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Post by chapelwood on May 28, 2009 15:48:06 GMT
My understanding is that Notworkers may travel around the network - except to Hastings - as 10 cars but that they can only stop at stations where all coaches fit available platform lengths as they are not fitted with SDO. I believe they are not allowed to convey passengers between Folkestone and Dover, because of passenger evacuation issues in the single track tunnels from trains which do not have end gangways. Chapelwood |
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Post by O.V.S.Bulleid on May 28, 2009 15:57:15 GMT
Yes, of course that is true - and it makes for some interesting comparisons with their cousins operating out of Kings Cross through single bore tunnels.
My best wishes sir
OVS
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Post by Richard Trevithick on May 29, 2009 7:44:32 GMT
Could it be related to the width of the tunnels? Could the tunnels north of London be wider (hence it being possible to put an escape ladder between the train and the tunnel wall) whilst down at Dover / Folkestone they are too tight for this?
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Post by O.V.S.Bulleid on May 29, 2009 9:04:33 GMT
Well sir, I also thought of that and asked Herbert Kouts, an eminent but deceased expert who worked in the nuclear power industry - but a bit of a railway enthusiast up here. His opinion is that no single bore tunnel is safe to exit via the sides of vehicles in any circumstance unless passengers can exit in a way that allows the largest of passengers, including those in wheelchairs, a quick route to safety. This is particularly the case where there is a danger from a live third rail to passengers once on the ballast. His view is that in the event of fire there may be no safe exit How Notwork Rail intend to make the single bore tunnels near Dover safe is questionable (and possibly political).
(Of course before Health & Safety was invented 2Haps used to go through every hour....)
Yours sincerely
O.V.S.Bulleid
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Post by NoOnions on May 30, 2009 17:56:38 GMT
Thanks OVS - great stats. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8067945.stmMakes me laugh - of course most trains are 'on time' - every new timetable adds a few minutes to a journey. It's as dodgy as MPs deciding their own expenses rules. The trains have been bought and so we are going to get a service we don't want or need. Successful companies respond to consumer demand. It amazes me that the rail companies do not realise this. I guess they know we are a captive audience and that we have no choice. They know I can't drive to The City to get to work. All this from the country that invented a rail service - it's depressing and so typical.  A depressed NoOnions |
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Post by genehuntisking on May 31, 2009 7:07:25 GMT
The trains have been bought and so we are going to get a service we don't want or need. Successful companies respond to consumer demand. It amazes me that the rail companies do not realise this. At present rail franchises are not there to respond to customer demand (despite the PR puff pieces that come out), they are there to do exactly what the DfT tells them. This applies accross the country as DfT have decided to micro manage every franchise. There are some suggestions that this may change again in the near future. We shall see. The Gene Genie |
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Post by genehuntisking on Jun 23, 2009 11:29:08 GMT
My understanding is that Notworkers may travel around the network - except to Hastings - as 10 cars but that they can only stop at stations where all coaches fit available platform lengths as they are not fitted with SDO. I believe they are not allowed to convey passengers between Folkestone and Dover, because of passenger evacuation issues in the single track tunnels from trains which do not have end gangways. Chapelwood Just a further update on the issue of Networkers between Folkestone and Dover. It has recently come to my notice that class 465s and 466s are permitted between Folkestone and Dover ECS only, but the opposite line must be blocked when the train is between Shakespeare Cliff Tunnel and Harbour Tunnel (effectively round the sharp corner between the sites of Archcliffe and Hawksbury St signalboxes). Interesting to note too that the "OPPOS" restriction also applies to class 395s in the same place. This leads to 395 test trips, and any 465/6 ECS runs being designated 5X.. rather than 5Z.. to stand out to the signalman that the train carries a restriction. The Health and Safety powers that be are very uneasy about trains running with passengers on that require the opposite line blocked, owing to the obvious safety implications. I believe the forthcoming work between Folkestone and Dover from 25th July through to 30th August should allow 395s to operate without restriction. It will be interesting to see if the "OPPOS" restriction on 465s is lifted then too. So it may be more than just single bore tunnels. After all aren't the up fast line and down slow line at Tanners Hill officially single bore tunnels too? The Gene Genie |
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Post by Richard Trevithick on Jul 3, 2009 14:18:55 GMT
Hi,
I'm guessing that at least with regarding Tanners Hill, the tunnels are so short (with the obvious exception of a 2-car unit) that a single unit will just about fit in it with at least a single set of doors poking out of one end, so a "standard" evac is in theory possible.
RT
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