New
GWR▸ Electrostar failed at Slough last night, blocking the up relief platform. Left on time from Maidenhead. Stalled at Slough for 20 mins. Solution - driver closed down all of the systems. Likely lowered the pantograph too. All lights went out. CSI display went blank. Wifi cut off. Rebooted everything. And after about 5 mins the systems came back up - and all was well. Done this thousands of times with a computer - but for a train...
!!!
Nothing new - I remember much the same happening with a 458 when they were new (so about 2000), trying to leave Reading. The guard made several announcements, starting with "the driver is having trouble getting the brakes to release" through "these are new trains with a computer that controls them, he's going to reset the computer" to "the brakes still won't release, he's going to turn all the power off and on". Having had the doors open/close sequence several times already, this time of course all the lights went out, then on, lots of bleeping from the doors; but the train did manage to set off.
But that was when trains with brains (however puny) were new, and I've not seen it since. Drivers collectively learn (through new guidance and training content), and the train can evolve too (through updates, naturally) to be less confusing and remove dead-end paths from the control logic. We hope.
