New style for Elizabeth line platform departure screens?

Taunton · 26 Dec 2023

It's pretty indecipherable at places like Custom House westbound which has got 20 stops to Reading, to just notice which of the Thames Valley stations it is not stopping at.

Exacerbated by the non-stopped stations being listed as "Not stopping at Acton, West Ealing AND Hanwell". It should be "... West Ealing NOR Hanwell" for a negative statement. Someone didn't do 'English Usage and Abusage' by Eric Partridge at school!

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Recessio · 26 Dec 2023

Taunton said:
It's pretty indecipherable at places like Custom House westbound which has got 20 stops to Reading, to just notice which of the Thames Valley stations it is not stopping at.

Exacerbated by the non-stopped stations being listed as "Not stopping at Acton, West Ealing AND Hanwell". It should be "... West Ealing NOR Hanwell" for a negative statement. Someone didn't do 'English Usage and Abusage' by Eric Partridge at school!

I wonder if it is deliberate to try to keep announcements simple as possible for accessibility, and for international visitors where English may not be the first language (or even really spoken much at all).

HSTEd · 26 Dec 2023

The more I think about the more I think the RER style solution is probably the best one available.
Assign a letter or number to each stopping pattern and then display that.

The system is far too complex to display all the information necessary on "conventional" displays, certainly in the space available.

Recessio · 26 Dec 2023

Are the stopping patterns consistent? I.e. Could they have it labelled and on the line diagram like how they do it like the Metropolitan with Fast, Semi-fast, All-stations or something equivalent?

PGAT · 26 Dec 2023

Recessio said:
Are the stopping patterns consistent? I.e. Could they have it labelled and on the line diagram like how they do it like the Metropolitan with Fast, Semi-fast, All-stations or something equivalent?

Not really. Iver and Taplow are skipped by the Reading and Maidenhead services respectively, but are both included when the Maidenhead services get extended to Reading in the peaks. These nuances cant be expressed with a fast or semi-fast label

Gaelan · 26 Dec 2023

Bletchleyite said:
Yes, but if things are consistent you needn't show calling points, people can look at a map to see what they are.

I recently visited the NYC subway, which uses more or less this approach. I found it extremely confusing - I’m generally quite comfortable on unfamiliar metros, but this was far worse than any other system I remember using.

On the other hand, they’ve now got departure-board type things in some stations that list all calling points for the next train. These, where present, are hugely helpful.

Mojo · 26 Dec 2023

Recessio said:
Are the stopping patterns consistent? I.e. Could they have it labelled and on the line diagram like how they do it like the Metropolitan with Fast, Semi-fast, All-stations or something equivalent?

To be fair even London Underground Met line stopping patterns aren’t consistent. Whilst Northbound trains are timetabled to stop at Wembley Park, southbound Fast and Semifast are not.

However during periods of service disruption in order to get trains back to timetable, the Controller may decide to run some Northbound trains nonstop from Finchley Rd to Harrow on the Hill.

Acton1991 · 31 Jan 2024

Looks like they’ve rolled out these screens to all of Tottenham Court Road. Not the prettiest in the world!

Horizon22 · 31 Jan 2024

Acton1991 said:
Looks like they’ve rolled out these screens to all of Tottenham Court Road. Not the prettiest in the world!

Does the job though? Surely relevant information is better than style!

Looked to me that due to the layout of the screens there was no easy solution that would solve all issues and the airport icon is a nice touch.

hwl · 1 Feb 2024

Horizon22 said:
Does the job though? Surely relevant information is better than style!

Looked to me that due to the layout of the screens there was no easy solution that would solve all issues and the airport icon is a nice touch.

It looks excellent from an information provision and hierarchy point of view.

Purple Train · 1 Feb 2024

Acton1991 said:
Looks like they’ve rolled out these screens to all of Tottenham Court Road. Not the prettiest in the world!

I noticed them at Canary Wharf last weekend. Much better than the old signs, in my opinion - the line through the crossed-out stations was not very easy to see. No superfluous information, so it should be much easier for tourists to understand.

A rather nice change, I think, from the problems in the other thread about superfluous announcements!

Dent · 1 Feb 2024

Acton1991 said:
Looks like they’ve rolled out these screens to all of Tottenham Court Road. Not the prettiest in the world!

The screen looks for too shiny, making it difficult to read the text through all the reflections. A matte surface would have been much better.

stuu · 1 Feb 2024

Dent said:
The screen looks for too shiny, making it difficult to read the text through all the reflections. A matte surface would have been much better.

They aren't when you are on the platform, they are fine to read

TheHSRailFan · 1 Feb 2024

Horizon22 said:
Does the job though? Surely relevant information is better than style!

Looked to me that due to the layout of the screens there was no easy solution that would solve all issues and the airport icon is a nice touch.

for some of us, it's a small accessibility nightmare seeing this.

New style for Elizabeth line platform departure screens?

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