Greater Anglia New Passenger Information Screens

F Great Eastern · 1 Apr 2019

So Greater Anglia are replacing their orange LED Infotec screens with some smaller LCD displays in the name of progress it seems.

Up until now I've only seen them go in stations without screens, or in stations with a single screen shared across multiple platforms, but now they seem to be appearing in larger stations.

They look fairly cheap in construction and seem to be off or not working quite a bit and suffering from all kinds of bugs such as even showing cancelled services or not updating when a train leaves.

Most annoyingly, they are not even showing train information all the time, they are showing adverts for Greater Anglia or other such content, which is ridiculous.

Do we know who is making them and if GA are going to put them into all stations?

RailUK Forums

Miles22 · 2 Apr 2019

https://www.blackbox-co.com

iphone76 · 2 Apr 2019

At Billericay they had the good sense to locate the new large screen at the far country end of the London bound platform - directly behind the waiting shelter so it's pretty useless unless you are standing in the 5ft space between the screen and the shelter. Plus the small ones they have located where most people stand are too small to see.

I hope we keep our old style ones in Wickford.

F Great Eastern · 2 Apr 2019

Greater Anglia have confirmed they are replacing all the Infotec screens with these franchise wide unfortunately along with much marketing speak that hmm they are replacing every screen over the next two years.

Customer information is being improved at rail stations across the region with the installation of better Customer Information Screens.

More than 1,000 new screens will be installed across all of Greater Anglia’s 133 stations - including ones that have never had them before such as Beccles, Brundall Gardens, Elmswell, Gunton, Lakenheath, Oulton Broad South, Spooner Row and Whittlesea.

They will display train running information in a clear, easy to read format and will be much more informative when trains are delayed - as they will allow Greater Anglia’s Control Room to display custom messages to keep passengers fully up to date.

Simone Bailey, Greater Anglia’s Asset Management Director, said: “We have been focusing our efforts on improving information provision for our customers – especially during disruption - and these new screens demonstrate our commitment to providing up-to-date information, in a clear, user-friendly format, which we know is a high priority for our customers.”

The problem is, if the screens are running full screen ads for Greater Anglia whilst a train is on the platform, don't know what time it is, are turned off or are showing trains that departed a few minutes earlier. I've also seen screens taking trains off the pboard 2-3 minutes before departure and showing the next train which could easily lead to people getting on the wrong train.

They also appear to be not showing all delays that are showing up on other sources, which makes me think that they are not using the same feed that JourneyCheck, National Rail and the Infotec screens are using and instead Greater Anglia have more direct control rather than running the screens off feeds. This would explain how it's easier to show custom information. The good thing about feeds is they are based on raw information

Once again it seems being seen to replace everything and generating good marketing material comes before anything else. If they can say that they replaced every train and every screen that sounds impressive. Who cares about the realities hey? I've seen more faults with these screens than I ever saw in about a decade of the LED ones that are commonplace across the country.

Also have we seen yet how they are going to handle an EMU from Ipswich to London, which stops at about a dozen places almost. They can barely fit 5-6 stations on those displays at the moment due to the small size of them. Are they going to use an ultra small teeny weeny font or use multiple pages, which is a step back.

Ethano92 · 2 Apr 2019

F Great Eastern said:
Once again it seems being seen to replace everything and generating good marketing material comes before anything else.

Rather surprisingly SWR are actually doing something right! In that at Kingston (the only one I know about so far) and progressively at more stations across their network, they have these big full colour displays in the ticket hall that are far more easy to read than when there's just a massive screen of LEDs yet on the platform they've opted for white LED dot matrix displays that are clear, can be seen from far and are rather reliable.

Unless specified I don't see why GA couldn't have opted for this, the screens truly are bad on the platforms. The ones at Broxbourne are tiny and cause a congestion point at the bottom of the stairs because everyone wants to wait there to be in view of the screen.

Bletchleyite · 2 Apr 2019

I assume this is the same rubbish we'll be getting on LNR?

FWIW, that kind of screen can be done well - I quite like the Thameslink ones.

Alfie1014 · 3 Apr 2019

This one installed last year at Great Bentley seems to have been designed for very tall people in the station garden!

F Great Eastern · 3 Apr 2019

Bletchleyite said:
I assume this is the same rubbish we'll be getting on LNR?

FWIW, that kind of screen can be done well - I quite like the Thameslink ones.

The Thameslink ones are also Infotec, based on the same platform as the orange LEDs we currently see around the Greater Anglia network, just using a different screen technology. I believe SWR are also going down the Infotec route as well. But Infotec is more expensive, that's for sure, but the supports, construction of them, size, brightness and other things reflects that.

When GA opened Cambridge North, they used Infotecs newest Orange LED Model
https://twitter.com/infotecdisplays/status/866532843551326211

Probably the over-riding decision was based on cost. GA probably prefered to buy over 1000 screens on the cheap and have a uniform type, rather than just replace screens that need replacing and provide additional screens where needed so they could generate nice press on replacing everything, when I'd far rather them have ordered less and use the money saved to fund a better model.

whhistle · 3 Apr 2019

There seems to be a muddle of opinion here.

It seems the screens are actually pretty good.
What isn't good is the siting of them or the data that is being fed to them.

Those are very different things.

Aictos · 3 Apr 2019

Alfie1014 said:
View attachment 61013 This one installed last year at Great Bentley seems to have been designed for very tall people in the station garden!

That's a awful poor design, looks so small and cramp not to mention the height is poorly designed.

AC47461 · 3 Apr 2019

As far as I understood, part of the reason for changing them is that the new ones can handle the loading data that will be on (at least) the 720s (i.e. to tell you where spaces are on the train). If they want to use that option then they need a screen that can show a graphic display.

I must admit though, I thought some of the new ones at Billericay were rather small, but I find them clear enough, and they do sometimes take a bit longer to clear to the next train. They seem to be updating the display data though as recently the times have appeared behind each call of the displayed service, which wasn't there when they first went in.

Bletchleyite · 3 Apr 2019

F Great Eastern said:
Probably the over-riding decision was based on cost. GA probably prefered to buy over 1000 screens on the cheap and have a uniform type, rather than just replace screens that need replacing and provide additional screens where needed so they could generate nice press on replacing everything, when I'd far rather them have ordered less and use the money saved to fund a better model.

That sounds more than a little bit like the (Aventra/CAF) rolling stock purchase for both LNR and WMR.

F Great Eastern · 3 Apr 2019

whhistle said:
There seems to be a muddle of opinion here.

It seems the screens are actually pretty good.
What isn't good is the siting of them or the data that is being fed to them.

Those are very different things.

Well the size of them is pathetic and the positioning of them and the reliability is poor so far.

if they went down the Infotec road they wouldn't have that problem since they would run off the feeds the current ones do quite easily.

Generally a lot of the time the reason people don't use live and raw feeds is because they want control over the information that is going over to them or to apply post processing.

This can be used to improve quality of information but it can also be used to make an operator look better if it only reports things someone programs into them rather than pulling from a live real time feed.

F Great Eastern · 3 Apr 2019

Bletchleyite said:
That sounds more than a little bit like the (Aventra/CAF) rolling stock purchase for both LNR and WMR.

Probably wins bids though doesn't it? If you do everything on the cheap you can do more of it for less cash and I've no doubt the bids are judged on what you can offer and whoever offers the most wins.

Tio Terry · 3 Apr 2019

I've not seen any of these new screens personally so cannot comment but, having read the comments on here, it would appear that what's being provided does not comply with the DfT guidelines. Those of you with personal experience may like to look at section K9 of the following.

https://assets.publishing.service.g...5977/design-standards-accessible-stations.pdf

F Great Eastern · 3 Apr 2019

Tio Terry said:
I've not seen any of these new screens personally so cannot comment but, having read the comments on here, it would appear that what's being provided does not comply with the DfT guidelines. Those of you with personal experience may like to look at section K9 of the following.

https://assets.publishing.service.g...5977/design-standards-accessible-stations.pdf

There isn't a K9?

dk1 · 3 Apr 2019

I've noticed several of them at rural stations that have never before had any sort of PIS. Today travelling pass back from London I noticed some at Diss. Must say I think they are pretty clear, compact & cool. Bring them on I say.

Tio Terry · 3 Apr 2019

F Great Eastern said:
There isn't a K9?

Sorry, K7, page 109.

F Great Eastern · 3 Apr 2019

dk1 said:
I've noticed several of them at rural stations that have never before had any sort of PIS. Today travelling pass back from London I noticed some at Diss. Must say I think they are pretty clear, compact & cool. Bring them on I say.

I completely agree we should be rolling out PIS systems to all stations completely, but the problem is that the new displays are inferior on almost every level to the ones they are replacing in stations that already have adequate numbers. They've gone for what is almost certainly a cheaper option to most TOCs.

They are also far less accurate, less reliable, show incorrect information, show adverts for GA instead of the actual train service info and are either going to have to use teeny weeny text or multiple pages for each train when a train has many stops.

No doubt they were all the idea of the bid team and nobody from customer service or operations was consulted on this either, long as they save a few quid and can point to every thing being replaced, who cares if they are as accurate as the old ones and as easy to read? Abellio don't do practical, they just do marketing.

F Great Eastern · 3 Apr 2019

Tio Terry said:
Sorry, K7, page 109.

What exactly is the issue?

dk1 · 3 Apr 2019

F Great Eastern said:
I completely agree we should be rolling out PIS systems to all stations completely, but the problem is that the new displays are inferior on almost every level to the ones they are replacing in stations that already have adequate numbers. They've gone for what is almost certainly a cheaper option to most TOCs.

They are also far less accurate, less reliable, show incorrect information, show adverts for GA instead of the actual train service info and are either going to have to use teeny weeny text or multiple pages for each train when a train has many stops.

No doubt they were all the idea of the bid team and nobody from customer service or operations was consulted on this either, long as they save a few quid and can point to every thing being replaced, who cares if they are as accurate as the old ones and as easy to read? Abellio don't do practical, they just do marketing.

Just needs that cute little hare then. I'm hoping it will end up as part of the train side logo but no decision made yet.

F Great Eastern · 3 Apr 2019

dk1 said:
Just needs that cute little hare then. I'm hoping it will end up as part of the train side logo but no decision made yet.

Heaven forbid if this guise of Greater Anglia even spent a little bit of time on operational realities and practice rather than coming up with pointless mascots, spinning in the press, claiming they did things they didn't and looking for the best sound bites for the press.

You never know, not only may they figure out how long their platforms are, they might actually remember they are a railway company rather than a marketing one.

I just feel sorry for the excellent front line staff who will take the brunt of what is coming.

Tio Terry · 3 Apr 2019

F Great Eastern said:
What exactly is the issue?

From what others have said - as I said, I've not actually seen any - the siting of the screens and the text size seems to be presenting problems.

Alfie1014 · 4 Apr 2019

This pic was tweeted on GAs twitter feed this morning, new screen at Kelvedon!

Bletchleyite · 4 Apr 2019

Alfie1014 said:
View attachment 61053 This pic was tweeted on GAs twitter feed this morning, new screen at Kelvedon!

They actually Tweeted a picture of a display with the picture turned sideways? Not someone tweeted it to them?

Unbelievable.

As a side note, the UI design on that is very poor. Why flag "on time" with yellow? It should be flagged with green. A short delay would be flagged yellow, and a long delay or cancellation red.

Mag_seven · 4 Apr 2019

Bletchleyite said:
They actually Tweeted a picture of a display with the picture turned sideways? Not someone tweeted it to them?

Looking at the posters in the picture I think that the picture is actually the correct way up - its the info on the screen that has the wrong orientation.

Bletchleyite · 4 Apr 2019

Mag_seven said:
Looking at the posters in the picture I think that the picture is actually the correct way up - its the info on the screen that has the wrong orientation.

Yes, I meant the picture on the screen was rotated, not the photograph.

Just a teething problem, no doubt, and I suspect easily fixed by changing a single field that specifies what format that screen uses on a control screen somewhere, but it's still unbelievably sloppy to Tweet about it!

Alfie1014 · 4 Apr 2019

Sorry it was a passenger who tweeted the pic not GA!

eljajo95 · 4 Apr 2019

Don’t like these much, having seen them in situ at Audley End; but as a Great Chesterford commuter, I guess they’ll be better than what we’re used to, namely, nothing. Aside that is from the Help Point that’s been out of order for months.

F Great Eastern · 21 Nov 2019

This was really well thought out.

No doubt the savings they made by not having to pay for proper brackets and supporting structures Infotec style, were well worth it in financial terms, who cares about the people who actually need to read it.

These things are useless, they're behind other live systems, they're too small, suffer from glare and cheaply placed and supported, The Infotec stuff is far better, but was probably far more expensive.

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