Trains displaying wrong destinations....

ChiefPlanner · 10 Oct 2011

The first 150 was sent to Hamburg with a load of other BR stock in 1988 for display at the Exhibition centre. I was allowed 3 days as a "steward" - quite hard work - as the unit had come off Canton - it had a good range of Welsh destinations on the blinds , so I regularly changed them round to read exotic places such as Penarth , or Treherbet. A few German hard core types queried where they were , and was happy to explain the Valleys S-Bahn to them

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Mutant Lemming · 10 Oct 2011

At the end of the peak as the Circle Line wound down there would be a couple of trains going off the Circle to stable at Barking or Hammersmith. Some of the more miscreant of drivers used to put the final destination of the train up a tad prematurely so that you would either have a train heading West at Gloucester Road with Barking on the front or East at Mansion House with Hammersmith (via Shepherds Bush). I am sure there will be other examples of a train having a (true) destination on the front yet heading in the oppostie direction to that destination.

fairysdad · 10 Oct 2011

Greenback said:
A lot of people understandably have no idea about liveries. To them it's just a purple train, a red train, a big train or a little train!

Or as I had to describe an HST at Castle Cary to a fellow passenger once, "One with a pointy front" :lol:

table38 · 10 Oct 2011

This picture would have been a triumph if I hadn't been drunk when I took it with my 5 micro-pixel phone camera. IIRC, the display had got confused and was displaying something to the effect of SORRY LIVERPOOL LIME (ST)

exile · 10 Oct 2011

In another thread, passengers are being advised to ask staff before boarding a train in order to avoid travelling with an invalid ticket, even if the platform display is showing they're boarding the correct train and this is being confirmed by announcements.

Here, passengers are being derided for asking for reassurance that they're on the right train (on a thread which is actually about misleading destination displays on trains)

Sigh.

BTW why in the name of sanity are the displays on the front of the trains and not the sides and/or inside?

My favourite wrong display was on a DMU going to Liverpool, which claimed it was going to Afon Wen (which had closed 20 years before)

Eagle · 10 Oct 2011

exile said:
BTW why in the name of sanity are the displays on the front of the trains and not the sides and/or inside?

Off the top of my head, 220s, 221s, 222s, 323s, 350s, 390s, 444s, 450s, 458s and many more all have side destination blinds, at least two per coach... :roll:

gnolife · 11 Oct 2011

As do 185s and 333s, but one of the ones you mentioned, 323, often doesnt (based on my area of Sth Manchester).

I am often guilty of asking if its the right train I'm getting on, but only if it is not the terminus of the train, and where two different routes exist (IE Man VIc to Leeds, Man Picc to Crewe, Salford Cresc to Southport and so on)

causton · 11 Oct 2011

exile said:
BTW why in the name of sanity are the displays on the front of the trains and not the sides and/or inside?

For roller blinds: because you don't have the driver on the sides/inside the saloon to change them!

For modern displays: erm, you do... we're getting there... slowly...

Matt-the-mutt · 11 Oct 2011

Yeah had this a few times, never gets old. i think the best one i had, slightly differnt but still fully a Class 321 FCC from Kings cross to Peterbrough really wanted to go back to London because the automatic "the next station is whatever" was played after leaving that station... I must say we the passengers where laughing

Cherry_Picker · 11 Oct 2011

Eagle said:
Off the top of my head, 220s, 221s, 222s, 323s, 350s, 390s, 444s, 450s, 458s and many more all have side destination blinds, at least two per coach... :roll:

168/2 and 172s can be added to that list.

Greenback · 11 Oct 2011

exile said:
In another thread, passengers are being advised to ask staff before boarding a train in order to avoid travelling with an invalid ticket, even if the platform display is showing they're boarding the correct train and this is being confirmed by announcements.

That advice in the other thread is wrong. It's not necessary to ask staff every time you board a train, though if you are unsure for any reason it might be a good idea.

exile said:
Here, passengers are being derided for asking for reassurance that they're on the right train (on a thread which is actually about misleading destination displays on trains)

I would not deride anyone who asks questions. However, it's worth commenting on people who ask at the barrier/ticket office, look at the screens, listen to the announcements, ask platform staff, ask fellow passengers, and then ask again when they get on the train. There's reassurance, and there's reassurance!

exile said:
BTW why in the name of sanity are the displays on the front of the trains and not the sides and/or inside?

A good question. I think it would be far more helpful to have info on the train sides. of course, some do, but all new stock should have it, and TOC's should be encouraged, or forced, to make absolutely clear where the luggage racks, cycle storage and buffet (if any) are located too!

table38 · 11 Oct 2011

I had a cheap advance ticket on the 12:35 Pendo from Piccadilly Platform 7 once.

I had noticed it said "12:43" on the door displays, but it was the right platform, so I took my seat (in the infamous coach K!) and all was going well until another Pendo pulled into Platform 6.

As I was aware of the horror stories of people being on the wrong train with an advance, I stuck my head out of the door but I couldn't see the platform displays.

So I thought I'd ask one of the friendly on-board staff if this was indeed the 12:35 and got a very frosty response confirming that it was

Later when the same person came down with the free grub, one of the staff was still in the process of announcing what was available as they reached me with the trolley, so stupidly I asked what the choice was and got some sort of sarcastic comment that the PA must obviously not be working in this coach

(I rose above it and put on my sweetest fake smile

)

HullMichael · 11 Oct 2011

On more than one occasion I've resorted to asking the driver where he's going!

paulravuslante · 11 Oct 2011

TheJRB said:
I was at Acton Town LU station yesterday and heard the announcement:
"Platform 3: The train now approaching is to Hyde Park Corner. Please stand back from the platform edge."
Along comes the train and it has Arnos Grove on the front!

I know it's not such a problem as all trains eastbound are heading in the same direction on the Piccadilly line, but you could imagine if the same thing had occurred on the westbound what with the Heathrow and Uxbridge branches.

Something I see quite often on LUL is platform departure screens saying "Check front of train - x mins". Luckily the train has always displayed the correct destination when it arrived in these instances.

OuterDistant · 11 Oct 2011

Possibly naive question of the day: why do LED destination boards have to be pre-programmed anyway? Why can't the crew just type in the destination?

Schnellzug · 11 Oct 2011

I suppose it's like Bus destination displays, where it's a lot easier to have the regular destinations programmed in than have to type them all in each time. I suppose you can do it manually, to say things like "Merry Christmas" if you wanted to.

Could they be co-ordinated with the platform displays, so to make sure they say the same thing? So the device that sends the information to the platform displays (I presume it works off the Central Computer) also sends a signal to the on-train displays?

150222 · 11 Oct 2011

Cherry_Picker said:
168/2 and 172s can be added to that list.

Dont forget 170/4's!

DXC · 11 Oct 2011

*****

causton · 11 Oct 2011

OuterDistant said:
Possibly naive question of the day: why do LED destination boards have to be pre-programmed anyway? Why can't the crew just type in the destination?

Some drivers might not be able to spell (how ironic I typed 'spell' wrong before correcting it!) - also it might mean some drivers might type in inappropriate messages

or they could just be in a rush and typing in an obscure welsh station name might delay the train!

142094 · 11 Oct 2011

OuterDistant said:
Possibly naive question of the day: why do LED destination boards have to be pre-programmed anyway? Why can't the crew just type in the destination?

Normally for speed - plus most drivers can remember the codes off by heart after a while.

Can be annoying on the roller blinds where the end station isn't on (such as due to enginnering work). Quite suprising the amount of destinations that are on some of the Northern ones though.

Anyone else here a bit of a fan of taking pics of units with 'rare' destinations?

ainsworth74 · 11 Oct 2011

OuterDistant said:
Possibly naive question of the day: why do LED destination boards have to be pre-programmed anyway? Why can't the crew just type in the destination?

Some actually manually programmable, there are pictures floating around the internet of various one with custom messages. I've seen one of a Virgin 221 that said "Off to bed now".

jon0844 · 11 Oct 2011

Matt-the-mutt said:
Yeah had this a few times, never gets old. i think the best one i had, slightly differnt but still fully a Class 321 FCC from Kings cross to Peterbrough really wanted to go back to London because the automatic "the next station is whatever" was played after leaving that station... I must say we the passengers where laughing

That happens quite a bit (not on a 321 mind, as they don't have the system - so it would have been a 317). The driver usually turns it off when s/he realises they've not reset it and the system is passing the GPS trigger points to read the announcements for the other direction of travel.

Why, oh why, didn't the programmers enter some code that would detect after passing just 2 points that the train was going backwards and turn off/revert to the default clock display (and maybe even alert the driver to enter the correct route code).

Due to what I believe is a pretty ropey electrical supply on the 317s, seen by so many lights having failed, many displays are now damaged too - so seeing any text at all is a bonus, whether it's right or not.

2Dogbox · 11 Oct 2011

deltic1989 said:
I once saw an EMT 156 at Lincoln that was apparently going to Stranrear, (speeling may be wrong)

If it was a newly refurbished one it was probably because the blind had jammed halfway as someone was changing it.

There is currently an issue with 153 and 156 blinds and the reliabilty of the "new improved" winding handles.

Worked one the other day that was stuck at Stoke on Trent.

Cherry_Picker · 11 Oct 2011

ainsworth74 said:
Some actually manually programmable, there are pictures floating around the internet of various one with custom messages. I've seen one of a Virgin 221 that said "Off to bed now".

With a laptop computer and the right software you can right whatever you want on the LED screens. Most of the custom messages will have been written on the depot by somebody with a sense of humour.

Trains displaying wrong destinations....

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