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Yellow warning panels - reflections?

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Deepgreen

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If you are on the platform then by definition you are in a place of safety. You shouldn't need warning of the approach of a train because you shouldn't be near the platform edge.
The high-intensity headlamps/marker lights or whatever they are called now were supposed to be dipped so that they could not dazzle an on-coming driver - something that I think has got lost nowadays. Their function was to alert people on the ground, so of course they won't be very visible to someone standing on a platform.
The approach of trains is always something to be aware of, so-called place of safety or not. Of course people shouldn't be near the platform edge, but many are, sometimes through no fault of their own in over-crowded conditions. People shouldn't do many things that they wouldn't if logic and order ruled the roost, but they do, which is why warnings are everywhere. It's why road vehicles now almost all have lights on during the day - a massive waste of energy, but supposedly necessary because the ante has been upped - once a few did it (Volvos and Saabs in the 1970s), others followed until we all have become conditioned to expect everything moving to be lit at all times. I'm not claiming that no safety improvement has occurred because of it, but pointing out that more and more warning is required as people become more and more expecting of it.
 
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JonasB

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It's why road vehicles now almost all have lights on during the day - a massive waste of energy, but supposedly necessary because the ante has been upped - once a few did it (Volvos and Saabs in the 1970s), others followed until we all have become conditioned to expect everything moving to be lit at all times. I'm not claiming that no safety improvement has occurred because of it, but pointing out that more and more warning is required as people become more and more expecting of it.

But headlights seems to be enough for cars as they are not required to have yellow warning panels.
 

takno

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But headlights seems to be enough for cars as they are not required to have yellow warning panels.
They can swerve and brake a lot faster though and have a much lower permitted speed.
 

AndrewE

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Normal passengers aren't like cranks, they want their trains to turn up on time and whatnot and won't give a monkey about the colour on the front of the train.
apart from the ones trying to see the little yellow patch on the coupler to let them know where the first class will be!
 

Doomotron

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Normal passengers aren't like cranks, they want their trains to turn up on time and whatnot and won't give a monkey about the colour on the front of the train.
But they do notice things. If the train is a different colour (like Southeastern's 377s in Southern livery), they will take note of the change and maybe even think something is wrong. Normal people may be less knowledgeable with trains but do have the ability to see changes and act because of them.
 

JonasB

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They can swerve and brake a lot faster though and have a much lower permitted speed.

Cars are slower and steerable.

Because despite being able to go faster, they can steer... And have headlights.

But, they are more likely to encounter pedestrians, bikers and other traffic. They are more likely to be driven by someone who should not be driving (intoxicated, tired, no license etc). They do not always use their headlights (just came back from the UK, many people were driving around without any lights on at all. And a grey car with no lights on can be hard to spot on a misty morning). They can show up even where you do not expect them (unlike trains that are unlikely to leave the tracks).
 
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Normal passengers aren't like cranks, they want their trains to turn up on time and whatnot and won't give a monkey about the colour on the front of the train.

OK, but why, then, don't companies just keep the yellow, if there is a potential small safety advantage in doing so?
 

K.o.R

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OK, but why, then, don't companies just keep the yellow, if there is a potential small safety advantage in doing so?

Because they have highly-paid brand managers and graphic designers that need to justify their jobs.
 

furnessvale

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Given the propensity of UK railways in general to cover their collective backs, something I have just referred to in another thread, I am amazed that some brave soul has put his head above the parapet and decided that an existing safety measure, which has stood the test of time, can be abolished.

Why has the decision gone this way? Because it now allows livery designers free range to apply whatever colour they wish to the entire unit.

In the other thread I am complaining there is too much back covering. Here I think this decision is mad and I hope this brave man is still around to answer when, inevitably, something bad happens.
 
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Because they have highly-paid brand managers and graphic designers that need to justify their jobs.

OK, I get that, but why have highly paid brand managers and graphic designers, if the passengers don't care about the colour on the front of the train?
 

ExRes

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As far as brand managers and graphic designers are concerned aesthetics is everything, make a lovely looking sandwich but then fill it with an out of date, ropey filling. Look at all the complaints about train seats, they draw up a super wonderful sketch and then put a plastic park seat in based solely on its look and not at all on its usability, no different to aircraft really, pack 'em in, reduce the space and don't worry about the discomfort

Removing the yellow panel is pointless, if you're waiting for a train you just want a train, forget what it looks like, you want a train that works not a little blue and white swoosh on the nose and a dynamic pattern down the side, when I nearly got squelched by a Eurostar a few years back, courtesy of an incompetent signaller, what I saw was the yellow on the nose, I don't recall noticing the lights at all and nobody will convince me that removing the yellow is anything but pure stupidity
 

GB

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As far as brand managers and graphic designers are concerned aesthetics is everything, make a lovely looking sandwich but then fill it with an out of date, ropey filling. Look at all the complaints about train seats, they draw up a super wonderful sketch and then put a plastic park seat in based solely on its look and not at all on its usability, no different to aircraft really, pack 'em in, reduce the space and don't worry about the discomfort

Removing the yellow panel is pointless, if you're waiting for a train you just want a train, forget what it looks like, you want a train that works not a little blue and white swoosh on the nose and a dynamic pattern down the side, when I nearly got squelched by a Eurostar a few years back, courtesy of an incompetent signaller, what I saw was the yellow on the nose, I don't recall noticing the lights at all and nobody will convince me that removing the yellow is anything but pure stupidity

Spot on
 

K.o.R

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OK, I get that, but why have highly paid brand managers and graphic designers, if the passengers don't care about the colour on the front of the train?

Because the people in charge do think that the passengers care about the colour on the front of the train.
 
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