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Abellio Greater Anglia Class 755s (Regional Trains)

dk1

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How odd, a 755 is much shorter than a 745, so I can't see any situation where ASDO would be needed.
I thought those issues were sorted, I remember for a time Manea etc weren't being called at.
Might be because ASDO is permanently isolated on 745s whereas to do it on a 755 would mean physically isolating it which is then a fault & unit would have to be taken out of traffic.
 
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jopsuk

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For clarity- are ASDO beacons required for passenger services by ASDO-enabled trains even at platforms much longer than the train?
 

Railperf

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Yellow bar sitting atop a railway sleeper between the running rails often at start of railway platform..

 

Railperf

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Yellow bar sitting atop a railway sleeper between the running rails often at start of railway platform..

Weird to see the 755's way off the platforms on the Sudbury branch - all possible due to ASDO.
 

Railperf

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Maybe the ASDO beacons are not yet fitted and tested fully South of Marks Tey. Would I be right in guessing they.might want to use the same beacons for 720's especially the 10 car ones? Surely then the beacons need installing and testing comprehensively for both classes plus 745s before signing off?
 

Railperf

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Or maybe a combination of SDO and ASDO. I've heard the 755s suffering door opening issues where the train has lost GPS signal culminating in a delay while drivers have to try and override it.
 
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dk1

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Maybe the ASDO beacons are not yet fitted and tested fully South of Marks Tey. Would I be right in guessing they.might want to use the same beacons for 720's especially the 10 car ones? Surely then the beacons need installing and testing comprehensively for both classes plus 745s before signing off?
I have never heard of this 'Beacons' word haha. From where does it originate?
 

RailWonderer

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Until the 1960s we had Belisha Beacons at pedestrian (zebra) crossings - flashing orange globes on poles.
We still have them. On google you can find they are still installing them.

Back to the topic, would sending 755s south of Marks Tey with a guard on board exempt them from the rule? All platforms take 12 cars, so the guard would be there for decoration with no doors to have to manually unlock. (like the 6 car 170 in the NX days that ran the Great Yarmouth & Lowestoft - Liverpool St in the mornings)
 

Railperf

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In Scotland they use Alstom Euro Balise for Selective Door Opening. But the manufacturers of the product i have seen - clearly call their product a beacon. Essentially it seems to do the same job.

I quote from the manufacturers website

"
Train Based ASDO and CSDE solutions using Tracklink III®Beacons and interface to Train TCMS with GNSS (GPS)
The system has a Tracklink III® Reader mounted in each unit and communicates to the TCMS via a serial link. The TCMS is used as the ASDO/CSDE controller and contains a database of the stations on the route. A GNSS geofence for each station and a network route is used so that the train identifies when it is at a particular station. This information is used to provide the SDO functionality for most of the route. Where there are stations with different platform lengths or where there is unreliable GNSS coverage then Tracklink III® Beacons are mounted at each platform of the affected station. At these stations the ASDO system will default to the shortest platform length unless it detects the Tracklink III® beacon, with the information from the beacon the TCMS can then release the full amount of doors for that platform. In the case of the Class 378 then all platforms are fitted with beacons to give CSDE functionality.
References: Class 378, Class 387 and Class 377. (Note: Class 377 uses Tracklink II® Beacons)
 

Railperf

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On another note: nice to see the 755/4's seem to be running at full power again in diesel mode! There is a real shove in the back when these accelerate.
 

Railperf

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We still have them. On google you can find they are still installing them.

Back to the topic, would sending 755s south of Marks Tey with a guard on board exempt them from the rule? All platforms take 12 cars, so the guard would be there for decoration with no doors to have to manually unlock. (like the 6 car 170 in the NX days that ran the Great Yarmouth & Lowestoft - Liverpool St in the mornings)
I guess they could, but i imagine it creates all sorts of staffing issues. I'm guessing if ever the Lowestoft / Bury services ever start running to London - this will need sorting one way or another.
They seem to have sidestepped this on the 745's by isolating the ASDO all together. There must be a reason for that.
 

dk1

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We still have them. On google you can find they are still installing them.

Back to the topic, would sending 755s south of Marks Tey with a guard on board exempt them from the rule? All platforms take 12 cars, so the guard would be there for decoration with no doors to have to manually unlock. (like the 6 car 170 in the NX days that ran the Great Yarmouth & Lowestoft - Liverpool St in the mornings)
All Stadlers have a guard onboard now. They don't run DOO. No it still wouldn't help as the ASDO would need to be isolated specially for that part of the journey which is a train fault as a safety system would need to be isolated. The 745s don't use ASDO at all hence why they are permitted.
 

31160

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Would the end of January be a good bet for the start of through services to the coast using 755s be possible then or...?
 

Shunter_69

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The yellow bars in the track at each station are for the 720’s, not the Stadler’s. They are for ASDO but also for correct side door opening.
 

RailWonderer

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All Stadlers have a guard onboard now. They don't run DOO. No it still wouldn't help as the ASDO would need to be isolated specially for that part of the journey which is a train fault as a safety system would need to be isolated. The 745s don't use ASDO at all hence why they are permitted.
I’m sure GA can find a workaround or a loophole, there must be a way.
It will be interesting to see if they do, or if they give up and don’t bother.
 

jopsuk

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I’m sure GA can find a workaround or a loophole, there must be a way.
It will be interesting to see if they do, or if they give up and don’t bother.
The "workaround" is to ensure that all stations that the services would call at are suitably equipped. It's a safety system- yes, one trains ran without in the past, but it is one they have now. They're able to not have it active on the 745s because all the platforms they need to use are long enough- there will be paperwork stating this.
 

trebor79

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The "workaround" is to ensure that all stations that the services would call at are suitably equipped. It's a safety system- yes, one trains ran without in the past, but it is one they have now. They're able to not have it active on the 745s because all the platforms they need to use are long enough- there will be paperwork stating this.
Given there are a lot of spare 755s, they could have a small sub-fleet with ASDO isolated as per the 745s?
Or get Stadler to fix the problem and make it all work properly?
 

jopsuk

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Given there are a lot of spare 755s, they could have a small sub-fleet with ASDO isolated as per the 745s?
Or get Stadler to fix the problem and make it all work properly?
if it's been decided that ASDO is required with the 755s for the short platforms (which they would still be running too), then it becomes hard to justify having some with it disabled- especially as that would then be a diagram nightmare.

The problem clearly isn't Stadler's- they sold a product with a safety system designed to avoid the issue of doors being opened without a platform present at the door, making for a better solution than Local Door Operation. The solution is for the customer to fit the required hardware at all stations where the units are to call. The system is working properly as far as I know?
 

dk1

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In the early days of 755 operation you had a mixture of drivers/conductors operating the doors.
Yes driver opened/guard closesd on 755s originally and 745s where the same until a couple of weeks back. The guard still closes should any camera become faulty or obscured as degraded working is then swiftly brought in.
 

ScotGG

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I boarded a 755 last week and it smelt pretty strongly inside like an old bus does. Diesel I presume? It never drifted away during the entire journey and i wasn't that close to the middle engine bay. I'm used to electric trains to it was quite noticeable - though i don't recall it being so bad on a 170 or even pacers when i've been on one.
 

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