lines, but it pretty much stopped after the, "Don't go within 2.75m of any OLE." Until I moved employers and then did 5 different flavours of OLE training, great fun trying to remember which rules you're working under when moving between four different types of OLE across seven countries!