Unusual Equipment Spotted At Lille Europe

[Doppler Fox]

Came across something interesting on the platform while waiting for my Eurostar at Lille Europe. Anybody know what this is?

 

[Towers]

Is it not some sort of RA equipment ot similar?

 

[signed]

The left one is an intercom to call the signaller and the right ones look likely to be decomissionned dispatching equipment

 

[30907]

Is it not some sort of RA equipment ot similar?

PAD = Pret a Depart?

 

[signed]

PAD = Pret a Depart?

That seems to be correct

I found a website with all the SNCF abbreviations and PAD does indeed mean Prêt au départ (Ready to depart)

Abréviations ...

PAD : Prêt Au Départ

 

[SHD]

And “Régulateur SSTA” (the red button on the intercom on the left) means “Régulateur Sous-Station” i.e. a signaller in charge of the substation and power supply.

Note that the directions of track 45 [LGV tracks are bidirectional] are given as Paris and… London!

 

[30907]

Note that the directions of track 45 [LGV tracks are bidirectional] are given as Paris and… London!

Where else? OK there's the odd train to Dunkerque or Frethun...

 

[Doppler Fox]

That seems to be correct

I found a website with all the SNCF abbreviations and PAD does indeed mean Prêt au départ (Ready to depart)

Abréviations ...

That's really fascinating - thanks all for finding this out!

 

[SHD]

Where else? OK there's the odd train to Dunkerque or Frethun...

I mean, from an infrastructure point of view, the French LGV/HSL ends at Fréthun. (Amusingly, the official name of that section of line is “Ligne de Frétin à Fréthun”, two names that are pronounced the same or only slightly differently depending on where your French accent is from. But I digress.)

But this device was used for the despatch of trains, so it makes sense indeed to use the major destination down the lines.

Today, domestic northbound trains at Lille Europe are not that odd compared to Eurostars - something like 10 tpd on a weekday - but the situation was quite different ~30 years ago when Lille Europe was inaugurated.