Island Line Upgrade updates

[cogload]

Went across to the Island today. Impressions are mixed tbh. The trains were late and this enforced a change of CAT so a negative start to begin with. Lots and lots of anoraks and cranks and a few bemused islanders looking on.

It seemed to me that there were issues with the doors and that the trains seemed sluggish pulling away- This may have been teething as drivers and guards get used to the layout. The interiors were sturdy, you are not expecting luxury but they have done a decent job on the basic refurb. The ride was as expected on jointed track especially from Esplanade to St Johns Road - yeesh; however there was none of that fairground bouncing which the 483's had south to Brading.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Was there a lineside fire somewhere on the line today?

 

[D9006]

No to add to woes, fire near line at Sandown , services running St. John’s to pier head only since mid afternoon

 

[Skymonster]

So after 10 months of no service and many millions of pounds we are back where we started:

Only one train an hour running
Trains being cancelled
Trains regularly running late

Eleven months… Signal failure at Ryde St John’s to start with apparently, but hey they’ve only had nearly a year to get it right.

 

[Chris125]

Sadly the new platform at Brading remains inaccessible, with all trains using Platform 1 - the footbridge is blocked off with the foot crossing and footpath gates all locked.

They have finished cutting down the wooden fences on what is clearly now an open crossing with user-worked gates - however sightlines from Platform 1 towards Sandown still seem less than ideal as does the footpath access on the other side.

 

[Skymonster]

I seem to recall it being stated that at Brading only platform 1 will be used when single train operations are in effect. Clearly there will be no choice but to use both platforms at Brading when the full timetable resumes in mid-December as trains will pass there.

 

[Chris125]

This video suggests there was access to Brading's other platform earlier in the day, how annoying! It also shows how pedestrian the speeds are around that and other stations, no wonder they aren't running to time - hopefully that'll be addressed.

 

[Hadders]

I went to the Island today. My observations:

- An hourly service comprising two units 484001 and 484004 was running
- It seems that the very first service was delayed by a signalling issue from which the service never recovered
- The train I caught from Pier Head to Shanklin departed 10 mins late and lost a further two minutes, arriving 12 minutes late
- Door opening and closing seems to take too long, and is probably the root cause of the trains not keeping time. Similar issues were reported on the Martson Vale Line with these units
- Train layout appears to be identical to when they were operating on the District Line, new seat covers fitted, USB charging points and a small luggage rack. Perfectly acceptable given the service but not as good as the units operating on the Marston Vale
- Staff suggested it's not possible for the trains to keep to time and apparently told management of this back in the summer
- Staff were very frustrated at the situation but were doing a good job in the circumstances
- Trains I travelled on were busy, lots of enthusiasts about
- At least two trains terminated at Ryde Esplanade, causing frustration for some passengers who had already missed the ferry due to delay
- A lineside fire (not railway related) caused the service to be suspended south of St Johns from 16:00
- The trains do fit through the Ryde tunnel

 

[Chris125]

- Door opening and closing seems to take too long, and is probably the root cause of the trains not keeping time.

Seems pretty typical for a modern train from what I've seen? Not as quick as the 483s but I suppose that's to be expected.

 

[kentrailman]

Was there a lineside fire somewhere on the line today?

Local press says inside fire possibly due to electrical fault ... doesn't sound promising ... oh dear .. ?

LINE SIDE FIRE FORCES ISLAND LINE SUSPENSION ON FIRST DAY BACK

Island Line services have been suspended this afternoon (Monday) due to a fire on the train track. South Western Railway is advising that services between Ryde St Johns and Shanklin have been halted by the incident, which Island Echo understands has occurred to the north of Sandown station...

www.islandecho.co.uk

 

[Hadders]

Seems pretty typical for a modern train from what I've seen? Not as quick as the 483s but I suppose that's to be expected.

To be fair the 700s are decent, but being driver released helps.

From what I can gather with the 484s:

- Train comes to a halt, guard opens the local door and checks all is clear
- Guard then releases the rest of the doors
- Passengers press the button and the door opens slowly
- Guard presses close door button, hussle alarm sounds for a few seconds then doors close slowly
- Guard then closes the local door, again the mechanism is slow
- Guard gives 2 on the bell, driver respond etc
- Train eventually moves

Each of the above takes a few seconds but it all adds up. I know today was the first day and naturally things will be a bit slow but it seemed to me that the station stops were all 30 seconds - 1 minute longer than they needed to be. Doesn't sound much but add this up at every station and you soon get to 3 or 4 minutes of delay on each journey.

 

[D365]

Come what may, this is not an inauspicious start.

A bit difficult when at least one of the units is out of action due to no fault of their own.

 

[Goldfish62]

It's a far cry from their days on the District line where the doors would often start opening before the train had completely stopped.

One thing I don't understand is why the doors are slower now. Why couldn't the original door mechanism have been retained?

 

[norbitonflyer]

A bit difficult when at least one of the units is out of action due to no fault of their own.

What's wrong with it?

 

[Cravens]

I think what also doesn't help is that the 484's now have acceleration not unlike that of the A60/62 Stock, that surely must also cause its own problems RE: timekeeping.

 

[DelW]

Come what may, this is not an inauspicious start.

Did you intend that double negative? I suspect you meant to say that it *was* an inauspicious start

 

[birchesgreen]

I think what also doesn't help is that the 484's now have acceleration not unlike that of the A60/62 Stock, that surely must also cause its own problems RE: timekeeping.

I'm not familiar with that stock in operation, can you explain a bit more?

 

[Cravens]

I'm not familiar with that stock in operation, can you explain a bit more?

Of course, they were bowing out on the London Underground Metropolitan line during my more youthful days, and their acceleration was often very slow if you wanted to get a good top speed (up to 70 mph) out of them. There was an option to accelerate faster, but limited the top speed to about 35 mph.

 

[pdeaves]

One thing I don't understand is why the doors are slower now. Why couldn't the original door mechanism have been retained?

Are the doors slower than in District line days? They are certainly used differently (guard control, etc.). A single wide door will take longer to open and close than two half width doors, so maybe compared to the old order it seems worse.

 

[Skymonster]

Trouble at t’mill again this morning?

If RTT is to be believed Island Line is currently running two hours late (you could practically walk from Ryde to Shanklin in that time at a brisk pace). Clearly the train is running in a path two hours later than planned, but it seems the 0645 and 0745 from Pier Head didn’t run after the first Shanklin-Ryde “paused“ at St Johns Road for two hours.

edit: RTT seems to have righted things and the trains are running to time

 

[Chris125]

Trouble at t’mill again this morning?

If RTT is to be believed trains are running more-or-less to time, which is quite a turnaround from yesterday.

 

[swt_passenger]

What's wrong with it?

It was mentioned a few days ago (#1106) that a couple of units had an issue in Ryde depot. Somewhere else it was described as a “coming together”…

 

[WesternBiker]

Are the doors slower than in District line days? They are certainly used differently (guard control, etc.). A single wide door will take longer to open and close than two half width doors, so maybe compared to the old order it seems worse.

They must be slower, by the sound of it. Having commuted on the District for 15 years, they didn't pose a problem for dwell times particularly (beyond the single leaf being a bit too narrow when crowded).

 

[Chris125]

The webcam confirms it, they are actually managing to run an hourly service today.

 

[Phillipimo]

Recent train times shows the turnaround from yesterday! All going well so far today which is great news, I guess the doors aren't a big problem after all.

 

[MotCO]

Recent train times shows the turnaround from yesterday! All going well so far today which is great news, I guess the doors aren't a big problem after all.

Maybe they should have operated a full service on Sunday, but not open to the public, to test the system. Then on Monday, at the grand relaunch, everything would have been fine.

 

[swt_passenger]

Maybe they should have operated a full service on Sunday, but not open to the public, to test the system. Then on Monday, at the grand relaunch, everything would have been fine.

I thought it was posted that they did that on the Saturday?

 

[Chris125]

I thought it was posted that they did that on the Saturday?

I don't think they've done a full service yet even in testing but it wouldn't really help - there will always be that first day with real passengers (and lots of enthusiasts), and it wouldn't help with the power outage/signal failure in the morning or the electrical fault in the afternoon which were presumably just as likely to happen a day later.

 

[swt_passenger]

I don't think they've done a full service yet even in testing but it wouldn't really help - there will always be that first day with real passengers (and lots of enthusiasts), and it wouldn't help with the power outage/signal failure in the morning or the electrical fault in the afternoon which were presumably just as likely to happen a day later.

Yes of course. I expect staff acting as passengers on a staff run would probably always act correctly as well…

 

[Philip 34002]

To be fair the 700s are decent, but being driver released helps.

From what I can gather with the 484s:

- Train comes to a halt, guard opens the local door and checks all is clear
- Guard then releases the rest of the doors
- Passengers press the button and the door opens slowly
- Guard presses close door button, hussle alarm sounds for a few seconds then doors close slowly
- Guard then closes the local door, again the mechanism is slow
- Guard gives 2 on the bell, driver respond etc
- Train eventually moves

Each of the above takes a few seconds but it all adds up. I know today was the first day and naturally things will be a bit slow but it seemed to me that the station stops were all 30 seconds - 1 minute longer than they needed to be. Doesn't sound much but add this up at every station and you soon get to 3 or 4 minutes of delay on each journey.

I don't understand why on new or heavily altered trains why it is not arranged for the driver to release the door, even if the guard closes the doors. The driver must know must know if he or she has stopped in the correct location at a station. The enables passengers to be able to promptly press the door button to open the doors. This must assist in reducing dwell times. I am surprised that such an arrangement has not been adopted for the new 484 trains. As noted above a few seconds at each station soon adds up!!!

I have also seen on trains, operated by other TOC's, where the guard sells tickets and he is also responsible for releasing the doors, that he may still be selling tickets when the train arrives at the next station, thus delaying the release of the doors, and consequently further delaying the train. I am sure that this will happen on the new IoW trains.