SDO - seems bad.

[whole diary]

[Btline]

At Worcester F S today, I saw 2 FGW^▸ (First Great Western) HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train). One for London, the other for Malvern in Platform 1. I saw guards operate SDO^▸ (Selective Door Opening) on HSTs (first time for me). NB both were 2+8.

Oh dear- dwell times in the station were about 5 mins both times! Here are the problems I saw.

London Bound Train:
*Guard operated SDO too far forward, so 2 sets of doors were on the edge of the platform. This might have been a precaution in case the driver stopped short (a few feet would have put both doors of the platform), but it resulted in people trying to board from locked doors. Of course, people have no idea about HSTs/SDO, so you can't blame them.
*These doors, after they were tried (unsuccessfully), however, were open slightly- the guard had to come down and press them shut before retuning to the panel- this wasted time.
*It took ages for the LM^▸ (London Midland - recent franchise) despatch staff to properly dispatch the train- have LM been trained for HSTs?
*Of course, the platform curves the wrong way, so a 180 always took 3 mins; but this HST took 4-5mins. Timetabled time about 2-3 mins at max. The train was already late- it left later!

Malvern Bound Train
*This train took 5+ mins to despatch. Timetabled 2-3 mins.
*To be fair, someone alighted just as the guard was about to lock up. He slammed the door- pretty hard (it seemed to me). However, it was not shut properly. The FGW guard shouted (he was stressed!) and a LM despatch staff ran up and kicked the door shut. The point is- the doors seem to be pretty hard to slam, especially for people used to automatic doors! This wastes time.
*The LM staff took along time as well.
*The train arrived late. It left later.
*The driver did not "rev" the engine fully until the rear car had passed the station. Are not the drivers allowed to rev fully when in a delay?

Overall
*Both guards looked tired, stressed, fed up and angry. The Lon bound one shouted at people trying to board on the locked doors. THe Malvern one went mad when that person leapt off without shutting the door fully. NB- the door looked shut! it wasn't. Has SDO been bad for Guards' health?
*Dwell times were bad- yes ok, the short platform, the curve the wrong way adds to this.
*Basically, it looked like an awkward system to operate, esp for trains trying to catch up time!

In conclusion, from this experience, I cannot see SDO being viable, especially at awkward stations like Worcs F S.

I commend FGW getting more seats, better carriages with less noise etc, but was this a good move for the Cotswold Line- a line where punctuality is even more important?

What do others make of my findings? Was it just a one off? Please reply.

PS- why do guards have to lock doors from the same panel as they opened them (with SDO)? Moving to the middle would have helped both guards, the LM staff, and made the dwell time shorter.

[devon_metro]

They don't have to use the same panel if they use 'SDO^▸ (Selective Door Opening) Hold' I *think*

[Conner]

They don't have to use the same panel if they use 'SDO^▸ (Selective Door Opening) Hold' I *think*

I pretty sure they don't but I don't think they are meant to.
They do it in Cornwall alot with unstaffed stations. They check all the doors and lock further up but as far as I can work out they have to turn the key to Train Doors and then lock which seems to breifly unlock doors locked by SDO. They can definatly take the key out though.

[Phil]

'Scuse my ignorance, but what's SCO, please? (as per the title)

[Conner]

'Scuse my ignorance, but what's SCO, please? (as per the title)

Think he means SDO^▸ (Selective Door Opening).

[Ollie]

Either that or Selective Coach/Carriage Opening

[Btline]

'Scuse my ignorance, but what's SCO, please? (as per the title)

Think he means SDO^▸ (Selective Door Opening).

Corrected- not sure how I put a C instead of a D 

[Btline]

What do people think about the long term viability?

Are the scenes I talk about above rare?

[devon_metro]

I've never seen any problem, perhaps you Cotswold people are simply not used to HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train)!

[Btline]

I've never seen any problem, perhaps you Cotswold people are simply not used to HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train)!

That's definitely one problem. But cutting this out, the dwell time was too long!

And remember, I rather an HST than a Thames Turbo- even if a Thames Turbo keeps to time better!

[Phil]

Thanks for the clarification - dam*it, I should have worked that out for myself!

I have to say, in my experience the above incidents are comparatively rare - though I have seen a couple of hiccups at Pewsey (which has short platforms)

[Btline]

I hate to think what the delay would have been had someone had a bike. I think the the Malvern bound guard would have blown his top off!

He would have had to walk all the way down to the front power car, load the bike, and then walk back, adding at least 2 more mins on!

Luckily, the Malvern guard had the buffet/customer host to lock the doors on the panel, so the guard could walk a few yards down the platform! This might have helped with the bike loadings.

[Ollie]

From what I know buffet staff should not do anything in relation to dispatch.

[Btline]

From what I know buffet staff should not do anything in relation to dispatch.

Well, she (the customer host or buffet host) locked the doors for the guard! I think he was passed caring about rules! I assumed that he had just about had enough of SDO^▸ (Selective Door Opening)!

Or it could have been a ticket inspector? Are they allowed to dispatch?

[Ollie]

It is possible there were two TM^‡(resolve)'s on the service.
With the introduction of HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s on the cotswold line it has been common place with Senior Conductors learning HST's. That might be the case in this situation.