375 And 395 - Door Release, 3 Step Check?

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by tbaac, Feb 5, 2021.

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  1. tbaac

    tbaac Well-Known Member

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    Anyone know what these stickers on the control panel next to the door release buttons refer to?

    I see that the manual talks about a 3 step brake control but presumably that's not related.

    Thanks.
     
    Last edited: Feb 5, 2021
  2. Doomotron

    Doomotron Well-Known Member

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    I'd assume it has something to do with a brake check.
     
  3. tbaac

    tbaac Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the reply. You may well be right. As it was on the door button though, I'd assumed it was a reminder to check 3 things before opening the door. (But didn't know what.. 1 - The train has stopped. 2 - We're at a platform. 3 - Erm... )
     
  4. Olaf the Snowman

    Olaf the Snowman Well-Known Member

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    The 3 step check is referring to the following:

    1. Do I stop here? I.e. am I booked to call here or am I non-stop?
    2. Am I at the correct stopping point? I.e. have I stopped at 6 car board, 12 car board, etc...
    3. Which side is the platform?

    As bizarre as it sounds, wrong side door release and stop short incidents are some of the most common incidents drivers make. Both types of incidents can easily go into double figures per year for a train company. Both incidents can potentially be very serious. If you release doors in the wrong side and a passenger happens to fall down on that side when line speed is 125mph, you can imagine what may occur. So companies are trying to mitigate against these incidents by making drivers think before they release the doors. E.g. by having a ‘3 step check.’ Other techniques include:

    1. Risk triggered commentary. E.g. say “Left hand door” before releasing the doors, etc...
    2. Working instructions will state that you must secure the train before releasing doors. So you are required to put controller into FULL SERVICE, and reverser into NEUTRAL. By doing this, it gives you a few extra seconds of thinking time before releasing doors.
    3. Certain traction such as Class 390s have flaps on the left hand door release buttons which again, give you a couple of seconds of extra thinking time.
    4. Techniques to prevent stop short incident could include carrying a big card that says ‘12’ and placing it in front of you so you know you have a 12 car formation. Or you could write a massive ‘12’ on top of your diagram/stopping pattern.

    The first point of the 3 point check is to prevent stopping at stations that you do not call at. It does not happen as much but it is still an operational incident and will go on the driver’s record.
     
    Last edited: Feb 5, 2021
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  5. Doomotron

    Doomotron Well-Known Member

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    May I ask why it focuses on the left hand doors so much? Is it just to differentiate from the right?
     
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  6. Olaf the Snowman

    Olaf the Snowman Well-Known Member

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    No. It’s because there is a greater risk of a wrong side door release by pressing the left hand door release buttons when station is on right hand side or in fact, there’s no station at all!. The reason being is because most station stops tend to be on the LHS so it becomes muscle memory.

    Let’s take GWE Route on the Class 166 and you are taking the train from Paddington to Reading all stations. You stop, you go to full service, you select neutral and then you release left hand side. You do this at every station between Paddington and Slough and this procedure only takes a couple of seconds if that. You now come to Burnham station, stop the train, go to the same process, release left hand doors... ****.... you’ve just released the wrong side and it’s an operational incident on your record.

    The first thing they’ll check for is when they do a download is did you carry out the correct procedure? (I.e. full service, neutral, door release). And how much time elapsed between the train coming to a stand and you pressing the door release buttons?

    It becomes such muscle memory- you stop, full service, neutral, left hand door release - that drivers even do it when they get stopped at a red in the middle of nowhere. It’s happened to my friend. It also happened a few months ago to a colleague who didn’t even realise that he released the doors at a red signal. Doors were released for over 2 minutes before the guard informed him of what he had done and it was very fortunate no passengers had opened the doors.

    Before anyone starts judging the drivers who make these mistakes, there’s a couple of things that you’re unable to replicate in any train sim:
    1. Shift pattern/fatigue: you could be up 3am in the morning or you could be finishing 2am at night. Depending on company and conditions, you may be working 10 or 11 days on the trot and/or 10+ hour shifts.
    2. Boredom: you may only sign one traction and one route and that’s all you do everyday and all day long. On train sim, you can pick any route or traction you fancy. If you’re bored, you can turn it off, go to another train/route or play a different game. Boredom is a massive factor in modern train driving due to the simplicity of multiple units/lack of variety and the RSSB are working very hard to combat this. This is why a range of techniques from annotating your diagram/stopping list to (periodically) standing up while driving is being promoted to reduce the risk of driver underload.
     
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  7. joseph.gov.uk

    joseph.gov.uk Member

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    That is really interesting.
     
  8. Quentin

    Quentin Well-Known Member

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    Almost 30 years ago, I was travelling on the DART (the electrified rapid transit system serving the Dublin area), when the guard came on to announce that "At the next stop, the doors will open in the last carriage, but there will be no platform there." He was right, there was just a 30 foot drop down an embankment. They obviously hadn't paid the extra for the selective door release!
     
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  9. space_ace96

    space_ace96 Active Member

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    I was wondering this too. Even railroads with conductors/guards have these types of techniques. I know that on the NYC and Toronto subways, there are symbols on the walls to tell the driver or conductor that they are stopped in the right place. In NYC, there is a black and white striped board that the conductor's riding position halfway through the train should line up with if the train is fully on the platform. Conductors are required to reach out the window and point at this board before opening the doors. Toronto's system has multiple symbols for not only that purpose but also to signify to drivers when they can stop looking down the platform for any safety issues while pulling off from the station, like a person caught in a door or something. I can see why wrong door opening in the UK and on rapid transit can be dangerous, not only for the fall risk, but also the risk posed by third rail. Another risk we have in the US is that compared to the UK, in which it seems like passengers generally open their own doors once unlocked, US train doors always open the full length of the train when the driver presses the button, at least on rapid transit. It's not as much of a problem on our locomotive driven commuter railroads as usually those doors are conductor controlled, and since the conductor is always walking around and has to physically go to a door panel on the proper side to open the doors, they are more engaged with the process. On my local railroad (Metra) SDO is also done by only having doors in front of or behind the car the conductor is using the panel from open, labeled left and right based on the direction the conductor is facing when he is at the panel. So if a line has the shortest platform length only fitting 6/7 cars, at least one conductor will ride in that sixth car and at most platforms will push both the "all doors left" and "all doors right" button but if he looks out the window and sees the platform ends at his car, he'll only push the button to open doors forward of his position.
     
  10. paul.pavlinovich

    paul.pavlinovich Well-Known Member

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    You have never played that long in the SIM? Really? Lol. Yes I do know what you mean. I volunteer on a preserved railway and if you're doing a double trip or a long day approaching your hours limit you really do need to be mindful towards the end of the shift and make sure you're thinking through everything you're doing.

    Paul
     
  11. Clumsy Pacer

    Clumsy Pacer Well-Known Member

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    Stand up while driving? I think DSD may have something to say about that!
     
  12. Olaf the Snowman

    Olaf the Snowman Well-Known Member

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    Yes, I’m obviously making it up.
     
  13. RobSkip

    RobSkip Well-Known Member

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    Why do you think the DSD holdover button exists...
     

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