Voyager reservation system reliability and related factors

[Bletchleyite]

They also really could have done with replacing the reservation system, costly though it might be, because it's so incredibly unreliable. There wasn't the same imperative on Pendolinos as it usually works.

I think this may be down to the individual TM/Drivers on your route and how they set them up, I travel on these atleast twice a week and can't remember the last time they weren't working. In my experience, they're probably up there with the most reliable systems in use on the network.

I don't agree. The issue is, as I've observed it (mainly on the Avanti units, I'll give you, I avoid XC whenever possible as it's grim), that when the unit decides to "load shed" (e.g. due to an engine out or other electrical failure) the reservation screens seem to go first, along with the spots and half the ceiling lights. Thus I find it has in my experience worked maybe 75% of the time at best.

The issue isn't the reservations not being loaded, it's the unit turning the screens off completely, often only in one or two coaches.

Has XC perhaps done some work to reduce the instance of this "load shedding"?

 

[Falcon1200]

Reliability has not been an issue for me, except for one recent journey where the previous day's reservations were shown, it is more that they are so difficult to read and require stopping at each seat to check whether, and if so where, it is reserved. A traffic light system as used by other operators would be useful.

 

[driverd]

The issue isn't the reservations not being loaded, it's the unit turning the screens off completely, often only in one or two coaches.

Has XC perhaps done some work to reduce the instance of this "load shedding"?

XC units have a system where the TMS knocks engines out to reduce fuel consumption, so quite often the engine will drop off in a carriage (and usually subsequently restart as I'm told many drivers find the power loss is too substantial). As part of this mod, XC may well have done something with the reservation screens and the priority for knocking them off.

As I say, I regularly travel somewhere along the York-Derby corridor, usually around twice a week and I can't remember the last time I saw an XC unit without reservations (standing in particularly stark contrast to EMRs 222s which haven't had them working properly for months, and LNERs Mk4 sets where the new system seems very susceptible to defects in the individual screens).

Just my experience - on a technical level I find the voyagers pretty solid, most of their systems work very reliably. I will agree, however, that other than when a double set presents, the experience onboard is usually pretty grim.