So, can you just open the door at 125mph? Or is there some sort of locking system that the guard operates?
No don't think so back in the day it was slide window and pull down the handle and tada the door is open but nowadays they have probably got a locking system now I would think
IIRC they were fitted with central door locking a few years after they were introduced, the guard releases the doors and locks them at station stops. Though I think I remember reading that HSTs dont have traction interlock, so it can still be driven with the doors unlocked unlike most trains nowadays, but this may have changed with the ones that have been fitted with power doors.
This is the Mk3 Central door locking panel. What Northernboy has said is spot on. GWR Mk3s had Selectice Door Opening as you can see. But not all Mk3s- I don’t think LNER or XC sets did.
Depends what you mean by recent but not really, late 2000s I believe. This is how HSTs have been stopping at Slough, for example, as only front 7 coaches can open with the very rear door hanging off the platform. The cotsworld line (Oxford-Worcester) again utilises SDO. That picture in the previous post is from slam door days. Nearly all Mk3s have been converted to automatic sliding doors whether it’s on GWR/ScotRail/CrossCountry. EMR sets haven’t but they’re due to be getting rid of theirs soon. There have been a few horror stories in the past with drivers imagining the buzz buzz from the guard and moving the train with all doors unlocked/open. With the Mk3s that have been converted to sliding doors, interlock has been fitted to the HST cabs. Oops I meant northerner not northernboy in my last post
I think the door locks were fitted to MkII and MKIII stock around the early 90s, before that it was possible to open the doors whilst the train was in motion.