Trivia: the railway's most bizarre box-ticking exercises

[py_megapixel]

"White elephant"?

Well it wouldn't have been if they'd carried out the whole project, rather than just building a fancy bridge only accessible from an already congested line.

 

[yoyothehobo]

I saw on a geoff marshall video yesterday when he was doing some request stops that he was at a request stop station (Locheilside i think) on the "Mallaig Extension Line" which had a shelter (standard semi enclosed bus shelter job) with an out "Out of Use - Covid 19" poster on it. Considering you are very unlikely to be sharing the platform with anyone else, and in that part of Scotland if a shelter is required due to inclement weather, i think I will take my chances with the Virus rather than a nice cheery bout of Hypothermia.

 

[Howardh]

I'll declare an interest in that Avanti's pride logo covering (at least?) one of their trains is supposedly aimed at GLBT folks like myself. What a pointless, and expensive, box-ticking exercise it is. Whilst the thought is appreciated, the over-the-top result isn't. It's frankly embarrassing!!

 

[SuspectUsual]

That’s not really box ticking is it, though? There’s plenty of other words that could be used.

Political box ticking

 

[Mojo]

Step-Free platforms at stations with no Step-Free access to get to the platforms from the entrance?

On a similar note, the number of stations where lift access is provided under a scheme such as access for all, or other local equivalent, but which is already accessible for all or most of the day, whilst other stations that installing lifts in but would be more challenging are ignored.

I'm thinking about locations such as those which are staffed all day but formerly had a barrow crossing, or those where funding is provided to make a number of stations all in the same vicinity step-free, when there are other locations which are inaccessible. It's almost as if they want to say they have delivered x number of projects or stations.

 

[AM9]

It was a brand name (specifically Intercity 225) used by BR to describe a rake of Mk4s hauled by a Class 91 locomotive.

Thanks for that. I would have recognised it if it was describes as an 'IC225', which was also used to refer to the brand of the ECML electrics, but as there was no mention of which route, I was wondering whether it might be a typo for a class 220, 221 or 222.

 

[Ianno87]

I saw on a geoff marshall video yesterday when he was doing some request stops that he was at a request stop station (Locheilside i think) on the "Mallaig Extension Line" which had a shelter (standard semi enclosed bus shelter job) with an out "Out of Use - Covid 19" poster on it. Considering you are very unlikely to be sharing the platform with anyone else, and in that part of Scotland if a shelter is required due to inclement weather, i think I will take my chances with the Virus rather than a nice cheery bout of Hypothermia.

Bizarrely, Locheilside was covered in the signage but Lochailort wasn't!

 

[father_jack]

A few years back all First Group staff (including buses) were briefed at length and were given a book called "IPP" Injury Protection Programme. Every time you saw something unsafe or had a "safety conversation" you had to write it in this book and then the managers had to put them all into a database. They were two part carbon paper slips. A bus driver could give a slip to a train guard !!! Seemed to go away without trace before long......

 

[Dr Hoo]

Selling a ticket and punching a hole/stamping it has always seemed a bit desperate to me, unlikely it would get used again.

You've obviously never worked in revenue protection, e.g. on a ticket barrier, and seen the same chancers flashing their surrogate season ticket day after day.

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

Announcements on Crossrail 345s about wearing a muzzle and that those failing to comply could be fined or denied access to the network. Erm, I hearing this on the train so the latter threat isn’t going to happen as I already have access.

 

[43096]

A few years back all First Group staff (including buses) were briefed at length and were given a book called "IPP" Injury Protection Programme. Every time you saw something unsafe or had a "safety conversation" you had to write it in this book and then the managers had to put them all into a database. They were two part carbon paper slips. A bus driver could give a slip to a train guard !!! Seemed to go away without trace before long......

Presumably back in Moir Lockhead’s days when they went from one extreme (running trains with no AWS or ATP) to the other. Moir himself apparently refused to use any train driven by a driver who had had a SPAD, conveniently ignoring that probably every one of his bus drivers would have had a SPAD.

 

[delt1c]

On a train in Germany
The doors are locked and the train moves off, then comes an announcement, 'this train is going to soandso'
It would be much better to make the announcement before departure in case anyone was on the wrong train

If you think that is bad, in 2003 I had to go to Cardiff on business, On arrival from London at Cardiff Central my train was late and left me a rush for the Ty Glas train , not knowing which platform the announcer then announced the train in Welsh, finally announcing it in English with the platform by which time the train had departed even though it had departed before the announcement was finished.

 

[aliceh]

Operating infrequent "parliamentary" services would seem to be an obvious example.

And the resulting consultations on closure for stations which haven't seen a train in years by that point (Norton Bridge and Newhaven Marine come to mind)

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

On one cross-country train all the toilets were faulty
The train manager gave passengers vouchers to make up for the inconvenience

Vouchers for drinks

 

[stj]

Doors of different colour to the rest of the train,no use if you are blind.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Doors of different colour to the rest of the train,no use if you are blind.

Thats, er, interesting logic. If a feature can’t be of use to a small subset of the population, there’s no point having it at all?

And the reason the doors are different colours is actually to help the visually impaired. Not all visually impaired people are blind

 

[2L70]

A few years back all First Group staff (including buses) were briefed at length and were given a book called "IPP" Injury Protection Programme. Every time you saw something unsafe or had a "safety conversation" you had to write it in this book and then the managers had to put them all into a database. They were two part carbon paper slips. A bus driver could give a slip to a train guard !!! Seemed to go away without trace before long......

Came in a plastic bag with a Lanyard, good way of spotting a manager or managers lackey.

 

[tiptoptaff]

If you think that is bad, in 2003 I had to go to Cardiff on business, On arrival from London at Cardiff Central my train was late and left me a rush for the Ty Glas train , not knowing which platform the announcer then announced the train in Welsh, finally announcing it in English with the platform by which time the train had departed even though it had departed before the announcement was finished.

It's still a problem now. Newport got theirs swapped in 2010 for the Ryder Cup and never swapped it back. It's so much easier. Never going to change now either, the WG is insistent on Welsh first for everything. Going to the trouble to change all station sinage from English being prominant - makes sense as English is the majority language and especially somewhere like Cardiff that sees a lot of foreign travellers who can just about manage the English, let alone the Welsh - to being smaller, hidden and almost the same colour as the background so it's impossible to read from a distance in a hurry.

 

[swt_passenger]

By a box-ticking exercise, I mean something which has no or little purpose, or otherwise creates some kind of oddity, for the reason of fulfilling a formal requirement or following a policy.

An example would be the addition of extra fold down seats in vestibules, which block the doors when unfolded. Since they are often of little use to passengers, and only there to bring the seat count of rolling stock in line with a franchise commitment or contractual obligation.

Any others?

Flip down seats in vestibules were around well before privatisation and franchise commitments, I think you’re sort of clutching at a straw there...

 

[jfowkes]

Isn't the Ordsall Chord, like step-free platforms, a means to an end? Both are improvements but not the whole story?

 

[6Gman]

By a box-ticking exercise, I mean something which has no or little purpose, or otherwise creates some kind of oddity, for the reason of fulfilling a formal requirement or following a policy.

An example would be the addition of extra fold down seats in vestibules, which block the doors when unfolded. Since they are often of little use to passengers, and only there to bring the seat count of rolling stock in line with a franchise commitment or contractual obligation.

Any others?

I'm always surprised by how many people choose to use those seats even when more comfortable seats are available. Possibly something to do with being with their luggage by the door ?

I find them bloody uncomfortable!

 

[tbtc]

I think that some posters have got a bit confused about "box ticking"... turning this thread into a general list of dislikes (including imperfections, positive steps that don't resolve every single problem and personal preferences)... a lot of the railway can get caught up in apparent box-ticking exercises, from the feasibility studies that ask the same questions every time they are done to the seemingly unnecessary warnings (which are maybe valid the first time but get repeated so often...)

As an outsider it feels like some of the "safety" requirements are a bit "box ticking", e.g.needing refresher training to keep your route maintenance up to date when it's a relatively short stretch of track involved, or needing separate training on stock very similar but not identical, but I appreciate that for those at the coal face these seemingly minor things can make a huge difference

The whole "parliamentary" sham seems very box-ticking - there's no requirement for every single siding/ loop/ platform to see a weekly train service, yet there are some fairly small sections of line that do require this - never understood where the line is drawn on such matters (e.g. if a freight branch doesn't see a train in a week then it doesn't close down, but passenger lines do require that level of service)

I'll declare an interest in that Avanti's pride logo covering (at least?) one of their trains is supposedly aimed at GLBT folks like myself. What a pointless, and expensive, box-ticking exercise it is. Whilst the thought is appreciated, the over-the-top result isn't. It's frankly embarrassing!!

If you think that is bad, in 2003 I had to go to Cardiff on business, On arrival from London at Cardiff Central my train was late and left me a rush for the Ty Glas train , not knowing which platform the announcer then announced the train in Welsh, finally announcing it in English with the platform by which time the train had departed even though it had departed before the announcement was finished.

On a similarly "well intentioned, but..." note, I'll mention the Gaelic signage in central belt Scotland (fine on the West Highland Line, but a bit OTT in places like Fife!)

 

[sem34090]

I must confess that following my move to Wales I'm already getting mildly annoyed about having to wait for the Welsh announcement to finish before hearing the English, but then again up this way Welsh seems to be relatively common.

I suppose the real answer is that I ought to learn the language!

 

[reb0118]

.......[T]he Gaelic signage......a bit OTT in places like Fife!)

Do you mean Fiobh?

 

[Intermodal]

Always waiting for the signal to clear before moving.

 

[Taunton]

See It Say It Sorted announcements.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'm always surprised by how many people choose to use those seats even when more comfortable seats are available. Possibly something to do with being with their luggage by the door ?

I find them bloody uncomfortable!

Privacy, I suspect, they are generally single seats.

 

[scosutsut]

On a similarly "well intentioned, but..." note, I'll mention the Gaelic signage in central belt Scotland (fine on the West Highland Line, but a bit OTT in places like Fife!)

Strictly speaking putting the 8th most spoken language* in Scotland all over the place is actually not the railways fault. It's very much political.

We should all be grateful that saltire face paint wasn't made mandatory for staff, and that the whistle to depart was not replaced by the waving of a claymore and the shout of "freeeeeedom"

(* - source: 2011 Scottish Government census: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjAAegQIARAB&usg=AOvVaw0PhdtbF8foodXJ_K5-_5Do)

 

[mrcheek]

I'm always surprised by how many people choose to use those seats even when more comfortable seats are available. Possibly something to do with being with their luggage by the door ?

I find them bloody uncomfortable!

On some peak time services, where there will always be people standing, its quite common for some people to immediately head for the tip up seats, or to stand in the vestibule, even when better seats are available, so that those better seats can be taken by someone who needs them.

 

[tiptoptaff]

Strictly speaking putting the 8th most spoken language* in Scotland all over the place is actually not the railways fault. It's very much political.

We should all be grateful that saltire face paint wasn't made mandatory for staff, and that the whistle to depart was not replaced by the waving of a claymore and the shout of "freeeeeedom"

(* - source: 2011 Scottish Government census: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjAAegQIARAB&usg=AOvVaw0PhdtbF8foodXJ_K5-_5Do)

Very much the same with Welsh everywhere in Wales. Political box ticking rather than railway, but box ticking all the same!