RealTimeTrains website

[Techniquest]

I was pondering some kind of rover for later this month - may be a Heart of England now!

There's not much in the way of 165s in that rover area is there? Weekdays the Birmingham to Leamington stopper, yes, and some Leamington to Stratford upon Avon trains, but isn't it easier to find the majority of 165s south of Princes Risborough?

If it was me, I'd delay the HoE rover until 196s are in full service, there will soon be plenty of options for those. Of course, in due course the 730s will be around too.

 

[Andy Pacer]

There's not much in the way of 165s in that rover area is there? Weekdays the Birmingham to Leamington stopper, yes, and some Leamington to Stratford upon Avon trains, but isn't it easier to find the majority of 165s south of Princes Risborough?

If it was me, I'd delay the HoE rover until 196s are in full service, there will soon be plenty of options for those. Of course, in due course the 730s will be around too.

It's quite local to me so a handy one to do when the days are shorter. There tend to be a few 165's in Oxford so I can tie them in if there's anything around. I need a few 168's as well so now the unit allocations are available on RTT it would be good to track some down. I'm pretty much 100% on West Midlands Trains, so I can concentrate future time on their new trains etc.

 

[Royston Vasey]

Yesterday I was tracking a friend so I could pick her up, arriving at Cambridge from Liverpool Street. She booked originally on an 11.28 departure which was later retimed to 11.26 arriving Cambridge at the same time 12.40 (2H24) but with the Cambridge North final stop (12.47) cancelled.

The train ran on or close to time throughout then terminated at Cambridge, and tracked normally on the National Rail app with the Cambridge North call shown as cancelled.

The curiosity here is that it was not visible on RTT at all at pass or call points through its journey; reviewing the historical data now, it is visible if CAN is selected but with no actual timings; the cancellation of the final call seems to have been reflected as a full cancellation in RTT. https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:G40105/2022-10-02/detailed.

OpenTrainTimes also shows it as cancelled throughout https://www.opentraintimes.com/schedule/G40105/2022-10-02

I always thought that if a train ran, at least an Ordinary/Express Passenger rather than nuclear/royal train etc, it would always show at each timing point, but clearly not! Is this common for services terminating short?

 

[liamf656]

What would be cool is if the unit allocation was shown underneath so you don't have to click on services. However I can understand if it makes the services clunky.

Personally I’d make it name the traction (for example “EMR Meridian”) on simple view then unit number (for example “unit 222015”) on detailed view. It would make it easy to look through diagrams instead of flicking through each service to find the right working. But that’s clutching at straws as I’m very happy at how the website is, increasingly so as more operators join the Know Your Train feature

 

[Techniquest]

It's quite local to me so a handy one to do when the days are shorter. There tend to be a few 165's in Oxford so I can tie them in if there's anything around. I need a few 168's as well so now the unit allocations are available on RTT it would be good to track some down. I'm pretty much 100% on West Midlands Trains, so I can concentrate future time on their new trains etc.

Fair enough. The HoE, I have literally just realised, is handy for me when the 197s start running. Same for the new Avanti stuff in due course.

Enjoy the adventure when you do it!

 

[03_179]

A quick question
When looking at the train on the site is the front to the left or right of the screen ?

Example:
0827 Kings Cross to Sunderland (Grand Central)
Is coach B or F at the front ?

 

[Peter0124]

Its just I don't feel like 'Avanti Pendolino/Voyager' are needed in detailed mode anyway. Because you can already tell from the number of coaches what it is.

 

[_toommm_]

A quick question
When looking at the train on the site is the front to the left or right of the screen ?

Example:
0827 Kings Cross to Sunderland (Grand Central)
Is coach B or F at the front ?

Front is at the left, the theory behind it being most of the world reads from left to right.

 

[03_179]

Front is at the left, the theory behind it being most of the world reads from left to right.

Thanks.
We have seats in B and I reckon from that they are not facing and the wife can't do that.

Hopefully there is an unreserved coach

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Thanks.
We have seats in B and I reckon from that they are not facing and the wife can't do that.

Hopefully there is an unreserved coach

Perhaps if you were to tweet Grand Central they might change them for you?

 

[03_179]

Perhaps if you were to tweet Grand Central they might change them for you?

They booked them
Said cannot guarantee they are facing

 

[py_megapixel]

Its just I don't feel like 'Avanti Pendolino/Voyager' are needed in detailed mode anyway. Because you can already tell from the number of coaches what it is.

I imagine it will be useful when the new Hitachi stuff comes in - there will be a period when 5 or 10 could be either one of those or a Voyager.

 

[JonathanH]

Its just I don't feel like 'Avanti Pendolino/Voyager' are needed in detailed mode anyway. Because you can already tell from the number of coaches what it is.

I suspect it is there to reflect the pretense that the information is there to help the general public to 'know their train' rather than enthusiasts.

 

[sbrignall72]

C2c have pictures but no units identified. When will this be available

 

[Kite159]

Good news for Chiltern/Hull Trains/Grand Central joining "Know Your Train".

Will assist for Chiltern to avoid the short sets whenever I'm next in that area

 

[Mag_seven]

Front is at the left, the theory behind it being most of the world reads from left to right.

It varies by TOC in my experience e.g. all the GWR IET formations show standard class at the country end and first class at the London end whether or not that is actually the case.

 

[OliverH68]

C2c have pictures but no units identified. When will this be available

This has been the case for a while now whereby c2c formations are released but no unit numbers yet. I have asked the question.....!

 

[03_179]

Depending on time available I might be able to add to my blog until they fully come over to RTT

I've made a start on the 50+ diagrams already

 

[skyhigh]

C2c have pictures but no units identified. When will this be available

From previous discussion, when C2C and RTT consider it necessary.

Social distancing means that the available capacity of rolling stock is reduced. They have a number of services which could be considered a problem about in terms of how busy they are after applying that capacity factor reduction - 30-40% passengers on a train could mean anything from 60-120% load of 'covid capacity' these days depending on the rolling stock.

Ultimately, it is a joint decision between RTT and c2c when numbers become available - do bear in mind it took a good two months from memory for LNER to go live. Essentially, both c2c and I have to be comfortable with it.

We have already delivered the primary functionality in our eyes which is the primary benefit for the travelling public. Sticky digits will come at some point, patience is a virtue - bear in mind this time last year the entire concept of any numbers being public was laughed upon.

I don't wish to get drawn any further into this discussion as it'll just end up being rather circular.

Because we haven't decided to do so yet.

The exact wording we used was "we will not be releasing train allocations at present due to the current coronavirus restrictions" - while I can see why you would read that the moment we come out it'd result in allocations being available, it doesn't.

I am led to believe that c2c is in general quite busy at the moment and it doesn't really seem right to incentivise the idea of making their trains any busier than necessary at the moment. They'll come, don't worry, but not yet.

 

[arb]

Front is at the left, the theory behind it being most of the world reads from left to right.

If you read from left-to-right, wouldn't you also assume that the train moves from left-to-right, therefore the front would be at the right?

There's clearly no common agreement here, I was on a Greater Anglia train the other day and I noticed that two consecutive screens on the PIS had the line diagram for the next few stations, and the carriage loading diagram. The line diagram assumed the train was travelling left-to-right, and the carriage loading diagram right-to-left!

 

[Tom]

The front is at the left, but it is to some degree left deliberately ambiguous (I'm sure I've said this before on here). CrossCountry services are generally the most accurate as they put the most effort into it.

The theory is that at most stations, as the railway is left hand running, if you looked at the side of the train and then down at your phone, the layout would be the same. The leading carriage would be at the left as that's the first one you'd see. Obviously that doesn't work at all stations including termini but it is good for the vast majority of locations. When it's in multiple unit formation it's a bit more obvious for all operators except c2c and Chiltern (which have integration issues with an upstream system meaning the order is numerical) as the leading unit is on the left.

c2c numbers: in honesty I haven't spoken to them in ages but have been reminded in the last few days a few times so will send a query over to them at some point in the near future. Suspect it'll be a few days if the right people are in the right places.

Some operators are on default orientation (because their fleet should all in theory be in the same direction) for technical reasons. Working on fixing it but the industry is doing its best to not give me access to the feed that'll let me fix it.

 

[357]

When it's in multiple unit formation it's a bit more obvious for all operators except c2c and Chiltern (which have integration issues with an upstream system meaning the order is numerical) as the leading unit is on the left.

I don't know about Chiltern but at least at C2C the units don't get turned at all. Every unit faces the same way (toilet second coach from London end)

 

[lawried123]

And another vote of thanks from me too.

Believe it or not, and bear in mind this is coming from a tight fisted Yorkshireman, I'd be happy to pay an annual subscription if you ever went than way, I find it that useful!

I, too, would be happy to pay an annual subscription as I also find the site really useful. Thanks for all the hard work put into it,

Lawrie

 

[CR165022]

I don't know about Chiltern but at least at C2C the units don't get turned at all. Every unit faces the same way (toilet second coach from London end)

With Chiltern, units rarely get turned, they only do if they end up on a Marylebone - banbury via Oxford or the other way round

 

[markymark2000]

Some operators are on default orientation (because their fleet should all in theory be in the same direction) for technical reasons. Working on fixing it but the industry is doing its best to not give me access to the feed that'll let me fix it.

This industry baffles me. Surely it's in their best interests to send out correct information as it would improve the passenger experience. I suppose it just shows that these railway bosses are there for the money, not for the passengers. Not caring about the very people who put in money to the system which pays them such a needlessly high salary.

 

[Peter0124]

@Tom, any chance I can be upgraded to detailed mode on the API? I asked via email about two months ago and haven't heard anything back, username is pvktrains, thanks!

 

[50002Superb]

Tom, any chance I can be upgraded to detailed mode on the API? I asked via email about two months ago and haven't heard anything back, username is pvktrains, thanks!

What’s API?

 

[ABB125]

What’s API?

An Application Program Interface https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/API
However, if you don't know what it means then you certainly don't need to know how it works or have access!

(And no, I don't really know anything about it either, other than that it exists.)

 

[Class172]

What’s API?

An API is an application programming interface. It allows different computer programs to communicate with each other. In the case of RealTimeTrains, the API for example might allow you to access the next train departure for a particular station using a simple script written in python etc.

In turn, RTT probably uses some form of API in order to interface with the national open data feeds.

 

[35B]

This industry baffles me. Surely it's in their best interests to send out correct information as it would improve the passenger experience. I suppose it just shows that these railway bosses are there for the money, not for the passengers. Not caring about the very people who put in money to the system which pays them such a needlessly high salary.

Going OT, but assuming not caring about customers = in it for the money is very wide of the mark. That behaviour is also nothing new.

My late grandfather worked for the City of London Corporation in the 1950s and 60s, at the time they were putting in a network of high level walkways. They wanted to extend them to Cannon Street station, so he was sent to negotiate with BR. On meeting the BR divisional manager, he was told at the start of the meeting “we are not here for the benefit of our passengers”.