Train driver takes wrong train out of station
Discussion
"The First Great Western driver and his “pilotman” train manager joined a train at Banbury in Oxfordshire and thought they were taking it to London. But in fact the train was going the other way towards Reading and Didcot and, ultimately, Swansea.'
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/09/train...
Slightly worrying!
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/09/train...
Slightly worrying!
Parabola said:
"The First Great Western driver and his “pilotman” train manager joined a train at Banbury in Oxfordshire and thought they were taking it to London. But in fact the train was going the other way towards Reading and Didcot and, ultimately, Swansea.'
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/09/train...
Slightly worrying!
Not really anything to worry about, just a cock-up.http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/09/train...
Slightly worrying!
Over the Easter weekend the main line was closed between Hayes & Harlington and Didcot, and all FGW trains from Wales and Bristol were running via Didcot West Curve up to Banbury, then reversing and taking the former GWR Birmingham main line to Paddington via High Wycombe. All the reversals took place in the same platform at Banbury. so it would have been a very easy mistake to make.
I was probably one of the few passengers on those trains on Easter Monday that went to London purely because of the diversion
The nerd in me had never been on a train between Banbury and Paddington non-stop, and the last time I was on a train that went direct from Banbury to Swindon via Didcot West was Sunday morning 4th September 1966, when I had come down from York via Sheffield Victoria and the Great Central, on the last train that ever did that run
Pugland53 said:
"Pilotman" lol! It was a train manager, slight difference....
Nobody else has picked up on that bit of sloppy journalism, but now you've brought it up... I doubt that many FGW drivers have route knowledge of Paddington to Banbury via High Wycombe, and I doubt that many if any Chiltern drivers have traction knowledge of HSTs. Therefore the vast majority if not all of the trains that ran on this diversionary route would have been double-manned at the sharp end. In some areas of the country the term conductor driver is used to describe the additional driver, but Network Rail appears to have adopted the term Pilotman, which was certainly in common usage on the Western region when I worked for them almost 40 years ago:
https://www.safety.networkrail.co.uk/Services/Jarg...
A train manager is a different beast altogether. We used to call 'em "Guards" in my day.
rs1952 said:
Nobody else has picked up on that bit of sloppy journalism, but now you've brought it up...
I doubt that many FGW drivers have route knowledge of Paddington to Banbury via High Wycombe, and I doubt that many if any Chiltern drivers have traction knowledge of HSTs. Therefore the vast majority if not all of the trains that ran on this diversionary route would have been double-manned at the sharp end. In some areas of the country the term conductor driver is used to describe the additional driver, but Network Rail appears to have adopted the term Pilotman, which was certainly in common usage on the Western region when I worked for them almost 40 years ago:
https://www.safety.networkrail.co.uk/Services/Jarg...
A train manager is a different beast altogether. We used to call 'em "Guards" in my day.
Bit of confusion there - a Pilotman (normally a qualified signaller or MOM with full working knowledge of the area) is normally provided by NR when the normal safe systems of work have failed.I doubt that many FGW drivers have route knowledge of Paddington to Banbury via High Wycombe, and I doubt that many if any Chiltern drivers have traction knowledge of HSTs. Therefore the vast majority if not all of the trains that ran on this diversionary route would have been double-manned at the sharp end. In some areas of the country the term conductor driver is used to describe the additional driver, but Network Rail appears to have adopted the term Pilotman, which was certainly in common usage on the Western region when I worked for them almost 40 years ago:
https://www.safety.networkrail.co.uk/Services/Jarg...
A train manager is a different beast altogether. We used to call 'em "Guards" in my day.
A conductor driver is provided when the existing driver has insufficient route or traction knowledge for the journey.
Current NR literature seems to use both terms correctly.
That can't always be said for disinterested 'journalists'.
Having posted about FGW driver's route knowledge of Paddington to Banbury via High Wycombe, it got me thinking that as this is likely to be a frequent diversionary route whilst the electrification work is taking place, it would probably be in FGW's interest to train their drivers to take it. It would probably be a lot cheaper in the long run that employing a second driver as conductor/ pilotman/ whatever you want to call them.
Does anybody know if this has happened?
Does anybody know if this has happened?
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