Virtually every adult in the country has a smart phone capable of connecting to the internet and displaying vast amounts of information without needing legions of tech support staff to back it up. Why should a TOC or FOC be any different? We aren't talking about sending or receiving vast amounts of sensitive data. Just some PDF files with the contents of the rule book/sectional appendix/diagrams/WONS and PONS in them.
Im not talking about Tech support being needed for day to day use . But when things go wrong , which they inevitably will when technology is involved .
I also think as someone else mentioned earlier , when tablets are inevitably rolled out . Drivers need proper training in how to use them depending on what functions the tablet is going to provide . Yeah some drivers might be tech savy and know more than most about using a tablet . But equally there are some that wont have a clue . If they are going to be expected to use them to receive safety critical publications then they have to be properly trained in their use . This in itself will cost money and time .
All TOCS and FOCS have office or field staff that use desktops, laptops and tablets on a daily basis, so rolling more tablets out to drivers is hardly going to cause the companies to buckle under the strain!
Yes but being IT proficient will be part of the criteria when recruiting for those roles .
I think your comment about 'an over reliance on technology' is pretty misguided, given the widespread use of things like GMSR/Wireless services on passenger trains and, to a lesser extent ERTMS. Fax machines and printers are technology, so what happens when they go down? No paper documents.
Given that I have not experienced a widespread GSMR failure yet and observed what network rails contingency plan is and how quickly they get fault teams out yet its hard to comment apart from to say .
Yes when the fax machines go down at work there are no paper documents , however in that sense there is redundancy , say for example the fax machines go down . Rosters can always email the rosters over to depots and they can be printed locally . If you have all of the drivers essential safety critical information on a tablet and the system goes down , or the tablet breaks then depending on how critical the information is it could cause disruption . Without knowing what people want on the tablets it is difficult to say how reliant we would be .
Likewise, you could use the same argument you used here
to refer to printers and fax machines that the railway still relies on. Everything has an associated cost.
Technology is a good thing. Embrace it!
Yes but for the costs involved in printers , fax machines and computers already in use on the railway there are massive benefits . The costs have provided something of great benefit in that things dont have to be communicated in the slow post , and things dont have to be handwritten etc .
Im not actually saying we should not move over to putting all of the information on tablets .
I just think it is misguided to say it would be cheaper than what we currently have , at least in the short term it would cost a great deal of investment to roll it out .and even ongoing I dont think it will represent a significant cost saving because of things like end of life replacement and tech support . Of course as it becomes more expensive to have a large carbon footprint , saving paper and carbon emissions in producing and distributing stuff like rulebooks and notices might become more cost effective sure but we have a long way to go till that point .
I also think it would be wise to anticipate that there could be service disruption during the initial roll out as well as after it has been rolled out as things will go wrong and when technology is involved there is more that can go wrong .
Of course it will also bring great benefits , drivers wont have to carry heaps of information ,they could even carry more information like fault finding information etc etc . I have an android smartphone from my TOC which is useful for getting real time updates from control about delays and disruption as well as looking up timetable inquiries for customers . It does benefit us and passengers and the TOC . But it has come at a cost to the TOC in rolling it out . Not to mention that it is not relied on as an essential piece of equipment/literature like an up to date sectional appendix and copy of WONS is .
If you want to introduce technology like this I dont think it would be wise to try and do it on the cheap . Not when essential operational and safety critical information is going to be involved .
