Connect Live on the District

Sounds like the old system is acting true to form on its last day of full use.

EDIT: 5 trains from the east and 5 from the west will be 'live'. How long it survives of course remains to be seen......

One of the perils of doing nights, you finish late at least once a week.

BTW, I was home at 05.45

Today it is'nt going live as such its .... err ... an enhanced operational test or something like that as there are still a few bugs in the system.
All calls from connect enabled trains will arrive at the control room through the old "legacy" radio handset, for the time being.

I brought out a Connect train from Upminster Depot this morning and found the time taken to set the thing up is too long winded. On the D stock we now have to set the Connect and DVA when entering the cab, 2 time consuming things, I wonder if the union has asked for more prep and turn around time.

15 D stocks entered service "Connect enabled" - it will remain at 15 trains for around a week whilst the system is 'proven'. Essentially we're at the live test stage as this is the first time the line's equipment is actually being used - so once the first week is out of the way, the rest of the fleet will be progressively 'enabled'.

At 2200 hours last night, the first day was declared a complete success by the instructor operators, with no reported problems or defects by drivers - though I have heard passing comments that the promised clarity was somewhat over rated and the line controllers panel crashed once or twice ;D

The issue of individual handsets won't happen until the C stocks are 'enabled' - one of the main reasons being that until all the cabs / controllers panels / DMT's panels / etc are functioning fully (which isn't the case at present), there's no real use for them.

It would seem the West end of the line is in conflict with the East end then ;D ;D ;D

My info is based on what the IO's are telling us at Earls Court

I've been led to believe that the line controllers do not have full functionality yet - meaning that they cannot actually call a handset should the train op leave the cab. Also the signal operators are not part of Connect yet either.

Here's what the thing looks like on a refurb, I've now been on 3 Connected trains and it still takes me time to set them up:

img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/Motorman/Image020.jpg

img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/Motorman/Image021.jpg

Yes. They should be switched off or left on minimum volume when in the cab and only used when the driver leaves the cab.



Well the handheld will still work even if the train it's on doesn't have Connect enabled. In fact the handheld should work anywhere on LU. But it would not be associated with a train, so when calling the LC he would not know automatically who was calling him.

Train Ops first.

It will be personal issue for train ops, so we will all get one - but for all other staff the units will be issued only when they are on duty.

Before you ask - the reason train ops get a personal issue has a lot to do with the fact that the hand helds have to associated with train being driven.

a bit of your post missing!

So I take it then that the T/Op will login to the Connect radio in his driving cab, and then login to his handheld, thereby establishing a fallback protocol where any call not answered in the cab will be redirected to the T/Op's handheld.

IMO this will be very useful when the T/Op is taking a PNR^W making tea^W outside the cab for any reason, as now he will be fully informed at all times.

Ah, so it's a matter of entering the handheld ID into the cab control panel to establish the fallback.

If that's the case, was Motorman's problem simply the fact that he isn't yet familiar with the controls and thus needs to practice using them for a bit?

I've managed to end up on nights for two weeks - last nights 'pleasure' being the last Upminster. My train was Connect enabled, but I was hoping I wouldn't need to use it (though thanks go to trainopd78 for the confusing briefing as I 'picked up' ;D). Trainopd78 tells me that the west end is now singing from the same song sheet and we will be issued with handhelds from monday - on a voluntary basis.

Anyway I digress. I found the radio to be much clearer in clarity and gave a quicker response from the line controller when the staff at West Kensington failed to appear with a lamp - so far so good. Then as I passed through the Aldgate area it changed to the Met controller (who is not connect enabled and is not in control of this section of the District)

I noticed also that it 'changes' it's location according to the signal cabins (or signal ops in the case of Earls Court) area of control - and whilst doing so it will cut off any message that is being broadcast. Useful

Then it came to entering Upminster depot - and it suddenly dawned on me that because we are currently using Connect slightly differently at the moment, communication with the depot control tower may prove 'interesting'. As it turned out, the tower signaller simply set up a private call and communication was dead easy - with one difference....they usually ask for your leading car number and I was surprised that he didn't. Then the penny dropped - he already knew my leading car number as Connect shows that information.

On the whole, though it's only limited service at the moment, I like the overall quality of the system (despite what I heard yesterday, and subsequently posted) - so I for one am looking forward to the full benefits Connect is promised to bring....

Ooo, I'm also on nights and was the pen-ultimate Upminster last night (and first out in the morning.)

The previous night as the scheduled pen-ultimate Upminster, my train was so late (and then reformed and curtailed westbound at Parsons Green to be just as late) I was way behind the last Upminster and had to be renumbered urgently along with the intended last, to prevent any accidental take up of possession by engineering staff !!

Anyway ...I digress ... and I haven't had a connect fitted train yet