Pete_uk
Established Member
Do gWr use this system on their Turbos? That has loud bassey announcements.
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Should TrainFX be considered an acceptable PIS solution?
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Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
To be fair that's a regional one, they are shortened somewhat. You do get a lot of waffle on an IC.
On TfW TrainFX, you currently get ‘We are now at Machynlleth. Our final station.’
You used to get ‘Thank you for travelling with Arriva Trains Wales’ which has now been cut.
The 175s are a bit longer and include one about belongings, no smoking and ‘Thank you for travelling with Transport for Wales’
Yes, GWR Turbos, 158s and 150s all use TrainFX. Not sure about the 387s, but I don’t think so?
py_megapixel
Established Member
The problem with that is that the trains tend not to terminate at Machynlleth. I've been on several Cambrian line trains which say they will terminate at Machynlleth, but are in fact running through to Birmingham.
I would have thought that the 387s use the same as the rest of the Bombardier fleet. They have the wide high-res dot matrix screens that Bombardier used on all of the newer Electrostars, and the short platform announcements are voiced by Julie Berry rather than Janine.
I don't know if I've ever travelled on IC. I've been on several ICEs - which are manual-only if I recall nd also a lot of regional ones.
The short platform announcements are actually announced by Janine, Julie announces the ‘You are in coach number 6 of 8’, however.
R G NOW.
Member
Anyone know what is used on GWR'S I.E.T,S , The system works excellent, also the clock inside the saloons looks like the display on mobile phones.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
I have the impression of the Cambrian that there is a lot of making it up as they go along based on the number of ERTMS-capable units they've managed to scrape together that day and where they need the specific ones to end up. Not dissimilar to the way BR worked with the old DMUs, which is not overly surprising as rural Wales is not really a place that changed very much in the last 50 odd years.
Mach drivers/guards also tend not to bother setting the PIS up at all in my experience and just do it the old way.
Yeah, IC/ICE are manual but there is a lot of waffle. SBB are even worse for it - it's automatic and in three languages!
Fincra5
Established Member
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I think the 700s (with their custom made PIS) do have a Headcode and it brings up the Route. It still has it's flaws as a system though.
craigybagel
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Nothing whatsoever to do with the fact is in rural Wales - just working within the confines of a very limited fleet. What's meant to happen on paper and what happens in reality often have to change at the last minute. It would be the same in any part of the country that was working with the same restrictions.
Nice bit of slander there. Did you ask them if they "didn't bother" to set it up? As I've pointed out before to you personally on other threads, and myself and many other members of traincrew have pointed out in this thread - the system is not very reliable at all. Incidentally (and ignoring the fact that guards from 3 different depots and not just Mach work the Cambrian mainline and 2 go up the coast) within TfW Machynlleth crews know more about how to use TrainFX then any one else - given they only ever work 158s. Several people at that depot have even been involved in efforts to improve how it works.
It has plenty of flaws. With the 700 PIS you stick the PIS Code into the DMI and it transfers to the PIS unit. There is no confirmation of stopping pattern or destination. It shows the next station and then you kinda just ignore it and hope the code is correct. The database is heavily bloated because every code is duplicated. It is also another example of somebody who thought it would be sensible to design the system so the PIS is linked to the doors.
R G NOW.
Member
Just thought you would like to read this. I remember back in the eighties about bad station announcing, was in Gloucester when the station called Kidderminster was announced kiddi-minster by the then signalman in the panel. He also managed to get Cradley heath and Stourbridge junction wrong as well. This was when British rail introduced the Cardiff to Birmingham services in 1987.
IamTrainsYT
Member
A friend sent me this a while ago
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/614910310855213076/673284700437217281/video0.mp4
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/614910310855213076/673284700437217281/video0.mp4
webbfan
Member
Trainfx with Darwin data has the option of headcode or uid entry both of which give the full stopping pattern plus changes to arrival times, route changes and even different front destination for circular routes.
Assuming Darwin is sending the data of course.
Assuming Darwin is sending the data of course.
This unit is a 143 and isn’t fitted with TrainFX, it’s taking it from the unit it’s attached to which is probably why it is loud and fuzzy.
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Same happens on Northern when you get a TrainFX unit coupled to a non-TrainFX unit like a 142 or 153, the non-TrainFX unit just gets the analogue audio through the PA train wire circuit and it is obviously quite loud before it goes through the amplifiers on each coach. Plenty of entries into repair books on the 142/153 etc about PIS 'screaming at passengers'.
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