DB Cargo UK owned class 92 locomotive question.

[Roast Veg]

An STM is most easily thought of as an adaptor that enables the train's ETCS equipment to work with non-ETCS signalling and safety systems. Most, if not all, on-train ETCS computers allow the use of multiple STMs as required.

How does this affect driver training? Do drivers have to be au fait with the specifics of each system, or do they just trust the display in front of them? Presumably "somewhere in between"?

 

[XAM2175]

How does this affect driver training? Do drivers have to be au fait with the specifics of each system, or do they just trust the display in front of them? Presumably "somewhere in between"?

I don't quite understand what you're asking when you say "trust the display". The driver needs to have the same understanding of driving under each system as they did when using that system "natively" - after all, the AWS system functions the same regardless of whether the sunflower is shown to the driver with a physical instrument or as a graphic on a screen.

 

[AlexNL]

I think the question is "does a driver need to know about the EVC<>STM interface and what it may do" - the answer is 'it depends'. If you're driving on a train which has to transition between systems (e.g. ETCS<>AWS/TPWS) then knowing what the EVC does and how to troubleshoot things when a transition fails is useful.

In other cases, when a train is permanently running in STM mode, it might not really be necessary to know about the EVC. On the Dutch SLT trains there is an EVC present, but the outputs from the safety system are connected to physical instruments. The train never transitions to ETCS in service so to drivers it may very well directly be controlled by the legacy train protection system.

 

[Bevan Price]

92s work trains on HS1 between Dollamds Moor and Ripple Lane Yard in the Dagenham Dock area. They are also cleared to operate on the WCML in parts, as there's a maintenance base at Crewe. 92 hauled freight on the WCML is rare but not unknown. I don't know if 92s are cleared all the way up to Mossend or if the limit is Crewe.

Class 92 used to work liner trains to/from Mossend, but now prefer to use Class 90s (in pairs), or Class 66 diesels. They also used to work to Trafford Park (Manchester), but it must be around 15 years since such workings ceased.