Which other stations do those who dispatch at East Croydon Station dispatch from?

[Whiggism]

Hi all I was wondering which other stations East Croydon dispatchers dispatch from

 

[Horizon22]

Hi all I was wondering which other stations East Croydon dispatchers dispatch from

Probably just East Croydon, although some staff might be "area grades" that do others nearby, although the majority of stations are DOO now (except maybe Purley?) Platform dispatchers have to be locally qualified, so they can't be trained everywhere.

It would see a bit of a stretch if they did Victoria or London Bridge also.

 

[phantomphish]

Hello,

Resident Southern staff at East Croydon generally only hold dispatch competency for that location - it is one of the most complex dispatch plans imaginable to remember due to the curves and varying train lengths along with such a high intensity service frequency. Also, some of the East Croydon team actually do agency work for Ontrak and at least some of them have either Purley, Clapham Junction, or Gatwick Airport on their licenses as well - the numbers change from time to time as people come and go, either leaving the role or becoming resident Southern staff.

There are also dispatch staff down the East Grinstead line at Oxted, Hurst Green, and East Grinstead itself, and a small number of relief staff who cover all those locations, but those reliefs do not cover East Croydon and the East Croydon reliefs do not cover the outstations.

It would see a bit of a stretch if they did Victoria or London Bridge also.

Victoria is actually one of the easiest stations possible to dispatch at, pretty much dead straight platforms with one controlled point of passenger entry, so anyone that can do East Croydon could easily in theory do Victoria as well

I hope that helps - may I cheekily ask what inspired the initial question?

 

[Horizon22]

Also, some of the East Croydon team actually do agency work for Ontrak and at least some of them have either Purley, Clapham Junction, or Gatwick Airport on their licenses as well - the numbers change from time to time as people come and go

I wonder if that's being cleared with their main employer, fatigue calculations and all!

 

[Whiggism]

I hope that helps - may I cheekily ask what inspired the initial question?

On my daily commute from East Croydon, I occasionally have small talk with one the dispatchers whilst waiting for the train, and they would regularly recognise me on the platform however there would be periods where they would not appear at East Croydon for months before reappearing again.

Also, I was just curious in general as to how it operates with so many dispatchers needed on one island platform for Southern trains (3 If I’m not mistaken)

 

[TheRunningMan]

Generally speaking, with GTR you will only do the one station especially East Croydon due to its complexity, there is some dispatchers I have previously known of who have done a couple of stations but much smaller, same with Gatwick we was only trained and signed off to do Gatwick as you're expected to know signals, possible routings and any interesting issues with each platform such as repeater signals etc.

 

[phantomphish]

Well, it is possible to have more than one station on your GTR license as long as you dispatch there regularly enough, at least once every 28 days, but generally people don't have time enough to cover any shifts away from their home location unless they put in some rest days, for which their home location normally takes priority for anyway. The agency folk are rostered as required and requested, but always strictly within the rules of Hidden!

The East Croydon dispatch plan is indeed very complex due to varying train lengths and the fact that platforms 2 to 5 are bi-directional. Platforms 1 to 4 inclusive need at least four people for longer trains, whereas platforms 5 and 6 only need three.

On my daily commute from East Croydon, I occasionally have small talk with one the dispatchers whilst waiting for the train, and they would regularly recognise me on the platform however there would be periods where they would not appear at East Croydon for months before reappearing again.

If you ever fancy meeting someone at East Croydon for a chat and a more insider view on your way home one day, let me know by private message and I might be able to arrange something?