Who has the 'final' say on when a passenger service departs?

[Urgentemente]

 

Question..
Who *should* have the final say as to what time a train leaves the platform (for passenger services..)
I've had passenger trains arriving at platform a good 5+ mins early (sometimes even more..) in the last couple of nights (player driven as well as bot I think from hazy memory..),  as a dispatcher, I held the passenger train until it's scheduled departure time and informed the driver when it was player controlled.

As a passenger, if you turned up to catch your train only to find it had departed 5 minutes ahead of schedule, you would be a bit annoyed !

Normally I don't set the route until a few seconds before scheduled departure time, but last night I set it a couple of minutes before, the train departed (think it was a bot driver at the time..), I would have expected the driver to wait until the correct departure time, even if I've cleared the route ahead ready for them.

 

 

Edited January 12, 2023 by Urgentemente

[Bescot]

The conductor (or the driver if there isn't a conductor) has sole responsibility for that.

As a dispatcher you just clear the signal if you can, before departure time and the traincrew should wait then until booked time.

IMO If AI trains are leaving early it's a bug. If a live driver leaves early that's up to them but it does mess up the games TT logic for a while - if you go before the timer gets to zero.

 

Just to add, are you sure there is a Ph in the timetable for that train that went early? If no Ph they can go whenever the signal is clear.

 

Edited January 12, 2023 by Bescot

[Jesitim]

The dispatcher only controls signals and routes, the driver are responsible to leave the station on time (so not too early). As far as I have seen bot drivers only depart at their scheduled departure time. Players can technically depart whenever they want, but leaving too early results in minus points I think. 

A dispatcher can solve this, as you said, by keeping signals closed untill departure time. Drivers obviously need to respect the signals. 
What I do as a dispatcher in the game is giving people as many open signals as I can, as I prefer that as well in the real world. But if I see a train is standing there for more then a few minutes then the exit signal remains closed untill a few moments before departure. In other cases I just route them straight through as drivers know when and how long they need to stop. (The game even gives a countdown timer).

 

[Fightdrug]

ingame the dispatcher and when it just the fact that the player get teleportet back when he try to fire over the red signal behind the station 😛

Edited January 12, 2023 by Fightdrug

[Urgentemente]

18 minutes ago, Bescot said:

Just to add, are you sure there is a Ph in the timetable for that train that went early? If no Ph they can go whenever the signal is clear.

Good point, if I see it happen again, I'll try and remember to double check that it was actually meant to stop for passengers 😁

That might explain something I also noticed, last night , train pulled in at platform, doors were active, some passengers opened them, but then never boarded the train  (as they do in the single player tutorial), also the display signs on the trains weren't showing any information.

 

Edited January 12, 2023 by Urgentemente

[Gazz292]

Something taught to new bus drivers here :

You have every excuse for being late, you have no excuse for being early.

 

They mean leaving a stop before the scheduled time,   the customer reads the timetable, knows the bus / train departs at say 10:23,  they get to the stop / platform at 10:22 and 20 seconds and see the bus/train pulling away, they have every right to complain and claim a refund / compensation.

[Loongeron]

The schedule is a priority for the driver and dispatcher around the world.

Edited January 12, 2023 by Loongeron

[lund456]

17 hours ago, Gazz292 said:

They mean leaving a stop before the scheduled time,   the customer reads the timetable, knows the bus / train departs at say 10:23,  they get to the stop / platform at 10:22 and 20 seconds and see the bus/train pulling away, they have every right to complain and claim a refund / compensation.

Except for buses in my country. It is advertised that you must expect that the bus can depart up to 2 minutes prior to it's scheduled departure.

Our trains close the doors up to 60 seconds before departure, which is also advertised. Obviously you can't enter the train when the doors are closed.

It definitely varies from country to country