How many operators use Selective Door Opening ?

[Halifaxlad]

I was reading something the otherday which got me thinking, the 195s and 331s have Selective door opening, has this ever been used on Northern ?

Also how many carriages are allowed to be on the end of the train when SDO is used ?

 

[skyhigh]

I was reading something the otherday which got me thinking, the 195s and 331s have Selective door opening, has this ever been used on Northern ?

Yes, very often.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

There are a number of versions of SDO, some not strictly 'SDO' but achieving the goal of only releasing doors which are platformed.

TPE use SDO although on class 185s it is by individual car rather than individual door - i.e. either all doors in the car are released or none.

I imagine both GWR and LNER will have locations where they use SDO on their class 80x

On Avanti the doors towards the rear of the cl390 remain locked at e.g. Haymarket.

 

[DerekC]

Most modern trains are now delivered with SDO, I think. And many older ones have been fitted with it too. eg. Desiro 450s and 444s on SWR.

 

[Kite159]

There are a number of versions of SDO, some not strictly 'SDO' but achieving the goal of only releasing doors which are platformed.

TPE use SDO although on class 185s it is by individual car rather than individual door - i.e. either all doors in the car are released or none.

I imagine both GWR and LNER will have locations where they use SDO on their class 80x

On Avanti the doors towards the rear of the cl390 remain locked at e.g. Haymarket.

GWR does, mostly on the Cotswold line when a 9 coach unit runs towards Worcester/Hereford and some other stations which require SDO (Neath).

I would imagine LNER uses their SDO on the services towards Aberdeen & Inverness but not 100%

 

[Highlander1]

GWR does, mostly on the Cotswold line when a 9 coach unit runs towards Worcester/Hereford and some other stations which require SDO (Neath).

I would imagine LNER uses their SDO on the services towards Aberdeen & Inverness but not 100%

LNER use it on platforms north of Edinburgh.

Scotrail operate it on 380 and 385 services

 

[The exile]

GWR does, mostly on the Cotswold line when a 9 coach unit runs towards Worcester/Hereford and some other stations which require SDO (Neath).

I would imagine LNER uses their SDO on the services towards Aberdeen & Inverness but not 100%

Filton Abbey Wood also requires it when 8xxs are in use on the locals.

 

[Trainguy34]

Southeastern use it on the class 375s and 395s on the Chatham Mainline past Faversham and on the Ashford - Ramsgate line.

 

[warwickshire]

Chiltern railways do on the Mk3 sets, and services, between London Marylebone and Stourbridge junction, notably more on platforms, between Leamington Spa and Stourbridge junction due to platform lengths in the Warwickshire and West Midlands areas being unable to accommodate the full length of the mk3 services on those services.

West Midlands Railways also do between
Stratford upon Avon and Worcester Stations, on services, via Henley in Arden and via Claverdon.
Leamington Spa and Worcester Stations on those services.

With the Stations, requiring it between, for the services Leamington Spa and Worcester via Solihull and Birmingham Snow Hill ,Stourbridge junction, run by West Midlands Railways being unable to accommodate the 6 car services on the route.

Also for Stratford upon Avon to Worcester via Claverdon and Henley in Arden and Birmingham Snow Hill with the stations requiring it on those services to, again being unable to accommodate the 6 car services on the route.

 

[liamf656]

EMR uses SDO on 170s and 222s at various stations across the network by using coach deselect

 

[MerlinRail 804]

Do any Chiltern trains have it apart from the silver sets as mentioned above? I’d guess not considering anything calling at kings Sutton is a max 5 coaches and they remove the call completely when they have to run extra and longer Birminghams. Will the Mk5s have SDO?

 

[Highlander1]

EMR uses SDO on 170s and 222s at various stations across the network by using coach deselect

Scotrail don't use it on 170s. Be interesting to see if it's used on 222s if they join Scotrail

 

[Travelmonkey]

EMR uses SDO on 170s and 222s at various stations across the network by using coach deselect

Guessing the same for XC for the likes of Beeston and Long Eaton,

 

[liamf656]

Guessing the same for XC for the likes of Beeston and Long Eaton,

Long Eaton yes, Beeston less so as their services at the station aren't usually more than 6 coaches in length

 

[E B]

Guessing the same for XC for the likes of Beeston and Long Eaton,

Also for Hinckley, Narborough & South Wigston (when running in multiple)

 

[800301]

The ASDO system on the GWR IET’s use a combination of GPS, ETCS Balise’s and the TMS database to work out where it is, what platform and what direction the train is going in to open the correct doors. You can manually select doors to release if you so wish but this is only done is there is an issue such as platform length reduced etc. For the most part it works really well

Avoncliff is the shortest station at 30/31M that can be served by a 9/10 car which will only open the front coach

 

[brad465]

I imagine both GWR and LNER will have locations where they use SDO on their class 80x

GWR does, mostly on the Cotswold line when a 9 coach unit runs towards Worcester/Hereford and some other stations which require SDO (Neath).

I would imagine LNER uses their SDO on the services towards Aberdeen & Inverness but not 100%

GWR have loads beyond the Cotswold line: 5-car units on their own usually don't need it bar perhaps a few stops I'm not aware of, however 9/10-cars need it as far east as Hungerford, as well as Pewsey, Castle Cary and several non-major stations in Devon and Cornwall. A 9-car Taunton-Paddington via Bristol, of which a few exist in each peak, needs it on every stop to Bristol except Weston-super-Mare.

 

[800301]

GWR have loads beyond the Cotswold line: 5-car units on their own usually don't need it bar perhaps a few stops I'm not aware of, however 9/10-cars need it as far east as Hungerford, as well as Pewsey, Castle Cary and several non-major stations in Devon and Cornwall. A 9-car Taunton-Paddington via Bristol, of which a few exist in each peak, needs it on every stop to Bristol except Weston-super-Mare.

A 9/10 car IET require ASDO at Ealing Broadway, Slough(10), Maindehead and Twyford

 

[brad465]

A 9/10 car IET require ASDO at Ealing Broadway, Slough(10), Maindehead and Twyford

I should have made clear Hungerford is the easternmost regular stop needing SDO. The ones you list are rarely served by IETs these days (1-2 per day).

 

[WirralLine]

TFW 197s are fitted with ASDO, used at a large number of stations every day varying on formation length.

 

[Mattplans]

London Underground
Thameslink
Southern
Southeastern
London Overground
Elizabeth Line
all do

 

[HeelBurton]

Do any Chiltern trains have it apart from the silver sets as mentioned above? I’d guess not considering anything calling at kings Sutton is a max 5 coaches and they remove the call completely when they have to run extra and longer Birminghams. Will the Mk5s have SDO?

168's have door deselect which we do not use.

Stopping at Bearly the instruction is for the TM to look out the first coach if in a 3 car (platform accommodates 2 only) but we do not run 3 cars there anyway.

Mark 5's have selective door opening

 

[thejuggler]

I was reading something the otherday which got me thinking, the 195s and 331s have Selective door opening, has this ever been used on Northern ?

Also how many carriages are allowed to be on the end of the train when SDO is used ?

331s on the Leeds - Skipton route have to use it at Crossflatts

 

[Thepinkpig73]

Scotrail don't use it on 170s. Be interesting to see if it's used on 222s if they join Scotrail

I believe the reason Scotrail don’t use door deselect on the 170s is because it causes havoc when working in multiple with a 158, and they don’t want to deal with issues when someone presses the button out of habit.

I would assume they’ll use it on the 222s as they won’t have the same problem.

 

[Highlander1]

I believe the reason Scotrail don’t use door deselect on the 170s is because it causes havoc when working in multiple with a 158, and they don’t want to deal with issues when someone presses the button out of habit.

I would assume they’ll use it on the 222s as they won’t have the same problem.

Let's hope so, the current arrangements of single door operation on short platforms is a bit of a farce given how busy some of these stations can be at peak times.

 

[MerlinRail 804]

168's have door deselect which we do not use.

Any particular reason?

 

[Magdalia]

London Underground
Thameslink
Southern
Southeastern
London Overground
Elizabeth Line
all do

I think that Great Northern and Greater Anglia have not been mentioned yet.

 

[380101]

EMR uses SDO on 170s and 222s at various stations across the network by using coach deselect

On 222s, the driver has to select left or right, then select the number of coaches to release, rather than the number of coaches to keep locked. They then press a handover button which allows the guard/train manager to open all doors on the selected number of coaches. Alternatively, the driver can open the doors.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Oct 2025 ==

I believe the reason Scotrail don’t use door deselect on the 170s is because it causes havoc when working in multiple with a 158, and they don’t want to deal with issues when someone presses the button out of habit.

I would assume they’ll use it on the 222s as they won’t have the same problem.

Likely to be 5 car 222s on ScotRail and by the time they are in service, all platforms that they will call at will be capable of holding a 5 car 222. However, the way in which a 222 door selection works, the driver will still have to select door side and 5 coaches before releasing.

 

[Highlander1]

On 222s, the driver has to select left or right, then select the number of coaches to release, rather than the number of coaches to keep locked. They then press a handover button which allows the guard/train manager to open all doors on the selected number of coaches. Alternatively, the driver can open the doors.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Oct 2025 ==



Likely to be 5 car 222s on ScotRail and by the time they are in service, all platforms that they will call at will be capable of holding a 5 car 222. However, the way in which a 222 door selection works, the driver will still have to select door side and 5 coaches before releasing.

4 and 5 car HST currently operate at a number of stations which can't accommodate them. Broughty Ferry, Portlethen and Monifieth come to mind but there are others. Are services at those stations to be cut if/when 222 are introduced?

 

[david l]

Not SDO, but there are some stations on Northern that allegedly have platforms alongside the trains but the state of the 'non-maintained' platform means that sets get locked out. Depends on the conductor as well! Most stations on the Wigan Wallgate-Headbolt Lane come to mind.