Use of on-train passenger weight data.

[AM9]

I've just heard an interview on R4 about the increasing use of passenger weight data on trains. It's been mentioned several times here that the weight sensors are used to assess the passenger loads and that this information will be made available to passengers on the 700s to allow them to find less crowded areas/seats. Something was mentioned though that on tilting trains (I assume 390s) the sensors determine whether the passenger load exceeds the maximum allowed for tilt permission. I've not seen this mentioned anywhere before. Have there been instances where Pendolinos have been forced to keep within the non-tilting speed because the passenger load was over a threshold?

 

[Domh245]

I think that on the 700s, it is an IR system that will be used, rather than weight sensors. I'd imagine for the 390s, the weight sensors are mounted at the interface between the bogies and the body of the train so that they can tell if it is to heavy much quicker than having hundreds littering the floor and seats! I suspect that on 390s there have been times when they haven't tilted because of the loading, but in most circumstances, it would come from the guard seeing how many standees there are before the sensors kick in.

 

[OneOffDave]

I've been on a 390 where they delayed the departure while passengers moved themselves about the train due to too high a loading in one carriage (specifically they announced that it was on one axle). The problem waasn't 100% resolved and the rest of the journey had a lower maximum speed than normal

 

[Flamingo]

I've just heard an interview on R4 about the increasing use of passenger weight data on trains. It's been mentioned several times here that the weight sensors are used to assess the passenger loads and that this information will be made available to passengers on the 700s to allow them to find less crowded areas/seats. Something was mentioned though that on tilting trains (I assume 390s) the sensors determine whether the passenger load exceeds the maximum allowed for tilt permission. I've not seen this mentioned anywhere before. Have there been instances where Pendolinos have been forced to keep within the non-tilting speed because the passenger load was over a threshold?

It won't work. Passengers won't move in any sort of meaningful numbers to the areas that are more lightly loaded, they will just all stand in one huge group moaning about how crowded the train is, while one person will be standing at the front of the crowd like a cork in a bottle with their headphones on, oblivious to all announcements and effectively acting as a human roadblock. Nice idea, but...

 

[AM9]

It won't work. Passengers won't move in any sort of meaningful numbers to the areas that are more lightly loaded, they will just all stand in one huge group moaning about how crowded the train is, while one person will be standing at the front of the crowd like a cork in a bottle with their headphones on, oblivious to all announcements and effectively acting as a human roadblock. Nice idea, but...

It would take a very wide person standing at the front on a 700 as the gangways are full width:

http://www.railwaygazette.com/uploads/pics/tn_gb-class700-mockup-interior.jpg

 

[swt_passenger]

There was a thread about people's experiences of Pendolino 'load redistribution' after alarms going off in 2012, here: http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=66885

 

[HarleyDavidson]

Does it put out the announcement "Would the fat bar steward who just go on get off again, as the train is now overloaded"?

 

[Flamingo]

It would take a very wide person standing at the front on a 700 as the gangways are full width:

http://www.railwaygazette.com/uploads/pics/tn_gb-class700-mockup-interior.jpg

You'd be surprised...

 

[Crossover]

I've been on a 390 where they delayed the departure while passengers moved themselves about the train due to too high a loading in one carriage (specifically they announced that it was on one axle). The problem waasn't 100% resolved and the rest of the journey had a lower maximum speed than normal

110mph in non-tilt mode - can't run to the enhanced EPS speeds

 

[jon0844]

Have there been instances where Pendolinos have been forced to keep within the non-tilting speed because the passenger load was over a threshold?

What? Hey, I'm not that heavy. Why are you all looking at me?

http://www.railwaygazette.com/uploads/pics/tn_gb-class700-mockup-interior.jpg

That's one hell of a CCTV set up.