Hi there.
The following is antidotal information about how information is given out to customers, baring in mind the Olympics has started.
I was at Haywards Heath station this morning. Passing through the booking hall I noticed on the four detailed platform departure screens that trains to and from Bedford were terminating at Flitwick and there was delays occurring due to a temporary fault with the signalling equipment. I don't know what the other entrance to the station had, if anything, because it's mostly just a subway out into the road. Besides they are screens in the platform which can provide such information..... in theory that is!
I head upstairs onto platforms 3 & 4 and on the departure summery screens it can be seen that FCC trains to and from Brighton are running late. Also alternating with that on those two screens is though information about trains to and from Fareham being delayed due to a temporary fault with the signalling equipment. There is however no mention of the fault at Bedford. Nor did the four booking hall screens mention Fareham! In fact no where on the platform is their a mention of the Bedford issue! Of course very few services go to Farnham directly from Haywards Heath and none at this time of the morning but their may be knock on delays towards London because of it I guess. Of course plenty of trains go direct to and from Bedford!
On top of that I soon hear an automated announcement saying that the 7.20 Gatwick Express is being delayed due to a temporary fault with the signalling equipment at Brighton! Now this isn't on any screen anywhere! Well unless you count my National Rail Enquires app on my mobile but not everyone has one of those.
The train leaves 5 minutes late but due to the slow speed it usually travels at to reach Gatwick, it is after all only an express train, we make most of that up!
Once we depart from Gatwick, we hear the guards version of events, which will no doubt be correct. The train was delayed due to an error of a signalman putting another train on top of another train into Brighton and this train then being delayed as a result, whilst waiting for a platform to be free. I paraphrasing from memory but it was definitely a signalman error.
Clearly no automated announcement or info screen is going to put that message out. So leaving that one aside, there was still two different screens not in the same place reporting different signal failures rather than all the information being in one place.
I can understand a signalman making a mistake, we are all human but as to the information, if that isn't a mistake by the person updating the screens at Brighton, they really need to modernise the system they use.
Of course we are only going to be a couple of minutes late into Victoria, if that. In fact I've been more delayed by trains departing on time than this one leaving 5 minutes late!
This isn't the only example I could provide on information not being in one place or in some cases not reported on my journey and they would all be from within the last three weeks!
The following is antidotal information about how information is given out to customers, baring in mind the Olympics has started.
I was at Haywards Heath station this morning. Passing through the booking hall I noticed on the four detailed platform departure screens that trains to and from Bedford were terminating at Flitwick and there was delays occurring due to a temporary fault with the signalling equipment. I don't know what the other entrance to the station had, if anything, because it's mostly just a subway out into the road. Besides they are screens in the platform which can provide such information..... in theory that is!
I head upstairs onto platforms 3 & 4 and on the departure summery screens it can be seen that FCC trains to and from Brighton are running late. Also alternating with that on those two screens is though information about trains to and from Fareham being delayed due to a temporary fault with the signalling equipment. There is however no mention of the fault at Bedford. Nor did the four booking hall screens mention Fareham! In fact no where on the platform is their a mention of the Bedford issue! Of course very few services go to Farnham directly from Haywards Heath and none at this time of the morning but their may be knock on delays towards London because of it I guess. Of course plenty of trains go direct to and from Bedford!
On top of that I soon hear an automated announcement saying that the 7.20 Gatwick Express is being delayed due to a temporary fault with the signalling equipment at Brighton! Now this isn't on any screen anywhere! Well unless you count my National Rail Enquires app on my mobile but not everyone has one of those.
The train leaves 5 minutes late but due to the slow speed it usually travels at to reach Gatwick, it is after all only an express train, we make most of that up!
Once we depart from Gatwick, we hear the guards version of events, which will no doubt be correct. The train was delayed due to an error of a signalman putting another train on top of another train into Brighton and this train then being delayed as a result, whilst waiting for a platform to be free. I paraphrasing from memory but it was definitely a signalman error.
Clearly no automated announcement or info screen is going to put that message out. So leaving that one aside, there was still two different screens not in the same place reporting different signal failures rather than all the information being in one place.
I can understand a signalman making a mistake, we are all human but as to the information, if that isn't a mistake by the person updating the screens at Brighton, they really need to modernise the system they use.
Of course we are only going to be a couple of minutes late into Victoria, if that. In fact I've been more delayed by trains departing on time than this one leaving 5 minutes late!
This isn't the only example I could provide on information not being in one place or in some cases not reported on my journey and they would all be from within the last three weeks!
