Using the SOS Alarm when overcarried?

[Horizon22]

Do Avanti's by any chance use Darwin? They do usually show the reason for delays.

If it is showing the reason, then yes probably.

 

[Travelmonkey]

I know I would likey need to pascom in a impromptu run fast situation. Although using the "call for aid" in either the wheelchair area or toilet. If it's pre announced that it will be fast I can get appropriate assistance arranged. It has been known for some stations to be skipped on accident Mersyrail have big signs at many stations to remind their drivers.

 

[TrenHotel]

This thread has reminded me that a couple of weeks ago, I was on a Windrush Line train that the platform displays at Canada Water said was going to West Croydon, but the on-train displays and announcements said was going to Clapham Junction.

The platform displays were correct - I decided not to take any chances and got off at Surrey Quays - but a lot of people on the train would have been caught out…

 

[SAPhil]

Be interesting to know how many people were over carried, and how many had headphones/earphones in.

Sometimes on Thameslink announcements are made but are so quiet that they cannot be heard! Out of interest, are drivers given training in using the public announcement systems?

 

[jon0844]

In the case of Thameslink, I've been on a few "fast" runs on purpose; usually what will happen is that the platform screens will show the cancelled calls as such with a line through them - but of course only from the time the decision has been made to cancel the stops and run fast. On board, there is usually a verbal announcement at the stations leading up to the fast run, but I don't think I have ever seen the internal screens changed - they often usually still announce each station as we charge straight through it.

My suspicion is that this is what happened here - most people missed the on board announcement and had boarded at a station prior to teh decision being made to skip some stops?

700s can have stations removed from the onboard displays but stations can't be added. A stop order can cause confusion as you'll see it say the next stop as the booked one, not the station it actually stops at - so people can alight at the wrong place.

I hope once they can be managed online, control will be able to correctly modify the stopping pattern remotely and, hopefully, be able to add further messaging to explain.

 

[Belperpete]

I hope once they can be managed online, control will be able to correctly modify the stopping pattern remotely and, hopefully, be able to add further messaging to explain.

Assuming that Control doesn't have anything else to occupy their time.

 

[Horizon22]

Assuming that Control doesn't have anything else to occupy their time.

If the PIS is linked to Darwin, it wouldn't need to require any additional action necessarily as the amendment made would filter into the other connected systems.

How that actually appears physically on the train is down to how the UI is setup on the varying on-board systems that each company / type of stock uses.

 

[jon0844]

Assuming that Control doesn't have anything else to occupy their time.

When there are incidents they are the ones that can check the occupancy of the train, if there are any assists on board, if the toilets are working and the temperature of each coach.

All of this allows them to make decisions for things like prioritising a rescue of a broken down train or trains stranded because of an incident.

Providing accurate info on the screens is another way to reduce incidents (like people being over carried) so I'm sure they will be okay with doing it. Or should be!

 

[Chrius56000]

. . .How did B.R. cope with this?

. . .To quote an example, in the 1970s and 1980s B.R. Table 47 (E.C.M.L. local services Edinburgh –Newcastle) had about six to eight trains per day with an assorted motley (and different!) pattern of skip–stopping from one train to the next, I don't think any train in that timetable called at every local station still left open on the route in either direction, and even a journey between two adjacent stations was rarely possible without going to the next station the train did call at, and waiting what could be two hours (or more!) for a train back to where you originally wanted!

. . .Looking at the way the timetable was printed you got the impression of a patchwork quilt with different patchwork each timetable revision!

. . .How did the drivers of these semi–fast services remember which station to call at?

 

[Belperpete]

When there are incidents they are the ones that can check the occupancy of the train, if there are any assists on board, if the toilets are working and the temperature of each coach.

All of this allows them to make decisions for things like prioritising a rescue of a broken down train or trains stranded because of an incident.

Providing accurate info on the screens is another way to reduce incidents (like people being over carried) so I'm sure they will be okay with doing it. Or should be!

I just hope that the passengers on other trains that the Control isn't dealing with because of the extra messaging info he is having to enter, are equally okay with it.

 

[blimmo]

I just hope that the passengers on other trains that the Control isn't dealing with because of the extra messaging info he is having to enter, are equally okay with it.

Hire more control staff then? Having the onboard PIS display accurate information isn't optional.

 

[Horizon22]

I just hope that the passengers on other trains that the Control isn't dealing with because of the extra messaging info he is having to enter, are equally okay with it.

Hire more control staff then? Having the onboard PIS display accurate information isn't optional.

As I said above, linking the PIS to Darwin would not require any extra input because it would be the same process - which is fairly straight forward - that controllers currently already undergo to alter the CIS on stations, journey planners, apps etc.

 

[jon0844]

As I said above, linking the PIS to Darwin would not require any extra input because it would be the same process - which is fairly straight forward - that controllers currently already undergo to alter the CIS on stations, journey planners, apps etc.

Exactly.

The only thing to note is that there will still be the need for paperwork to be issued, so there is the matter of control amending the PIS before the driver has accepted that paperwork.

I'm sure that can dealt with and perhaps in the future special stop orders and not to call orders might be done electronically also.

 

[Belperpete]

As I said above, linking the PIS to Darwin would not require any extra input because it would be the same process - which is fairly straight forward - that controllers currently already undergo to alter the CIS on stations, journey planners, apps etc.

But would that include the extra explanatory information that jon0844 also wanted?

 

[jamiearmley]

RTT doesn’t show missed stops. The “Not Stopping” is added after-the-fact when a train goes through a booked station without stopping. It shows regardless of whether it was Cancelled on other data sources so you can’t tell if there’s an accidental skip by looking at RTT.

It's not always entirely accurate either. I've worked trains which have followed the correct booked calling pattern and stopped at all stations, And later checked real time trains to see that some stations were shown as "not stopping" when we had in fact stopped as normal.
Like any information source, I guess it has its limitations.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Jan 2026 ==

The internal displays should be fed from Darwin. The Northern 195 PIS can do this and make announcements/display messages advising of the altered calling pattern and the reason. It's very quick - I've seen the screens update before the guard has even had a phone call from Control.

And when it works it works very well indeed.

However, reliability is poor - oftentimes there is no data connection, or some other software bug which means that the system won't play ball. Just look at the number of units running around with " check station displays " as the destination on the front .

The on train interface to adjust the calling pattern manually is unresponsive and time consuming to interact with, often with little success, - And also requires that the initial calling pattern was able to be activated successfully In order to be adjusted.

As other posters have mentioned, this would be the point where manual announcements are massively important - and where so often the industry lets itself down with inaudible or non-existent manual announcement intervention.

 

[bahnause]

As other posters have mentioned, this would be the point where manual announcements are massively important - and where so often the industry lets itself down with inaudible or non-existent manual announcement intervention.

Manual announcements without visual information are no longer good enough in this day and age. Contradictory information is even less so. Developing and implementing consistent and reliable solutions requires a great deal of technical effort. But it's worth the price if it all works in the end. It has already saved me a lot of effort and significantly improved customer information. Basically, all you need to do today is enter the first number when the train is first put into service. All other services for the day are then known to the vehicle and any adjustments are transmitted without any further action on the part of the train driver.