Thank you for this very detailed information.
The new MK5A stock has both ASDO and manual SDO options. The full ASDO option allows the doors to be released as normal and the train automatically knows which coaches to open. The manual SDO option requires the guard to go the rearmost coach that fits and use a switch. It is still not known whether the MK5A will be driver release or guard release or ten bell at Chiltern but they will certainly have either ASDO or SDO available to use.
How would that even work with ten bell. Chiltern require ten bell despatch rather than the guard closing the doors themselves. But the buzzer in the saloon on a 168 does not work until all doors are closed and the interlock is achieved. So it would be impossible for the guard to give the close doors signal to the driver from the saloon. The guard can technically close the doors themselves on a 168 by pressing the close button but i thought that Chiltern have never allowed this.
Door Deselect should work fine with Turbostar and Sprinter trains coupled. Central Trains used to use DDS on a 170 coupled with 150/153/156/158 stock fairly often. You just press the DDS button and it only releases the doors in front of you. It worked for both Sprinter leading + Turbostar trailing and Turbostar leading + Sprinter trailing formations. Of course the DDS button only exists on Turbostar stock so you can only select the correct amount of coaches that fit if the Turbostar happens to be the last coach on the platform. South West Trains also used to use the DDS on their 170 units when coupled to 158/159 stock and this was long before their 158/159 had DDS fitted.
Class 444 and Class 450 Desiro were delivered with Selective Door Opening (SDO) from new rather than it being a retrofit, however the type of SDO system has been upgraded.
Class 700's have both Masdo and asdo incase of a failure of the Asdo the driver can do it manually. And in case that does not work we can select the station and platform from a station list.
The system on 158/159s is slightly different in only being available at the cab ends rather in every coach. Hence you get front 6 coaches at Clapham heading towards London on a 9 coach even though coaches 7 & 8 are on the platform.
Ah yes good point. I have always found this so odd. SWR went to the whole effort of fitting brand new door panels and fitting DDS on the 158s and 159s when they were refurbished in the late 2000s but yet only put DDS buttons at the unit ends. If you are going to go to the whole effort of fitting SDO then why not put DDS buttons in every panel like on the Turbostar trains. That would enable any amount of coaches to be released.
There used to be a once-daily HST that would stop and use manual SDO to release the correct doors. There were two different stop marks provided to ensure that the bike van was always platformed, even if the set was reversed.
Worth noting that at some operators of classes 156 and 158 the guard will use the butterfly switches to open additional doors.
Also worth noting that locking a vehicle out of traffic allows classes including 22x and Mk3 coaches to call when the train is too long. Avanti used to lock three vehicles of a double Voyager out before departing Chester or Holyhead if calling at Flint, and Arriva Wales used to lock the rear coach of Manchester-bound loco-hauled trains out of use until after Helsby.
It is only of historic interest now, but the GN class 317s (337-348) did have a very rudimentary form of selective door opening.
Interesting to hear. Never realised the 317s had that. I am presuming that was something that GN or FCC had retrofitted. Especially if it was only those units that had it.
If it was simply a case of the rear 4 coaches being locked out of use until Royston then it will be simpler to Greater Anglia when they ran triple 321s on Braintree trains as the rearmost unit would be locked out of use at Witham. Only available with the 321/4s I recall.
Southern did the same with their 319/455/456 when they ran South of Dorking in longer than four coach formation. For the Southbound trains the guard would join at Dorking and immediately lock out the rear four coaches before the train continued. For the Northbound trains the guard would unlock the rear four coaches upon arrival at Dorking and then leave the train.
It was an FCC retrofit, after the class 317 fleet was split between FCC and One. It was probably done at Hornsey.
I think this was only the original GA class 321/4s, and that the SDO was also used on a few peak hour trains on the Southminster branch.
The Cambridge-Kings Cross trains ran DOO, hence the involvement of the Royston platform staff.
The SWR 450/444 have ASDO automatic selective door opening and the 158/159 have SDO.
ScotRail have never used the door deselect feature on their class 170s, they've always served short platforms by opening one local door.
Maybe something with signal sighting? Similar with 700s at Elephant & Castle & the 717s at a couple of stations.
That's odd, because Chiltern told the press that their Mark 3 stock cannot selectively open doors!
www.banburyguardian.co.uk
I can see a couple of possibilities:
That's odd, because Chiltern told the press that their Mark 3 stock cannot selectively open doors!
I wonder if the system has gone unused and untested for so long, and whether staff are not trained to use it?
Modern trains 'can't open coach doors separately' - angry Banburyshire village commuters told
Frustrated residents of a Banbury area village have been told modern trains cannot open coach doors separately and they will have to accept the loss of their commuter train.
That is rather odd. Chiltern MK3s were specifically fitted with manual SDO at the same time they got converted from slam doors to power doors. They never had any SDO before being converted from slam door to power door. It works in that the guard goes to the rearmost coach that fits on the platform and then presses the "Door Deselect" button when releasing the doors. Same method as some other operators power door MK3s and Turbostars have.
I stand corrected. I was under the impression they had a similar setup to HSTs before the power door retrofit.
That would seem like such a ridiculous reason if that is indeed why. Activating the SDO takes the same time as releasing the doors normally. All the guard does is press one extra button when releasing the doors. Surely the guard could despatch from the fifth coach at Banbury which ensures that they are already in the right position for the Kings Sutton call. Even if they do despatch from another carriage then surely four to five minutes from Banbury to Kings Sutton is enough time to walk through the train to the fifth coach. It seems so ridiculous.
Why would dwell times be increased? Are Chiltern guards not capable of walking through the train before it arrives at the stop, as they do at other operators?
But extending the platforms by 23m would be more expensive than building HS2 phase 2 knowing how railway costs have gone out of control.
I've been assured that one door should/can be opened on the rear coach if it is the wheelchair ♿ area in their SDO, it is a bit more sensible than the 222 arrangement, especially if more than one chair user traveling.