"Boltar" wrote in message
om...
I read apparently that Southern had been having problems with its train
doors
not opening on stations north of the Thames because these hadn't been
programmed into the database that uses GPS to know where it is! Is it just
me
or is having some GPS controlled database system being used to open the
bloody doors just a teensy bit overkill?? Do they think the driver is
too stupid to know when he's at a station and might try to open them when
he's
bowling along at 60?? Sure have some sort of interlock that prevents them
opening when the train is moving but for gods sake , was this implemented
just
to keep some technicians in work? And what happens during an emergency?
What next , GPS controlled toilets that won't flush on certain parts of
the
network with live networked updates of the turd count at every section?!

No wonder money in the rail industry is in short supply if they're wasting
funds on stupid systems such as this. Someone tell me its not true...

GPS is only there to cope with short platforms and to tell the train *which*
doors to open. For example, when stopping an eight-car train at a
seven-car-length platform the software will lock out the rearmost doors, to
prevent passengers from hurling themselves onto the track. Apparently it's
necessary in these litigious days when anyone stupid enough to attempt to
alight from a door that is not at a platform will try to sue the TOC, rather
than accept personal responsibility for doing something so dumb in the first
place.