WMR and communication

[CharlieSpotted]

On Saturday I was on a train from Birmingham New Street to Lichfield City which stopped for an extended period at Shenstone. As time went on there were increasing grumbles in the carriage as people tried to work out what was going on - had something gone wrong? When would we be moving?

Silence from the conductor.

Eventually, we checked RTT and found that the 19 minute stop was scheduled at Shenstone on an amended timetable, the result of having to terminate trains at City instead of running to Trent Valley, because of the problems with the platform at Trent Valley High Level.

The point is - we are savvy and able to do this check and join all the dots together and come to the same conclusion. Many people on the train were not able and were left wondering what was going on.

How much would it have taken for someone to make an announcement, ahead of or at Shenstone, to let people know this was planned? The PA system was working on this particular 323 and in fact, when we moved on from Shenstone and stopped at a red signal approaching City, the conductor actually made an announcement to tell us!
Perhaps they thought they didn't have to announce the delay at Shenstone because it was, in their minds, planned? But how are the travelling general public to know?

To my mind it's just another example of a customer-unfriendly railway. Do we really want to "get back on track"? Because this is not how to do it.

 

[thedbdiboy]

I agree it should be announced - I've used several services with booked waiting time where the driver or conductor stated that the train will be there for a few minutes and is scheduled to depart at 'x' so it is done at least some times.

 

[Spirit555]

Was a booked stop from approx 1300 to 2000, due to Cross Country diverts that way on Saturday.

 

[CharlieSpotted]

Was a booked stop from approx 1300 to 2000, due to Cross Country diverts that way on Saturday.

Thank you, yes, I get that it was planned. But how were customers on the train to know? That's the point.

 

[SCDR_WMR]

Should have announced, however it wasn't delayed as you said it was scheduled. So although it's not exactly good service, the expectation is an announcement after 3 minutes delay. No delay, no expectation of an announcement.

Personally, I would be making an announcement just so people know there is an extended stop and the reason why though

 

[Spirit555]

As you say announcing it would have helped

Should have announced, however it wasn't delayed as you said it was scheduled. So although it's not exactly good service, the expectation is an announcement after 3 minutes delay. No delay, no expectation of an announcement.

Personally, I would be making an announcement just so people know there is an extended stop and the reason why though

Announcing it would have helped, but some don't bother. A conductor friend worked one of the first ones due to sit for that time and he announced it 3 times, at BNS, Sutton and at Shenstone. Poor planning on WMR part is my personal opinion.

 

[Kite159]

I agree, even if it's a booked wait it would have been good customer service to announce something along the lines of "the train is scheduled to wait here at Shenstone until XX:YY which is 15 minutes away".

Similar to the GWR staff on a diverted Swansea train on Saturday which had a 12 minute dwell at Cardiff Central, or on SWR services which have booked dwells at certain stations on the West of England line (i.e. Gillingham) due to being off-pattern

 

[aal7]

Was a booked stop from approx 1300 to 2000, due to Cross Country diverts that way on Saturday.

How does stopping at Shenstone instead of Lichfield assist the Cross Country trains?

 

[Komma]

As a guard, if my train has more than 3 minutes waiting time on a platform. I will get on the PA and inform the passengers and let them know how long the train will be sat there, this normally happens at Berko or Leighton Buzzard.

 

[STKKK46]

How does stopping at Shenstone instead of Lichfield assist the Cross Country trains?

If the WMR ran to normal time it would block Lichfield City station for around 30 minutes turnaround, then head back slow to New St.

XC towards Birmingham wouldn’t be able to get past this, meaning picking up delays sat behind it.

Keeping WMR at Shenstone keeps the train platformed rather than waiting to crossover at Lichfield City.

 

[aal7]

Ah OK, so it's to keep it out of the way of southbound XC trains. Presumably it's not in the way of any northbound XC trains while it waits at Shenstone.

 

[Mollman]

Was a booked stop from approx 1300 to 2000, due to Cross Country diverts that way on Saturday.

That's a long wait

If the WMR ran to normal time it would block Lichfield City station for around 30 minutes turnaround, then head back slow to New St.

XC towards Birmingham wouldn’t be able to get past this, meaning picking up delays sat behind it.

Keeping WMR at Shenstone keeps the train platformed rather than waiting to crossover at Lichfield City.

Wouldn't it have made more sense to run empty from City to TV and reverse once XC had passed? Or are drivers unable to use platform to change ends?

 

[STKKK46]

Ah OK, so it's to keep it out of the way of southbound XC trains. Presumably it's not in the way of any northbound XC trains while it waits at Shenstone.

Indeed.

In normal running I believe the northbound XC would pass Lichfield Trent Valley just after the WMR departure from there, which I believe leaves 5 early during XC diverts (waiting this time at Lichfield City).


As with the point of the thread maybe the guard should have made an announcement but maybe they’re not trained to announce long dwells? I wouldn’t know. But if the company sent a brief out to tell guards to announce that then I’d imagine briefs would get far too regular and then get ignored anyway due to information overload.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 May 2022 ==

Wouldn't it have made more sense to run empty from City to TV and reverse once XC had passed? Or are drivers unable to use platform to change ends?

Platform is condemned and unsafe. I’d like to see a guard or drivers reaction to being told they must use it..

Maybe they’d be able to if they ran 3 cars by swapping ends in train…

But is that worth the passenger capacity issues that would follow on a Saturday?

 

[SCDR_WMR]

As you say announcing it would have helped

Announcing it would have helped, but some don't bother. A conductor friend worked one of the first ones due to sit for that time and he announced it 3 times, at BNS, Sutton and at Shenstone. Poor planning on WMR part is my personal opinion.

Which bit is poor planning on WMR part? Platform has been condemned at short notice, can't plan for that if it comes up at an inspection.

Sometimes platforms are closed for such reasons, Cheddington has also had one recently. It's far more noticeable at stations like these than the larger stations who can cope minus a platform (for the most part). Repairs are already underway and they are looking to minimise the time it takes by taking line blocks. I'd say it's being managed well