Train delay bingo

[enginedin]

Can anyone beat this number of reasons in 1 set of departures at 1 station?!

Spoiler: image alt text

Image shows a screenshot from https://www.traintimes.org.uk at CARLISLE with a variety of delays, including trains delayed by "a late running train in front of this one", "police dealing with an incident", "train crew being delayed", "a fault on a train in front of this one" and "a points failure"

 

[scottishtrain7]

Jeez man, I dont think my local station can beat that much.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Going to try to find 25 cancellation/delay messages and make an actual bingo card (the 5 by 5 version) for it (Feel free to offer suggestions)

A late running train in front	Flooding	Trespass/"Emergency Services Dealing With an incident"	planned train being replaced with a slower train	A problem with the track
Planning Error	Fault/A problem with the train	Vehicle hit a bridge	Delay not investigated	Points Failure
Train Crew	Level Crossing Failure	(Free Space)	Strong Winds	Late arrival of an inbound service
A problem with the electrified line/3rd rail	Lineside Vegetation	Problem at the depot	Fault on a train in front of this one	Delayed due to a unit swap
An unknown reason or An excluded reason	Disorder	problem with the on-board safety systems	Overrunning engineering works	Animals on the line

 

[ComUtoR]

Going to try to find 25 cancellation/delay messages and make an actual bingo card (the 5 by 5 version) for it (Feel free to offer suggestions)

A late running train in front	Flooding	Trespass/"Emergency Services Dealing With an incident"	planned train being replaced with a slower train	A problem with the track
Planning Error	Fault/A problem with the train	Vehicle hit a bridge	Delay not investigated	Points Failure
Train Crew	Level Crossing Failure	(Free Space)	Strong Winds	Late arrival of an inbound service
A problem with the electrified line/3rd rail	Lineside Vegetation	Problem at the depot	Fault on a train in front of this one
An unknown reason or An excluded reason	Disorder	problem with the on-board safety systems	Overrunning engineering works	Problem With Utility Supplies

That unfilled space : Delayed due to a unit swap

 

[pokemonsuper9]

That unfilled space : Delayed due to a unit swap

Good idea! That's one I've been gotten by in the past that I forgot about.

 

[TC7]

Going to try to find 25 cancellation/delay messages and make an actual bingo card (the 5 by 5 version) for it (Feel free to offer suggestions)

A late running train in front	Flooding	Trespass/"Emergency Services Dealing With an incident"	planned train being replaced with a slower train	A problem with the track
Planning Error	Fault/A problem with the train	Vehicle hit a bridge	Delay not investigated	Points Failure
Train Crew	Level Crossing Failure	(Free Space)	Strong Winds	Late arrival of an inbound service
A problem with the electrified line/3rd rail	Lineside Vegetation	Problem at the depot	Fault on a train in front of this one
An unknown reason or An excluded reason	Disorder	problem with the on-board safety systems	Overrunning engineering works	Problem With Utility Supplies

Most unusual one I ever got was 'Icicles in a Tunnel'

 

[blue87]

A rare one recently, can't remember the exact wording but something like due to an incident at Birmingham Airport when the Brum - Birmingham International line was shut when a flight got turned back due to a suspicious package.

 

[Henffordd]

"animals on the line" seems to be missing....

 

[Bantamzen]

You can't play delay bingo without sheep / cows / swans / geese on the line...

 

[DaventryRabbit]

You can't play delay bingo without sheep / cows / swans / geese on the line...

Or " A Bovine Incursion onto the Railway" as I heard it once described by an XC Train Manager on a Voyager that I was on! And I saw them in the opposite 4 foot from the Train as we crawled past!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

"animals on the line" seems to be missing....

Escaped puma at Chessington North?

Or am I thinking of some non-official source?

 

[dk1]

Or " A Bovine Incursion onto the Railway" as I heard it once described by an XC Train Manager on a Voyager that I was on! And I saw them in the opposite 4 foot from the Train as we crawled past!

Yes one of our control managers would always message it out as a Bovine or Equine incursion that was then announced by the conductors and added to information screens.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Escaped puma at Chessington North?

Or am I thinking of some non-official source?

Badger ate a junction box at New Malden

 

[geoffk]

Yes one of our control managers would always message it out as a Bovine or Equine incursion that was then announced by the conductors and added to information screens.

ovine or porcine even.

 

[dk1]

ovine or porcine even.

Yes Porcine was the other one often used. Especially around Wickham Market. Dont recall Ovine being used but being sheep it must’ve been. Where more cautions for them back then until the rule book changed regarding numbers.

 

[whoosh]

Escaped puma at Chessington North?

Or am I thinking of some non-official source?

Badger ate a junction box at New Malden

The whole list!

LeonardRossiter.com: Reggie Online - Reginald Perrin's train excuses

 

[Horizon22]

Take your pick from Darwin’s approved list: https://wiki.openraildata.com/index.php/Darwin:Late_Running_reason_codes_and_text

I always think that “delayed to a late running train in front of this” & “train crew being delayed” should go to the root reason but information controllers are not delay attributors!

 

[CaptainHaddock]

Escaped puma at Chessington North?

Or am I thinking of some non-official source?

I didn't get where I am today without knowing the source of that quote!

 

[jamiearmley]

Some other real life examples:

- Nesting goose on the roof of a train blocking the platform ahead

- burning bush wrapped around the pantograph

- this train has run out of fuel

- the train in front of this one has divided unexpectedly

- exploding pigeon on the overhead wires causing an interruption to the electricity supply

- swan in the 4 foot

- protesters occupying the tracks

And there's loads more.... It's a rich and varied tapestry

 

[Trainguy34]

- exploding pigeon on the overhead wires causing an interruption to the electricity supply

I vaguely remember this happening one time, wasn't it summer 2017 on the GWML?

 

[BAFRA77]

The whole list!

LeonardRossiter.com: Reggie Online - Reginald Perrin's train excuses

Have to say my favourite ones are:

"Eleven minutes late, somebody had stolen the lines at Surbiton."
"Seventeen minutes late, water seeping through the cables at Effingham Junction - there was a lot of Effingham and a good deal of Blindingham!"
"Twenty-two minutes late, fed up by train delays, came by bike. Slow puncture at Peckham."

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Take your pick from Darwin’s approved list: https://wiki.openraildata.com/index.php/Darwin:Late_Running_reason_codes_and_text

I always think that “delayed to a late running train in front of this” & “train crew being delayed” should go to the root reason but information controllers are not delay attributors!

Threw together a bit of python code that uses that whole list (which I just saved as an excel file), grabs 25 random reasons (it can grab the same one twice but it's probably not too likely) and then outputs it as a new file.
Not the best code, given I cobbled it together in about 5 minutes but it mostly works.

import pandas
from random import randint
import csv

#change the name of the location to wherever you stored it
excel_data_df = pandas.read_excel('D:\My stuff\darwin error list.xlsx', sheet_name='Sheet1')

#grabs all the reasons and puts them in a list
problems=excel_data_df['Reason Text'].tolist()

reasons=[[],[],[],[],[]]
for x in range(0,5):
for y in range(0,5):
reasons[x].append(problems[randint(1,505)])

print(reasons)

with open('results.csv', 'w') as o:
writer = csv.writer(o, delimiter=',')
writer.writerows(reasons)

Here's the first result:

This train has been delayed by signalling staff being unavailable	This train has been delayed by a speed restriction because of fog earlier on this train's journey	This train has been delayed by a shortage of train drivers	This train has been delayed by a rail buckling in the heat	This train has been delayed by a road vehicle damaging track at a level crossing
This train has been delayed by a collision at a level crossing yesterday	This train has been delayed by theft of overhead line electrification equipment	This train has been delayed by failure of the electricity supply earlier on this train's journey	This train has been delayed by over-running engineering works	This train has been delayed by a fault with the on train signalling system
This train has been delayed by a road accident at a level crossing yesterday	This train has been delayed by the fire alarm sounding in the signalling centre	This train has been delayed by safety checks having been made earlier	This train has been delayed by attempted theft of third rail electrification equipment	This train has been delayed by the fire alarm sounding in the signalling centre earlier today
This train has been delayed by a road vehicle blocking the railway earlier today	This train has been delayed by a train being involved in an accident	This train has been delayed by a train's automatic braking system being activated earlier today	This train has been delayed by signalling staff being unavailable	This train has been delayed by the communication alarm being activated on a train
This train has been delayed by a train not stopping in the correct position at a station earlier in its journey	This train has been delayed by issues with communication systems	This train has been delayed by snow earlier	This train has been delayed by a road vehicle damaging track at a level crossing yesterday	This train has been delayed by attempted theft of signalling cables earlier today

I have a feeling it'd be very difficult to get a bingo of this unless you played it over a lifetime.
I have also added Animals on the Line to the original set, because that's definitely a possible one.

 

[Skiddaw]

I was once delayed at Preston due to incoming TPE service having apparently been hit by a duck (which broke the driver's window). It was the icing on the cake following an interminable journey back from Euston to Penrith. If the duck hadn't presumably already been deceased I'd have likely wrung its neck.

 

[bussnapperwm]

I think the best delay was a peacock stuck in a SouthEastern trains shoe gear. Resulted in the Delay Attribution Board having to rule on it for who took the delay minutes

I was once delayed at Preston due to incoming TPE service having apparently been hit by a duck (which broke the driver's window). It was the icing on the cake following an interminable journey back from Euston to Penrith. If the duck hadn't presumably already been deceased I'd have likely wrung its neck.

I bet the TPE pax had Duck a l'Orange afterwards

 

[Statto]

How about snow & wrong type of snow, the wrong type of snow was an actual excuse for delays & cancellations during the infamous winter of 91.

 

[dk1]

How about snow & wrong type of snow, the wrong type of snow was an actual excuse for delays & cancellations during the infamous winter of 91.

Got into traction motors as was so fine.

 

[py_megapixel]

Going to try to find 25 cancellation/delay messages and make an actual bingo card (the 5 by 5 version) for it (Feel free to offer suggestions)

A late running train in front	Flooding	Trespass/"Emergency Services Dealing With an incident"	planned train being replaced with a slower train	A problem with the track
Planning Error	Fault/A problem with the train	Vehicle hit a bridge	Delay not investigated	Points Failure
Train Crew	Level Crossing Failure	(Free Space)	Strong Winds	Late arrival of an inbound service
A problem with the electrified line/3rd rail	Lineside Vegetation	Problem at the depot	Fault on a train in front of this one	Delayed due to a unit swap
An unknown reason or An excluded reason	Disorder	problem with the on-board safety systems	Overrunning engineering works	Animals on the line

There is a list of all the standard reasons that can appear in Darwin (that being the system that provides data for displays and auto announcements in stations):
https://wiki.openraildata.com/index.php/Darwin:Late_Running_reason_codes_and_text

Some of them are wonderfully specific, such as "663 - Supermarket trolley on the track earlier on the train's journey"

Of course, the majority of them will be used relatively rarely, and I bet there are a few that have never been used at all...

 

[Fermiboson]

A close contender is Doncaster, 29/10/23. (Unfortunately I only have a photo of one of the two boards)

The unphotographed page contains delights such as an XC train delayed for 117 minutes, and a classic Northern short notice timetable change.

 

[hawk1911]

This one is still my favourite train delay: "Monkey Loose On Train 23/06/01

 

[MotCO]

Badger ate a junction box at New Malden

That one definitely would have delayed Reginald, who boarded at Norbiton. (Unless he went the long way round). I doubt even Reginald would have thought of that one (unless I'm missing the point completely )