Dwell time, in general, is the time spent in the same position, area, stage of a process, etc.
In PCS represents the minimum train stop time at a given location. The field is nonobligatory, however, once it is used, it imposes some rules to the users.
Dwell time is used by the Applicants or the IMs to indicate to each other the need of having a minimum stop time. Typical reasons could be the change of the loco, change of the loco driver, etc.
Format
Dwell time must be written in minutes in order to be processed by PCS:
Dwell Time formula
Dwell time is checked against the Departure time minus the Arrival time. In the image below, based on that subtraction, the dwell time cannot be bigger than 90 minutes. Please notice that in the second case, the user only asks for 12 minutes while the possible dwell time could be bigger.
If the user adds a dwell time bigger than the possible one, a popup message in red indicating the issue will show up. The users won't be able to proceed and save the changes until he/she changes either, the difference between departure and arrival times or reduces the dwell time.
In the example below, the user can, for example, change the arrival time to 09:59, the departure time to 11:31 or change the dwell time to 90 minutes.
Missing Arrival and/or Departure times
In order to have dwell time calculated properly, we will need that arrival and departure times are available. For the shake of flexibility, the system allows to leave any or both of them (arrival and departure fields) empty while having an informative dwell time.
Other considerations
- PCS will take into account overnight shifts (offsets). So, for example, even if the departure time is smaller than the arrival time, the system will take into account that it is a different day.
- If a time zone change is implemented, PCS will adjust automatically the calculation as well.
- The system won't check the operation point type. For example, a run-through point it is not supposed to have any dwell time, however, PCS won't take this detail as a limitation for the calculation.
- In PCS IP error code indicates to the uploader agency if the web-service request contains invalid dwell time. The error code is: 659 INVALID_DWELL_TIME
