There’s more to working trains than punching tickets. If the second person is not a guard then it is DOO. I’m not getting into a DOO debate with anyone as I have said plenty enough in the past and as I said it’s only my opinion and nobody has to agree with it. My signature says it all.
That’s essentially no change indefinitely given guards didn’t traditionally have responsibility for opening doors
My observation on recent travels is that the level boarding is a major contributor to this. Boarding and alighting is so much quicker and easier for those with luggage or who are a bit slower and struggle with steps, as well as dispensing with the need for ramps (in most cases).
But having two people involved greatly increases the chance of mis-communication.
What is also of great value which sometimes go unnoticed, is that little bit of downtime you get at stations when the guard closes. Gives you time to mark up your card, think about where you are what's next and even a drink to keep you hydrated.
Who knows? Presumably as with almost all jobs it’s a decision for the industry & in rail’s case politicians too as to what’s considered to offer best value for money within the desired safety criteria
They also cause lots of frequent train problems as especially at the beginning of their introduction many NFC devices such as phones and smart watches could break the fob readers and make the doors unusable. Just one of the many many problems these trains had at the start (and continue to have).
This was explored several years ago when Arriva Rail North planned DOO & attempted to agree what method of operation best suited each particular route. but given the fragmented industry & red lines that exist it wasn’t & still isn’t easily achievable so we are where we are for who knows how long?
The only trains I remember with the DKS still in the cab was the 155’s.
There is NO requirement for TPE guards to remain in the rear set, they can swap sets if they so desire
I went to Whittlesford Parkway recently and there was a pretty big gap, even with a step extended, on the up platform. It is on quite a tight curve thoughYes very much so. There are few stations now that require all that faffing around with a ramp which was another contributor to delays and excessive station dwell times. Some of those mobility scooters just roar onboard
I usually go on the diesel lines, so I was quite impressed by the acceleration on my journey from Whittlesford Parkway to Ely
Ah that is good to hear that TPE allows that. So it seems it is just LNER and Northern that have this policy of the Guard having to remain in the rear unit only. To be honest more all TOCs should allow this as otherwise the front unit basically becomes a free unit as the Guard will never be able to check and sell tickets in it.
In stark contrast to the class 360s, where the guard has to remain in the rear unit.
Southern are the same. On the 171s the Guard can use any cab panel or any saloon panel in any part of the train and can be in any unit they choose and hop between units at stations. EMR are not the only one.
Agree with the 1st and 4th points but you shouldn't need to check points 2 & 3 with what is (as the name suggests) an automatic system.
Indeed, it's supposed to be a fail-safe system which should refuse to release doors unless it is sure how many. 197 ASDO requires manual override if the unit doesn't know where it is.
No, ASDO on 745 and 755s is a GPS based system it only knows that you have stopped in the location of the stationary what station it should be, if you stop at a signal just outside the station the ASDO system will engage and give you the option to release the doors, sometimes it doesn't know what station you have stopped at so you have to select it manually, checking is mandatory.
In that situation the ASDO would be irrelevant because point 1 - the correct stop board - would fail.
Agreed, but this example is to highlight why ASDO can sometimes not give the correct information
