Connect Live on the District

[c5]

I take it that the "launch" of connect hasnt gone too well so far - severe delays are occuring due to faulty communications equipment

[solidbond]

Hmm - I wonder if it is something else, as it isn't due to go live till tomorrow And even then, it will only be between 12 and 15 trains to start with

[Deleted]

Sounds like the old system is acting true to form on its last day of full use.

[Deleted]

Unless someone started taking it apart a day early

[Deleted]

theonekea said:

Unless someone started taking it apart a day early

EDIT: 5 trains from the east and 5 from the west will be 'live'. How long it survives of course remains to be seen......

[Deleted]

c5 said:

I take it that the "launch" of connect hasnt gone too well so far - severe delays are occuring due to faulty communications equipment

There seemed to be a failure of the existing equiptment early this morning, I heard numerous trains being held up and down the line whilst it was being checked out ... these were mostly C stock however. The main cause of the delays was an over run of engineering works at Acton Town, which prevented any of the D stock booked to start at Ealing Common from leaving by the time the radio failure had been resolved.

(I was less than impressed to still be staring at a motionless shunt signal in Ealing Common depot after I should have already been at Upminster and finished ! The handling of the start up after "all clear" and information provision also left plenty to be desired - enough said ! )

[Deleted]

aspect said:

(I was less than impressed to still be staring at a motionless shunt signal in Ealing Common depot after I should have already been at Upminster and finished ! The handling of the start up after "all clear" and information provision also left plenty to be desired - enough said ! )

One of the perils of doing nights, you finish late at least once a week.

BTW, I was home at 05.45

[Deleted]

I have noticed the connect handsets in the cabs are being unsecured to be ready for use.

[c5]

Today it is'nt going live as such its .... err ... an enhanced operational test or something like that as there are still a few bugs in the system.
All calls from connect enabled trains will arrive at the control room through the old "legacy" radio handset, for the time being.

[Deleted]

c5 said:

Today it isn't going live as such its .... err ... an enhanced operational test or something like that as there are still a few bugs in the system.
All calls from connect enabled trains will arrive at the control room through the old "legacy" radio handset, for the time being.

Hmm, i gather Connect did go live on some trains this morning. However messages are routed so that the controller can be heard by the legacy fitted trains as well. But the controller does have his connect visual display screen showing details of the calling train (that was obvious from some of the comments he made answering calls from connect fitted trains this morning). There seemed to be a fair few trains making inadvertent "mayday" calls where an incorrect button had been pushed. I gather personal connect handsets will be issued to staff from Monday (at least thats what Barking crew depot have been told).

It did however all seem to be working when i booked off this morning, although I didn't get one of the connect fitted trains, the controller performed several radio checks with me to ensure the legacy system was still working in tandem.

[Deleted]

I brought out a Connect train from Upminster Depot this morning and found the time taken to set the thing up is too long winded. On the D stock we now have to set the Connect and DVA when entering the cab, 2 time consuming things, I wonder if the union has asked for more prep and turn around time.

[Deleted]

jim said:

I wonder if the union has asked for more prep and turn around time.

I'm sure they soon will!

When the duties at Earls Court were changed earlier this year the booking on time was increased from 7 minutes to 8. Is that extra minute anything to do with Connect?

[Colin]

15 D stocks entered service "Connect enabled" - it will remain at 15 trains for around a week whilst the system is 'proven'. Essentially we're at the live test stage as this is the first time the line's equipment is actually being used - so once the first week is out of the way, the rest of the fleet will be progressively 'enabled'.

At 2200 hours last night, the first day was declared a complete success by the instructor operators, with no reported problems or defects by drivers - though I have heard passing comments that the promised clarity was somewhat over rated and the line controllers panel crashed once or twice ;D

The issue of individual handsets won't happen until the C stocks are 'enabled' - one of the main reasons being that until all the cabs / controllers panels / DMT's panels / etc are functioning fully (which isn't the case at present), there's no real use for them.

[Deleted]

colin said:

The issue of individual handsets won't happen until the C stocks are 'enabled' - one of the main reasons being that until all the cabs / controllers panels / DMT's panels / etc are functioning fully (which isn't the case at present), there's no real use for them.

A memo from the District's general manager was posted at Upminster yesterday (confirming Barking's view) that handheld portable radio sets will be issued from Monday 16th. Of course things can change at very short notice.

One of this groups members was demonstrating the hand held units at Earl's Court yesterday which seemed fully functional.

[Colin]

It would seem the West end of the line is in conflict with the East end then ;D ;D ;D

My info is based on what the IO's are telling us at Earls Court

I've been led to believe that the line controllers do not have full functionality yet - meaning that they cannot actually call a handset should the train op leave the cab. Also the signal operators are not part of Connect yet either.

[Deleted]

aspect said:

colin said:

The issue of individual handsets won't happen until the C stocks are 'enabled' - one of the main reasons being that until all the cabs / controllers panels / DMT's panels / etc are functioning fully (which isn't the case at present), there's no real use for them.

A memo from the District's general manager was posted at Upminster yesterday (confirming Barking's view) that handheld portable radio sets will be issued from Monday 16th. Of course things can change at very short notice.

One of this groups members was demonstrating the hand held units at Earl's Court yesterday which seemed fully functional.

What's the reason for a different policy for the handhelds versus the cab-mounted units?
Are they meant for t/ops to use next to the cab-mounted ones, for when they need to leave the cab for instance? Or are they meant for non-driving staff in the first place?
Could a train without Connect radio equipment operate as a 'Connect train' if the t/op would be handed a handheld unit? That could seriously speed up introduction I guess.

[Deleted]

Here's what the thing looks like on a refurb, I've now been on 3 Connected trains and it still takes me time to set them up:

img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/Motorman/Image020.jpg

img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/Motorman/Image021.jpg

[Colin]

maurits said:

Are they meant for t/ops to use next to the cab-mounted ones, for when they need to leave the cab for instance? Or are they meant for non-driving staff in the first place?

Hand helds will be used by all 'mobile' operational staff - that includes station staff as well as drivers, duty managers, etc.
As far as drivers are concerned, the hand helds work in tandem with the train bourne equipment.

maurits said:

Could a train without Connect radio equipment operate as a 'Connect train' if the t/op would be handed a handheld unit? That could seriously speed up introduction I guess.

You cannot have a handheld and suddenly make it a Connect enabled train - without going too deep into it, it just dosen't work like that.

[Deleted]

maurits said:

Are they meant for t/ops to use next to the cab-mounted ones, for when they need to leave the cab for instance?

Yes. They should be switched off or left on minimum volume when in the cab and only used when the driver leaves the cab.

Could a train without Connect radio equipment operate as a 'Connect train' if the t/op would be handed a handheld unit? That could seriously speed up introduction I guess.

Well the handheld will still work even if the train it's on doesn't have Connect enabled. In fact the handheld should work anywhere on LU. But it would not be associated with a train, so when calling the LC he would not know automatically who was calling him.

[Deleted]

colin said:

You cannot have a handheld and suddenly make it a Connect enabled train - without going too deep into it, it just dosen't work like that.

adw said:

Well the handheld will still work even if the train it's on doesn't have Connect enabled. In fact the handheld should work anywhere on LU. But it would not be associated with a train, so when calling the LC he would not know automatically who was calling him.

Thanks! I was afraid that would be an issue and it apparently is...

So, handing out handhelds to t/ops starts soon, to all t/ops whether there train is 'Connected' or not? Or just the 'mobile' operational non-driving staff for now?

[Colin]

Train Ops first.

It will be personal issue for train ops, so we will all get one - but for all other staff the units will be issued only when they are on duty.

Before you ask - the reason train ops get a personal issue has a lot to do with the fact that the hand helds have to associated with train being driven.

[c5]

colin said:

Train Ops first.

It will be personal issue for train ops, so we will all get one - but for all other staff the units will be issued only when they are on duty.

Before you ask - the reason train ops get a personal issue has a lot to do with the fact that the hand helds have to associated with train being driven.

However the Connect Handheld is not going to be part of the Train Operators PPE. This means that an Operator can refuse a handheld if they so wish.

There is

[Deleted]

c5 said:

colin said:

Train Ops first.

It will be personal issue for train ops, so we will all get one - but for all other staff the units will be issued only when they are on duty.

Before you ask - the reason train ops get a personal issue has a lot to do with the fact that the hand helds have to associated with train being driven.

However the Connect Handheld is not going to be part of the Train Operators PPE. This means that an Operator can refuse a handheld if they so wish.

There is

a bit of your post missing!

So I take it then that the T/Op will login to the Connect radio in his driving cab, and then login to his handheld, thereby establishing a fallback protocol where any call not answered in the cab will be redirected to the T/Op's handheld.

IMO this will be very useful when the T/Op is taking a PNR^W making tea^W outside the cab for any reason, as now he will be fully informed at all times.

[Colin]

Almost right TOK - the hand held will log itself onto the system (it's much like a mobile phone). The cab unit has to be 'manually logged on' - during this process we input the details relating to the hand held. If a call goes unanswered in the cab, it will then divert to the assigned hand held.

[Deleted]

Ah, so it's a matter of entering the handheld ID into the cab control panel to establish the fallback.

If that's the case, was Motorman's problem simply the fact that he isn't yet familiar with the controls and thus needs to practice using them for a bit?

[Deleted]

colin said:

Before you ask - the reason train ops get a personal issue has a lot to do with the fact that the hand helds have to associated with train being driven.

Sorry, I ask a lot of questions, I know.

It seems where some people have a fascination for Q stock, Ongar or slightly-curving-disused-westbound-crossovers I have developed a fascination for Connect.

[Colin]

I've managed to end up on nights for two weeks - last nights 'pleasure' being the last Upminster. My train was Connect enabled, but I was hoping I wouldn't need to use it (though thanks go to trainopd78 for the confusing briefing as I 'picked up' ;D). Trainopd78 tells me that the west end is now singing from the same song sheet and we will be issued with handhelds from monday - on a voluntary basis.

Anyway I digress. I found the radio to be much clearer in clarity and gave a quicker response from the line controller when the staff at West Kensington failed to appear with a lamp - so far so good. Then as I passed through the Aldgate area it changed to the Met controller (who is not connect enabled and is not in control of this section of the District)

I noticed also that it 'changes' it's location according to the signal cabins (or signal ops in the case of Earls Court) area of control - and whilst doing so it will cut off any message that is being broadcast. Useful

Then it came to entering Upminster depot - and it suddenly dawned on me that because we are currently using Connect slightly differently at the moment, communication with the depot control tower may prove 'interesting'. As it turned out, the tower signaller simply set up a private call and communication was dead easy - with one difference....they usually ask for your leading car number and I was surprised that he didn't. Then the penny dropped - he already knew my leading car number as Connect shows that information.

On the whole, though it's only limited service at the moment, I like the overall quality of the system (despite what I heard yesterday, and subsequently posted) - so I for one am looking forward to the full benefits Connect is promised to bring....

[Deleted]

theonekea said:

Ah, so it's a matter of entering the handheld ID into the cab control panel to establish the fallback.

If that's the case, was Motorman's problem simply the fact that he isn't yet familiar with the controls and thus needs to practice using them for a bit?

Seems so, I have since had 2 more trains Connected and I have set them up quicker. I still think the system is over complicated for what we need.

[Deleted]

colin said:

I've managed to end up on nights for two weeks - last nights 'pleasure' being the last Upminster.

Ooo, I'm also on nights and was the pen-ultimate Upminster last night (and first out in the morning.)

The previous night as the scheduled pen-ultimate Upminster, my train was so late (and then reformed and curtailed westbound at Parsons Green to be just as late) I was way behind the last Upminster and had to be renumbered urgently along with the intended last, to prevent any accidental take up of possession by engineering staff !!

Anyway ...I digress ... and I haven't had a connect fitted train yet

[Colin]

aspect said:

Ooo, I'm also on nights and was the pen-ultimate Upminster last night (and first out in the morning.)

Aha - I think thats put a face to a name

Did you have a problem at Upminster depot followed by a dippy supervisor at Turnham Green on train 41?