Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:21:23 +0100
From: weberwu
Subject: Single point of failure in the Berlin Train System

The Berlin light rail train system, plagued by problems for years,
demonstrated today that it can, indeed get worse. Many cars have been
taken out of service for all sorts of ailments, and having pruned the
maintenance shops and the drivers to a bare minimum, there is no room
for dealing with problems. And there have been problems galore.

Berliners joked that it could not possibly get worse, but today (15
Dec 2011) the S-Bahn proved that it could, indeed, because it has a
single point of failure. All switches, all electronic signals, all
information is centralized in one station in Halensee. And the
electricity went out during a routine test of the emergency electrical
system today, according to RBB [1], a local news station. The
emergency system did not kick in - and then nothing worked.

Only two train lines that still have analogue signals and switches
were in operation, the rest was out - and the central operations was
also affected. They had no information on where the trains were.

Many people were trapped in trains stranded between stations. Angry
passengers opened the doors, got out and walked the tracks to the
nearest station, continuing by bus, subway, or taxi.

It took about 3 hours after electricity was restored to have some sort
of traffic running. The Internet information page by the S-Bahn was
down, the server was not able to cope with the traffic. Customers
used Twitter to announce trains in motion, helping people to find some
way to get to work or school.

[1]
http://www.rbb-online.de/nachrichten...sfall_bei.html

Prof. Dr. Debora Weber-Wulff, HTW Berlin, Treskowallee 8, 10313 Berlin
Tel:
+49-30-5019-2440 http://www.f4.htw-berlin.de/people/weberwu/

On Dec 29, 11:30*am, SB wrote:
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:21:23 +0100
From: weberwu
Subject: Single point of failure in the Berlin Train System

The Berlin light rail train system, plagued by problems for years,
demonstrated today that it can, indeed get worse. Many cars have been
taken out of service for all sorts of ailments, and having pruned the
maintenance shops and the drivers to a bare minimum, there is no room
for dealing with problems. And there have been problems galore.

Berliners joked that it could not possibly get worse, but today (15
Dec 2011) the S-Bahn proved that it could, indeed, because it has a
single point of failure. All switches, all electronic signals, all
information is centralized in one station in Halensee. And the
electricity went out during a routine test of the emergency electrical
system today, according to RBB [1], a local news station. *The
emergency system did not kick in - and then nothing worked.

Only two train lines that still have analogue signals and switches
were in operation, the rest was out - and the central operations was
also affected. They had no information on where the trains were.

Many people were trapped in trains stranded between stations. *Angry
passengers opened the doors, got out and walked the tracks to the
nearest station, continuing by bus, subway, or taxi.

It took about 3 hours after electricity was restored to have some sort
of traffic running. The Internet information page by the S-Bahn was
down, the server was not able to cope with the traffic. *Customers
used Twitter to announce trains in motion, helping people to find some
way to get to work or school.

[1]http://www.rbb-online.de/nachrichten/vermischtes/2011_12/komplett_aus....

Prof. Dr. Debora Weber-Wulff, HTW Berlin, Treskowallee 8, 10313 Berlin
Tel:
+49-30-5019-2440http://www.f4.htw-berlin.de/people/weberwu/

BlackBerry had a similar outage problem, the backup system worked when
tested but didn't when there was a failure

Patrick

On Thu, 29 Dec 2011 04:05:33 -0800 (PST), D1039
wrote:

On Dec 29, 11:30*am, SB wrote:
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:21:23 +0100
From: weberwu
Subject: Single point of failure in the Berlin Train System

The Berlin light rail train system, plagued by problems for years,
demonstrated today that it can, indeed get worse. Many cars have been
taken out of service for all sorts of ailments, and having pruned the
maintenance shops and the drivers to a bare minimum, there is no room
for dealing with problems. And there have been problems galore.

Berliners joked that it could not possibly get worse, but today (15
Dec 2011) the S-Bahn proved that it could, indeed, because it has a
single point of failure. All switches, all electronic signals, all
information is centralized in one station in Halensee. And the
electricity went out during a routine test of the emergency electrical
system today, according to RBB [1], a local news station. *The
emergency system did not kick in - and then nothing worked.

Only two train lines that still have analogue signals and switches
were in operation, the rest was out - and the central operations was
also affected. They had no information on where the trains were.

Many people were trapped in trains stranded between stations. *Angry
passengers opened the doors, got out and walked the tracks to the
nearest station, continuing by bus, subway, or taxi.

It took about 3 hours after electricity was restored to have some sort
of traffic running. The Internet information page by the S-Bahn was
down, the server was not able to cope with the traffic. *Customers
used Twitter to announce trains in motion, helping people to find some
way to get to work or school.

[1]http://www.rbb-online.de/nachrichten/vermischtes/2011_12/komplett_aus...

Prof. Dr. Debora Weber-Wulff, HTW Berlin, Treskowallee 8, 10313 Berlin
Tel:
+49-30-5019-2440http://www.f4.htw-berlin.de/people/weberwu/

BlackBerry had a similar outage problem, the backup system worked when
tested but didn't when there was a failure

London Underground managed to have at least two large-scale breakdowns
in the past before they re-arranged their power supplies.

SB wrote:
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:21:23 +0100
From: weberwu
Subject: Single point of failure in the Berlin Train System

The Berlin light rail train system, plagued by problems for years,
demonstrated today that it can, indeed get worse. Many cars have been
taken out of service for all sorts of ailments, and having pruned the
maintenance shops and the drivers to a bare minimum, there is no room
for dealing with problems. And there have been problems galore.

The Berlin S-Bahn getting "pruned" a little bit concerning staff still
needs significantly more staff per passenger kilometre, passenger carried,
train or seat kilometres or network length offered than any other S-Bahn
system in Germany.
These benchmarking figures for Berlin are between 20% and 50% below those
of others German agglomerations, while punctuality and quality of service
offered elsewhere is much better.

This rotten company in Berlin should be closed. Tendering the S-Bahn
services could be the first step.


Oliver Schnell

On Dec 29, 12:15*pm, Oliver Schnell wrote:
SB wrote:
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:21:23 +0100
From: weberwu
Subject: Single point of failure in the Berlin Train System

The Berlin light rail train system, plagued by problems for years,
demonstrated today that it can, indeed get worse. Many cars have been
taken out of service for all sorts of ailments, and having pruned the
maintenance shops and the drivers to a bare minimum, there is no room
for dealing with problems. And there have been problems galore.

The Berlin S-Bahn getting "pruned" a little bit concerning staff still
needs significantly more staff per passenger kilometre, passenger carried,
train or seat kilometres or network length offered than any other S-Bahn
system in Germany.

Why do they still use platform dispatchers? Why not use the signalling
system to regulate trains?

On Thu, 29 Dec 2011 05:10:08 -0800 (PST), EE507
wrote:
Why do they still use platform dispatchers?

The same reason LUL do, presumably - because DOO monitors are hard to
use with big crowds.

Neil

--
Neil Williams, Milton Keynes, UK

EE507 schrieb:


Why do they still use platform dispatchers? Why not use the signalling
system to regulate trains?


Of about 170 stations, about 70 still have platform crew - required, if
the driver does not have full overview of the train.

This number will get reduced to 20 stations, as soon as "ZAT-FM" really
works. ZAT-FM transmits camera pictures into the cab, and the EBA
requires a 0.02% probability for transmission errors. It was supposed
to work by 2009, but didn't.


Hans-Joachim



--

Frieda Uffelmann * 15. August 1915 â€* 9. Dezember 2011

http://zierke.com/private/tante_frie...abgestellt.jpg

On 29/12/2011 13:10, EE507 wrote:
On Dec 29, 12:15 pm, Oliver wrote:
wrote:
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:21:23 +0100
From:
Subject: Single point of failure in the Berlin Train System

The Berlin light rail train system, plagued by problems for years,
demonstrated today that it can, indeed get worse. Many cars have been
taken out of service for all sorts of ailments, and having pruned the
maintenance shops and the drivers to a bare minimum, there is no room
for dealing with problems. And there have been problems galore.

The Berlin S-Bahn getting "pruned" a little bit concerning staff still
needs significantly more staff per passenger kilometre, passenger carried,
train or seat kilometres or network length offered than any other S-Bahn
system in Germany.

Why do they still use platform dispatchers? Why not use the signalling
system to regulate trains?

The signals refer to the ROW only.

Platform dispatchers on the Berlin S-Bahn exist to spot the platform and
make sure that the doors are closed, that nobody is caught in train
doors and to signal the train to depart. We have the exact same system
here in London.

On Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:15:26 +0000 (UTC), Oliver Schnell
wrote:
This rotten company in Berlin should be closed.

It's just DB AG, no?

As for tendering, that's a good way to make it cost more.

Neil

--
Neil Williams, Milton Keynes, UK

Neil Williams schrieb:


It's just DB AG, no?

100% owned by DB.



As for tendering, that's a good way to make it cost more.

Please name a single tender in Germany (of many dozen) with that effect.



Hans-Joachim



--

Frieda Uffelmann * 15. August 1915 â€* 9. Dezember 2011

http://zierke.com/private/tante_frie...abgestellt.jpg