BBC Documentary 'The Railways'

[fgwrich]

A few things that I noticed about the part on Kings Cross:

- A passenger was told (or it was implied) their seat reservations would be honoured on the train the day after the one that was cancelled. Somehow I doubt it.

- When a passenger wanted their money back due to their train being cancelled, the station manager wanted them to fill in a form to post off, but should have seen whether it was possible to do the refund on the spot under NRCoC S.26.

And of course it cast a bad light on the passengers in Merseyside. I'm glad I don't work there on a Friday/Saturday evening

As was the error by one of the Kings Cross station staff (may have been First's than ECs) with regards to one passenger. 'Can i go to Scotland today?' "No trains are running north of Newcastle" 'Ok, but can i use the train to go to Durham instead?' "No you cant as no trains are running North of Newcastle"

 

[oddiesjack]

I loved the "Blimey, I bet there's nobody watching Jeremy Kyle today" comment on Southport station when they were all being herded to the Orange parades.

 

[telstarbox]

I'm on the 1255 MAN-EUS (VT). TM has just announced "for any fans of The Railway, driver Ross [from episode 4] is in coach G if anyone wants any autographs"

 

[class303]

bit disappointed by this episode. felt they just mashed any remaining footage they had into a ram-shackled episode. 1 min of the wales trackside robbery, welsh staff training, revenue and gateline in Merseyside, midlands trackSide looking for an urn, some awful busybodies in that village with nothing better to do than moan...AT ANYTHING & then kings cross again.

I thought the Merseyrail staff were a credit to the company though.

some eye candy though, nice Mersey girl on gateline & a gorgeous welsh girl being trained up

Can't wait for the Scotland episode, if it's based in the Glasgow area promises to be great viewing

 

[hairyhandedfool]

A few things that I noticed about the part on Kings Cross:

- A passenger was told (or it was implied) their seat reservations would be honoured on the train the day after the one that was cancelled. Somehow I doubt it.....

Indeed, they may get a seat, but not the reserved seat

.... - When a passenger wanted their money back due to their train being cancelled, the station manager wanted them to fill in a form to post off, but should have seen whether it was possible to do the refund on the spot under NRCoC S.26....

That may have been a victim of selective editing of course, but he should have checked if an immediate refund was possible first.

....as well as staff at King's Cross saying to someone that if they had any problems to say someone on the platform had said it was okay!

That is where the Virgin Trains lady was better in the previous episode, taking the passenger to the Train Manager to sort things out.

 

[thelongestroad]

How many times did they need to patch over the cancellation auto announcement? The same one was used at least twice in the first episode and again last night at KGX.

 

[ian1944]

I liked the analogy of a job never finished (I think it was clearing the fly-tipped mess): "It's like the Forth Road Bridge".

 

[andrew bell]

I was well surprised to see another orange walk in the country

Surely it happens twice on Merseyside, July 12th and Ladies day at Aintree

 

[reb0118]

Living in Glasgow I was well surprised to see another orange walk in the country, I didn't know these type of people (being polite here) marched anywhere else!

Surely it happens twice on Merseyside, July 12th and Ladies day at Aintree

No truth in the rumour that Robert Kilroy - Silk leads both marches!

 

[eps200]

As a Merseyrail guard, I can tell you that Saturday night last train into central is possibly the worst job you can get... Constand passcom alarms being pushed, really drunk people wanting to kiss you, as seen twice in tonights programe.

RPI's must get it tough, it didnt really show you the extent of the stick that they take, on a day to day basis.

I didnt like how they subbed some sounds into the shots of the 507/8s such as the brakes squeeling sounded more like a 156 and there was a shot in Sandhills station where there was clearly an AC hum instead of the normal resistor fan that you can hear.

I must apologise for being a part of the Friday night stampede out of central on occasion, having races up the metal bits between escalators seems like a hilarious idea at the time

 

[rebmcr]

Surely it happens twice on Merseyside, July 12th and Ladies day at Aintree

Bravo!

 

[oversteer]

Clearly the guy stopped in Merseyland with all the tattoos didn't ask for advice in the "Disputes & Prosecutions" section before being dealt with by the RPI

"What would you have done if I hadn't stopped you today?"
"I would have walked straight past you"

 

[Cab2Cab]

Hi,

The level crossing in the program was to loose it's friendly crossing keeper over to the CCTV system.

Q...When the change over takes place to cctv, the signaller working that section in the PSB i presume, this is obviously adding to his/her workload, despite watching the movements on his/her panel (tracking trains entering/leaving his or her section) does he/she get any assistant from a ' another body ' who helps them out?

From clips seen on TV when activating a crossing it could take 30 secs of his/her time to look at the crossing screen, start the sirens on the crossing, check crossing clear, lower barriers and all seems ok then signal train through the section, or is this all done automatically and they just check the screen to see the crossing has activated (still a additional responsibility).

On some panels, is there a limit on how many screens you can watch or do you have assistant with a floater!

Maybe this could be posted as a new thread ' Signalling Questions? ' ?

Hope all this makes sense and if anyone could clarify the method of work for a PSB with CCTV for any location/s or give a little insight it would be appreciated.

To summarize then, 1 man lose's his job and extra additional workload passed over to someone else,

Just interesting to know,

Cheers

 

[jon0844]

So you're saying it's like a member of staff in Tesco overseeing 8 self checkouts... except with rather more serious consequences.

 

[Bald Rick]

Max CCTV crossings on 1 signalling panel is usually 4. In this case I think it was done in conjunction with the recontrol of the area to Thames Valley Sig Centre @ Didcot, closing Reading PSB in the process. I don't know the arrangements in TVSC, but it is possible that a separate CCTV workstation is provided, the max number depends on workload, i.e. how often the crossings need to be operated. It can be as many as 9.

So yes workload may increase on one panel or workstation, although only marginally and this is taken into account for grading purposes.

 

[8J]

I must apologise for being a part of the Friday night stampede out of central on occasion, having races up the metal bits between escalators seems like a hilarious idea at the time

Haha! I have also many moons ago, but making mistakes and learning from them is an important part of life

It's just difficult at the moment with us being under more intense scrutiny after the Georgia Varley incident.

 

[Cab2Cab]

So you're saying it's like a member of staff in Tesco overseeing 8 self checkouts... except with rather more serious consequences.

lol

Max CCTV crossings on 1 signalling panel is usually 4. In this case I think it was done in conjunction with the recontrol of the area to Thames Valley Sig Centre @ Didcot, closing Reading PSB in the process. I don't know the arrangements in TVSC, but it is possible that a separate CCTV workstation is provided, the max number depends on workload, i.e. how often the crossings need to be operated. It can be as many as 9.

So yes workload may increase on one panel or workstation, although only marginally and this is taken into account for grading purposes.

Thanks for that Rick,

I have been in a couple of PSB's but only for a visit on a company induction course, 2 different types, 1 with wall panels and another with screens and rollerball desk.

Cheers

 

[rebmcr]

I find it odd that more CCTV crossings are planned now, with RADAR ones now deployed and functioning well. Surely they're just strictly better?

 

[Cab2Cab]

I find it odd that more CCTV crossings are planned now, with RADAR ones now deployed and functioning well. Surely they're just strictly better?

Hi,

What does RADAR stand for or how does it work?

cheers

 

[cjmillsnun]

I think there are plenty of misconceptions, or cases where the law might suggest one thing but ultimately it wouldn't get anywhere if actually tested.

Just like the constant belief that giving first aid might land you in court.

If it's not terrible weather, the person doesn't look particularly vulnerable and it's not the last train, I doubt any TM would be found guilty of anything - even if the press might still see it as a great story.

Giving first aid HAS landed people in court, including qualified first aiders. However as long as you do everything correctly then you will find that any suit against you as a first aider will be unsuccessful.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/1369402/First-aid-charity-sued-over-death-of-runner.html

 

[jon0844]

That seems more like a case of not doing the right thing, as against giving first aid and being sued either because a) the victim died or b) the victim was hurt (e.g. damaged ribs after CPR) and was the person that sued.

 

[ainsworth74]

What does RADAR stand for or how does it work?

RAdio Detection And Ranging think the piece of kit that allows air traffic controllers to know where planes are in the sky.

More usefully for us it's being deployed at level crossings to provide object detection capabilities. Mostly at automatic half barrier crossings were there is no signaller supervision as the crossing is triggered by the approach of trains.

 

[cjmillsnun]

That seems more like a case of not doing the right thing, as against giving first aid and being sued either because a) the victim died or b) the victim was hurt (e.g. damaged ribs after CPR) and was the person that sued.

Oh agreed that was a suit for negligence, however the point is a first aider does have a duty of care, either automatically (designated first aider at a workplace) or one they assume when they treat someone outside of work.

What is true is that no one has been successfully sued for carrying out first aid as per their training.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

RAdio Detection And Ranging think the piece of kit that allows air traffic controllers to know where planes are in the sky.

More usefully for us it's being deployed at level crossings to provide object detection capabilities. Mostly at automatic half barrier crossings were there is no signaller supervision as the crossing is triggered by the approach of trains.

surely RADAR is useless at an AHB crossing, as by the time the crossing is triggered (the train strikes in), the train is unable to stop.

 

[HowardGWR]

Having just watched the latest episode, I doubt whether the Tourism Manager of Liverpool will be immensely grateful. Did I dream that it was chosen the City of Culture some time ago?

Apart from that, the series, if shewn abroad, must tell foreigners that the UK is a nation of yahoos. Why did they not cover lines like the Chiltern or other middle class ones?

 

[Railsigns]

surely RADAR is useless at an AHB crossing, as by the time the crossing is triggered (the train strikes in), the train is unable to stop.

Exactly. The RADAR/LIDAR obstacle detectors are being used as a substitute for CCTV surveillance at full-barrier crossings.

 

[rebmcr]

surely RADAR is useless at an AHB crossing, as by the time the crossing is triggered (the train strikes in), the train is unable to stop.

They're used to replace AHBs with full-barrier crossings, without having to add a human in the loop.

 

[Jonfun]

Having just watched the latest episode, I doubt whether the Tourism Manager of Liverpool will be immensely grateful. Did I dream that it was chosen the City of Culture some time ago?

Apart from that, the series, if shewn abroad, must tell foreigners that the UK is a nation of yahoos. Why did they not cover lines like the Chiltern or other middle class ones?

To be fair, the program wasn't intended to focus on Liverpool's tourism or owt like that - it shadowed Merseyrail staff showing some of the challenges they face at busy times, in trying circumstances, etc. I thought it did that quite well personally, there's other shows that can cover the Beatles, the clubs and bars, the museums, maritime history etc

I reckon that the visit to that leafy village with its crossing was middle class enough for a couple of series!

 

[Railsigns]

They're used to replace AHBs with full-barrier crossings, without having to add a human in the loop.

Which former AHB crossings have been converted to MCB-OD? I can't think of any.

 

[ainsworth74]

Exactly. The RADAR/LIDAR obstacle detectors are being used as a substitute for CCTV surveillance at full-barrier crossings.

sorry about my confusion

 

[Tomnick]

It did seem a bit of a stretch of the imagination to suggest that CCTV crossings are safer in operation than MCBs. Perhaps cheaper was the word he was looking for?