Plumpton NB P1 incorrect SDO amount of carriages.

[stadler]

Why do only the front 7 coaches get released at the NB P1 at Plumpton railway station?

P1 fits an entire 8 coaches. It is not even tight. The full 8 coaches fit and you still have a bit of extra space. They could easily release the front 8 coaches. But this has been going on for over a decade.

P2 does indeed fit the front 7 coaches only. This is due to the signal placement. So in the opposite direction they have programmed it correctly.

Both the 377s and 387s are perfectly capable of doing different SDO lengths on different platforms. Off the top of my head i can think of at least six stations on the Southern network where this happens. I will give you two examples. Balcombe releases front 12 on NB P1 or front 8 on SB P2. Cooksbridge releases front 8 on NB P1 or front 6 on SB P2. So there are no technical limitations preventing this.

I have complained about this to Southern a couple of times over the years but nothing gets sorted. You just get the usual copy and paste reply from Teleperformance who they outsource their customer service to. It is very annoying (and must be even more annoying for Plumpton locals) to have a carriage that fully fits but yet you can not board or alight.

I am just curious if there is any reason why they can not open the front eight or is this just simply a case or incompetence and they just incorrectly programmed the wrong length?

 

[Supercoss]

The National electronic sectional appendix shows

platform 1 as accepting 8 cars at 167.3 metres
platform 2 also accepting 8 car at 155.8 metres

at the front of train location how far is ‘car stop’ sign from end of platform?

 

[Tester]

Talking of Plumpton.....

A single page of one issue of the SR timetable in the late 60s/early 70s (and I can't remember which) had the two stations between Wivelsfield and Lewes as Clumpton and Pooksbridge

 

[HamworthyGoods]

Why do only the front 7 coaches get released at the NB P1 at Plumpton railway station?

P1 fits an entire 8 coaches. It is not even tight. The full 8 coaches fit and you still have a bit of extra space. They could easily release the front 8 coaches. But this has been going on for over a decade.

P2 does indeed fit the front 7 coaches only. This is due to the signal placement. So in the opposite direction they have programmed it correctly.

Both the 377s and 387s are perfectly capable of doing different SDO lengths on different platforms. Off the top of my head i can think of at least six stations on the Southern network where this happens. I will give you two examples. Balcombe releases front 12 on NB P1 or front 8 on SB P2. Cooksbridge releases front 8 on NB P1 or front 6 on SB P2. So there are no technical limitations preventing this.

I have complained about this to Southern a couple of times over the years but nothing gets sorted. You just get the usual copy and paste reply from Teleperformance who they outsource their customer service to. It is very annoying (and must be even more annoying for Plumpton locals) to have a carriage that fully fits but yet you can not board or alight.

I am just curious if there is any reason why they can not open the front eight or is this just simply a case or incompetence and they just incorrectly programmed the wrong length?

Is this actually causing a problem for anyone?

Passengers advised to travel in the front 7 coaches and the doors on the front 7 coaches open. Doesn’t sound a huge issue.

 

[alf]

It does cause a problem if you are deaf or old or don’t speak English. Or if you can’t easily discover which coach you are in.
If the platform can accommodate 8 coaches safely it should.

 

[zwk500]

Is this actually causing a problem for anyone?

Passengers advised to travel in the front 7 coaches and the doors on the front 7 coaches open. Doesn’t sound a huge issue.

Probably not, especially as most rail passengers using Plumpton Platform 1 will be boarding there. The bigger issue at Plumpton is why they don't bother renovating the former race specials platform and letting the rear of a 12-car train pull clear of the Level Crossing before opening it's doors.

 

[dastocks]

There may be some safety/operational benefit in using the SDO to prevent attempted late boarding at the car closest to the platform entrance?

 

[Tunnel Bore]

Why do only the front 7 coaches get released at the NB P1 at Plumpton railway station?

P1 fits an entire 8 coaches. It is not even tight. The full 8 coaches fit and you still have a bit of extra space. They could easily release the front 8 coaches. But this has been going on for over a decade.

P2 does indeed fit the front 7 coaches only. This is due to the signal placement. So in the opposite direction they have programmed it correctly.

Both the 377s and 387s are perfectly capable of doing different SDO lengths on different platforms. Off the top of my head i can think of at least six stations on the Southern network where this happens. I will give you two examples. Balcombe releases front 12 on NB P1 or front 8 on SB P2. Cooksbridge releases front 8 on NB P1 or front 6 on SB P2. So there are no technical limitations preventing this.

I have complained about this to Southern a couple of times over the years but nothing gets sorted. You just get the usual copy and paste reply from Teleperformance who they outsource their customer service to. It is very annoying (and must be even more annoying for Plumpton locals) to have a carriage that fully fits but yet you can not board or alight.

I am just curious if there is any reason why they can not open the front eight or is this just simply a case or incompetence and they just incorrectly programmed the wrong length?

When £77s and SDO were first introduced at Balcombe both platforms were restricted to 8 coach since the location was not being accurately enough picked to resolve the difference (and both platforms are reversible). IT took several months to get resolved, I think with the use of GPS repeaters or beacons. Perhaps Plumpton never had this done.

 

[izvor]

I think the same thing happens at Westenhanger, where the down platform is longer than the up but only the front 5(?) open on both. Passengers standing by the exit sometimes have to be called a fair way down the platform to the open doors by the guard.