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grahame
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« on: January 30, 2016, 21:29:50 » |
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Ever had to wait for ages at the Birkdale level crossing for a train to cross? Network Rail explains why ... http://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/news/southport-west-lancs/ever-wait-ages-birkdale-level-10790162?A spokesperson from Network Rail said: ^Basically from when the train enters the section of track, the barriers go down, and once it leaves that section, they go up again.
^The time the barriers are down will vary from train to train because there are a lot of trains that use that lane and they are all going at different speeds. Odd explanation ... it's a regular electric service and no freight to my knowledge. Timing may be different north and southbound, but surely not ALL different
MetroWest project held up by level crossing and delays with mainline re-signalling work http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/8203-MetroWest-project-held-level-crossing-delays/story-28636537-detail/story.htmlA level crossing at Ashton Gate is holding up plans for a long-awaited project to re-open disused railway track and ease traffic congestion in the Bristol area.
The crossing provides access to an industrial estate off Winterstoke Road.
But when the Portishead line is re-opened as part of the MetroWest project, there will be 60 trains a day which means the barriers will be down for up to 20 minutes each hour.
This would have a serious knock on effect for access to the estate as well as causing hold ups on the busy Winterstoke Road. |
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Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
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ellendune
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« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2016, 22:08:49 » |
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Can anyone explain For example, the timetabling of the Portishead Line had a knock on effect for trains into Waterloo. |
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Western Pathfinder
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« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2016, 22:19:59 » |
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It's probably just more of the high quality journalism that we all have come to know and love from our dear old Evening Post .
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John R
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« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2016, 22:54:43 » |
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I wonder whether someone has used the length of time that a slow freight train, (possibly having to stop to pick up/set down a token?) takes, and multiplied by 4. I would expect the barriers to be down for much less time with a multiple unit and higher speeds.
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stuving
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« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2016, 23:09:29 » |
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I wonder why they picked that one crossing - it's in the middle of a sequence of five in a mile of track. One of those (450 m from Aughton Road) is at Birkdale station, so I guess a train can't be signalled to start from there unless the next crossing or three are down. So a delay at the station would lead to an extended down time.
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stuving
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« Reply #5 on: January 30, 2016, 23:24:07 » |
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Looking at that Ashton Gate crossing, it and the road junction it's part of do look rather a mess. Are the lights and the crossing linked now, or do they get away with not doing so with only a few goods trains a day? One the evidence of my local one (as reported in this post) it ought to cope well enough with the lights linked. |
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grahame
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« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2016, 01:36:37 » |
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Can anyone explain For example, the timetabling of the Portishead Line had a knock on effect for trains into Waterloo. Running services cross-city / on to Bath with stops at Keynsham and Oldfield Park and you're potentially going to effect the paths of the Bristol to Waterloo services. Mind you, if the Portishead timetable caused some changes to the CrossCountry services heading north and south, it could be said to effect changes all the way from Aberdeen to Penzance. I wonder why they picked that one crossing - it's in the middle of a sequence of five in a mile of track. One of those (450 m from Aughton Road) is at Birkdale station, so I guess a train can't be signalled to start from there unless the next crossing or three are down. So a delay at the station would lead to an extended down time.
Station delay is probably an issue. But that's not "different trains speed" as claimed by Network Rail. Whatever type of train it is, when it's stopped in the station it's moving at 0 m.p.h. I have a degree of sympathy with the NR» guy quoted in that the press don't always get what they're told correctly ... not a universal problem, but talking (more often than I used to) to the press, I know who will look for a sensational story when there isn't one, and who will process what he's told to such an extent it comes out completely different. |
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Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
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Electric train
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« Reply #7 on: January 31, 2016, 18:01:32 » |
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I believe, and S&T▸ Engineer will correct me, level crossing lights and barriers are timed for the maximum line speed on the approach to the level crossing, therefore if there is a slow moving train the barriers will be down for a longer time because the timing is measured by the distance from the level crossing and not the speed of the train hence a slow moving train will take longer to cover the distance than a train travelling a full line speed
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Starship just experienced what we call a rapid unscheduled disassembly, or a RUD, during ascent,”
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Surrey 455
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« Reply #8 on: January 31, 2016, 18:26:19 » |
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I'm curious as to why Southports local paper is called The Visiter. Is it an unusual spelling of Visitor?
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stuving
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« Reply #9 on: January 31, 2016, 18:55:41 » |
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I'm curious as to why Southports local paper is called The Visiter. Is it an unusual spelling of Visitor?
It does have literary precedents: Edgar Allan Poe and, especially, Daisy Ashford (unless you are such an ageist meany as to deny her writing the status of literature). |
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #10 on: February 06, 2016, 23:18:45 » |
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Looking at that Ashton Gate crossing, it and the road junction it's part of do look rather a mess. Are the lights and the crossing linked now ... ?
From my local knowledge of driving in that area: yes, the road traffic lights and railway level crossing are linked - and yes, it is still rather a mess.  As a matter of interest, there used to be a signal box there, many years ago: in my sixth form, a group of us visited it as part of our 'industrial archaeology' course, and were allowed to pull a few levers (under instruction, obviously!)  |
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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chuffed
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« Reply #11 on: February 07, 2016, 08:21:03 » |
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Gosh... that must have been back in the old broad gauge/atmospheric railway days ....  |
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Thatcham Crossing
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« Reply #12 on: February 07, 2016, 11:01:44 » |
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I believe, and S&T▸ Engineer will correct me, level crossing lights and barriers are timed for the maximum line speed on the approach to the level crossing, therefore if there is a slow moving train the barriers will be down for a longer time because the timing is measured by the distance from the level crossing and not the speed of the train hence a slow moving train will take longer to cover the distance than a train travelling a full line speed This certainly seems to be the case at Thatcham. I believe linespeed through the Station is 100mph. If the barriers go down and an HST▸ running at linespeed is coming, it's normally through in a couple of minutes. Trains stopping at the Station take a bit longer. The worst of all are the freights (lots of aggregate trains on the B&H▸ , as we know), which can take up to 5 minutes to appear. |
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PhilWakely
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« Reply #13 on: February 07, 2016, 16:45:36 » |
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I was taking the pooch for a walk earlier when I was extremely surprised to be caught by the level crossing barriers at Pinhoe station being lowered at 15:25 (all timings and other rail related information courtesy of the CIS▸ on Pinhoe station), knowing that the next scheduled service was the 15:38 to Gillingham (Dorset).
Nothing happened until the above service pulled into the station at 15:32 - so the barriers had been down for 7 minutes by that stage. The train departed 2 minutes early at 15:36 (subsequently confirmed by RTT» ); so the barriers were down for a total of 11 minutes!
I really felt for a young couple who arrived in a taxi from the south side of the station just as the barriers lowered. They and their luggage decamped from the taxi, but they had no chance of getting to the platform for their train because of the barriers. Under normal circumstances, I would have no sympathy for anybody arriving at the station at the last minute being caught by the barriers, but in this case, they arrived a good 13 minutes before the scheduled departure. To say they were annoyed is an understatement. I made the suggestion that they put in a strong letter of complaint, but I guess SWT▸ will blame the signalling centre (Exmouth Junction???)
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FarWestJohn
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« Reply #14 on: February 07, 2016, 18:23:47 » |
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I thought NR» were looking into installing predictors to overcome this problem.
Predictors allow for different speeds of approaching trains to give a consistent barrier down time before the trains arrival.
The Wayguard WESTex GCP3000 ^ level crossing predictor is such a system and there are many others in use around the world.
I thought NR had installed some but cannot remember where.
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