Quote:
Originally Posted by swisstrains
I have lost count of the number of times that I have had to wait, often for several minutes while the conductor returns to the rear cab to release the doors. I can appreciate that special monitoring equipment is required before a driver can safely close the doors but surely he/she could be allowed to open them.
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You haven't specified which stock you're talking about, so obviously I can only talk in general terms, as each case of traction and company operating procedure may be different. Under normal conditions there's no reason why the driver can't give a door release so long as he is certain that the whole train is on the platform. If it isn't then he/she can sometimes put up SDO (selective door opening).
Unfortunately some of the latest stock (eg 375 & 377s) has GPS to tell the train where it is, and since it knows how long every platform on the network is the computer won't allow the driver to release any doors if they are over the track.
The trouble with this is that if the GPS doesn't have a current 'fix' then the driver has to inititiate an override, and this takes several minutes. GPS was originally designed to be used out in the open (such as at sea and in deserts) and isn't really suited to the railway where cuttings, tunnels and steel structures block the very short wavelength signals.
I'm always disappointed that on these occasions where passengers are waiting several minutes for the doors to be released there NEVER seems to be any PA announcement from either the guard or the driver to let us know what is happening. It's very unprofessional IMHO as it is just asking for someone to pull an Egress handle, which would make the traincrews job more difficult and delay the train even further.