Redundant EMU's

[HSTEd]

This is where I jump in and propose a crash third rail electrification scheme to use up dual voltage units and thus allow shuffling to avoid early scrapping!

Like Exeter or the Chiltern system

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Which Electrostar classes (and subclasses) can the 379s work with in service without any modification (ignoring the fact that some Electrostar variants don't have corridor connections at the ends)?

 

[Domh245]

None, they'll all have different software.

 

[bramling]

This is where I jump in and propose a crash third rail electrification scheme to use up dual voltage units and thus allow shuffling to avoid early scrapping!

Like Exeter or the Chiltern system

No way either of those would be done on DC. The best, or perhaps least worst, chance I would imagine is something like Uckfield or North Downs.

 

[D365]

Exactly what I would say - no way is a safety case going to be invented on those grounds.

 

[Dixie]

None, they'll all have different software.

Can't they be upgraded with newer software, or are the on board computers(?) of older stock unsuitable for the later software?

 

[westcoaster]

Can't they be upgraded with newer software, or are the on board computers(?) of older stock unsuitable for the later software?

They tend to use what is most stable some are windows xp, but newer units are different.

 

[D365]

I believe Windows 98 on the pre-379 Electrostars, Linux after that.

It's not quite as simple as a software update on your home computer.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

I believe Windows 98 on the pre-379 Electrostars, Linux after that.

It's not quite as simple as a software update on your home computer.

Why wouldn't it surprise me if there were to be some older units or locos running either Windows 95 or Windows 3.1?

 

[D365]

Why wouldn't it surprise me if there were to be some older units or locos running either Windows 95 or Windows 3.1?

TMSs only became mainstream in post-privatisation units. But I remember hearing that the Desiro UK units run a variant of Windows 3, and the Voyagers run some sort of Windows CE.

But again, software upgrades are not a case of 'plug and play'.

 

[Roast Veg]

3.1 and CE are better choices for TMS systems than 95/98/XP in my view.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Wish I'd voted in Labour they wouldn't have cancelled all of the elctrification schemes if anything they would have expanded on electrification and put the railways back into public ownership.

Labour's plans for the railways were/are about as well-thought-through as the Tories' Brexit plans.
Faced with mega-overspend and under-delivery from (publicly-owned) Network Rail, Labour would have done little different.
Whether the TOCs are in public or private hands makes little difference.

 

[D365]

Whether the TOCs are in public or private hands makes little difference.

However it was the lack of any significant investment following the privatisation process that can be attributed to the troubles that Network Rail are now having - among various other factors.

 

[D365]

3.1 and CE are better choices for TMS systems than 95/98/XP in my view.

Linux is better yet

 

[Roast Veg]

Linux is better yet

Oh absolutely, and the tidbits that I hear about TMS-es on this forum lead me to believe that some manufacturers agree.

 

[gsnedders]

Oh absolutely, and the tidbits that I hear about TMS-es on this forum lead me to believe that some manufacturers agree.

So my understanding was the TMS controlled various bits of the train system, including various safety-critical parts. I'm surprised they're not practically bound to use a RTOS for that? Is power/brakes done through some separate means?

 

[Roast Veg]

Disclaimer: the following contains a fair dose of speculation.

The TMS is really a human computer interface between the driver/fitter/tester and the "real" electronics under the hood, which are almost certainly all ASICs designed to guarantee that operation occurs within safe bounds to a greater degree than an RTOS would. The power/brake handle is wired up to these circuits directly, which operate using the parameters the TMS has set previously.

The only difference between new stock and slightly older stock is that the TMS replaces the classical banks of switches, dials, and buttons and that the ASICs replace the larger PCBs. Older stock still used relays.