Muppetry at Thatcham Level Crossing Today, What on earth was going on? Options

[Blake]

Had a **** of a delay at Thatcham level crossing today from about 9.20am and was very late for work. Three trains went and the barriers failed to open...at all! This is the second time in less than a year that this muppetry has happened and the rail company fails to tell drivers what on earth is going on, how long it will take to be fixed or if we need to do a U-turn and divert.

Instead, we are wholly dependent on the goodwill of fellow motorists who alert those further along what became a huge tail back that the barriers are broken.

Shameful performance. Time we had a bridge. It's the only rational solution.

[spartacus]

It might ‘work’ but is it ‘useful’?

Why I see this app as being a waste of bandwidth is that whilst it might give some basic level of information on how long you might have to wait, that doesn’t of course take into account how far back you might be in the queue of traffic. Drivers have to factor in whether it’s worth waiting in the queue and whether the vehicles in front of them will get to the crossing before the barriers come down again. And even then, once you’ve committed to come down Crookham Hill on the assumption that you’ll make it to the crossing but then are faced with a long queue of cars, there’s not much you can do about it. Turning around on that narrow road isn’t an option (especially as you may be half way through a 3 point turn by the time the barriers open and a convoy of speeding and frustrated drivers from the Thatcham side race towards you.



It’s something to play with as you site in the car. Not really much use though.

[Andy Capp]

It might ‘work’ but is it ‘useful’?

Why I see this app as being a waste of bandwidth is that whilst it might give some basic level of information on how long you might have to wait, that doesn’t of course take into account how far back you might be in the queue of traffic. Drivers have to factor in whether it’s worth waiting in the queue and whether the vehicles in front of them will get to the crossing before the barriers come down again. And even then, once you’ve committed to come down Crookham Hill on the assumption that you’ll make it to the crossing but then are faced with a long queue of cars, there’s not much you can do about it. Turning around on that narrow road isn’t an option (especially as you may be half way through a 3 point turn by the time the barriers open and a convoy of speeding and frustrated drivers from the Thatcham side race towards you.

It’s something to play with as you site in the car. Not really much use though.

You obviously don't read well.

No, it's not perfect, but I have already explained how it can be useful and it doesn't take a nuclear physicist to work out that if the app says the gates will be down from 0800 to 0815 and then again from 0816 to 0821 in the morning, the queue is gonna be big immediately after! Notwithstanding there are queues both sides, so while some of your councillor mates might struggle to 3 point turn their Vogues on Crookham Hill, that problem isn't so great the other side. Also, if you are in a long queue, if you check the app, you can check how long the barriers will be up, because if it is only for a minute or so before they go down again, you can decide to bail.

The point for all you dingbats is that it gives you easy and readable access to information that tells you the quietest periods in the hour. I found after a while I didn't really need the app as I had started to learn the time periods.

So to answer your question: yes, it is useful, but it is not perfect. My gripe is with the program, not the idea.


HOWEVER, it is the only available help we have with the problem.