Trivia:Major design faults

[BestWestern]

Talking of doors, near enough all disabled bogs. Why can't someone design one that works? Train exterior doors are very reliable these days.

A super answer; they all seem to be rubbish!

Taking that further, I nominate the Desiro disabled bog for the poor arrangement of door locking buttons, and in particular the way it is rather unclear whether it's locked or not! And also the taps on the Desi's, which appear to be based on a Karcher pressure washer and create a massive amount of spray as the water hits the metal sink...

 

[Tetchytyke]

Another dreadful design flaw - the concourse at Euston

Badly designed to start with, and Network Rail's decision to "enhance" the retail offering by squeezing more retail booths in under the departure boards has only made it worse. Arriving in London in the peak is always hell as you're faced with the stampede coming towards you down the ramp and then a battle to get out past all the waiting passengers on the concourse. Not to mention those bloody ticket barriers on platforms 8-11, with a 5-10 minute queue to get out of the station when it's busy and you're not the first one off the train.

Speaking of ticket barriers, a special shout out to the genius who thought two gates at Durham was sufficient for a train load of students getting off from London.

Taking that further, I nominate the Desiro disabled bog for the poor arrangement of door locking buttons, and in particular the way it is rather unclear whether it's locked or not!

The Desiro lock is a flappy paddle? Seems very straightforward to me.

The absolute worst was the buttons on the Mallard refurbishment, with the lock button flashing when unlocked and staying lit when locked, making it look like you need to press the button again. So you do, and the door swings open. Grr. They've fixed it with the Virgin refresh, thank goodness.

 

[The Crab]

The first Collett designed 5600 0-6-2T was steamed in 1924. At first movement part of the valve gear promptly bent out of shape as the draughtsmen has overlooked giving it some support. Collett is reported to have told everyone present "This did not happen!" and it was hushed up for years.

 

[notlob.divad]

I would like to nominate Flat Junctions. It feels like all of our capacity constraints on the network are down to these, and most of the solutions involve flyovers and or burrowing junctions.

 

[Jonny]

The British rail loading gauge.

That's more down to historical inertia than a deliberate design though. Well, maybe unless you count those who have an obsession with preserving ^history^ though...

 

[Jonny]

Speaking of ticket barriers, a special shout out to the genius who thought two gates at Durham was sufficient for a train load of students getting off from London.

Which are often left unmanned (and therefore open) anyway.

 

[coppercapped]

Sulzer LDA28C.

 

[stut]

Eurostar Arrivals at St Pancras. Just a couple of doors opening out into the main shopping area and route from EMT/Thameslink to the Tube. Really poor people flow (particularly as a newly designed station). Ditto the pick-up/set-down arrangements outside.

The HST's fatal flaw: drop windows and pressure-pad vestibule doors. Never choose a seat near the carriage ends in winter.

 

[Taunton]

- Spanner train heating boilers

- Any diesel/electric loco built by North British (the Warships were sorted out by Swindon; the D63xx they just felt were beyond fixing).

- Any diesel engine by Crossley

- Batch after batch of BR and Underground trains from the 1970s-90s with passenger door buttons which are never used (well they are, by unknowing visitors, they just don't do anything).

 

[61653 HTAFC]

The stairway into the subway on Huddersfield platform 1. Should have had a central bannister to separate the flows. Also the main doorways into the station are a bit narrow for today's volume of passengers.

 

[cjmillsnun]

Class 373 vent grilles and snow. Similarly class 91s as new having flashover issues with snow.

 

[BelleIsle]

Cl 07 - prone to hot boxes.
Cl 15/16 - poor visibility in both directions.
Cl 24 - lack of space to add additional equipment.
Cl 31/4 - ETH equipment takes too much engine power even when out of use.
Cl 43 - gap between the driver's and second man's sunblind allowing both to still be dazzled (free Randolph Aviator shades for all KX drivers!)
Cl 52 - mismatch between engine and transmission meaning had problems getting to design speed.
Cl 55 - driver's seat could not be raised high enough.
Cl 86 - unsprung mass too high leading to poor riding and track damage.
Cl 127 - lack of interlock on transmission meant it was possible to wreck the gearbox of other coupled units with manual gearboxes.
Cl 313 - doors could be opened with train in motion.
Cl 317 - issues with the smoothing choke leading to failure by water ingress (the press named it better!)
Electrostar family - maximum unit length of five cars.

 

[al78]

Trying to run a railway network with Victoria/Georgian earthworks in one of the most densely populated country in the world?

The UK is ranked 50th in terms of population density on this list, so it is a stretch to call it one of the most densly populated countries in the world.

http://statisticstimes.com/population/countries-by-population-density.php

Public transport works best where you have dense concentrations of people, as this makes it likely that a lot of people will want to start and finish in roughly the same place, which is what public transport does well (Southern Rail excepted). The main problem is trying to cope with increased demand where it is very difficult or impossible to expand the existing network due to suitable space.

 

[najaB]

A lot of what are being raised as 'design flaws' seem to be '"The infrastructure designed in and for 1850 isn't able to handle the the volume of traffic in 2016".

 

[FordFocus]

Slade Lane junction with the Up Slow having to cross over the Down Fast causing a conflict.

 

[matchmaker]

Single lead junctions.

 

[Thebaz]

Passenger hand-holds that stick too far out into the gangways causing passing folk to regularly bash their appendages. Worst culprits for this were the Class 458s (pre-mod, haven't been on one post-mod so I don't know if it was addressed) between Waterloo and Reading.

Edit: Now having read a little about them it seems that the entire class of EMU was one big design flaw.

 

[LowLevel]

Obstacle detector crossings that can't cope with snow, bin bags, or running on flexible timings due to delays.

 

[Bromley boy]

465 2/9 and 466 "Metcam" networkers. Compatible with 465 0/1 units but virtually no parts in common. Built by Metro Cammell instead of BREL due to intervention by Tory government at the time (I'm told). So the networker fleet is two subfleets requiring seperate parts bins and maintenance requirements, despite being the same train performing the same function and looking almost identical.

Metcams also have water trapped inside the bodies which can often be heard sloshing about during braking/acceleration.

 

[Ianno87]

Single lead junctions.

Which can often be quicker (and sometimes higher capacity) than the double junction they historically replace, without requiring additional land. This was why they were all the rage in the 1980s, when traffic levels were much lower than today (on a railway perceived to be declining). They had their purpose at the time (noting the spate of accidents that also occurred on them)

Agree that they are seldom fit for purpose on today's highly utilised and growing railway, on all but the least utilised of junctions.

 

[plannerman]

I'm sure I read somewhere that Pacers need the saloon heating on at full blast in the summer, as it's the only way the engine can dump excess heat. I haven't been on one for years so not sure if that's the case, it's a major fault if true though

 

[PHILIPE]

Voyagers seats and windows not lined up and Newport station.

 

[Skipness]

The Voyagers tendency to stop when splashed with a bit of a wave is another.

Vasurprised that it wasn't until post#23 that this was mentioned.

 

[tsr]

377 seat back tables, when they were all squeaky - it's only a few of them now.

Almost anything on an Electrostar involving a t-key lock...

The track layout at Windmill Bridge/Cottage/Selhurst Junctions (OK, a simplification scheme which is grossly outdated now, I guess).

The labyrinth which is named Bank/Monument.

 

[40129]

Bay platforms on the outside of the formation rather than in the middle leading to conflicts between terminating and through services

 

[najaB]

Bay platforms on the outside of the formation rather than in the middle leading to conflicts between terminating and through services

I must be thick as I can't see the difference.

 

[nottinghamcity]

A lot of what are being raised as 'design flaws' seem to be '"The infrastructure designed in and for 1850 isn't able to handle the the volume of traffic in 2016".

There are a lot of examples of "rationalisations" done in the last 30 years, which with hindsight were awful. Worcester is a grand example.

I also struggle with the design of the train / platform interface at some new stations. Coleshill parkway, a new station, has a huge step down from a 170, which is of a modern DMU design.

 

[krus_aragon]

I must be thick as I can't see the difference.

On a two-track railway, If you have a bay platform in the middle, a train doesn't have to block oncoming traffic to enter the bay, or exit, as the bay is adjacent to the up and down lines. If the bay platform is on the outside, the train will have to cross both lines either when arriving or leaving.

 

[dgl]

The single line section(s) on the SWML and the WoE.
Sticking the word Alstom on any part of the train.
Signalling not allowing for 140mph on at least the WCML and ECML.

 

[Kite159]

170s having underpowered truck engines