Re: How can we make trains run later?

[David Johnson <trainman@ozemail.com.au>]

Michael Walker wrote:

> >nice to hear shittyrail have got their act together and followed a QR
> >Citytrain initiative (excuse me if theres another in Aus who thought of it
> >first), as far as i see it, i dont think this system is a problem with your
>
> Let me see, automatic doors on trains.
> QR Citytrain - first trains ran in 1978, presumably with automatic doors.
> VicRail - Hitachi trains delivered with automatic doors from December 1972.
> Some Harris trains also had automatic doors, presumably just before the
> Hitachis were delivered, they were prototypes from memory.

Sydney c. 1955.

> Or are we talking lights in drivers cabs to show doors open? Not sure about
> QR but Melbourne has had these since not long after Jeff came in in 1991/2
> as part of the SPOT program to remove guards from trains and power from
> unions.

Sydney, also c. 1955.

> I must admit, for all the posturing from Sydneysiders in this group about
> how wonderful their trains are, etc, their information on platforms and
> station signage in general is crap.

Ever been to Adelaide?

> Melbourne has had destinations displayed
> on the front of electric trains since 1918 (not sure about steam suburban
> trains before that but I suspect they may have) and apart from the times
> they are incorrectly set (surprisingly rarely) they work quite well and you
> can tell fairly quickly where a train is going when it pulls into the
> platform.

We had a system of indicator lights to show where the trains were going.  For
example, East Hills trains had three lights across the top, Bankstown trains had
two lights down the side.  This worked very well for 65 years, until some brain
surgeon decided to build the Tangaras without the marker light system, opting
instead for a failure prone difficult to read text system.   The marker lights
were understood by everyone, including those from non-English speaking
backgrounds, unlike the English text indicator boards.

> Sydney on the other hand can't seem to get theirs to work overly well. The
> ones retrofitted don't seem to be particularly reliable and the Tangaras
> (only ones fitted from birth) don't matter as you can't read them under the
> highly reflective glass anyway.

The majority weren't fitted from birth and have never had one, for reasons
listed below.

> And the person who thought dark orange on
> black was high contrast enough for commuters to read it from a distance
> ought to be taken out and shot.

> The Melbourne system with the help point seems like a much better idea, when
> the phone line to the Premium station computer isn't busy. At least all you
> have to do is press a button and the times for the next 3 trains are read
> out to you with how many minutes until departure. And all stations have them
> too!

Is there any problem with vandalism for this system?

--
David Johnson
trainman@ozemail.com.au
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~trainman/