Cityrail Marshalls

[somebody]

Marshals hired to ease squeeze on train times

Date

October 19, 2012

Jacob Saulwick

Transport Reporter

IN TOKYO subway companies hire ''pushers'' to help cram commuters onto trains.

Sydney is not there yet. But next month the city's train operator will trial posting two guards per train door on the most crowded morning platform at Town Hall Station to help marshal the worst of the peak-hour crush.

The guards, hired in the past fortnight, will try to reduce the amount of time it takes for trains to stop, pick up and unload passengers before leaving the station.

But the flipside is that some passengers running late will find it more difficult to get on if that risks delaying the train.

From November 19 at Town Hall's platform three, RailCorp will start treating weekday mornings like a special event.

The station will be separated into three sections, with dedicated zones for passengers waiting for a train, getting off the train and getting on. And marshals at each door will try to move people on and off more quickly.

After the Herald learnt of the initiative, the Transport Minister, Gladys Berejiklian, explained the thinking behind the trial. ''Keeping trains moving through the peak is important as the most minor of delays can have a knock-on effect to following trains and cause disruptions to customers,'' she said.

''One train delayed by only a few minutes can have a potential impact on dozens of train services.''

Overcrowded trains and narrow platforms ill equipped to cope with the volume of peak-hour passengers mean it can take between 80 seconds and two minutes for trains to leave platforms on stations in the central business district.

This limits the number of trains RailCorp can run. On the western line, for instance, RailCorp's timetable says 20 trains run through the city in a peak hour but in practice only 17 or 18 do.

RailCorp's trial will target 60-second ''dwell times'' at Town Hall's platform three between 7am and 8.30am.

RailCorp has hired 16 marshals to work the part-time, peak-hour shifts. They are now being trained.

A spokeswoman for RailCorp would not say much it had cost to hire the marshals. But one source said it had been impossible to move existing staff from less crowded CBD stations - for instance, St James or Museum - to work at Town Hall in the morning because of restrictions in RailCorp's enterprise bargaining agreement with the Rail, Tram and Bus Union.

Mick Cartwright, a branch organiser with the union, said cuts in the past few years meant RailCorp had had to hire new marshals.

But Mr Cartwright said the trial would improve safety at Town Hall and should help trains run to time better.

''My understanding is that anyone who tries to run down and delay the train, the [marshals] will ask them to stand back when the doors close so the train's not further delayed,'' Mr Cartwright said.

''Hopefully it will get people to and from work efficiently.''

Close to 59,000 people get off or change trains at Town Hall every morning.

Platform three is particularly congested then as commuters getting off the busy western and northern lines mix with commuters trying to board trains for the north shore.

RailCorp will also try to clear space from platforms by moving vending machines and public telephones to other areas.

It has also taken away a few bench seats.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/marshals-hired-to-ease-squeeze-on-train-times-20121018-27tzp.html#ixzz29etUgmNa

Media Release:

Fixing the trains: Keeping trains moving

A new initiative at Town Hall Station aims to improve reliability for trains coming into the city and reduce congestion during the morning peak, Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian said today.

"As part of the four week trial, rail staff will treat every morning peak on Platform 3 as a major event," Ms Berejiklian said.

"The aim of this trial is to get our customers to their destination faster, keep trains running on time and test a system that helps our customers on and off trains in a safe and swift manner.

"We need to get more out of our rail network – our Sydney's Rail Future plan outlines short and longer term initiatives and this trial is one of the operational improvements we are investigating to help make our rail network more efficient and reliable.

"Sydney's Rail Future provides a clear plan for infrastructure investment over the coming years, plus a rewrite of the timetable for next year, so along with operational improvements we will be able to provide more services for customers."

Trains that are delayed at stations cause longer journey times, unreliability, crowded platforms and customer frustration.  At the moment where 20 trains per hour are timetabled in the peak sometimes only 18 arrive in that hour.

The trial from 19 November includes:

    Event-style marshalling on Platform 3 at Town Hall between 7am and 9.30am
    Attempts to reduce dwell times – the time trains wait at stations - to 60 seconds
    Announcements on trains and stations when the train is approaching the platform
    The platform segregated into three distinctive sections
    Improving passenger flows to and from the platform.

"Keeping trains on time through the peak is important as the most minor of delays can have a knock-on effect to following trains," Ms Berejiklian said.

"For example, one train delayed by only a few minutes can have a potential impact on dozens of train services behind it."

The weekday morning peak is the network's busiest period and there are close to 59,000 people who alight or interchange at Town Hall every single morning. Platform 3 at Town Hall is the location for the trial as it is one of the busiest parts of the network.

Fixing the trains: Keeping trains moving (pdf 154KB).
19 October 2012
Related items:
Trains, Minister, Media Release

http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/fixing-trains-keeping-trains-moving

I wonder if this initiative will work?

[ozbob]

Metro Melbourne has done similar things, with staff on platforms with paddles  ... dwells are good in Melbourne generally ...

[SurfRail]

Metro Melbourne has done similar things, with staff on platforms with paddles  ... dwells are good in Melbourne generally ...

3 doors are better than 2...

[HappyTrainGuy]

Everyone knows those marshalls won't do a thing. Just hire some of the local rugby union teams for work experience.

[somebody]

I wonder why Town Hall platform 3 rather than Central platform 16, or both of those platforms?  I don't remember too many people boarding at Town Hall #3 in the AM peak.  Central is the major pick up station that dwells blow out at.

[somebody]

Doesn't Melbourne have curved platforms?  Or just not to the same degree?

[ozbob]

Doesn't Melbourne have curved platforms?  Or just not to the same degree?

Have a few, probably not as many as Brisbane.



Tooronga

[SurfRail]

Metro Melbourne has done similar things, with staff on platforms with paddles  ... dwells are good in Melbourne generally ...

3 doors are better than 2...

Yeah, but the benefit of 3 doors is only realised on a handle of stations, meanwhile you loose alot of seat space. But for Sydney there are two techical issues preventing 3 doors, DD and platform curvature, so pointless really.

The RER manages at tighter headways and heavier volumes with 3 door DD stock.

Platform curvature is not relevant.  Melbourne has platforms which are just as rooted as Sydney's.

[ozbob]

Sure do, Windsor, I used to the catch the train regularly here when I was a boy ..



Floods regularly and has variation in platform heights as well.

[somebody]

Platform curvature is not relevant.  Melbourne has platforms which are just as rooted as Sydney's.

Wollstonecraft is pretty tight.

[ozbob]

I checked with Daniel Bowen Metro Melbourne is still using the 'dispatch paddles' but only at the busier stations during peaks ..

=========

Twitter

Daniel Bowen ‏@danielbowen

@Robert_Dow Pic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielbowen/4704764174/ ...

=========

Twitter

3m Daniel Bowen ‏@danielbowen

@Robert_Dow And: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ptua/4871238097/ ...

[somebody]

How do they work?

[ozbob]

How do they work?

They are illuminated and the staff wave them around, seems to hurry up pax, but I think main value it is clear ROW signal to the driver (DOO).

Bit here --> http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/metro-may-reopen-use-of-gates-20100720-10jkj.html

[SurfRail]

Platform curvature is not relevant.  Melbourne has platforms which are just as rooted as Sydney's.

Wollstonecraft is pretty tight.

Sydney also has a bunch of S-bend platforms here and there, which most other railways here don't have.

I'm sure they managed previously and will do so in future.

[somebody]

I'm sure they managed previously and will do so in future.

They've never had triple doors before.  At Wollstonecraft northbound you might have to leave the centre door closed.

[somebody]

Sounds like the Melbourne system is like what is already in existence at many stations on Cityrail and QR - dubbed "platform guards" in Railway Digest.  It's unclear what will happen differently in Sydney compared to present.  If they had said "security to prevent people attempting to board a departing train" that could be logical.

[somebody]

Commuters cajoled and corralled in a bid to speed trains

Date
    November 19, 2012 - 11:37AM

    Comments 3

Jacob Saulwick
Transport Reporter

??I think it is a bit of overkill." ... A train marshal at Town Hall.

"I think it is a bit of overkill." ... A train marshal at Town Hall. Photo: Nick Moir

The morning crush at Town Hall's number 3 platform is one of Sydney's worst. Tens of thousands of commuters shuffle off trains from the city's west, colliding with thousands more boarding services for the north shore and Macquarie Park.

On Monday, the experience was even more disorientating than normal as RailCorp began trials of a new marshalling system to shepherd, cajole, and corral the crowds through a cramped platform as quickly as possible.

    I just missed my train because they wouldn't let me on – so now I'm going to have a smoke to wait 15 minutes for another one.

Getting off the train, occasionally befuddled commuters confronted at least one orange-bibbed RailCorp employee per door, herding them to the nearest exit.
Rush hour at Town Hall ... RailCorp hopes their marshals will keep the trains running on time.

Rush hour at Town Hall ... RailCorp hopes their marshals will keep the trains running on time. Photo: Nick Moir

With arms outstretched, those staff also held back commuters who wanted to board until the doors were clear. And as soon as the doors were open for about 40 seconds, RailCorp's marshals then tried to prevent new passengers getting on and delaying the train.
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By the look of it, it is an effective, if costly, way to reduce the time trains at Platform 3 spend at the station. For those getting off, the marshals guaranteed a pretty smooth passage to the stairs.

But not all commuters were impressed, particularly those galled at bossy and officious marshals, or blocked from getting on their morning service.

"I think it is a bit of overkill," said Eric, who works for a pharmaceutical company at Macquarie Park.

"I just missed my train because they wouldn't let me on – so now I'm going to have a smoke to wait 15 minutes for another one," he said.

"Ah - train Nazis," he added later, returning from his cigarette.

The point of the marshal trial, to take place over the next month, is to try to reduce "dwell time" that trains spend at the station.

If RailCorp can reduce the dwell from between two and three minutes to closer to a minute, it may be able to run more trains on the line.

More trains, as the morning crowds demonstrate, are desperately needed.

The chief operating officer at RailCorp, Tony Eid, said preventing people from boarding trains (who risked delaying the service) was something that Sydney commuters would take time to get used to.

"For the first time we are managing this as a major event," Mr Eid said. "We have to trial something."

To run the trial, RailCorp hired 16 extra part-time marshals. For the next two weeks there will be at least one marshal per carriage door. For two weeks after that there will be one marshal per carriage.

Mr Eid said RailCorp would probably end up with somewhere in the middle of the two staffing levels. He would not say how much the measures cost.

Peter Lomax, who works at an IT company at North Ryde, was another commuter blocked from getting on his first train.

"This wouldn't happen in London, that's for sure," Mr Lomax, recently arrived from the UK, said.

"Trains would wait for people to get on."

But Vincent Laudat, a student on his way to Beecroft, did not seem to mind. "It could be a good idea," Mr Laudat said.

Natalie Forsdike, travelling to North Sydney, resented being herded into the allotted area for waiting passengers.

"I think it is ridiculous," Ms Forsdike said.

"She's just told me to move half a metre either way," an exasperated Mr Forsdike said, gesturing to one of the new marshals.

If the trial works, it will help RailCorp run at least 20 trains an hour on the Western line and on the North Shore line. It currently struggles to run 17 trains an hour through the line.

For most commuters boarding trains at Town Hall's platform three, missing the first service is not a big problem.

But if someone wants to go to any station on the Epping to Chatswood line, which is served by only one in four trains at the platform, missing a train is more of an issue.

Mr Eid said RailCorp was considering running more trains on the Epping to Chatswood line to alleviate this concern.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/commuters-cajoled-and-corralled-in-a-bid-to-speed-trains-20121119-29l6l.html#ixzz2Ccs3jJ9L

[somebody]

Clearly shows the unprofessional and unacceptable practice of blowing the whistle before people have finished getting off is continuing.  I've noticed this practice creeping into Qld Rail.

Also shows that there aren't many people getting on at Town Hall platform 3 in the morning peak, which is how I remember it.  However, it does stop those few people from getting on before others have finished getting off, slowing everything down.

9 News:

Ten News:

[HappyTrainGuy]

Japanese have solved this problem. Draw some lines on the ground.

[somebody]

Minister interviewed on ABC 702: http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/11/19/3635587.htm?site=sydney