In message ,
writes
Clive wrote:
In message .com,
Boltar writes
Something no one in the media or on here seems to have mentioned is
that the only reason the drivers are noticing so many tripcock
failures
is that so many of these overpaid agitators are going through red
lights! Perhaps while they're fixing the trains they should consider
getting the drivers retrained. How exactly can you miss a red light
in
a slow tube train usually (on the northern line) in a dark tunnel?
They
don't have to worry about other traffic , roadside distractions,
steering etc like a bus driver but if a bus driver went through a red
light I don't think anyone would have much time for him blaming the
bus
for not putting its brakes on!
Perhaps if you tried driving a tube train instead of pontificating
like
Conor, you'd be wiser, and have no need to say anything.
--
Clive
He seems to have made a perfectly valid comment that requires an
answer, I would certainly like to know the answer. On the one hand you
have these highly trained, safety critical £32000pa or is it £35000pa
drivers, who should be capable of stopping a train at a signal. Or are
they irresponsible idiots who require a safety device to stop them at a
signal so that they can concentrate on their ipod.
Surely the purpose of the tripcock wasn't as a safety device just to
save the embarrassment of negligent drivers.
Kevin


Clive didn't write any of the forgoing. As a former driver on the
tube, these men/women have my sympathy for the knowledge and accuracy
with which trains on the tube are driven and it bortlicks or conorubish
tried it, they'd find it a lot more demanding than driving an oversize
car called a truck with forward control which makes it easier than a car
to handle.
--
Clive

On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 15:22:53 +0100, Clive
wrote:

Trains very a lot between themselves and also between empty and loaded,
have you never seen a train over run a platform? Trainstops are there
for your safety not someone's convenience

So do busses. Maybe there should be a trip at each bus stop in case
the driver forgets a full bus needs more braking than an empty one?

Laurence Payne wrote:
On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 15:22:53 +0100, Clive
wrote:

Trains very a lot between themselves and also between empty and
loaded, have you never seen a train over run a platform?
Trainstops are there for your safety not someone's convenience

So do busses. Maybe there should be a trip at each bus stop in case
the driver forgets a full bus needs more braking than an empty one?

If there was an organisation for the roads similar to the Railway
Inspectorate then it's entirely possible that there would be a better safety
regime.

On Sat, 15 Oct 2005 01:26:09 +0100, Laurence Payne
wrote:

So do busses. Maybe there should be a trip at each bus stop in case
the driver forgets a full bus needs more braking than an empty one?

To add to Brimstone's comments, in some cases the worst thing you
could do with a road vehicle is to jam all the brakes on. That could
lead to loss of control or another collision. That's probably one
reason why road vehicles don't tend[1] to have emergency braking of
that type, as I'm certain the technology exists to implement it.

Of course, as he posted, if there was a Roads Inspectorate with the
same type of powers, road vehicles would probably be banned

[1] I'm told by Conor on uk.t (or uk.rec.driving, one or t'other) that
lorries do have that capability if there is a disconnect between the
brakes of the trailer and tractor unit. This is probably fair enough,
as braking is probably better than no braking capability whatsoever,
but it isn't necessarily the case that the best way to deal with a
road "SPAD" is to emergency brake - sometimes accelerating out of the
problem is safer.

Neil

--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK
When replying please use neil at the above domain
'wensleydale' is a spam trap and is not read.

On Sat, 15 Oct 2005 10:08:07 GMT, (Neil
Williams) wrote:

To add to Brimstone's comments, in some cases the worst thing you
could do with a road vehicle is to jam all the brakes on. That could
lead to loss of control or another collision. That's probably one
reason why road vehicles don't tend[1] to have emergency braking of
that type, as I'm certain the technology exists to implement it.

Road vehicles have anti-lock braking systems, presumably an emergency
stop would be implemented using it.

In message , Laurence Payne
writes
Road vehicles have anti-lock braking systems, presumably an emergency
stop would be implemented using it.
The tube trains I used to drive had mercury retarders to stop wheel
slip, I would imagine modern trains have similar equipment to prevent
flats on their tyres.
--
Clive

On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 22:06:18 GMT, "Richard J."
said:

If you have up-to-date info on the number of SPADs on LU, please quote
numbers and source.

While arguing about the Northern line on IRC, I found this ...

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/using/use...ical/spads.asp

which eventually leads to ...

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/company/perfor...te/default.asp

--
David Cantrell | http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david

David Cantrell wrote:
On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 22:06:18 GMT, "Richard J."
said:

If you have up-to-date info on the number of SPADs on LU, please
quote numbers and source.

While arguing about the Northern line on IRC, I found this ...

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/using/use...ical/spads.asp

which eventually leads to ...

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/company/perfor...te/default.asp

But the SPADs chart only goes up to Period 9 of 2003/04, according to
the dates on the horizontal axis, which is why I asked for *up-to-date*
info.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

So do busses. Maybe there should be a trip at each bus stop in case
the driver forgets a full bus needs more braking than an empty one?

Sadly that does appear to be the case! Passengers regularly get thrown
about by some of the drivers on the No. 63 route as they regularly fail
to notice the subtle differences between nearly empty and fully loaded.

The newer buses are worse, as I presume they've got more power and
better brakes. But, I'd have thought the drivers (and you see the same
faces day in day out) would have compensated for this.

Is it easy to become a driver these days? Six years ago a friend tried
to become a driver at Wood Green, and he seemed to be the ideal
candidate, but he failed the test. I wonder if he would have still done
so today?

Jonathan

Yes
Accelerometers measure "G's" and retard the braking to provide a smooth stop
under normal service brake conditions.




"Clive" wrote in message
...
In message , Laurence Payne
writes
Road vehicles have anti-lock braking systems, presumably an emergency stop
would be implemented using it.
The tube trains I used to drive had mercury retarders to stop wheel slip,
I would imagine modern trains have similar equipment to prevent flats on
their tyres.
--
Clive