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Abellio Greater Anglia Class 755s (Regional Trains)

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TheEdge

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Do the external doors now open and shut automatically at all stations?

As dk1 says they can be forced to open automatically by us holding the door release. I tried doing a Sheringham like that but found that people were pressing the buttons long before the forced opening opened them. So I gave up! :lol:
 

sheepy1991

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As dk1 says they can be forced to open automatically by us holding the door release. I tried doing a Sheringham like that but found that people were pressing the buttons long before the forced opening opened them. So I gave up! :lol:
So if the driver doesn't operate the doors the pax have to, possibly spreading the virus.

As TheEdge and dk1 say, even if a Driver does perform a force doors open command so that all doors open without customer interaction, most passengers are already stabbing at the door open buttons. Most passengers havent realised that there is a delay in door operation (either driver command or passenger command) due to the step having to extend before the door leafs open.

People sit there jabbing the door buttons several times at each station and often with frustration and choice words before the doors actually open.
Maybe in time passengers may become used to the door opening characteristics of the FLIRT units.
 

dk1

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As dk1 says they can be forced to open automatically by us holding the door release. I tried doing a Sheringham like that but found that people were pressing the buttons long before the forced opening opened them. So I gave up! :lol:
Exactly mate. The problem is in the couple of seconds it takes for the step to position punters panic & start pressing the button anyway. You also don't want them to get into 'tube' mentality where they expect it to open then get overcarried. It wouldn't work at terminals or stations with long layovers where they close automatically after 20 seconds to ensure the air-con operates efficiently anyway.
 

Meerkat

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Exactly mate. The problem is in the couple of seconds it takes for the step to position punters panic & start pressing the button anyway. You also don't want them to get into 'tube' mentality where they expect it to open then get overcarried. It wouldn't work at terminals or stations with long layovers where they close automatically after 20 seconds to ensure the air-con operates efficiently anyway.
Surely you just need announcements not to touch the door buttons? Or put stickers over them.
Its the one contact point that is hard to avoid.
edit - not aimed at individual, just suggesting it should be Railway policy for the moment
 

dk1

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Surely you just need announcements not to touch the door buttons? Or put stickers over them.
Its the one contact point that is hard to avoid.
edit - not aimed at individual, just suggesting it should be Railway policy for the moment
It wouldn't work. There are times when there are no crew on the train especially at terminal stations. You also cannot get away from buttons in & outside toilets. They are all cleaned many times a day.
 

Meerkat

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It wouldn't work. There are times when there are no crew on the train especially at terminal stations. You also cannot get away from buttons in & outside toilets. They are all cleaned many times a day.
So you clear the train then lock it, and the passengers are told not to bother trying the buttons - the crew will turn up and open the doors.
We do need to make a bit of effort here....
 

dk1

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So you clear the train then lock it, and the passengers are told not to bother trying the buttons - the crew will turn up and open the doors.
We do need to make a bit of effort here....
That's not how it works but I get your idea.
 

AlexNL

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On the FLIRTs operated by Keolis here in the Netherlands, you can press a door open button while the train is still in motion. As soon as the train stops and the driver does a door release, the door will open.

Do the Abellio 755s (and the 745s for that matter) support this?
 

dk1

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On the FLIRTs operated by Keolis here in the Netherlands, you can press a door open button while the train is still in motion. As soon as the train stops and the driver does a door release, the door will open.

Do the Abellio 755s (and the 745s for that matter) support this?
No, you have to wait ASDO to kick in at below 3mph then release doors once the wheels have stopped turning.
 

Rick1984

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That explains something. When I've pressed the door button with my sleeve I thought I hadn't hit it right. It would've been the delay for the step to extend. Never thought of that
 

43096

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On the FLIRTs operated by Keolis here in the Netherlands, you can press a door open button while the train is still in motion. As soon as the train stops and the driver does a door release, the door will open.

Do the Abellio 755s (and the 745s for that matter) support this?
There will be some inane reason why the U.K. can’t have such a sensible system.

SBB have it as well - it’s a useful dwell time reducer on the Zürich S-bahn once passengers know it’s there.
 

Bletchleyite

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There will be some inane reason why the U.K. can’t have such a sensible system.

SBB have it as well - it’s a useful dwell time reducer on the Zürich S-bahn once passengers know it’s there.

It can also be used for request stops - pressing the door button is a stop request, no need for separate buttons.

There are safety reasons. The problems are thus:-
- If there's a wrong-side door release the door will open, rather than a passenger noticing and not pressing open.
- Someone might press it, then someone else lean on the door, not expecting it to open, and fall out.
 

43096

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It can also be used for request stops - pressing the door button is a stop request, no need for separate buttons.

There are safety reasons. The problems are thus:-
- If there's a wrong-side door release the door will open, rather than a passenger noticing and not pressing open.
- Someone might press it, then someone else lean on the door, not expecting it to open, and fall out.
If it’s that big a risk of wrong side release then auto open isn’t a major additional problem as a) many passengers will know which side they normally leave the train and b) would probably press the wrong side button anyway given the sheep mentality they have. If it’s that big a deal, we should be fitting correct side door enable kit regardless.
 

supervc-10

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It works fine on the Manchester Metrolink M3000 vehicles. It's great. I can understand why it might be tricky with SDO, but I don't think that's an insurmountable issue.
 

RailWonderer

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Speaking of buttons, why are there no close door buttons on the Stadlers, did GA specifically request this? When it's cold and windy and the train is busy, someone is leaning by the doorway and once someone has just alighted, that person sometimes likes to close the doors. It isn't the tube, where the button was removed or not added out of concern people would spitefully press it to avoid people boarding so that the train left without them. I don't see why the 745s and 755s don't have them.
 

dk1

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Speaking of buttons, why are there no close door buttons on the Stadlers, did GA specifically request this? When it's cold and windy and the train is busy, someone is leaning by the doorway and once someone has just alighted, that person sometimes likes to close the doors. It isn't the tube, where the button was removed or not added out of concern people would spitefully press it to avoid people boarding so that the train left without them. I don't see why the 745s and 755s don't have them.
They close automatically after 20secs in the same way the 170s used to.
 

Peter Mugridge

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Surely you just need announcements not to touch the door buttons? Or put stickers over them.
Its the one contact point that is hard to avoid.
edit - not aimed at individual, just suggesting it should be Railway policy for the moment


They have announcements on Thameslink about the doors opening automatically at the core stations but most people still press the buttons anyway - so it wouldn't make any difference elsewhere. I'd hazard a guess that any stickers would quickly get peeled off as well.
 

Peter Sarf

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They have announcements on Thameslink about the doors opening automatically at the core stations but most people still press the buttons anyway - so it wouldn't make any difference elsewhere. I'd hazard a guess that any stickers would quickly get peeled off as well.

It would help if there was some more audible whirring noise so it sounded like pressing the button HAD caused something to start happening.
 

Meerkat

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They have announcements on Thameslink about the doors opening automatically at the core stations but most people still press the buttons anyway - so it wouldn't make any difference elsewhere. I'd hazard a guess that any stickers would quickly get peeled off as well.
At the moment? I would imagine in current times people might be more willing to take heed, and you would put signs up on the stations
 

Peter Mugridge

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At the moment? I would imagine in current times people might be more willing to take heed, and you would put signs up on the stations

Well, obviously I can't answer for at the moment unless I have a hearing aid failure ( my ear appointments are in London ). Certainly on the last time I used the core, 9th March, people were pressing the buttons at all the core stations as soon as the trains stopped.
 

LAX54

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Heard my first 'noisy' 755 last night, on the shed at Colchester, blimey it made a right old whining racket !
 

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