TRTS - does it really mean 'Train Ready to Start'?

[Crossover]

Depends - if the TRTS was pushed but the delay was simply waiting for the last passengers to board, that's fair game.

If the delay was waiting for the driver/guard to turn up, the TRTS would have been pushed incorrectly.

It was related to a dispute on board - the dispatcher wouldn't have been aware until the train started disembarking but some of us passengers were aware of it as we pulled in

 

[TEW]

Are there any local instructions governing the circumstances when it is OK to press the "TRTS" button?

There certainly are on routes I sign. Some places it is mandatory, others it isn't. Different places it has to be done at different times too.

 

[tpjm]

TRTS should be given 2 minutes before the train is due to depart, assuming there is a crew on board / no known technical or customer issues. For an origin station, this logic works perfectly fine. For a through station, it’s not quite as simple.

Scenario:

• You have a 4 minute dwell time at Leeds.
• The train is arriving 3 minutes late.
• Standard boarding takes 90 seconds.
• Option 1: Dispatcher watches the train into the platform, the crew are in situ and do not make the Dispatcher aware of any issues on board. Customers alight and boarding starts. The dispatcher presses TRTS. The service then sits at a red signal for another 2 minutes, before departing 4 late.
• Option 2: Dispatcher presses TRTS as the train rolls into the platform, as the relief are in situ and the inward crew have not raised any issues with their control. Customers alight and boarding starts. The signal clears to a caution. Train is dispatched 1 late.
  
• The moral of the story: those two scenarios are fictional and the sheer volume of variables at through stations make it challenging to get it right every time. TRTS at through stations will always be an issue.

Knowing that we have LOTS of issues with services waiting for a signal at Leeds, it’s no wonder some folks are eager with the TRTS.