request stops

[jamieintercity]

which stations should become request stops, perhaps under 1000 passengers a year. I think barry links, golf street and balmossie should on the aberdeen to dundee line since they have about 100 passengers a year?

Which stations should become a permanent stop such as burneside and stavenly on the windermere branch just last week.

 

[ainsworth74]

I actually think that some of the tiny stations that have very few passengers and timetabled stops should become request stops, but on more services than are booked to call currently. For example Teesside Airport gets one or two services per week. I'd quite like it if one of the two trains per hour were to get the station added as a request stop rather than just faffing with having just a few trains per week.

 

[mirodo]

which stations should become request stops, perhaps under 1000 passengers a year. I think barry links, golf street and balmossie should on the aberdeen to dundee line since they have about 100 passengers a year?

Which stations should become a permanent stop such as burneside and stavenly on the windermere branch just last week.

I don't understand the reasoning behind making some stations request stops. Recently Pleasington, Huncoat, Hapton and Burnley Barracks on the East Lancashire line have become request only.

The timetable will have to allow for the eventuality of trains stopping or not, so what benefit is achieved? If there's sufficient slack time between stations, the stopping time could be absorbed into this, but I don't think there's much of this on the East Lancs line.

As an aside, what's the most used station which is a request stop?

 

[The Planner]

Depends how the stops are planned, very often they are shown to stop but with no dwell time so the loss is minimal. It obviously goes the other way if the request stop is well used but you would then expect the TOC to put a proper stop in the timetable.

 

[cuccir]

Seascale had 43,590 in 10/11, which made it the busiest request on the Cumbria Coast Line. Aspatria, Dalston, Harrington and Foxfield all had over 20,000.

Under the current timetable, that's around 10 people per train at Seascale which seems a lot for a request stop!

 

[dk1]

Cant see the point nowadays in request stops. For a start we now have to reduce speed to a pathetic 10mph or risk the wrath of a manager doing an OTMR download, & then if its busy the poor conductor has to ascertain that nobody makes themselves known to him. Remember many tickets are of the rover variety & then so many numpties have their headsets on & pay no attention whatsoever.

 

[D2022]

Cant see the point nowadays in request stops. For a start we now have to reduce speed to a pathetic 10mph or risk the wrath of a manager doing an OTMR download, & then if its busy the poor conductor has to ascertain that nobody makes themselves known to him. Remember many tickets are of the rover variety & then so many numpties have their headsets on & pay no attention whatsoever.

Sorry but those who use headphones as an excuse for missing stops need something jammed between their ears. Hopefully a brain. The Wessex has Avoncliff and Freshford, seen one bloke a while back missed Avoncliff due to headphones and then reached for the passcom...

What would be a useful thing is if (to alleviate the speed problem you mentioned) people could arrive say ten mins before their departure time and then press a button to trigger a signal up the line somewhere to alert the driver they want to board. Driver doesn't see a signal, he can proceed at line speed through the station. If your late and don't hit la button in time, tough.

 

[cjp]

Cant see the point nowadays in request stops. For a start we now have to reduce speed to a pathetic 10mph or risk the wrath of a manager doing an OTMR download, & then if its busy the poor conductor has to ascertain that nobody makes themselves known to him. Remember many tickets are of the rover variety & then so many numpties have their headsets on & pay no attention whatsoever.

Whilst there may be time saving from a requst stop surely the biggest incentive ror trains not stopping is the fuel or energy saving from not having to start a train from rest?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

What would be a useful thing is if (to alleviate the speed problem you mentioned) people could arrive say ten mins before their departure time and then press a button to trigger a signal up the line somewhere to alert the driver they want to board. Driver doesn't see a signal, he can proceed at line speed through the station. If your late and don't hit la button in time, tough.

I'm not comfortable with that notion, I think 3-5 minutes is the fair and maximum amount of time that anyone should have to be at a reasonably sized station (certainly an unmanned halt) before their train is due, 10 mins is just far, far too excessive. Further, what if the button breaks or fails to connect, how is the passenger compensated, and how much would it cost to be integrated into signalling systems?

I'm with dk1 here, I can't see the point of them. I've heard guards say that they're a stupid and unnecessary set up too.

 

[D2022]

I'm not comfortable with that notion, I think 3-5 minutes is the fair and maximum amount of time that anyone should have to be at a reasonably sized station (certainly an unmanned halt) before their train is due, 10 mins is just far, far too excessive. Further, what if the button breaks or fails to connect, how is the passenger compensated, and how much would it cost to be integrated into signalling systems?

I'm with dk1 here, I can't see the point of them. I've heard guards say that they're a stupid and unnecessary set up too.

That's a fair enough comment, your probably right lol, ten mins is a bit much. Asar as failure, I guess the only way around that would be failsafe, button fails...train stops.

 

[causton]

Further, what if the button breaks or fails to connect, how is the passenger compensated,

It could be a light that *goes out* when the passenger presses the button... therefore, if no light is displayed, assume the stop is needed :P

 

[Mojo]

Sorry but those who use headphones as an excuse for missing stops need something jammed between their ears. Hopefully a brain. The Wessex has Avoncliff and Freshford, seen one bloke a while back missed Avoncliff due to headphones and then reached for the passcom...

Freshford hasn't been a request stop for quite a while now, and Avoncliff officially lost it's 'request stop' status in May last year.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

It could be a light that *goes out* when the passenger presses the button... therefore, if no light is displayed, assume the stop is needed :P

Not if the light works but the button has broken. It could work but probably not worth the hassle. Might be easier to fit CCTV and have the signal box control the light if anyone is stood there.

As for pax on the trains. No excuses. Works fine on buses afterall but conductors should make a point of checking tickets, particularly rovers and advising travellers of the request stops.

 

[Greenback]

Depends how the stops are planned, very often they are shown to stop but with no dwell time so the loss is minimal. It obviously goes the other way if the request stop is well used but you would then expect the TOC to put a proper stop in the timetable.

I wish that Gowerton would lose its request status, especially in the mornings and evenings. I don't think I've been on a train that didn't stop there since 1993!

One regular traveller is absurdly worried about the train not stopping. He waits by the guards door at Swansea in the evening to make the sure the guard knows he wants to get off at Gowerton!

Cant see the point nowadays in request stops. For a start we now have to reduce speed to a pathetic 10mph or risk the wrath of a manager doing an OTMR download, & then if its busy the poor conductor has to ascertain that nobody makes themselves known to him. Remember many tickets are of the rover variety & then so many numpties have their headsets on & pay no attention whatsoever.

I don't think there is much point to most of them. The only advantage I cans ee, as mentioned at the top of the threa dis that it allows places to have a higher frequency of service than they might otherwise.

I'm not comfortable with that notion, I think 3-5 minutes is the fair and maximum amount of time that anyone should have to be at a reasonably sized station (certainly an unmanned halt) before their train is due, 10 mins is just far, far too excessive. Further, what if the button breaks or fails to connect, how is the passenger compensated, and how much would it cost to be integrated into signalling systems?

I agree. I don't think this idea has been thought through!

I'm with dk1 here, I can't see the point of them. I've heard guards say that they're a stupid and unnecessary set up too.

I tend to agree on the whole. They do seem to cause timing problems as well, particularly along such lines as the Cambrian Coast.

Freshford hasn't been a request stop for quite a while now, and Avoncliff officially lost it's 'request stop' status in May last year.

And quite right too!

 

[6Gman]

From time to time I use Conwy as a request stop. The need for Selective Door Opening heightens the complications!

Alighting passengers have to be shepherded toward the appropriate door. Joining passengers spread along the platform, then all have to head for the single opening door!

Doesn't do a lot for 'dwell time'!

 

[Welshman]

From time to time I use Conwy as a request stop. The need for Selective Door Opening heightens the complications!

Alighting passengers have to be shepherded toward the appropriate door. Joining passengers spread along the platform, then all have to head for the single opening door!

Doesn't do a lot for 'dwell time'!

It gets even more of a hassle if you have a bike with you, and the door to be opened is at the other end of the train to where bikes are conveyed.

 

[Darandio]

From time to time I use Conwy as a request stop. The need for Selective Door Opening heightens the complications!

Alighting passengers have to be shepherded toward the appropriate door. Joining passengers spread along the platform, then all have to head for the single opening door!

Doesn't do a lot for 'dwell time'!

But surely that same situation would occur regardless of whether it was a request stop or not?

 

[6Gman]

But surely that same situation would occur regardless of whether it was a request stop or not?

Indeed - but if, as a request stop, no dwell time is scheduled .......

 

[BestWestern]

Whilst there may be time saving from a request stop surely the biggest incentive for trains not stopping is the fuel or energy saving from not having to start a train from rest?

Any fuel saving is minimal though, as even if the train doesn't stop most Drivers open the taps up pretty swiftly to get back up to linespeed. I very much doubt this would have any bearing on the situation anyhow, as most TOC's are not concerned in the slightest about how much fuel gets used!

I would like to see request stops being phased out, as indeed would most crew in my experience. My TOC has been through a number of different procedures for dealing with them, including some very obscure buzzer codes, but however you do it it's still a pain in the a*se. Indeed some Drivers or Guards will just stop the train regardless.

 

[The Planner]

Any fuel saving is minimal though, as even if the train doesn't stop most Drivers open the taps up pretty swiftly to get back up to linespeed. I very much doubt this would have any bearing on the situation anyhow, as most TOC's are not concerned in the slightest about how much fuel gets used!

They are, very much so as it is a big cost to them. I have heard plenty from planners at various TOCs where their professional driving standards are for economic use of fuel, drivers no longer just open the taps to get to linespeed anymore.

 

[BestWestern]

They are, very much so as it is a big cost to them. I have heard plenty from planners at various TOCs where their professional driving standards are for economic use of fuel, drivers no longer just open the taps to get to linespeed anymore.

Of course it varies from TOC to TOC, but I can assure you it's of little concern 'on the ground' at our place. Units are often fired up in the early hours and run until they are eventually switched off that night, including during layover periods between journeys when there is sometimes ample time to shut down for a while. No apparent instruction has been issued to Drivers to reduce idling despite this being an obvious way of reducing waste fuel, as well as limiting environmental impact. When leaving a unit at the end of an evening for a shunt etc later on, I know of only a small number of Drivers who will bother to shut it down, most will simply take their key out and leave the unit to switch itself off.

What does matter of course is keeping those delay minutes down, and request stops with little or no time built in mean effective use of brakes and power to keep to time.

 

[AndyLandy]

I'm not sure I understand why a request stop is even useful. Surely a train is diagrammed to call at certain stations at specific times. If a request stop has no bearing on those timings, why not simply always call. If it does have bearings, what are they? Does the timetable assume a stop? If so, you might as well call there anyway. If it doesn't, then calling at a request stop counts as a delay to the service. Surely that's not right either.

 

[BestWestern]

I'm not sure I understand why a request stop is even useful. Surely a train is diagrammed to call at certain stations at specific times. If a request stop has no bearing on those timings, why not simply always call. If it does have bearings, what are they? Does the timetable assume a stop? If so, you might as well call there anyway. If it doesn't, then calling at a request stop counts as a delay to the service. Surely that's not right either.

...exactly! :roll:

 

[30907]

I don't understand the reasoning behind making some stations request stops. Recently Pleasington, Huncoat, Hapton and Burnley Barracks on the East Lancashire line have become request only.

The timetable will have to allow for the eventuality of trains stopping or not, so what benefit is achieved? If there's sufficient slack time between stations, the stopping time could be absorbed into this, but I don't think there's much of this on the East Lancs line.

It was supposed to improve punctuality - the odd half-minutes do add up, and all those stations are lightly used at most times (you'd be unlucky to have all the stops made in both directions on a round trip - but there's probably a Northern traincrew member here who will tell me otherwise).

 

[BestWestern]

It was supposed to improve punctuality - the odd half-minutes do add up, and all those stations are lightly used at most times (you'd be unlucky to have all the stops made in both directions on a round trip - but there's probably a Northern traincrew member here who will tell me otherwise).

By doing so though you are automatically making any train which does have to call at every station, late.