Staff Trains

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Staff Trains 01/07/2015 at 19:44 #73786
Danny252
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Are staff trains counted as "passenger carrying trains", or are all staff carried on them exempt from such things? I'm mostly wondering about people like station staff (if they use such trains), considering that they may not be trained for going trackside.

(In short, do I need to set them as "Passenger" in Simsig, or leave them as ECS?)

Last edited: 01/07/2015 at 19:47 by Danny252
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Staff Trains 01/07/2015 at 20:58 #73790
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It really depends on what era you are talking about. When it was BR & certainly when I started on the railways in the mid 1980s 'Staff' trains were just that. During the night between Bedford - St. Pancras - Bedford they used to run an hourly service which wasn't advertised to the general fare paying public & the trains ran with staff going to work or going home. However during the 1990s that changed & anyone could ride on this hourly service throughout the night. They didhave guards/ticket examiners on them to check the tickets or collect fares from the paying public, however the majority of those who used the service regularly tended to be in uniform or they knew you worked on the railways as they had seen you several times in the past in uniform. They were never classed as ECS workings as usually ran as Cl.2 trains. Today however things no doubt have changed & the number of staff trains running would be in the minority certainly those specific to just staff if they adopted the same method as Thameslink did in the 1990s.
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Staff Trains 01/07/2015 at 21:04 #73791
Danny252
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" said:
They were never classed as ECS workings as usually ran as Cl.2 trains. Today however things no doubt have changed & the number of staff trains running would be in the minority certainly those specific to just staff if they adopted the same method as Thameslink did in the 1990s.
Yes, I've only seen SN timetables/CWNs showing staff trains running. I suspect the fact they run as Class 5s probably indicates that they're to be treated as standard ECS, if your more "passenger-y" ones were Class 2s.

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Staff Trains 01/07/2015 at 21:28 #73793
rodney30
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on south eastern there is a train from swanley to London Victoria that operates Monday to Friday as 2A02 0433 say to vic.
on Saturday it is 5A02 0433 say to vic.

Monday to Friday it is a passenger train but it is mainly staff on it, it is in the public timetable. on Saturdays it is class as an e.c.s but staff are mainly on it, it is not in the public timetable.

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Staff Trains 01/07/2015 at 22:42 #73796
mfcooper
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A fair number on Southern

5P90 01:32 Victoria to Selhurst - Calls at a number of stations
5S99 04:00-ish somewhere to Victoria - calls at a number of stations
5M94 04:50 Victoria to Epsom (via Crystal Palace) - calls at a number of stations
(NB: Formed from 5S99 stock)
5R01 XX:XX Selhurst to Victoria - Calls all station to Balham, then forms 2R01 to Victoria. Connects with 5M94 at Balham to take staff to Streatham Hill Depot.

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Staff Trains 01/07/2015 at 23:08 #73800
Gwasanaethau
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I know a lot of passenger trains make unscheduled/unannounced stops at places like Redhill and Selhurst for staff transit purposes, particularly late in the evenings. I used to use some of the Selhurst ones when I worked there. Obviously they ran as 1*** or 2*** as appropriate for the route.

EDIT: I believe the ones that run directly to/from depots would be 5*** ECSs, but I have no evidence to back that up…merely supposition.

Last edited: 01/07/2015 at 23:09 by Gwasanaethau
Reason: Depot trains

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Staff Trains 02/07/2015 at 08:07 #73801
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On a similar thought to 'Staff' trains are 'Staff Halts' & I'm only aware of 2 & both of them are on the Southern Region, those being the staff halts at Hoo Junction & the one at Wimbledon. I know from my days working for Trainload freight South east/Mainline Freight the staff halt at Hoo Junction was still in use then. Used mainly by train crew travelling between Hither Green & Hoo Junction & can't remember if it was a booked stop on certain passenger trains/staff trains or whether it was by request only. I know the platforms were very small, about the length of 1 coach. Don't think I can recall any others unless someone on here knows different. I think the only booked trains to stop at these halts were actually staff trains.
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Staff Trains 02/07/2015 at 08:47 #73802
John
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There's the staff halt at Battersea Pier near Victoria, where drivers working empties to/from Battersea Pier Sidings are picked up/dropped off by passenger trains.
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Staff Trains 02/07/2015 at 08:54 #73803
dwelham313
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In contrast to Southern's as posted my mfcooper, Great Northern's staff trains run as class 2;

2R00 04:14 Kings Cross - Royston
2F89 05:16 Hitchin - Letchworth A/D line
2K98 06:01 Finsbury Park - Moorgate
2E80 22:15 Moorgate - Finsbury Park

03:25 Peterborough - Kings Cross has a staff stop at Hornsey

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Staff Trains 02/07/2015 at 09:01 #73804
moonraker
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Yes in BR days staff trains were just that. When I transferred to OOC from Swindon for my drivers job there was a 00.25 Padd - Swindon staff train with an 03.47 return working which was usually a class 121 Bubble car but on a Friday night quite often a 3 car Met Cam set. Passengers quite often came down on the paper trains if they were desperate to get somewhere and I remember keeping a man company to Gloucester on the papers when we used to have a travelling porter job on nights to unload at Stroud.
Last edited: 02/07/2015 at 11:32 by moonraker
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Staff Trains 02/07/2015 at 09:58 #73805
RainbowNines
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Not sure if it was a staff halt but there's a very, very short platform (disused) on the right hand side as you leave Manchester Piccadilly towards Stockport. I'm not overly familiar with the area so don't know what it would serve.

Could this be a staff halt? And if not - what could it be? I've always been intrigued.

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Staff Trains 02/07/2015 at 10:31 #73806
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RainbowNines wrote:
Quote:
Not sure if it was a staff halt but there's a very, very short platform (disused) on the right hand side as you leave Manchester Piccadilly towards Stockport. I'm not overly familiar with the area so don't know what it would serve.

Could this be a staff halt? And if not - what could it be? I've always been intrigued.
Come to think of it you might be right there, well done. Certainly during the 1980s & the early 1990s there were quite a number of staff trains running about between Piccadilly - Rose Grove/Guide Bridge, but the ones that ran between Stockport - Piccadilly were booked to stop at Longsight Depot. So the LM had at least one, so it obviously wasn't something that the Southern only had.

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Staff Trains 02/07/2015 at 14:21 #73807
John
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A staff halt on the down main just outside the Grosvenor Sidings shunters lobby would be handy for dropping drivers off. Would save the 20 minute walking time currently allowed along with the inevitable moaning from drivers doing un booked shunts.
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Staff Trains 02/07/2015 at 17:03 #73820
Steamer
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" said:
Not sure if it was a staff halt but there's a very, very short platform (disused) on the right hand side as you leave Manchester Piccadilly towards Stockport. I'm not overly familiar with the area so don't know what it would serve.

Could this be a staff halt? And if not - what could it be? I've always been intrigued.
I'm almost certain it was a staff halt- I have vague memories of stopping there after a day out to the Airport.

"Don't stress/ relax/ let life roll off your backs./ Except for death and paying taxes/ everything in life.../ is only for now." (Avenue Q)
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Staff Trains 02/07/2015 at 18:25 #73827
Muzer
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Not heavy rail, but the Edinburgh Trams system has a staff halt at the depot. Seems to be heavily used, when I was visiting the two or three trams I used all stopped there. I got some pictures out of the door, didn't do very well though.
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Staff Trains 04/07/2015 at 17:08 #73879
Splodge
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Used to have one at Metrolink at Queens Road depot as well though it has been replaced by a regular stop now.
There's the right way, the wrong way and the railway.
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