Vigilance Control Timings?

[PaulMac]

What sort of cycle do British vigilance control systems follow? Ours is dynamic, ranging between 30 and 60 seconds depending on speed. You have 10 seconds to press the button before the brakes lock on.

Is that standard in the UK, too?

 

[Thepinkpig73]

What sort of cycle do British vigilance control systems follow? Ours is dynamic, ranging between 30 and 60 seconds depending on speed. You have 10 seconds to press the button before the brakes lock on.

Is that standard in the UK, too?

It’s usually around 60 seconds from the last time you moved the power or brake controller, acknowledged an AWS warning, or reset vigilance.

 

[Flange Squeal]

You also only have a few seconds to acknowledge it, rather than a casual 10! On the majority of (if not all) modern traction this is done by lifting your foot to release and then back down to reapply a pedal, which doubles as the Driver Safety Device (or so-called Dead Man's Pedal, formerly a handle on some older stock).

 

[PaulMac]

You also only have a few seconds to acknowledge it, rather than a casual 10! On the majority of (if not all) modern traction this is done by lifting your foot to release and then back down to reapply a pedal, which doubles as the Driver Safety Device (or so-called Dead Man's Pedal, formerly a handle on some older stock).

Interesting - thanks.

We just have a button on the console. (Vertically mounted next to the throttle on locomotives.) If you keel over from a stroke running at speed, the train will continue for at least a km before the brakes apply, then another km before stopping.

What sort of sound do they use where you are? We get a beep so shrill it seems to drill through our skulls. It definitely focuses the mind!

 

[Flange Squeal]

Interesting - thanks.

We just have a button on the console. (Vertically mounted next to the throttle on locomotives.) If you keel over from a stroke running at speed, the train will continue for at least a km before the brakes apply, then another km before stopping.

What sort of sound do they use where you are? We get a beep so shrill it seems to drill through our skulls. It definitely focuses the mind!

I drive several different classes and they're all slightly different.

They're all essentially series of beeps though, but some are high pitched and fast, some high pitched and slow, and others less ear piercing.

If you release the pedal for any reason, the vigilance alarm will sound, and you'll get the couple of seconds to replace your foot/swap your feet before the brakes come on. One older class is the exception though - it has the pedal you must keep pressed, but it doesn't have a vigilance system attached to it.

Therefore, you don't have to reset an alarm periodically, but it also means if your foot does slide off/reduces pressure on the very narrow pedal then the first you know about it is when the emergency brake kicks in, and you come up in a heap!

 

[hexagon789]

One older class is the exception though - it has the pedal you must keep pressed, but it doesn't have a vigilance system attached to it.

Quite a few multiple units in service still only have a DSD and no vigilance.

Sprinter classes 150-156, though I believe one TOC (FGW/GWR?) did fit it's 150s with vigilance?

Some older BR-era EMUs - 318s for example.

I think most older diesel locos lack vigilance unless retrofitted.

50s were the first, hence one of their nicknames being - "Blue Bleeps".

 

[tfw756rider]

What sort of cycle do British vigilance control systems follow? Ours is dynamic

Where?

 

[driver9000]

One extra feature we have now is should a Driver fail to respond to the Vigilance (or lets go of the DSD pedal on trains without Vigilance) and the brake applies, after around 30 seconds the GSMR radio "trumpets" alarm will sound to tell you that a DSD alarm will be sent to the Signaller.

If that warning isn't cancelled, the Signaller gets an alert that the Driver might need assistance.

 

[martin2345uk]

Setup on a 373/374 is slightly annoying in that using the controls of the train has no impact, so the DSD ("VACMA" they call it) has to be constantly reset every minute or so throughout the journey no matter what other actions you're taking.

 

[alistairlees]

Ours

Whose?

 

[PaulMac]

I drive several different classes and they're all slightly different. They're all essentially series of beeps though, but some are high pitched and fast, some high pitched and slow, and others less ear piercing. If you release the pedal for any reason, the vigilance alarm will sound and you'll get the couple of seconds to replace your foot/swap your feet before the brakes come on. One older class is the exception though - it has the pedal you must keep pressed, but it doesn't have a vigilance system attached to it. Therefore you don't have to reset an alarm periodically, but it also means if your foot does slide off/reduces pressure on the very narrow pedal then the first you know about it is when the emergency brake kicks in and you come up in a heap!

Wow - that does sound like a handful! It must be a challenge resetting your muscle memory every time you step into a different cab.

Our VC system is ‘task-activated’, meaning that fiddling with controls - though not the brake - resets the countdown. The main issue we have is that on locomotives, all the alarms sound exactly the same. You might get a ground relay or HEP failure, and you’ll be there absently bashing your VC button wondering why it won’t reset.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Dec 2025 ==

One extra feature we have now is should a Driver fail to respond to the Vigilance (or lets go of the DSD pedal on trains without Vigilance) and the brake applies, after around 30 seconds the GSMR radio "trumpets" alarm will sound to tell you that a DSD alarm will be sent to the Signaller. If that warning isn't cancelled the Signaller gets an alert that the Driver might need assistance.

Same here. You get two minutes to cancel a triggered VC before the radio sends transmits an automatic emergency broadcast. At least once a week, somebody will start up a cab and wander off for coffee without securing the brake handle properly, leaving the radio to bleat away over the airwaves.

 

[tfw756rider]

What sort of cycle do British vigilance control systems follow? Ours is dynamic

Where?

Whose?

Exactly...?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Dec 2025 ==

Our VC system is ‘task-activated'

In what country / on what railway, @PaulMac?

 

[XFeed]

It’s usually around 60 seconds from the last time you moved the power or brake controller, acknowledged an AWS warning, or reset vigilance.

Along with the above Class 175 also includes horn operation as a method of extending vigilance timings.