On 13 Jan, 22:06, MIG wrote:

On Jan 13, 8:04*pm, "Recliner" wrote:

"MarkVarley - MVP"

(snip)

but why be on the train, operating the doors for a few stations, and
then not for the rest of the line?

I thought the train captain (are they still called that?) was always on
board, and always operated the doors, but only rarely drove. I think
they sometimes checked tickets at one time, though I'm not sure of they
still do.-

Yes they are always on the train because, although the doors release
automatically, they are closed manually.

Sometimes they may get off in order to access the other unit/
articulated vehicle, because there is no internal connection, but they
stay on the train.

Recently I've noticed that ticket checks seem to be carried out by
pairs of people who get on specially, rather than by the train captain/
whatever.

That last point is interesting - I haven't been on the DLR so much in
recent weeks. I've never been entirely convinced that PSAs (train
captains) were enough on themselves to properly check tickets,
especially at busy times. Having roving RPIs in addition to the PSAs
makes sense, especially as we enter the three-car era - that's 50%
more train for a PSA to have to try and check! I dare say the increase
in RPIs is related to the upcoming three-car trains. I have actually
seen a mob of them checking tickets on the entrance/exit stairway to
stations in the recent past though.