"Formed of 16 coaches"

[3141]

That's how the display on platform 2 at Gatwick Airport described the 16.38 to London Victoria this afternoon.

At Redhill the platform announcement said that at East Croydon and Clapham Junction passengers should alight from the front 12 coaches, as those stations had short platforms. However, the on-train announcements by the guard didn't say anything about that - probably because the train didn't actually have 16 coaches.

I have a photo of the Gatwick platform display but I don't know how to upload it here.

 

[JamesRowden]

That's how the display on platform 2 at Gatwick Airport described the 16.38 to London Victoria this afternoon.

At Redhill the platform announcement said that at East Croydon and Clapham Junction passengers should alight from the front 12 coaches, as those stations had short platforms. However, the on-train announcements by the guard didn't say anything about that - probably because the train didn't actually have 16 coaches.

I have a photo of the Gatwick platform display but I don't know how to upload it here.

I heard that platform announcement at Redhill this morning too (while I was waiting for the 08:17 to Tonbridge). But the Victoria train was only 8-cars.

 

[tsr]

Oops! If only we did have 16 coach trains (and probably 2 guards per train...!), but... if you see this again at a Southern station, please check the station staff are aware (even if they probably usually would be, and are a bit annoyed by it already) - there is a dedicated internal hotline that they can use for reporting these sorts of issues, should they have a moment to do so.

 

[Lufcman]

Oops! If only we did have 16 coach trains (and probably 2 guards per train...!), but... if you see this again at a Southern station, please check the station staff are aware (even if they probably usually would be, and are a bit annoyed by it already) - there is a dedicated internal hotline that they can use for reporting these sorts of issues, should they have a moment to do so.

If the new 700 12 cars fail, they have to be assisted by another 12 car, that's a train a quarter of a mile long??????

 

[Kite159]

The same fault must have stuck Salisbury which thought it was a triple 159 arriving instead of a double unit (which spilt at Salisbury). Alighting at Grateley, it still thought it was a 9 car unit, Customers for Clapham Junction must make sure they travel in the front 8 cars.

 

[Smod]

The same happened to the 1108 Gatwick to Victoria. Having just got off a flight, I thought I was seeing things.

 

[starrymarkb]

374s on the Brighton Mainline????!


(and yes I know they won't fit or run on 750V DC)

 

[3141]

Oops! If only we did have 16 coach trains (and probably 2 guards per train...!), but... if you see this again at a Southern station, please check the station staff are aware (even if they probably usually would be, and are a bit annoyed by it already) - there is a dedicated internal hotline that they can use for reporting these sorts of issues, should they have a moment to do so.

I agree it would be a good thing to do that, but as I'd just arrived on a flight, and had a large case, and had gone to platform 4 because the display at the entrance barriers said that's where the next train to Clapham Junction would be leaving from, but when I got to platform 4 it was just departing, and the displays on the platforms DON'T tell you anything about the next train to CJ, so I had to work out that I probably needed to go to platform 2 instead, and by the time I got to it there was only about 90 seconds before the 16.38 arrived, and I didn't actually see any station staff on either p. 4 or p. 2....well, I had other things to think about!