All train doors to close 40 seconds before departure at New Street

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From Birmingham Live

Birmingham New Street train passengers are being warned of a major new change which will go live next week. The doors of all services running through the station will close 40 seconds before the scheduled departure.

The new move, which will be introduced on Sunday, November 10, is to ensure that all services running through the station "are on time." West Midlands Railways posted details of the change on social media.

I may be in a minority here, but I would like to see public transport timetables prominently have a "final gate time" timetable - the last time the customer can arrive / enter the restricted area.

I am probably overworried about the doors on all services closing 40 second before the scheduled departure time, and would hope it does not apply to trains arriving in late.  I can just imaging the train from Newcastle pulling in 55 seconds before it's due out and the doors open.  People queuing inside to get off and some do before that magic 40 second mark is hit, and the doors close.  Some passengers at the back of the disembark line are over carried to Cheltenham Spa, and the passengers waiting to board for Plymouth either have to have been very lucky and got on at a quiet door, or have to wait to try on the next service.  Those on Advance tickets may have to pay again ...    I don't think that Birmingham Live has written it quite correctly, or we have hit a new depth of operational convenience being given precedence over the customer.

[Electric train]

The time stated in the public passenger time table is the departure time, it must surely be the responsibility of the 'customer' (passenger) to be at the station and on the platform in a timely manor to board a train.  The 40 seconds is widely used and know across the network especially for intercity services.

[Richard Fairhurst]

This discussion is one of those old chestnuts, really.

I tend to agree with the school of thought that the time in the public passenger timetable should be the time relevant to passengers, i.e. the last time they can board.

The time in the working timetable should be the time relevant to those working on the railway, i.e. the time the train sets off.

Things like this 40-second rule seem to confuse the two.

[Ralph Ayres]

Better I suppose than the 2 minutes at some London termini (and probably other stations too). Long enough for a member of staff to walk the entire length of the train checking every door if they wanted. In practice the train leaves early or sits there for what seems an age with nothing at all happening, while a few bemused last-minute passengers wander along the train pressing every door button. 

Prior to central locking/atomatic doors there was no way of stopping a last-second boarder and yet somehow trains mostly managed to leave on time. The door closing time really should be the time published to passengers in the timetable, with the time needed for any checks or contingency built in to the journey time.  That way no-one needs to be caught out by differences at different stations.

[Mark A]

This is similar to visitor attractions that advertise their opening hours as e.g. 10am to 4pm. Then, in the small print 'Last entry an hour before closing time'.

Mark