GSMR General Broadcasts

[Jala_150]

A question for any signallers...
Why can it take so long to put out a general broadcast?
I was detained at a signal for an hour last week due to trespassers on the line. The signaller did phone me to explain after I had been waiting for 5 minutes. But it was 45 minutes until a general broadcast was put out. Surely the signaller could have done this almost immediately rather than phoning each individual train, saving himself a lot of time. Also General Broadcasts only seem to go out in the work station area of the incident, wouldn't it be good to also go out in the surrounding work stations to give approaching/delayed trains a heads up?
Regular general broadcasts throughout incidents are incredibly useful as it allows drivers to keep passengers updated.

I appreciate signallers have a tough job and a lot going on during times of disruption. This is in no way a dig at signallers, I just want a better understanding of what is involved.
Thanks

 

[ComUtoR]

Please also could you NOT set it to broadcast every 5 minutes exactly.

Multiple cell area broadcasts can be just as bad tbh because you can get a message well before you need it and well after it. I think they are kinda hit and miss.

I'd be interested to know how general broadcasts are set up and how they can be configured.


I haven't had a birth triggered message yet but they are supposed be be better

 

[MrPIC]

Sometimes you really need them, and other times you hear the same one over and over =/

 

[carriageline]

Because, with all due respect, it's often the last thing we think about. In the first 15/20 mins we are often taking and making 10s of calls. Other trains, platform staff, the 'incident' train ringing up wanting police, ECROs switching the juice off, control asking what's happening/terminating trains short, adjacent boxes being told what's happening. Once that initial 'panic' is over then we can think about things like broadcasts.

The issue is, not many of us have been briefed on how to do them, I've only really learnt by playing with the GSMR terminal myself, which most signallers are reluctant to do.

With broadcasts, first you record what you want to say. Then, you press a button to view how you want it triggered, the default is so you can set it to broadcast over cell areas every X minutes. You can select the areas, and how often it is to be repeated, then off it goes.

Or, you can then press 'signals' which the lists all the signals in the area, and you can select which signal berths you want the message to be played in, and how many minutes/hours you want this to go on for. Generally speaking, once the headcode pops into the berth, you get the message.

I've used berth triggered broadcasts twice now, both for emergency speed indicators and it worked well. I believe the message is repeated so you get it twice, then ST to acknowledge.

In short, not many staff know how to use the general broadcast, simply as not many have been trained, and there is a lack of training GSMR units so people don't get the chance to play.

Generally, I have only used the group broadcast once, and that was when we had a complete loss of signalling and trains were everywhere, but I only did it the once, no repeating. If I needed to update drivers, I would of done another single broadcast.

 

[ComUtoR]

Cheers Sig.

Hugs and kisses o/

 

[carriageline]

Anytime matey! Any questions just fire away

 

[Jala_150]

Thanks, very helpful insight into what you guys do in the box.

 

[carriageline]

Try get a visit up to your local workstation/panel, if you bring biscuits we are a helpful bunch! but seriously, we can always learn a lot from each other, we often don't realise things we do that annoy each other, or we don't see the reason the other party does something that could potentially wind us up.

 

[WestRiding]

Never used the general broadcast. Its too long winded. Its easier and more efficient to call the driver or driver call us, tell driver the problem, and that we will call them when we want to talk to them, otherwise obey the signal. Drivers only need to be told about the same problem once. And, whilst we are pratting about with the GSMR we are not paying attention to the problem, the trains, and the wider panel area where trains might be running as normal. GSMR has turned out to be a right pain, used mostly for drivers pressing 'waiting at signal', where before GSMR most drivers would not have had the same enthusiasm for contacting the box if it were via SPT.

 

[Latecomer]

I didn't realise we were meant to 'ST' to acknowledge a general broadcast, only when stopping in response to a group emergency call?

 

[Sunset route]

We've found that a general broadcast on say an up and down line, if they broadcast at the same time one of them gets deleted. So on multiple lines most of us have given up and just use one to one calls as and when we need to pass on information.

 

[A-driver]

I didn't realise we were meant to 'ST' to acknowledge a general broadcast, only when stopping in response to a group emergency call?

Or, I believe when acknowledging a text message if the GSMR is v3.5 enabled.

 

[ComUtoR]

Never used the general broadcast. Its too long winded. Its easier and more efficient to call the driver or driver call us

In a high density metro area making numerous calls to every unit affected can mean many many calls.

General broadcasts are supposed to help communication to a wide area and used to provide a means of communication without the need to contact Drivers on the move or checking us down to a red. It surely must then be much more efficient for a Signaler to send out a general broadcast rather than waste time contacting numerous units individually. They can then deal with the problem directly.

The CSR days were problematic because, as I understand it, the broadcasts were so poor that it caused calls to the box because we just couldn't understand them or received them in error.

 

[SPADTrap]

I didn't realise we were meant to 'ST' to acknowledge a general broadcast, only when stopping in response to a group emergency call?

You're not. That is a new feature of v3.5 of GSMR and for berth activated messages for stuff like low adhesion or unlit emergency indicators, it's to save you being stopped and cautioned and the ST acknowledgement means you've understood and will comply with the message

 

[carriageline]

Never used the general broadcast. Its too long winded. Its easier and more efficient to call the driver or driver call us, tell driver the problem, and that we will call them when we want to talk to them, otherwise obey the signal. Drivers only need to be told about the same problem once. And, whilst we are pratting about with the GSMR we are not paying attention to the problem, the trains, and the wider panel area where trains might be running as normal. GSMR has turned out to be a right pain, used mostly for drivers pressing 'waiting at signal', where before GSMR most drivers would not have had the same enthusiasm for contacting the box if it were via SPT.

If you think it's long winded, you haven't been trained on it very well. It's a piece of cake!