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johoare
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« on: March 12, 2008, 19:01:27 » |
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Apparently yesterday morning at Hayes (according to a colleague of mine), the Heathrow connect into Paddington stopped at the wrong platform (the main line platform, not the relief line one). This had not been announced...
As soon as people saw the train on the wrong platform they started heading over there, but before anyone could get on, the train pulled out again and headed off without them?
Apparently all the passengers were all still standing at Hayes when the same Heathrow connect returned back up the line some half hour later (well apart from the lady who got a refund and went home in disgust)!
So what was all that about then? I assume some sort of error put it into the wrong platform? But why not wait for the passengers? I just wonder if anyone reading this happens to know what actually happened?
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BBM
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« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2008, 21:42:52 » |
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Hayes is a station I use very rarely, but a few weeks ago I did need to use it to get a train back to Twyford. Before I reached the station I'd checked the live departures on my mobile and I saw that the train I was intending to catch had been cancelled but I decided to go to the platform anyway and wait for the following service 15 minutes later. Even though I got there a few minutes before the cancelled train was due there was no mention of it on the screens and no announcement to say that it wasn't running. Consequently there were quite a few puzzled people on the platform wondering where their train was! Is Hayes particularly bad for not giving out information? At Twyford over the years I've made numerous last-minute sprints over the footbridge from platform 4 to 2 and vice versa due to late advice of platform changes but at least a warning has always been given just in time!
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tom-langley
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« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2008, 23:40:26 » |
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What time of day was this?
Sometimes the connect acts as the express with an additional stop at Hayes late at night. This may have been why, but does not explain why it was not announced.
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johoare
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« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2008, 20:54:13 » |
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What time of day was this?
Sometimes the connect acts as the express with an additional stop at Hayes late at night. This may have been why, but does not explain why it was not announced.
It was sometime about 9am to 9.30am.... |
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johoare
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« Reply #4 on: March 16, 2008, 18:28:27 » |
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I'm guessing no one knows what happened to cause this then?
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tom-langley
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« Reply #5 on: March 16, 2008, 22:53:03 » |
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I expect it was just the signalman routing the train onto the wrong track. Easy to get confused between the express and connect. As I have said before a member of my family works for Heathrow express, they say that the signalmen sometimes make mistakes like this.
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #6 on: March 16, 2008, 23:39:36 » |
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Thanks, Tom! I do think such things are probably more likely due to 'cock-up' than 'conspiracy'. Occasionally, between Parson Street and Bedminster (west of Bristol), our local commuter train gets diverted on to the 'up relief' - for no apparent reason. Indeed, I once heard our conductor say, to an off-duty driver sitting next to me in the carriage, "Why does the signalman do that?" - to which the worldly-wise driver replied, "Because he can!"    |
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« Last Edit: March 17, 2008, 01:07:08 by chris from nailsea »
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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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swlines
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« Reply #7 on: March 17, 2008, 01:39:37 » |
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There could be other, underlying, reasons for a train to go onto the wrong line. For instance, an intermittent track circuit failure that could slow down trains. It's better to have a train going through on a green or yellow and crossing over to the right line later on in the journey rather having to pass a signal at danger.
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #8 on: March 17, 2008, 01:55:08 » |
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Thanks, too, for your suggestion, Tom: that also makes sense!
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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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johoare
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« Reply #9 on: March 17, 2008, 18:12:12 » |
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It still would have been nice to have stopped for long enough for the passengers to get to the train and get on it though! |
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Ollie
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« Reply #10 on: March 17, 2008, 18:39:44 » |
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I'm confused as to why they would all be at Hayes and Harlington still. Considering from Hayes and Harlington to Paddington there is about 6 trains an hour.
And the Up Heathrow Connect wouldn't end up back there until approximate 50minutes later.
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jane s
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« Reply #11 on: March 18, 2008, 09:32:59 » |
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I was at Hayes Station on Sunday morning & the monitor screens said that the next train would leave from Platform 2, so we all waited on Platform 2, and the tannoy announcements also said the same thing. Then suddenly a guy (don't know if he was an employee or not!) on Platform 4 shouted "The train's leaving from Platform 4, never mind what the announcements say!" so we all went back up the stairs to find the screen now said platform 4, and the train did indeed at that moment stop on platform 4.
So it looks like it was a last minute decision!
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BBM
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« Reply #12 on: March 18, 2008, 10:56:13 » |
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I've been reliably informed that the signalling between Airport Junction and Southall allows Heathrow Connect trains to use the Down Main in the 'Up' direction, i.e. trains towards London can use the 'fast' line normally used by trains heading away from the capital (i.e. platform 1 at Hayes). However this facility is very seldom used, only at certain times during some engineering works or otherwise in an emergency. I wonder if this is what happened on the occasion mentioned in the original post? Maybe it confused the heck out of the automated passenger information system which is why no tannoy announcement was made!
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eightf48544
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« Reply #13 on: March 18, 2008, 16:53:30 » |
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BBM is right that the Down Main and Down Airport spur is bidirectionally signalled to the infamous left ladder at Southall East, that's why there are two signals at each point in the up direction between Hayes and Southall station one for the Up Main and one for the down Main up direction. However he is right it is rarely if ever used. I think I once saw it used once by an HST▸ reversing to get round a broken down train beyond Hayes on the Down Main, we were on the down Relief.
Incidently there is an Up Signal on the Down Airport spur between the flyover bridge and the junction it is always at red. Apparently because of the curvature of the line this is the first signal you see coming under the flyover at 125 mph on the Up Main. Enough to give any driver, even though they know it's there, a heart attack.
The layout at Airport Junction is that the main connections are to and from the mainlines the Down Main to the left the up main connection on the right from the flyover looking from Padd. These are used by the Heathrow Expresses.
There is also a connection from the Up flyover line to the down relief and a trailing cross over from down relief to up relief into platfrom 4 at Hayes. This is route used by the Heathrow Connect the down trains running over the flyover bi directionally.
What must have happened is that for some reason at Slough IECC▸ either the Automatic Route Setting was confused or the signalman decided to route a Connect up main so instead of coming off the flyover and across the down Relief into platform 4 it was routed onto the up main platform 2. The London area Customer Information System relies on the pre programmed timetable and real time information regarding the running of the trains picked up from designated reporting points (track circuits/train description), I imagine the last reporting point for giving an arrival time for a Heathrow Connect at Hayes is before the relief line junction so the CIS▸ would not have been able to pick up the change of platform which the system can do at other stations on the line when it detects a train running out of booked path on the main or relief lines.
We have the opposite problem at Taplow where by the CIS will pick up a stopper on the Mainline and show Platform 1 or 2. However due to an excess of ballast on the main lines at Taplow trains are not allowed to stop except in dire emergencies, so the passengers cross the bridge only to see the train whistle through.
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johoare
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« Reply #14 on: March 18, 2008, 21:57:06 » |
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I'm confused as to why they would all be at Hayes and Harlington still. Considering from Hayes and Harlington to Paddington there is about 6 trains an hour.
And the Up Heathrow Connect wouldn't end up back there until approximate 50minutes later.
Not sure why they had such a long wait at Hayes.. Maybe there were delays on First Great Western trains. I do know he got to work incredibly late and unhappy! Is there a reason they wouldn't have waited for the passengers to get on - maybe because they're not really allowed to stop on the main line for too long? |
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