Rushing driver? Or making up time?

[pimlico]

So a couple of weeks ago the Hammersmith and city line was suspended between Liverpool street and Barking, there was no circle line, and the Met was suspended between Moorgate and Aldgate. Usually at the Kings X SSL platforms on weekends, there are usually gaps of about 4-6 minuets roughly between trains. As I reached the platforms there was a H&C train pulling out. I was a bit annoyed, because to my knowledge H&C trains are not the most frequent on the underground and I was going to Liverpool street, so this was the only line running to take me there . But I was wrong! Rather strangely, there was another H&C train coming down the tunnel already! Literally up the 1st trains backside. As I boarded the train the driver closed the door while the DVA was announcing "National and international rail services. I found this strange, as I thought that you would regulate the train, as the announcement on the D stock says, "To even out the gaps in the service", Especially as the next train was 8 minutes behind this one.
The train traveled at a snails pace really really slow only doing about 15mph between kings cross and Farringdon. But the driver was really rushing, at Barbican he opened the doors for 5 seconds!! Is this allowable? However saying this the train was pretty much dead. There was only a handful of people on it, mainly because the train in front was carrying everyone. The train continued to stop and start in the tunnel. We was then held outside Liverpool street for a further 6 minutes while the train In front terminated. Could anyone shed some light on why this train was being driven like this?
Many thanks.

[North End]

Dec 19, 2012 19:57:12 GMT pimlico said:

So a couple of weeks ago the Hammersmith and city line was suspended between Liverpool street and Barking, there was no circle line, and the Met was suspended between Moorgate and Aldgate. Usually at the Kings X SSL platforms on weekends, there are usually gaps of about 4-6 minuets roughly between trains. As I reached the platforms there was a H&C train pulling out. I was a bit annoyed, because to my knowledge H&C trains are not the most frequent on the underground and I was going to Liverpool street, so this was the only line running to take me there . But I was wrong! Rather strangely, there was another H&C train coming down the tunnel already! Literally up the 1st trains backside. As I boarded the train the driver closed the door while the DVA was announcing "National and international rail services. I found this strange, as I thought that you would regulate the train, as the announcement on the D stock says, "To even out the gaps in the service", Especially as the next train was 8 minutes behind this one.
The train traveled at a snails pace really really slow only doing about 15mph between kings cross and Farringdon. But the driver was really rushing, at Barbican he opened the doors for 5 seconds!! Is this allowable? However saying this the train was pretty much dead. There was only a handful of people on it, mainly because the train in front was carrying everyone. The train continued to stop and start in the tunnel. We was then held outside Liverpool street for a further 6 minutes while the train In front terminated. Could anyone shed some light on why this train was being driven like this?
Many thanks.

LUL train staff are trained that part of the meaning of a green signal is to drive at line speed, unless there is any reason not to. So it's perfectly normal and acceptable to follow close behind the preceding train. It's down to the control staff if they wish to regulate the headways by holding the train in a platform.

From what you describe, the fact that your train does not appear to have been held by signals anywhere suggests the train in front may have been running late for some reason, which would likely explain why your train was close behind. From a driver's point of view it can be frustrating to follow another slow-moving train, and pyschologically more frustrating if you know it's a time of day when you shouldn't be following one!

As for short dwell times, again there is no set requirement for how long a train should spend in a platform. On the ATO lines there is a countdown, however there is no reason why the driver should not depart before this time if safe to do so. The only exception is under TBTC, where the train will not get its target point advance until minimum dwell time has elapsed.

[mrfs42]

Dec 19, 2012 21:31:13 GMT North End said:

As for short dwell times, again there is no set requirement for how long a train should spend in a platform.

That doesn't quite square with the $seconds posters provided at $Undergroundstations (probably Jubilee). I'm sure I've seen something mentioning 47 seconds.

[Deleted]

There isn't a set dwell time, the driver was probably trying to keep to the WTT considering the circumstances. If the train was stopping and starting it sounds like it was being driven stick to stick, considering you mentioned there was a train immediately in front of it. I'm not a train operator, so I could (probably) be wrong.

[Deleted]

Sounds like the driver of the second train was doing his best to keep to timetable with a late running train right in front of him. The line controller or signaller would be the one to regulate the train to even out gaps in the service, not the driver.

If everyone is on the first train and the second train has very few passengers then dwell times in platforms will be short. The hope is always that passengers seeing "Next train 1 min" will wait for the second train rather than cram onto the late running first one, but human nature often doesn't work like that!

[North End]

Dec 20, 2012 1:55:20 GMT mrfs42 said:

Dec 19, 2012 21:31:13 GMT North End said:

As for short dwell times, again there is no set requirement for how long a train should spend in a platform.

That doesn't quite square with the $seconds posters provided at $Undergroundstations (probably Jubilee). I'm sure I've seen something mentioning 47 seconds.

What I was getting at is there is no minimum time a train should stand in a given platform with doors open. Some WTTs used to print dwell times if I recall correctly, but again these were only guidance. A common cause of passenger complaint after getting caught in closing doors is "the driver was too quick to close the doors", but in practice there's no such thing.