GWR messing up on their delay announcements

[jamieh27]

So today at Truro I was catching the 13:15 to Falmouth Docks but the CIS and announcements showed they were delayed by 23 minutes for unknown reason. Then at 13:12 the train arrived from Falmouth Docks on time!

Another example of GWR messing the announcements up is sometimes coach formation when Anne/Rodger says "This train has 15 coaches." on a 10 car iET train.

Typical GWR.

 

[Intercity110]

The delay thing could be that it made the time up on the way, couldn’t it?

 

[jamieh27]

I don't know it said delayed by 23 minutes which would have been around Penryn at the time but very strange how it was late when there was a train to Falmouth docks due to leave at 12:45 that left on time.

 

[74A]

What can happen is a train is not recorded as passing a timing point. The system will then assume the train must be late and advertise it as such.

When it passes the next timing point it will then show as running on time.

 

[FuzzyDuck]

The incoming service (2T77) left Falmouth Docks on time and arrived Truro on time, no intermediate timings on RTT but I'd find it hard to believe they were at some point 23 minutes behind schedule and then made up the time, on a journey that takes less than 30 minutes.

 

[jimm]

So the Network Rail signalling/train reporting arrangements that drive the screens and automated announcements messing up, not GWR.

The departure boards on platform 4 at Oxford can often get very confused, with the combination of GWR, XC and freight trains coming up from Didcot causing a stream of correction messages and reordering of services at times.

In the past it was understandable, as the interface between the old Oxford panel box and Didcot signalling centre was not the best, but the problem seems to have survived the transition to the digital age.

 

[Master29]

The delay thing could be that it made the time up on the way, couldn’t it?

Quite how a Falmouth to Truro train can possibly make up 23 minutes is well beyond miraculous. The entire journey time is less than that.

 

[AlterEgo]

So today at Truro I was catching the 13:15 to Falmouth Docks but the CIS and announcements showed they were delayed by 23 minutes for unknown reason. Then at 13:12 the train arrived from Falmouth Docks on time!

Another example of GWR messing the announcements up is sometimes coach formation when Anne/Rodger says "This train has 15 coaches." on a 10 car iET train.

Typical GWR.

It’s likely to be a missed timing point. Not specific to GWR, it does happen occasionally.

 

[Spartacus]

The Falmouth Docks trains don't auto report anywhere, all the times are input manually, so if the departure of the train from Falmouth Docks isn't entered, or any intermediate times, and there's an association with it's next working the system will assume, perhaps not unreasonably, that it hasn't left Falmouth Docks yet and will result in a late start back from Truro.

Just looking yesterday and I don't know who inputs the times for there but it seems there were a few spurious ones entered.... Must have done well to do 88mph on there

Realtime Trains | 2F68 0743 Truro to Falmouth Docks | 30/03/2023

Real-time train running information for 2F68 0743 departure from Truro to Falmouth Docks on 30/03/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[Intercity110]

Quite how a Falmouth to Truro train can possibly make up 23 minutes is well beyond miraculous. The entire journey time is less than that.

I apologise, i’m not familliar with the GWR.

 

[jamieh27]

23 minuites is the whole journey time from Falmouth Docks to Truro and vice versa including a 5 minuite wait on the incoming train from Truro to Falmouth arriving on the passing loop.

 

[Master29]

I apologise, i’m not familliar with the GWR.

No worries. Normally you'd be right in that though, especially on the longer distance routes.

 

[Falcon1200]

The departure boards on platform 4 at Oxford can often get very confused, with the combination of GWR, XC and freight trains coming up from Didcot causing a stream of correction messages and reordering of services at times.

The most common issue I've heard at Oxford is the announcement, when a train leaves the carriage sidings to form a service from Platform 3, is 'the next train does not stop here, please stand clear!

 

[Jrocks]

The most common issue I've heard at Oxford is the announcement, when a train leaves the carriage sidings to form a service from Platform 3, is 'the next train does not stop here, please stand clear!

That happens at a lot of stations not just Oxford! It's to do with what headcode the train coming into the platform currently has - if it's not the headcode of the train that is on the system then it automatically triggers the fast train announcement. E.g the train coming in from the sidings would have a 5A99 headcode but the system is looking for 1A99, therefore triggers a fast train announcement.

 

[Falcon1200]

E.g the train coming in from the sidings would have a 5A99 headcode but the system is looking for 1A99, therefore triggers a fast train announcement.

I know and agree, of course, but one would think there would be a means of amending or indeed deleting such announcements.

 

[Joey Beauchamp]

I had an interesting chat yesterday with a member of staff at Northampton. Apparently they cannot override the automatic announcements - even if they stop one, it just keeps trying to play again and again. He was very frustrated about this and said to make a complaint because staff weren't being listened to

The situation was ludicrous - they decided to terminate a train from Euston that was short formed and send it back the way it came and do the same with the train from Birmingham New Street. So the 16.40 to Birmingham was showing as arriving and departing from platform 4, which defies the laws of physics as it's a bay platform! The train from Birmingham was late, which didn't help. The existing passengers and the onboard supervisors on both trains had no idea their service was terminating!

Meanwhile, the automatic announcements were making ludicrous statements such as telling everyone the train was now boarding when it hadn't even arrived yet.

 

[Horizon22]

That happens at a lot of stations not just Oxford! It's to do with what headcode the train coming into the platform currently has - if it's not the headcode of the train that is on the system then it automatically triggers the fast train announcement. E.g the train coming in from the sidings would have a 5A99 headcode but the system is looking for 1A99, therefore triggers a fast train announcement.

This would suggests the associations between trains aren't working correctly in the CIS (between the ECS moves and the passenger service) which ultimately stems from it being a train planning issue when the timetable is uploaded overnight.