New Class 57 loco observations & opinions

[OTTODAD]

In RW the letter in the TRN is pretty well irrelevant because the majority of destinations are off the edge of a map, and practices also vary according to the different regions. Most scenarios are written with fairly random codes except those few that are recreated from proper working timetables. I also can't find any detailed breakdown of what each letter means within a region, but Wikipedia explains the concept in general and lists the inter-regional codes.

There are some general trends that apply across the network, and no local destinations have these letters...

1. Z denotes a railtour, maintenance or other non-standard light engine or non-revenue passenger train service.

2. Q is a track inspection/measurement service, alerts signallers that it must not be switched onto a route other than that which it is measuring.

3. X is the Royal Train.

4. All services with a 9 on the front are TGV services to/from linking London. These trains have 90xx or 91xx all-numeric codes but when they have to interact with regular UK controllers they use the 0/O and 1/I visual similarity to become 9Oxx or 9Ixx .

PHEW, my head spins !

I would be happy with RW trains descriptions like Passenger-Express, Passenger-Stopping, Freight-Express and Freight-Slow so that I can better identify their services in the Timetable function.

"TGV services to/from linking London". As far as I know there are no TGVs running in the UK nor linking to UK trains on UK tracks.

Do you mean the UK EUROSTAR trains which link to other trains at European stations where they stop on their way to their various terminals in Europe, like the Calais station where a TGV service starts from ?

O t t o

[transadelaide1]

Otto, Eurostar is an operator of TGV services from London to/from Brussels, Paris and a couple of other spots in France. In every way possible they are TGV services, just given the brand name of Eurostar for marketing purposes (so Brits don't lose national pride riding on French trains) just like they have Thalys for Belgium/Netherlands/Germany and Lyria for Switzerland. Identical trains are used on some domestic TGV services within France (called the TGV Mark 3) as Eurostar operate (called Class 373 in the UK). Deutsche Bahn and others are likely to operate on the Lille-London TGV route once deregulation arrives in 2012, with more diversity in rolling stock probably involved.

I'm a big fan of true high-speed rail and have been writing letters to politicians here in Australia urging the construction of a Brisbane-Sydney-Canberra-Melbourne network. I'm yet to visit Europe and travel on TGV or ICE, but it's easy enough to research over the net. The main reason we need it is that the Sydney-Melbourne air corridor (journey over 9 hours by slow train) is the most heavily trafficked route in the world and a TGV-style link would bring great benefits to making transport on our Eastern seaboard much more efficient from every angle. I've been watching the various developments for ages, and I would much rather we go with the full TGV approach rather than the ICE or Shinkansen methods which are less suitable (i.e. generally slower) for very long distances.

While it would be optimal for the TGV units operating Eurostar services to stay completely separate from the Network Rail system now that CTRL stage 2 into London is complete, contingency needs to remain for them to run into London on the Network Rail system like they did prior to CTRL/HS1 completion in case a major blockage shuts down HS1. At St Pancras and Ashford they are also active in the same station complex as UK trains so UK-style numbers are needed there. In addition, Southeastern operate domestic passenger services using Shinkansen-based Hitachi EMUs running partially on HS1, and night time freight services are due to start late this year. Because the Southeastern and freight trains then run onto Network Rail routes, using UK-style #A## train numbers makes the most sense with Eurostar services having the 90xx/9Oxx and 91xx/9Ixx to try and minimise confusion. It is a similar reason that Class 373 was the TOPS code selected, using that number allowed the numbering of sets and to almost seamlessly integrate with both the TGV numbering system (as a TGV Mark 3) and TOPS (Class 373).



As far as the UK-style train numbers go, it really makes a lot of sense when you think about it a bit. You have the train service class (0-9), the destination (could be E/L/M/O/S/V for interregional, a destination within the region or a Q/X/Z code) and then a two digit train ID number. For the service classes, 0 (light engine) and 9 (international passengers) are the exceptions to the rule, then everything else is in order of priority.

1 is for expresses (mostly HSTs in RW), high-priority parcels trains (do these still exist outside of RW) and other especially important services like snow ploughs or locos rescuing failed trains.
2 is for other passenger traffic.
5 is for empty passenger stock movements, I've only seen this used in RW a couple of times.
3, 4, 6, 7, 8 are for freight trains, with the number determined by the maximum permitted speed sorted out from >75mph (3) to <35mph (8).

So just think about it like this - 1 for express, 2 for stopping, the rest for freight and zero for light engine. Play a few well-done UK scenarios that use the train numbers consistently and it will all make sense!