back to article London's 'automatic' Tube trains suffered 750 computer failures last year

Hundreds of London Underground's automated trains were cancelled last year thanks to automated train operation system SNAFUs, blowing a hole in claims that replacing bolshy staff with computers is the best way to prevent delays. Service-busting failures included the Jubilee and Northern Lines' main vehicle control computers ( …

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  1. TRT Silver badge

    There's a reason there are no SPADs on the Northern Line anymore. There aren't any signals to pass.

    And Arnos Grove has a depot, so perhaps that's related.

    There's a handy map of the whole system here.

    'A' signals are Northern Line.

    1. Commswonk

      There's a handy map of the whole system here.

      A rather unhandy map in practice. Harry Beck's design is the only "handy" map in existence.

      1. Danny 14

        depends what you want the map for. Harry Becks map is useless if you don't know where you want to go. For example. I'm a country bumpkin from the north of England, where trains are concerned they run every hour and mostly bypass your station so I don't really need to worry about them.

        Recently I took a trip to London to see the marvels of piped gas and mains sewerage. We were stopping near to Tower bridge so choosing a starting station was easy - Tower but I wanted to go to the natural history museum - Kensington. But WHICH station was closest?

        I ended up using a rather magnificent app called "ulmon London" that had offline mapping (googlemaps) and overlayed the tube maps. That made finding a local tube station a cinch. So sure, Harry Becks is great at locating your start and destination stations (and mapping changes inbetween) but is rubbish if you don't know your station to begin with.

        1. Anonymous Custard
          Trollface

          Says it all when the handy map for the London Underground comes from a server in France...

          But indeed interesting to see how it's actually physically laid out in a true geographical sense, rather than from the traveller convenience viewpoint.

          1. TRT Silver badge

            It has historical notes, shows accurately the position of pointwork, sidings, stations, closed stations and where lines cross each other vertically. OK, maybe not "handy" as in small, but "handy" as in it it has more detail. There's also a nice scrolly, zoomy version on the same website. And I believe the guy's done the same for other Metro systems.

          2. Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese Silver badge

            RE: Anonymous Custard

            But indeed interesting to see how it's actually physically laid out in a true geographical sense, rather than from the traveller convenience viewpoint.

            You can actually get a similar thing on Google Maps - if you enable the Public Transport layer, it shows you London tube lines

            1. TRT Silver badge

              Re: RE: Anonymous Custard

              OK, I've had some replies about the Arnos Grove thing.

              There's a higher than typical number of speed-control signals in the area, which can be tricky, and there's a gradient up to Oakwood (so the SB trains may be picking up speed from that).

              There's a lot of conflicting movements possible in the area, so signals may remain set to danger for longer than anticipated.

              Crew may be distracted by preparing for crew-relief at Arnos Grove.

              PJ320 is a 10mph draw-up signal halfway along a platform which may not clear as anticipated due to e.g. a reversing service on the adjacent (converging) track.

              And the inner home signals for eastbound and middle platforms have a dual role as semi-automatics or draw-up signals depending on the route that has been set.

              NB Speed control and draw-up signals are peculiar to LU and were introduced to shorten the gaps between trains, particularly at platforms, by allowing a slow moving following train to approach closer (to the rear of a stopped in platform or just pulling away train) by means of a cascade of time-delayed signals - if you get to the next red before the timer runs out, you're going too fast and the tripcock will apply the emergency brake.

            2. jeremyjh

              Re: RE: Anonymous Custard

              That overlays the lines but the Carto Metro map is useful because it shows track layouts, platforms, lengths of interchanges. Not that useful for getting about town. Very useful for understanding why things are the way they are.

              1. TRT Silver badge

                Re: RE: Anonymous Custard

                I've had more replies about the SPaDs. Seems like it's a feature of the layout of the tracks in that area.

                "A904 if you miss the R904 and come out of the tunnel doing 30mph plus in the rain its a spad all day.."

                "When I didn't have gray hair and used to be a trainer, I'd always tell trainees that if R904 was on start braking immediately. If they didn't..."

                "One of the problems with A904 is that drivers don't react soon enough to R904 if it's on. They come down the hill from Southgate, see R904 with a yellow aspect, but don't immediately start braking, hence the number of SPaDs at that signal. "

      2. Version 1.0 Silver badge

        Handy Map?

        It looks like two (or more) spiders having sex.

        1. TheDillinquent
          Trollface

          Re: Handy Map?

          You watch some weird porn!

      3. paulf
        Headmaster

        @ Commswonk

        "Harry Beck's design is the only "handy" map in existence."

        The Harry Beck design is a diagram, not a map, as it's not geographically accurate. (Among other things Zone 1 is shown disproportionately large due to the density of stations).

    2. getHandle

      Re: There's a handy map of the whole system here

      Fascinating - thanks for that!

    3. Bill M

      Gremlin colony near Arnos Grove

      There is a Gremlin colony near Arnos Grove and their preferred state of affairs is SNAFU.

      As an endangered species they have protected status and so cannot be moved on.

    4. pompurin

      Is anyone else willing to admit they spent 20 minutes browsing this map?

      Fascinating.

  2. Nathan 13
    Joke

    boom

    You wait 2 years for an article about the tube, then 2 come along at once :)

    1. Roq D. Kasba

      Re: boom

      2 tubes at once? Ouch!

  3. Arachnoid

    Vacancy for Robot Phsycologists now arising

    " A hidden, recurring fault is often the most difficult to diagnose and cure – and may be indicative of a deeper problem."

    Get in their first with a new line in Phsycology you could even name it after yourself.........

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC_-r-J69qA

    1. Big_Boomer Silver badge

      Re: Vacancy for Robot Phsycologists now arising

      Or Robot Psychologists even. :-)

    2. John G Imrie

      Re: Vacancy for Robot Phsycologists now arising

      You'll be after Susan Calvin's job next.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Vacancy for Robot Phsycologists now arising

      I think you need to sack your Spellcheck Robot.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So what's the message here, then ??

    ATO systems aren't 100% perfect, I guess.

    Well, what a surprise.

    Then, as the author notes in the middle of the article, they're actually a damn sight better than what came before.

    Then, for some inexplicable reason, he concludes that Mk 1 eyeballs are better after all.

    I note there's no mention of the DLR, which has been happily trundling around using Seltrac and no Mk 1 eyeballs for decades.

    And if he wants to see a really brave implementation of ETCS and ATO, look at what NR are planning for on the Thameslink core in 2018.

    1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

      Re: So what's the message here, then ??

      Quote

      And if he wants to see a really brave implementation of ETCS and ATO, look at what NR are planning for on the Thameslink core in 2018.

      I think the NUR will have more than a few words to say about that given the present problems Sarf of the River. The last southern train from my local station goes at 16:28 this week.

      If NR think they can get 24 tph (trains per hour) in each direction in the peaks through the Thameslink core then can I have some of what they are smoking please?

      1. Mike Pellatt

        Re: So what's the message here, then ??

        If NR think they can get 24 tph (trains per hour) in each direction in the peaks through the Thameslink core then can I have some of what they are smoking please?

        And even more, temporarily, when "recovering from perturbation".

        Which is why I descibed it as "really brave". Yes, mad might be a better description. Especially given how many separate routes need to be merged together coming into the core (and even more now they're proposing to add in Rainham via Dartford, because Windmill Bridge can't handle the traffic...)

      2. BlartVersenwaldIII
        Boffin

        Re: So what's the message here, then ??

        > If NR think they can get 24 tph (trains per hour) in each direction in the peaks through the Thameslink core then can I have some of what they are smoking please?

        Wondered the same thing myself - I take the Thameslink, FSM help me, and dwell times at rush hour through the core stations are easily in excess of a minute, frequently two, and this that doesn't leave much room for getting the train on and off the platform. So I'm left incredulous as to how it's meant to happen even with new rolling stock that's easier to get in and out of.

        There's talk of a new signal type called POSA to be used in the core however to achieve the supposed peak of 30tph, and I don't think there's to be any through trains past blackfriars from the south-west loop.

        http://www.railengineer.uk/2013/11/13/signalling-the-thameslink-programme/

        Edit: grr stupid non-clickable links

    2. Alan Brown Silver badge

      Re: So what's the message here, then ??

      DLR was designed from the outset for automatic trains, with the luxury of not opening lines until all the work was done and thoroughly tested.

      All the other lines are conversions from manually-controlled systems with work generally done under enormous time pressure in a few hours window each night in old tunnels full of god-knows-what and testing also has to be crammed into that window.

      One of the main reasons given for not putting in extra tunnels is cost, but the cost of only having one line in each direction with no resilience and no ability to take a line out of service for proper heavy maintenance (some tunnels are still running on century old rail which should have been replaced years ago, and as such are subject to low speed limits) far outweighed the cost of boring new ones a long time ago. Doing it this way would allow safe 24 hour services too.

      Crossrail _could_ have addressed this, but oh no, the same blinkered mentality applies. 10-20 years after opening when heavy work is required it's going to have the same problems as the current lines do.

      A brave politician and TFL head would take the bull by the horns and announce major new programs but this is unlikely to ever happen.

      1. Martin an gof Silver badge
        Flame

        Re: So what's the message here, then ??

        A brave politician and TFL head would take the bull by the horns and announce major new programs but this is unlikely to ever happen.

        Or just sit down and be quiet and be thankful for what you have and distribute the money around the rest of the country where it will make a heck of a lot more difference:

        IPPR report from 2013 (PDF)

        See tables 1.5, 1.6 and figures 1.3 and 1.4 for example.

        Some of the analysis is disputed though, and even the Western Mail is a bit more restrained:

        Transport spending per person in London is twice the level in Wales

        Note that this is in relation to an earlier version of the IPPR report, from 2011.

        M.

        1. theModge

          Re: So what's the message here, then ??

          Indeed, there is an argument that whilst the grim north still has buses on rails (class 142) then digging more admittedly useful but very expensive tunnels can't be too high a priority!

          1. Martin an gof Silver badge

            Re: So what's the message here, then ??

            Not just the grim North - we suffer the same - 142, 143, 150 all still present and correct here on the Valleys Lines. They keep promising us better...

            M.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Unionised workers solve union problems non shocker

    So you're saying that the system that can put overpaid underworked union dinosaurs out of a job, which is maintained by other overpaid underworked union dinosaurs, isn't fit for purpose according to the data produced by yet more overpaid underworked union dinosaurs?

    Colour me surprised.

  6. ntevanza

    Fail v fail safe

    To talk sensibly about safety critical infrastructure control you need to distinguish between failing and failing safe. Otherwise you will overinvest in wailing about why everything is so broken.

    Of course you need to reduce fail safe events, but start from the premise that FAIL SAFE GOOD.

    Example: signal failures are vanishingly rare. Signal fail safes are all too common. All that means is that one of the two or three redundant signalling comms signals doesn't agree with the others, and since the system has no way of judging which one is right, it goes red and waits for a human to come along and take a look. In the meanwhile, everyone stays more or less alive.

    Alive good. Dead bad.

    1. scrubber
      Terminator

      Re: Fail v fail safe

      Not entirely true. Each life has a value. Each commuter minute wasted has a value. At some point holding up (or being fined) for a delay exceeds the lives lost number and then we let people die. This is usually done at the inception of a project, but also applies to upgrades and ongoing maintenance.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Fail v fail safe

        I can confirm authoritatively this is not how it works.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

  7. theModge

    The key advantage of ATO wasn't covered

    Simply you can have more trains on the same tracks. Which in a country where building railway lines is near impossible (because there is always someone's house in the way) is pretty much essential. Cross rail for example will have to be ATO in the tunnels just in order as to achieve 20 trains per hour, though for reasons of us implementing such things at a geological pace,it will revert to conventional signalling above ground.

    1. TRT Silver badge

      Re: The key advantage of ATO wasn't covered

      ATO doesn't achieve that. TBTC does.

    2. jeremyjh

      Re: The key advantage of ATO wasn't covered

      This isn't just geological pace - a lot of it is to do with what else will continue to use the Network Rail tracks on which the extremities of the service will continue to run.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Thanks for adding the link to the deeper explanation of the ATP (http://www.davros.org/rail/signalling/articles/central.html). Great read, much appreciated!

  9. JeffyPoooh
    Pint

    "...hidden, recurring fault is often the most difficult to diagnose and cure..."

    That's why, sooner or later, the number of system requirements, especially those related to Built In Test, self-monitoring, and logging of all data, will grow and grow and grow. The system spec and proof of compliance matrix will each become the size of a telephone book. Then a new Program Manager will take over, realize it's all safety critical, and force DO-178 Level A onto the process. You'll need an entire dedicated track network to execute full scale test programs. Everything will become ultra-difficult, expensive, but still making progress.

    Then, quite unexpectedly, the accounting folks will try to implement SAP. The entire network will be out of service for a year.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "...hidden, recurring fault is often the most difficult to diagnose and cure..."

      "The system spec and proof of compliance matrix will each become the size of a telephone book"

      Actually, the table of contents is about the size of a telephone book.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "...hidden, recurring fault is often the most difficult to diagnose and cure..."

        Telephone books have got a lot smaller over the years...

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: "...hidden, recurring fault is often the most difficult to diagnose and cure..."

          trust me, it's the size of an old-style Yellow pages ..

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    * Perhaps a reader knows why Arnos Grove is so prone to SPADs? 29 Category A SPADs occurred there in the 12 months from March 2015, the highest concentration in any one Tube location over the year. Particularly problematic were signals A902, A904, PJ320 and PJ350, with each having been SPADded four or five times.

    Well I've never been there, so my suggestion is uninformed, unfair, malicious and probably wrong. Could it be because it's a hole, and nothing (not even the machine) wants to stop there?

    Or ley lines...

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge
      Coat

      I wonder if it's because it never comes up in Mornington Crescent so no one knows where it is?

      Mine's the one with the Humphrey Lyttelton biography in the pocket, thanks.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Arnos Grove

      "Could it be because it's a hole"

      A bit harsh but that could be the reason for a local nickname "Anus Grove"!

      The station is about 2 miles from my humble abode which is nearer to my eponymous station on the Northern Line. AG not only has wacking great sidings where tubes go to sleep at night, but it also has a strange central platform which can operate in both Northbound and Southbound modes and doors that can open on either/both sides.

      It confuses the hell out of me and I'm just a passenger so what it does to train staff is anyone's guess.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Really?

    "Blowing a hole in claims that replacing bolshy staff with computers is the best way to prevent delays."

    750?

    How many cancelled due to striking staff?

    1. TRT Silver badge

      Re: Really?

      On the tube, or are you just pissed with the RMT over the Southern thing? Because the way I see it

      (1) effective management doesn't antagonise the staff to the point of dispute

      (2) driver only operation is not as safe as two-person operation (where both of the roles carry a safety responsibility)

      (3) drivers operated doors are not as safe during train dispatch as guard operated doors are (and the RAIB agree - "[...] trains operated by Southern [...] are equipped with external CCTV cameras which cover the area along the sides of the train, and provide images which are displayed in the cab. These images are suppressed once the train has begun to move. It is important that the driver is not distracted from observing signals and the line ahead during departure from stations." The images for most of these systems are not recorded and many have a lag of 0.5-1.5 seconds - presumably due to compression required to send them over the air to the monitors in the cab. Some images are displayed on screens on the platform, which can be affected by dirt and sunlight and which pass out of the driver's line of sight within moments.)

      (4) anyone who says "well, the tube has been DOO for years" has missed the fact that stations are categorised as A or B type depending on the amount of curvature / amount of platform that can be seen from the cab, and class 'B' stations require a member of staff on the platform to assist with train dispatch - though the ultimate responsibility for starting the train is that of the driver. Even class 'A' stations have SATS (Station Assistant, Train Services) - they hold the baton up to signal that they think it's safe to depart. In the end, the tube is quite a controlled environment compared to the mainline.

      1. Nick Ryan Silver badge

        Re: Really?

        I believe that many of the complaints revolve around the fact that most other train services (ignoring intercity routes) don't have a guard on the train. Therefore why does Southern require this where others don't?

        Yes, having an additional person on the train ought to improve safety to a certain degree. Whether or not this makes any real difference is up to a lot of arguments and will naturally depend on the trains and stations involved.

        1. TRT Silver badge

          Re: Really?

          "most other train services [...] don't have a guard on the train"

          Really? Strange definition of "most". Look at Section 3.29 of this 2014 consultation document which says "For example, trains across the region are currently operated with both a driver and guard. However, on almost a third of train services in Great Britain, including many recently electrified routes, everything is controlled by the driver in what is known as 'driver only operation' (DOO), with no need for a conductor or guard to operate the doors, or for train despatch. This means any other staff on-board the train are able to focus on customer service and revenue protection."

          This means that 2/3 of the services are not operated solely by the driver. Having just one person responsible for the train is ridiculous. Just resetting a passenger emergency alarm (aka a passcom) can take five minutes of walking down the train - if the driver is doing that instead of driving the train... and then there's the communications equipment to the line controller which is located in the cab - so when the driver is away from that, there's no communication with the controller (they can take a portable radio, but most trains do NOT have an onboard radio system, so messages sent by the line controller can't be guaranteed to be relayed along the whole length of the train)

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Really?

            I'm of the opinion they should replace the rubber buffers on doors with interlinkings blades that slice things off that get wedge in closing doors. Fuck em.

            Don't see many people blocking the doors and Hayes anymore. Ealing Broadway on the other hand, yes lets all try and get into the front two carriages that are always already pretty full leaving paddington and ignore the other 3 or 4 carriages. I remember when they managed to break the doors on two trains with their amazing intellect. God I hate ealing broadway afternoon commuters.

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