Rail Observations July 2013

[thefatcontroller]

Interesting to note how Springwood got PIDs and Hop signage on the same day the newly refurbished V-Set passed through, but did some major station like Wyong, up North receive the same deal?

Wyong already has indicators

[boxythingy]

When did Wyong get them? They weren't there when Abesty went in November 2011: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?tit ... =460837592

[thefatcontroller]

When did Wyong get them? They weren't there when Abesty went in November 2011: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?tit ... =460837592

At least since November last year.

[VivalaBuses]

The "CityRail" brand may still yet to have its last hurrah, going by number of rail replacement buses displaying something along the lines of "CityRail Bus" I observed during yesterday's Illawarra Line shut down

[Fleet Lists]

ALL the ones at Sutherland this morning certainly still referred to Cityrail.

[boronia]

Caught an 8M set from Bankstown to Central via Lidcombe this afternoon.

When we left, the internal PID was showing just WELCOME ABOARD, which remained all the way to Regents Park. After leaving RP it changed to NEXT STOP REGENTS PARK. When we got to Berala it showed REGENTS PARK, and after leaving changed top NEXT STOP BERALA. This remained diplayed till after we left Flemington, and then changed to NEXT STOP WELCOME ABOARD, still showing this when we got off at Central.

[boxythingy]

There does seem to be a few problems with the Millennium Trains in terms of handling interchange suggestions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4gr53dakgA Next Station Sydenham, Change at Lidcombe for Bankstown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usxks1lvZ14 Next Wolli Creek, again change at Lidcombe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJOG0BPDZb0 Next Stop Sydenham, Change at Strathfield

I also once heard it telling us to change at Wolli Creek for the Airport when International was the next stop!

Because of these instances, I'm quite curious about what it says when one gets to Lidcombe or Strathfield...

[boronia]

Earlier in the day I was on an A set to Liverpool. At Villawood, the message came up THIS TRAIN TERMINATES AT VILLAWOOD, PLEASE LEAVE THE TRAIN. .

[R44]

THIS TRAIN TERMINATES AT VILLAWOOD, PLEASE LEAVE THE TRAIN.

LOL... Someone's being funny with the announcement system.

[pgt]

Earlier in the day I was on an A set to Liverpool. At Villawood, the message came up THIS TRAIN TERMINATES AT VILLAWOOD, PLEASE LEAVE THE TRAIN. .

On an A set [possibly A35 or A38] on the City Circle today (on the Inner Circle ie. Circular Quay-Wynyard-Town Hall-Central), the PID on approach to Wynyard changed to say the same thing as if the train was terminating at Wynyard.

It promptly went blank after that, followed by the correct stopping pattern (being all stops to Ashfield).

[boxythingy]

Speaking of Villawood, The other day I saw a Campbelltown/Macarthur bound A-Set with 'Villawood' on the desto. It didn't have any blue testing signs, so I didn't know if it was testing. Usually, these trains almost always display the correct thing and tyherefore that was a rare sighting.

[Rclasstramcar]

Not an observation really, but the on board announcements have been changed to include a 'welcome aboard' before giving details of approaching stations.

Ben

[Gusbus]

...to provide a better customer experience, like Gladys said she would do.

[swtt]

The "CityRail" brand may still yet to have its last hurrah, going by number of rail replacement buses displaying something along the lines of "CityRail Bus" I observed during yesterday's Illawarra Line shut down

errr... "Sydney Trains Buses" sounds absolutely absurd (is it Sydney Trains or Buses?), but "Sydney Buses" would be totally wrong......

"NSW TrainLink Replacement Buses" wouldn't fit either....


or perhaps

"SYDNEY TRAINS
REPLACEMENT BUS"

[ZaccyM]

The "CityRail" brand may still yet to have its last hurrah, going by number of rail replacement buses displaying something along the lines of "CityRail Bus" I observed during yesterday's Illawarra Line shut down

When I was in Miranda the other day (Saturday, I think) I encountered a Veolia (or Transdev, as it's now supposed to be called, even though I've heard bus drivers for Veolia still call it "Veolia", presumably trying to avoid confusing passengers) Bankstown bus displaying "CityRail Bus" along with the CityRail logo on it's desto. Probably because they are yet to reprogram their destos, but as swtt said, "Sydney Trains Bus" would be weird and confusing, perhaps operators should just reprogram their destos to display "Rail Bus" or "Rail Replacement", that way it could be used regardless of operator (Sydney Trains or NSW TrainLink) and would avoid confusing people (especially tourists, who might not know the name of the operator for their service)
I think it'll work a little something like this:

RAIL BUS
CRONULLA

or

RAIL BUS
BONDI JUNCTION

[boronia]

It would be more helpful to passengers if these rail replacement buses didn't display irrelevant "route numbers" on the signs.

They are told to catch, say, a "route 4" bus to get to their destination, but along comes one showing "route 678". What sort of message does this give?

[boxythingy]

Bench Seating Carriage:

2 x 2, Wider Aisle Carriage:

Both were either 2 of the middle carriages of each 4 block T-Set

Not sure why, but the train decided to terminate as it arrived back at Central (After terminating at Lindfield) rather than continue on and terminate at Penrith. The train (at least my carriage, last (8th) one) did lose power on the way to Lindfield just before resurfacing back on the Harbour Bridge from Wynyard (Lights, and AC/heater turned off for a short, but extended period of time and then back on).

[boronia]

Tangaras tend to do that when they go over air gaps (section insulators), it often seems to take a while for the system to reset itself.

[crazyturbo76]

The Tangaras' new seating looks... different. Next thing they'll probably get are Hop stickers and orange fronts.

[matthewg]

Tangaras tend to do that when they go over air gaps (section insulators), it often seems to take a while for the system to reset itself.

The AC units can't run off the batteries. So the fans/compressors shutdown. When the first AC trains arrived (K sets ?) they didn't have the restart delay and they kept killing the AC compressors. All the airconditioned trains will halt for between 30 and 60 seconds after crossing a section isolator to avoid damaging the compressor.

It may just be more noticeable on Tangara's as the AC is noisier. I'm pretty sure Ks, and OSCARs have the compressor restart delay. I don't ride As or Ms very much.


The V sets had AC much earlier, but it doesn't seem to be an issue - perhaps their AC compressors do something internally to deal with the sudden stop/restart problem.

[Bjwh86]

Hi all
Tomorrow will be the first day of A sets on sector 3b

[boxythingy]

Judging from the Ceiling fixtures on the ceiling in the bench seating carriage, I'm thinking they could be putting in 2 additional poles. The trains themselves were also as spick and span as the refurbished V-Set.

[macpro622776]

The trains themselves were also as spick and span as the refurbished V-Set.

Well you'd expect that when they get overhauled/refurbished they would also be cleaned...

[Punchbowl Tiger Cub]

The trial Tangara sets are TRIAL ONLY and subject to feedback from the public along with operations and maintenance staff.Jose and his UG team worked on these Tangara refurbs as well as the V Sets.This team is now unemployed having been let go once the V Sets and T77 rolled out the door.

Whether it is accepted or not time will tell.

Meanwhile NP23A Xplorer to Moree didn't run today due to diode failure on one of the cars - thus the Armidale ran on it's own as a three car set and the Moree passengers went by coaches.

Regards Punchbowl Tiger Cub

[boronia]

Noticed that V set cars are now getting "quiet carriage" signs.

In typical railway thoughtlessness they are well placed

1. Some are on the carriage door windows, where they can't be seen once the doors are open

2. In the saloons, they are on the panels above the windows at the ends, where they can't be seen by the majority of seated passengers.