AI dispatchers text to speech radio calls

[Gazz292]

Idea for an optional feature,  have the AI dispatchers send a radio message as well as the text message, using the text to speech thing that reads out the platform announcements.

Something like 'Korytów AI dispatcher here, train 16131 your route is cleared through to Szeligi' .... 

'Opoczno Południe AI dispatcher calling train 24138, entrance set to track number 3 for your scheduled stop'

 

Not sure if it would be best to have it only audible to the train in question, or to everyone in range, i know some servers have a lot of radio chatter, but the EN1 server is usually pretty quiet at times, with just a few dispatchers making radio calls to bring it alive and add to the immersion.

[Deadlost]

What is the "realistic" amount of calls made on the radio?

As a driver I just tend to respond to what ever calls I get or when stopped at signal without call from dispatcher. As dispatcher I keep it minimal, like change of platform/overtaking etc.

I find the constant "request clearence thru your station" a bit over the top, but if its realistic for polish ops...

[Fightdrug]

dont think thats a good idea i can hear people allready screaming on the DE servers ,,i dont speak english please say again in german" while they think the signalbox is in use from a player because someone say something i guess at the end many people will find it anoying 😕 the chat messages were AI stay behind it are the best solution i think 🙂

[Atoka220]

On 9/15/2023 at 8:13 PM, Gazz292 said:

Not sure if it would be best to have it only audible to the train in question, or to everyone in range, i know some servers have a lot of radio chatter, but the EN1 server is usually pretty quiet at times, with just a few dispatchers making radio calls to bring it alive and add to the immersion.

It should be like a radio. The current method works good as radios and chat have a limited range in game. I think it's about 10-20km but not sure

As for realistic amout of using radio per Deadlost's question, in Hungary noone even says anything. Trains here are fully controlled by signals. If something's urgent, the driver calls the station with his service phone or vice versa
Radio is only used in shunting and sometimes on big stations like Budapest's stations to help the dispatchers keep track of which train is where exactly 

But of course since this is a Polish sim, I'd be more curious about how poles do it

 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Atoka220

[Gazz292]

apparently on the Polish railway the radio is used a lot, some stations you have to use the radio to tell the dispatcher you are ready to depart....

Stations with a ;zd on the timetable entry means you need a 'written order' to depart... this is something that's issued over the radio i believe? 

and i believe the guard / conductor also uses their handheld radio to tell the train driver they have finished loading passengers and secured the doors.  

It's handy that the AI dispatchers tell you when they have changed their signal to green when you have passed a restrictive signal and are slowing down preparing to stop... when the next signal is over 1.5 km away.
But they do this via the text chat system which i have to keep opening and closing.  so having them announce that your route is now clear through their post over the radio as well as the text box is what i'm thinking of.

[Fightdrug]

vor 3 Stunden schrieb Atoka220:

It should be like a radio. The current method works good as radios and chat have a limited range in game. I think it's about 10-20km but not sure

As for realistic amout of using radio per Deadlost's question, in Hungary noone even says anything. Trains here are fully controlled by signals. If something's urgent, the driver calls the station with his service phone or vice versa
Radio is only used in shunting and sometimes on big stations like Budapest's stations to help the dispatchers keep track of which train is where exactly 

But of course since this is a Polish sim, I'd be more curious about how poles do it

text chat is 9 km 🙂 and voice chat 19 km

[Atoka220]

On 9/18/2023 at 4:14 PM, Gazz292 said:

Stations with a ;zd on the timetable entry means you need a 'written order' to depart... this is something that's issued over the radio i believe? 

As it's a written order, it'd be handed over to you by a traffic control worker (by the dispatchers themselves here) and sign it

 

Also do polish railways utilize dispatchers with batons?
In my country, the dispatcher sounds their whistle, then the conductor signals him or her that they are ready to depart, then the dispatcher would authorize the train driver to depart with the baton. If the station has no dispatcher to do it, then the train crew (conductor) signals the driver to depart with a disk raised high
This would be a nice addition and a sure way to know when to depart, if it can be animated but only if it happens in Poland of course and they aren't really doing it all on radio 😁

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by Atoka220
messed up with the pic lol

[Gazz292]

i'm sure i read in the PKP rulebook about some 'written orders' that are transmitted over the radio,  i.e. read out by the dispatcher and the driver fills in the relevant form, 

[Zapach Kreozotu]

W dniu 19.09.2023 o 15:58, Atoka220 napisał(a):

Also do polish railways utilize dispatchers with batons?

Very seldom nowadays. None of the stations covered by SimRail has platform dispatchers in real life.

W dniu 18.09.2023 o 16:14, Gazz292 napisał(a):

and i believe the guard / conductor also uses their handheld radio to tell the train driver they have finished loading passengers and secured the doors

Yeah, on loco-hauled services just as an auxiliary means of communication. Rp14 hand signal is what allows the driver to move.

On multiple units where the driver controls the doors, the Rp13 is the signal allowing the driver to close doors and move off and it's given through a handheld radio.

The dispatch process is a mess.

W dniu 18.09.2023 o 16:14, Gazz292 napisał(a):

Stations with a ;zd on the timetable entry means you need a 'written order' to depart

No, it means "zmiana drużyny". Change of train crew.

20 godzin temu, Gazz292 napisał(a):

i'm sure i read in the PKP rulebook about some 'written orders' that are transmitted over the radio,  i.e. read out by the dispatcher and the driver fills in the relevant form, 

That is correct 🙂

[Zapach Kreozotu]

Here is an example of dispatch of a loco hauled train. 

 

 

[Gazz292]

ahhh yes... ;zd is indeed change of train crew, 

 

is it 'R307' on the timetable that means written order needed to depart?  and this is usually shown on the station where the crew change is made? 

 

I have so much spinning in my head i get things mixed up at times. 

[Zapach Kreozotu]

17 godzin temu, Gazz292 napisał(a):

is it 'R307' on the timetable that means written order needed to depart?

Yes, R307 is another name for the "O" written order. 

17 godzin temu, Gazz292 napisał(a):

and this is usually shown on the station where the crew change is made?

Often, yes, but it doesn't have to be the case. 

There are situations where the crew changes at a small station. R307s are issued rather at larger ones. 

[the810]

One thing I would like to be more realistic is the dispatch signal. In SimRail, you just get the timer come down to zero and off you go. This is both unrealistic and frankly a bit boring, since you know when exactly will it be the time to depart (while in real life this is influence by number of factors). 

Interestingly, in singleplayer you get a radio call from the simulated conductor, telling you to depart. I'd love this implemented in multiplayer as well. However, it should also be noted that this will become much harder to do when the game expands to other states, since dispatch via radio is very rare in Europe. In Czechia it's normally done via hand signals, so they would need to make bots that would simulate that, and the driver would have to look out of the window (which is not even possible today). It works similarly in Germany on long-distance trains, whereas on local trains the driver dispatches the train himself (provided he has a green light of course).

[Gazz292]

i drive HUD-less using drivers timetables displayed on my kobo e-ink device, so i kind of aim to depart at the time the timetable tells me to, 

But i do look back along the train before departing, and if i see a passenger heading towards my train i will hold on for a little longer for them to board.
nless that is, they decide to go for the last door on the train after walking past my cab...

then i press one of the door button keybinds and watch them change course, then i drive off,
i aint got time to be delayed by passengers who won't get on at the first door they come to and walk along the inside of the train.

I only drive the EU07/EP08, so the door button keybinds do nothing to the train, but they do make passengers who were going to board turn away, as if you'd shouted at them 'too late mate, get the next train' 

:::

Every country is different tho, in the UK, if there is a guard present, they are not to give the departure signal until they see the station exit signal is on a procede aspect (to prevent the 'ding ding and away' incidents where drivers sometimes forget to check the signal, and SPAD) 

 

[Gazz292]

On 9/18/2023 at 8:35 AM, Deadlost said:

What is the "realistic" amount of calls made on the radio?

Apparently the radio is used a lot on Polish railways, 

all those text messages that pop up from the Ai signallers would be sent over the radio in real life.

i personally find them useful, i've just passed a yellow distant signal and am slowing down for the red signal 2 Km ahead, then i get the 'train 141xx, route clear to next dispatcher post' message, and if i press F5 to see the text messages and read it,

i now know i can speed up again, as they are telling me they have changed the red signal, which is still ahead and out of my sight, to green. 

 

I like to drive with the HUD off, so my view ahead is as it would be were i a real train driver, 
I'm hoping that one day we get access to data in a similar way you do in train simulator classic / railworks, and omsi,
so people can make an app that shows the SimRail text messages on your phone / tablet, 

 

But i did say the Ai radio calls should be optional,  and maybe a setting to filter through only messages aimed at your train number, 

I understand that on some servers the radio is in constant use by drivers and dispatchers, but on EN1 it's almost like the radio does not exist for some trips, 

Sometimes i can drive for 3.4 hours and not hear a single radio call, which is fine when everything's running on schedule, the signals tell you all you need to know, even if you keep slowing almost to a stop then speeding up again when the next signal that's changed comes into view. 

But occasionally a dispatcher will use the radio, and it brings the simulation alive, 

[Blo0dyMustard]

On 10/1/2023 at 9:17 PM, Gazz292 said:

Apparently the radio is used a lot on Polish railways, 

all those text messages that pop up from the Ai signallers would be sent over the radio in real life.

i personally find them useful, i've just passed a yellow distant signal and am slowing down for the red signal 2 Km ahead, then i get the 'train 141xx, route clear to next dispatcher post' message, and if i press F5 to see the text messages and read it,

i now know i can speed up again, as they are telling me they have changed the red signal, which is still ahead and out of my sight, to green. 

I like to drive with the HUD off, so my view ahead is as it would be were i a real train driver, 
I'm hoping that one day we get access to data in a similar way you do in train simulator classic / railworks, and omsi,
so people can make an app that shows the SimRail text messages on your phone / tablet, 

But i did say the Ai radio calls should be optional,  and maybe a setting to filter through only messages aimed at your train number, 

I understand that on some servers the radio is in constant use by drivers and dispatchers, but on EN1 it's almost like the radio does not exist for some trips, 

Sometimes i can drive for 3.4 hours and not hear a single radio call, which is fine when everything's running on schedule, the signals tell you all you need to know, even if you keep slowing almost to a stop then speeding up again when the next signal that's changed comes into view. 

But occasionally a dispatcher will use the radio, and it brings the simulation alive, 

I don't think someone had a thought about this before but I think we need a complete tutorial for radio usage.
I want to use the radio as realistically as possible but I don't think I use the radio properly. I just say anything important to the drivers/dispatchers with no consideration to the official regulation