Doors closing long before departure

[Mikey C]

I understand why it's done, but closing the train doors well before the departure time does add to the stress of travel, especially at London termini where the platform number is often released quite late, leading to a mad dash across the concourse

 

[xotGD]

I think this is more of an issue when you are trying to make a tight connection and you reach your train with 30 seconds to spare (or so you think) and the doors are already locked.

 

[Segedunum]

I understand why it's done, but closing the train doors well before the departure time does add to the stress of travel, especially at London termini where the platform number is often released quite late, leading to a mad dash across the concourse

I've gone to board a (then) VTEC service from Kings Cross to Newark with 4 minutes to spare (was coming down the escalator at 13:04:30) and wasn't rushing as there was a door directly next to the bottom, only to have a whistle blown repeatedly causing me to panic, run and nearly fall over as I didn't know if my phone was a minute or two out.

It wasn't, the staff just seemed to like blowing their whistles forevermore. Doors didn't close until just after 13:07. I can see why they wanted a prompt departure but unnecessarily panicking passengers does nothing but create a risk of accidents.

 

[Ethano92]

Staff seem to like that. When waiting for my train at vauxhall, I often see guards start closing doors before everyone has made it on. I know there is a delay becaise of the warning tonebut vauxhall has quite a mighty gap so it's really not a good idea to rush people like that.

As for terminals, if it was an elderly person, for example, who was rushing after being notified of the platform at last minute, would they wait if she was already near and the signal to close the doors was just about to be given but hadn't quite been just yet? Say this is an intercity train so even once the doors are locked, it wouldn't move for another minute.

 

[fairysdad]

Staff seem to like that. When waiting for my train at vauxhall, I often see guards start closing doors before everyone has made it on. I know there is a delay becaise of the warning tonebut vauxhall has quite a mighty gap so it's really not a good idea to rush people like that.

I've seen guards doing the door closing procedure at (London) Vauxhall while passengers are still getting off the train, let alone before other passengers have started boarding. And this is with an on-time train!

(I specifically mention 'London' above as I'm not sure if you mean physically closing doors or pressing the buttons to automatically close them - London Vauxhall doesn't have any slammers, so thought I'd clarify!)

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've gone to board a (then) VTEC service from Kings Cross to Newark with 4 minutes to spare (was coming down the escalator at 13:04:30) and wasn't rushing as there was a door directly next to the bottom, only to have a whistle blown repeatedly causing me to panic, run and nearly fall over as I didn't know if my phone was a minute or two out.

It wasn't, the staff just seemed to like blowing their whistles forevermore. Doors didn't close until just after 13:07. I can see why they wanted a prompt departure but unnecessarily panicking passengers does nothing but create a risk of accidents.

At Clapham Junction whistles seem to be blown randomly to hurry people on, which seriously devalues the other meaning.

 

[DaiGog]

I think the practice of denying passengers access to the 12:50 train when they attempt to board it at 12:49 is wrong. If I arrive at the door to that train before the advertised time (minute) of departure, I should be allowed to get on it. By all means, shut the doors in my face at 12:50:00 seconds, but not at 12:49:20 or whatever - and furthermore, when the wheels are turning at 12:49:45 it just rubs salt into the wound and leaves staff open to abuse.

If this means amending the PPM trigger to 0-5 / 0-10 mins instead of 0-4 / 0-9 then so be it. The railway needs to concentrate less on operating for its own convenience in many ways, of which this is one.

 

[Ethano92]

I think the practice of denying passengers access to the 12:50 train when they attempt to board it at 12:49 is wrong. If I arrive at the door to that train before the advertised time (minute) of departure, I should be allowed to get on it. By all means, shut the doors in my face at 12:50:00 seconds, but not at 12:40:20 or whatever - and furthermore, when the wheels are turning at 12:49:45 it just rubs salt into the wound and leaves staff open to abuse.

If this means amending the PPM trigger to 0-5 / 0-10 mins instead of 0-4 / 0-9 then so be it. The railway needs to concentrate less on operating for its own convenience in many ways, of which this is one.

I definitely agree with this. They should advertise when you're last allowed to board as that's what matters. I especially like that last sentence, well said.

I've seen guards doing the door closing procedure at (London) Vauxhall while passengers are still getting off the train, let alone before other passengers have started boarding. And this is with an on-time train!

(I specifically mention 'London' above as I'm not sure if you mean physically closing doors or pressing the buttons to automatically close them - London Vauxhall doesn't have any slammers, so thought I'd clarify!)

Sorry for confusion. Goes to show im a city EMU person myself, only ever needed to use a slam door 2 or 3 times. Thanks for clearing up any confusion anyone else may have had.

 

[theironroad]

While there is no reason to blow whistles unnecessarily early, the use of whistles has been shown to be effective in boarding trains. I'm afraid that if everyone boarded a commuter train at their ambling leisure, the dwell time at many stations would be significantly increased and the trains would run even later than now then continuing into knock on delays.