Greater Anglia New Passenger Information Screens

[317666]

I'm currently at Cambridge. The departure screens are showing a 10:53 to Cambridge North from platform 2 (a southbound bay platform), and an 11:03 departure to King's Cross which, as far as I can work out, is a diverted East Coast train that doesn't actually call at Cambridge.

They've been doing the latter all day, showing the platform as TL - the Through Line! I did actually see 'Cambridge 00:00' listed as a stop on the external displays of an Azuma passing through, not entirely sure how it's all happened...

 

[dosxuk]

The most daming thing of the photo that illustrates the poor design ofL the layout of them and font sizes, is the fact that a big screen like that needs 4 pages to show a list of stops on a single service (22:51 to Liverpool Street)

My eyesight's not the best, but I have the opposite problem - the text isn't big enough. Compared to the old screens at Norwich where you could pretty much instantly see which platform you needed to head to, I had to be a lot closer to read them, and with all the animation going on, actually identifying the useful information is difficult. And that's before you consider that the information is likely to be incorrect.

It feels very Abellio though - poorly thought through, replacing good working stuff with new broken stuff, and all done in a massive rush and the problems left to the staff to pick up the pieces. Not helped at Norwich by a broken PA system. "Passe...rs for ...h should be a.....n screens are sh....correct inform....n and should g...to pl....for...e. That's passen....rs goi....o Liverp....ow depar.....g from platfo....e"

 

[py_megapixel]

View attachment 71540
There's a screen in Cambridge above the gates, that's noticeably brighter than the others.

Also confusion yesterday where the last train from Cambridge to Ipswich had been cancelled, and then another journey added, rather than the original journey being re-instated, with whatever extra stops were required. It meant that Google Maps didn't show the journey, and several people being confused about what was actually happening with queries on Twitter, and manual announcements at the station.

Am I missing something, or does that board show the same service twice, once as cancelled and once as on time?

 

[F Great Eastern]

Am I missing something, or does that board show the same service twice, once as cancelled and once as on time?

I see it very often at Norwich and Ipswich, often in Ipswich screens 1 & 3 and 2&4 show the same train, with the actual 3rd and 4th train to depart, hidden.

They're also often very lagged.

 

[F Great Eastern]

5 coach trains being listed on the screens on the Lowestoft line tonight.

 

[Railperf]

is there any website that mirrors those screens?

found the one for Norwich

http://infotec-mqtt.info/northern/departure/NRW

 

[trebor79]

5 coach trains being listed on the screens on the Lowestoft line tonight.

Same at Ely. The autoannouncer also got a bit over enthusiastic, announcing the same trains two or three times in a row with no pause. Then announcing them another couple of times after a minute or so.
Screens also "disappearing" late running trains at times.
Staff having to make manual announcements contradicting the screens and automatic announcements seems to be getting more common at Ely. But that might be a consequence of short notice changes to platforming - it's interesting watching on traksy at times of disruption. Signallers do a good job of squeezing everything through, it's a bit like ballet for train enthusiasts at times!

 

[F Great Eastern]

is there any website that mirrors those screens?

found the one for Norwich

http://infotec-mqtt.info/northern/departure/NRW

That's Infotec WebCIS which is powered by Javelin/Darwin, rather than the Blackbox system.

You can access a few more functions of it here:
http://javelin-webcis.co.uk/

 

[F Great Eastern]

Same at Ely. The autoannouncer also got a bit over enthusiastic, announcing the same trains two or three times in a row with no pause. Then announcing them another couple of times after a minute or so.
Screens also "disappearing" late running trains at times.
Staff having to make manual announcements contradicting the screens and automatic announcements seems to be getting more common at Ely. But that might be a consequence of short notice changes to platforming - it's interesting watching on traksy at times of disruption. Signallers do a good job of squeezing everything through, it's a bit like ballet for train enthusiasts at times!

The one thing I don't get about these screens, is it's approximately 4 years since they were first used on ScotRail stations. You'd think that in those four years, it was plenty of time to iron out these kind of issues and the system should be quite mature by now and pretty stable with most of the kinks ironed out.

The roll-out of this new system is still continuing at pace though and more screens are popping up pretty much by the week, replacing the legacy Infotec ones, despite the fact the problems with them show no sign of being resolved from what I have seen myself.

 

[317666]

Same at Ely. The autoannouncer also got a bit over enthusiastic, announcing the same trains two or three times in a row with no pause. Then announcing them another couple of times after a minute or so.

I noticed yesterday that Ely was using what sounded like a text-to-speech voice for the announcements rather than the usual woman.

Cambridge - Norwich services were all showing as formed of 5 coaches at both Ely and Cambridge.

 

[trebor79]

I noticed yesterday that Ely was using what sounded like a text-to-speech voice for the announcements rather than the usual woman.

Ah, yes I knew there was something different but couldn't quite place my finger on it. Were you there about half past 5, I heard someone commenting about text to speech as they walked past me.

 

[317666]

Ah, yes I knew there was something different but couldn't quite place my finger on it. Were you there about half past 5, I heard someone commenting about text to speech as they walked past me.

I caught the 1627 Stansted so wouldn't have been me. I'm on the same service today and the text to speech announcements are still there.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Ah, yes I knew there was something different but couldn't quite place my finger on it. Were you there about half past 5, I heard someone commenting about text to speech as they walked past me.

I wonder if the company who are being contracted for the screens also are replacing the announcements system as well?

The good thing about the current situation is that whilst the screens have their issues, the legacy announcements at least tend to be fine....

Sure they are not going to break something else that doesn't need fixing?

 

[JaJaWa]

Meridian Water which opened with these screens uses Text to Speech.

 

[317666]

A passenger came up to me today and asked me whether the screens were new. I told him they were fairly new, and he went on to tell me how brilliant and easy to read he thought they were and asked if I would pass his comments on to management. At least someone's happy with them!

 

[trebor79]

Diss screens showing the 755 yesterday as formed of 11 coaches!
They aren't all bad. The departure summary at Diss actually shows a few hours worth of departures.
I think once you get to an Ipswich size station they aren't suitable and aren't as good as the Infotec displays they replaced, for all the reasons mentioned in this thread. Seems an awful lot of money spent to replace modern stuff with something not as good? Curious decision.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think the principle of them is good - Thameslink have similar ones and they work well. The issue is the slightly cheap implementation.

 

[jon0844]

Diss screens showing the 755 yesterday as formed of 11 coaches!
They aren't all bad. The departure summary at Diss actually shows a few hours worth of departures.
I think once you get to an Ipswich size station they aren't suitable and aren't as good as the Infotec displays they replaced, for all the reasons mentioned in this thread. Seems an awful lot of money spent to replace modern stuff with something not as good? Curious decision.

They look nice, with lots of colours, transition effects and everything for a modern smartphone generation. The problem is the usefulness goes beyond the visuals, as the underlying core that provides the (accurate) data is more important.

Infotec now have full-matrix screens that can do limited graphics and animation, but the important thing is they convey information in a better way for the most part. I can think of a few areas for improvement, as I am sure we all could, but I was massively disappointed with the information provision at Cambridge.

It doesn't surprise me one bit that people like them. Just as people think a TV picture is stunning if you turn up the saturation to 100% and increase the contrast. Vivid mode is known by almost everyone to totally ruin a picture, but TV makers know how vital it is to have this on shop floor demo modes.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Seems an awful lot of money spent to replace modern stuff with something not as good? Curious decision.

Interesting too that the former information control manager and business change manager at Greater Anglia up until April 2017 took a sabbatical for six months and then in September started working for the company behind the screens as as Programme Manager.

Reminds me of Mike Kean, who if I remember correctly, was the deputy MD of Greater Anglia who then went on to take the COO position with the company who is leasing the new stock to Greater Anglia.

 

[trebor79]

They look nice, with lots of colours, transition effects and everything for a modern smartphone generation. The problem is the usefulness goes beyond the visuals, as the underlying core that provides the (accurate) data is more important.

Too much animation, and a lot of it totally pointless. Why swipe in the formation at the bottom of the screen several seconds after the calling patter?
Why does the expected departure time keep swiping, so you get a sort it flicker effect as it swipes back onto the same detail?
Etc

 

[jon0844]

Too much animation, and a lot of it totally pointless. Why swipe in the formation at the bottom of the screen several seconds after the calling patter?
Why does the expected departure time keep swiping, so you get a sort it flicker effect as it swipes back onto the same detail?
Etc

I totally agree. The UI is over the top and most of it is superfluous. However, I bet if you showed people a static Infotec screen and then the bright, colourful, constantly moving display, they'd say they prefer the latter. That figure then makes it into press releases as proof people love the new information displays.

The Infotec screens in the Thameslink core are far better. The animation is very limited and far more effective.

 

[F Great Eastern]

I totally agree. The UI is over the top and most of it is superfluous. However, I bet if you showed people a static Infotec screen and then the bright, colourful, constantly moving display, they'd say they prefer the latter. That figure then makes it into press releases as proof people love the new information displays.

The Infotec screens in the Thameslink core are far better. The animation is very limited and far more effective.

Infotec do have some similar design screens to that which this company have introduced, they were showing them off at railex, the bottom part can flick between messages and the train formation, much like the Abellio ones. It can also show next service if set up that way.

The layout is less colourful, but it's more practical and aligned better and features smooth scrolling rather than animations.



< click for bigger

 

[greaterwest]

For all the faults seen here, I think it's worth remembering that these are fairly new, I haven't seen them anywhere else before, so it will take a while to iron out the bugs. It will be interesting to see in a year's time once they've worked more on the underlying technology.

I for one am glad to see something other than Infotec screens used across the network.

I think the principle of them is good - Thameslink have similar ones and they work well. The issue is the slightly cheap implementation.

You've probably already realised as others have posted photos, but the Thameslink ones are made by Infotec.

 

[londonmidland]

I have a feeling Abellio will roll this out across all TOC’s they manage in the next year or so.

The screens come with their own text-to-speech software, which explains why you are starting to hear a new voice.

 

[F Great Eastern]

For all the faults seen here, I think it's worth remembering that these are fairly new, I haven't seen them anywhere else before, so it will take a while to iron out the bugs. It will be interesting to see in a year's time once they've worked more on the underlying technology.

This platform and the screens were first rolled out to Abellio Scotrail in 2016 and haven't really changed since then from what I can see at least.

 

[greaterwest]

This platform and the screens were first rolled out to Abellio Scotrail in 2016 and haven't really changed since then from what I can see at least.

I've not seen any similar complaints about the ScotRail ones, and I think they have only rolled them out to a few ScotRail stations so far.

 

[F Great Eastern]

I have a feeling Abellio will roll this out across all TOC’s they manage in the next year or so.

The screens come with their own text-to-speech software, which explains why you are starting to hear a new voice.

If people think that text to speech is better than the current system then they're in cloud cukoo land, going from screens that work and display relevant information to ones that are less reliable and don't show as much relevant information as the last ones and a proper announcement system to a text to speech system, is hardly improving the customer experience.

They really need a chief customer officer or a COO.

 

[londonmidland]

If people think that text to speech is better than the current system then they're in cloud cukoo land, going from screens that work and display relevant information to ones that are less reliable and don't show as much relevant information as the last ones and a proper announcement system to a text to speech system, is hardly improving the customer experience.

They really need a chief customer officer or a COO.

It really is an inferior system but I guess the only thing people are concerned about is saving money.

 

[jon0844]

It really is an inferior system but I guess the only thing people are concerned about is saving money.

IF if saves money and isn't in fact a deal done for a mate who used to work for you sort of thing.

That said, Infotec does need competition to stop prices going through the roof. However, if I was Infotec I'd be buying some competitor screens and using them to show why Infotec are so far ahead of the game.

 

[dosxuk]

I have a feeling Abellio will roll this out across all TOC’s they manage in the next year or so.

The screens come with their own text-to-speech software, which explains why you are starting to hear a new voice.

Looking forward to the return of announcements for trains to why-mond-ham, ho-ver-ton and war-stead then.