Departure Screens...I want to scream.

[thirdriding]

I've lost count the number of times I've yelled at the top of my voice inside my head that no-one's desperate to look at the departures on page 2, or subsequent screens. At all the local stations I use the amount of time the screen displays page 1, 2, 3, etc seems to be the same length of time. Surely page 1 should be displayed for the majority of the time?

Is this the case everywhere?

 

[bengley]

Completely agreed. I've almost missed trains before because I've had to wait for the screen to rotate back to page 1

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Yep, you get to the boards and get the following.

1 second - first page with the platform you need listed on.
10 seconds - second page with departures in three hours
25 seconds - do not leave bags unattended on the station

Then your train is gone...

 

[causton]

Scotrail ones are great for spending 1/3 of the time telling you their staff are wearing cameras. And then your train disappears off the screen you were waiting for it to scroll to!

 

[Flying Snail]

Either there needs to be a separate screen for imminent departures or if adding extra screens is not possible all departures within the minimum connection time at the station should be kept on the board with all other info scrolling below.

Ideally all the retarded security/safety nonsense should be kept off the departure boards completely. If such drivel really has to be displayed I suggest a large whiteboard on which the local H+S bod can spell out his important directives with fridge magnet letters.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Ideally all the retarded security/safety nonsense should be kept off the departure boards completely. If such drivel really has to be displayed I suggest a large whiteboard on which the local H+S bod can spell out his important directives with fridge magnet letters.

Euston was being particularly ridiculous on Tuesday, alternating warnings about rugby overcrowding at "train stations" (what are they?) with *all* the platform displays. Utterly ridiculous; that only needed to go on the "special notices" panel on the main departure board.

 

[Flying Snail]

Euston was being particularly ridiculous on Tuesday, alternating warnings about rugby overcrowding at "train stations" (what are they?) with *all* the platform displays. Utterly ridiculous; that only needed to go on the "special notices" panel on the main departure board.

The irony is that it has the opposite effect to the one (I assume is) intended. If such notices only appeared when there genuinely was something needing people's attention then the unusual appearance would register.
As it is now IMPORTANT NOTICES are a constant background to the entire railway and as such get ignored by most.

I have on at least one occasion not registered a service alteration notice that affected my travel because at a glance it appeared to be just another generic notice about nothing.

 

[PR1Berske]

I certainly agree that changes should be made to avoid this sort of thing. In situations where passengers 'clump' around the screen, Pages 2 and 3 can often cause an obstruction to flow of movement. The reason for Page 2 showing at all seems a little hazy to me (is it automatic based on the updating of departure information from a central system?)

 

[SpacePhoenix]

If it's not already, could they be tied into the PA system, to trigger PA announcements:

* When a train is ready to board
* 10 mins before departure
* 5 mins before departure
* 1-2 mins before departure as a "last call for"

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Yep, you get to the boards and get the following.
1 second - first page with the platform you need listed on.
10 seconds - second page with departures in three hours
25 seconds - do not leave bags unattended on the station
Then your train is gone...

The ones at Crewe can display (I think) 9 trains at a time (less when it has to display "via Birmingham" or similar).
They scroll 3 pages, but there's only ever 1 train on page 3!
Overall, Network Rail is besotted with scrolling through 2/3 screens, and can't bring themselves just to put up a second screen and stop scrolling.

 

[James H]

The ones on Thameslink are appalling, with information about tube services scrolling on the same line as the calling pattern.

 

[asylumxl]

The ones on Thameslink are appalling, with information about tube services scrolling on the same line as the calling pattern.

Oh dear god, they are awful,

The other day when a train broke down at Herne Hill, they gave up trying to give us information and just cycled between TfL info and to listen for announcements.

 

[Kite159]

The ones on Thameslink are appalling, with information about tube services scrolling on the same line as the calling pattern.

Passengers need to know that the Waterloo & City link is closed due to a planned closure on Sundays

I agree, how many times have I been annoyed when a departure screen goes to page 2/4 for a half-hourly served station, where page 3 is quite handy in telling you that the service in 3 hours time is "on time".

Worst are the stations with arrivals screens right next to departures screens which they don't make clear which is which (other than the world's tiniest "arrivals" at the top of the screen)

 

[Bletchleyite]

The irony is that it has the opposite effect to the one (I assume is) intended. If such notices only appeared when there genuinely was something needing people's attention then the unusual appearance would register.

It's like "this is a special announcement", which usually means "this is a totally irrelevant and pointless announcement which may be ignored". Though I think New St uses that for cancellations and confuses you.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

If it's not already, could they be tied into the PA system, to trigger PA announcements:

* When a train is ready to board
* 10 mins before departure
* 5 mins before departure
* 1-2 mins before departure as a "last call for"

They are at Euston in pretty much exactly that pattern.

 

[jon0844]

When you're on a northbound platform at St Albans or Hatfield you probably don't need the latest TfL line status info to be added on the end of the stopping pattern.

I've said before that you should have screens showing multiple pages having the top part of the display always showing the imminent departures. I am amazed nobody else has thought that and made it happen.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

When you're on a northbound platform at St Albans or Hatfield you probably don't need the latest TfL line status info to be added on the end of the stopping pattern.

I've said before that you should have screens showing multiple pages having the top part of the display always showing the imminent departures. I am amazed nobody else has thought that and made it happen.

Could get rather complex and might confuse unfamiliar passengers:

1000 London Kings Cross
1005 Cambridge
-------
1145 Nottingham
1150 London Kings Cross

"Wait, is my 1030 train not running?"

 

[jon0844]

It's down to how you separate things. Countdown screens at bus stops have each service numbered, but usually just show the next service, and then 234, 456, 789 etc which isn't great if there are a few buses due at the same time, but still better than having the next bus not visible for ages.

It shows it can be done.

Or you have a bigger gap and a line to clearly separate. It's not as if it matters if you now go up to 4 or even 5 pages because these are trains far into the future.

On the portrait screens, you could say Next 5 departures and the under the break have 'all other services - page n of n' or something

 

[bb21]

Yep, you get to the boards and get the following.

1 second - first page with the platform you need listed on.
10 seconds - second page with departures in three hours
25 seconds - do not leave bags unattended on the station

Then your train is gone...

You have arrived too late. Get out of bed earlier next time.

But I agree, the most important and relevant information to the passengers should be given more prominence.

 

[Greenback]

Many screens are too small, if they could display more information there would be less need for multiple screens in the first place. I do agree that longer should be spent on page 1 than page 2 and page 3, and I do find the page containing non essential information very irritating indeed.

 

[jon0844]

It certainly does depend on the screen type/shape, but as old ones are phased out they should introduce suitable ones that are shown in a portrait position.

And ideally full dot matrix displays, so you can begin to be more clever with different sized text etc.

 

[Greenback]

Quite, but until that happy day some of the one sin service now do make me want to scream out loud!

 

[VisualAcid]

Don't forget having both pages repeated for you in Welsh...

 

[najaB]

Quite, but until that happy day some of the one sin service now do make me want to scream out loud!

Took me a minute to figure out what a "one sin service" was.

 

[infobleep]

Guildford is interesting. The front of the stations has a large board giving you departure times for various trains. The platforms have summery screensa do departure boards. The foot ridges have summery screens in the more computer flat screen monitor style. The back entrance has banks of these screens listing the departure times and even arrival times.

I don't believe the arrival times are shown anywhere else, not even at the front of the station.

 

[Oxfordblues]

One of my pet niggles about departure screens is when your train is being delayed and it shows it as 7 minutes late, then a minute later 8 minutes late, then a minute later 9 minutes late, etc. Eventually you realise that the train isn't actually moving! Thank goodness for realtimetrains and, where available, opentraintimes. Train operators should make these available to their customers, perhaps in a more user-friendly format, so they have a better idea of what's really going on.

 

[najaB]

Train operators should make these available to their customers, perhaps in a more user-friendly format, so they have a better idea of what's really going on.

It isn't hidden or secret data, NR does make it available - that's how it gets onto websites like the ones you mentioned. If you can think of a more user-friendly way to display it you're more that welcome to write your own interface (or suggest it to RTT or OTT - I believe the creators of both sites are members of this forum).

 

[fowler9]

Pet niggles at Liverpool South Parkway. Trains obviously stuck behind others showing as being as the next train. The Preston/Blackpool train showing as going from platform 3 when it isn't possible. None of the boards facing the main entrance showing the flights, buses, arrivals and departures working. 3 toilets which clean themselves in between use for the entire station.

 

[AndrewB]

Peckham Rye is particularly weird.
It displays "page 1 of 1" for trains on P1 and 2 (southern and overground).
Then it displays "page 1 of 1" for trains on P3 and 4 (Thameslink/Se).

Took me some time to twig why my train in a couple of minutes was only sometimes being displayed on page 1.

 

[talldave]

As usual it's the same old problem of these things being specified and implemented by people who don't use them. Added to the traditional British excuse for not improving anything of "we've always done it that way".

 

[Greenback]

Don't forget having both pages repeated for you in Welsh...

I don't mind that at all!

Took me a minute to figure out what a "one sin service" was.

I type too fast and my eyes see what they want to see, which isn't always what's there on the screen