Timetablers: do you enjoy the challenge of engineering work?

[fairysdad]

Just a thought based on the massive timetable alterations for the Waterloo works this summer. Any people here involved in timetabling - have you enjoyed the challenge of making it all work? Or in the past when Paddington has been closed, and FGW (as was) was running into Waterloo?

(I realise that this is very southern England specific, and I apologise as I know that there will be many other such works that have taken place across the country; I just really only know of ones that affect me!)

 

[CheeseOnToast]

Like anything some enjoy the challenge, some don't. Personally it's great to lead on a big possession, always exciting to do something different, complicated and unusual. You can get heavy restrictions on rolling stocks on diverts, single line working over SIMBIDs or with a pilot, you get to be creative sometimes and involved in shaping the plan and at times have to make difficult decisions. Some works are talked about for a year and it's great to see it through from start to finish. You get involved with signallers and ops, sometimes need goods lines authority, I've even had to get authority from Ops and something placed in the WON about reversing a Class 1 HST at a GPL.

Then a week before it all starts you discover the set of points you use four times an hour in your plan that everyone assures you is available for use is now within the possession limits so you can't now use them. Then you find that where you thought Platform 2 at x was free all day Sunday to drop a diverted HST into for an hour is occupied by a unit stabled all weekend that didn't show on the graph. And then on Thursday before the works start the engineers phone and ask for an hour earlier start or "Platform 2 is wheels free isn't it?".

Occasionally I'll go out and watch the plan in action, if it goes well I get a sense of achievement, if the first train runs late through single line working for some unrelated issues and your plan goes out the window then it can be a bit frustrating.

Every block is different too and you can have the same block twice that's totally different due to other blocks going on elsewhere. All part of the fun of putting the big puzzle together.

 

[infobleep]

Fascinating reply. What is it like planning a strike timetable and even the transition timetables to a strike, should it occur from say midday?

 

[CheeseOnToast]

The TOC will bid to NR a strike plan based on what it can resource and run, in short cancel the entire service from a given time, upload new plan. Well, never quite that simple but you get the point. It's a TOC driven plan rather than Network Rail imposing a restriction of use and having to negotiate with each operator an agreed level of service. As time evolves plans get dusted off the shelf and reused after a bit of tinkering. Doesn't really matter what time the strike begins, you run booked service up to that point, or just before, with a ramp down similar to the end of service or Christmas Eve.

Of course the real fun bit starts when you've done all the work and the strike gets called off the evening before. Oh and then there's the small issue of what should you have been doing whilst you were doing the strike plan.

Other exciting things in Timetable Planning that you probably don't realise have an impact are the football teams that have an unexpected long cup run and make it into the later rounds (even more so when it's your football team causing you more work) and Sky or some others moving a football match from say a Sunday afternoon to a Tuesday night so it can be televised, both can cause a lot of issues with unit strengthening and diagram changes over a couple of days.

 

[The Planner]

Its fine until, as above, someone comes along and wants to change things. Late notice costs NR massive amounts of cash.

 

[Class 170101]

Its fine until, as above, someone comes along and wants to change things. Late notice costs NR massive amounts of cash.

Not even the big expnse seems to be stopping them right now!:roll:

 

[Cowley]

Like anything some enjoy the challenge, some don't. Personally it's great to lead on a big possession, always exciting to do something different, complicated and unusual. You can get heavy restrictions on rolling stocks on diverts, single line working over SIMBIDs or with a pilot, you get to be creative sometimes and involved in shaping the plan and at times have to make difficult decisions. Some works are talked about for a year and it's great to see it through from start to finish. You get involved with signallers and ops, sometimes need goods lines authority, I've even had to get authority from Ops and something placed in the WON about reversing a Class 1 HST at a GPL.

Then a week before it all starts you discover the set of points you use four times an hour in your plan that everyone assures you is available for use is now within the possession limits so you can't now use them. Then you find that where you thought Platform 2 at x was free all day Sunday to drop a diverted HST into for an hour is occupied by a unit stabled all weekend that didn't show on the graph. And then on Thursday before the works start the engineers phone and ask for an hour earlier start or "Platform 2 is wheels free isn't it?".

Occasionally I'll go out and watch the plan in action, if it goes well I get a sense of achievement, if the first train runs late through single line working for some unrelated issues and your plan goes out the window then it can be a bit frustrating.

Every block is different too and you can have the same block twice that's totally different due to other blocks going on elsewhere. All part of the fun of putting the big puzzle together.

Very interesting. Thanks for taking the time to share this.

 

[306024]

Fascinating reply. What is it like planning a strike timetable and even the transition timetables to a strike, should it occur from say midday?

That is the less satisfying part of the job, as you don't feel you are doing anything particularly positive, just damage limitation. But once you are given the level of crew resource you have to play with (if any) you just approach it like any other task.

All timetabling alterations are just logistical puzzles to be solved, some bigger than others. Big events like sporting fixtures and music festivals tend to be more satisfying to work out as they don't usually disrupt passengers, but a complex engineering block, as already explained, is very satisfying to see operate as you planned some four months previously.

And not to forget all the amended unit and crew diagrams, that lot has to be planned too. No good devising a brilliant timetable if you can't resource it. Of course crews don't tend to like modified diagrams, especially if they get extended in duration, but you won't hear anyone complain about a diagram that gets finished early.

 

[dk1]

Why do I always end up with the modified diagram that's mod'd in the beginning or middle but never the end? Always have to do my last bit Grrrr!!