I've just picked up a pocket timetable. It happens to be for the First Great Western lines from Paddington to Bristol and South Wales, but that's not specially important. It's the way the notes are indicated that bothers me. Here's an example:
0828 (weekdays) from Swansea to Paddington, annotated "AE". Let's see... "A" means "Also calls at Keynsham 0808". Twenty minutes before it leaves Swansea? And "E" means "Until 8 September train continues to Pembroke Dock calling at Llanelli 1206..." (etc.) Well that's impressive, given that it arrives at Paddington at 1132. Some mistake here? But no. There's a separate note "AE", meaning "The Red Dragon. Also calls at Carmarthen 0730..." (etc.) How is one supposed to know whether the letters are meant to be taken together or separately?
You can work that one out by common sense, but not all of them. 1430 (Saturdays) from Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare has its arrival time indicated as "1635ab". Let's see: "a" means "arrival time", so that's OK, and "b" means "by bus", so presumably you have to change at Bristol Temple Meads for a bus. No, hang on: "ab" means "train calls until 8 September", so maybe it's a through train until then. The only clue is that the time is marked in pink, meaning "operates on certain days only", so I suspect the second is meant. But would someone who hadn't studied the timetable carefully?
Or what about the CrossCountry service departing Bristol Temple Meads at 0519 and arriving Cardiff Central at 0618? This one is entirely marked in pink, and it's annotated "MX". "M" means "Runs until 8 September and from 27 October", so that makes sense. And "X" means "Runs from 24 June", so the dates are 24 June-8 September and 27 October onwards. Except that "X" also has the notes "Also calls at Slough 0002", and, as we all know, "MX" actually means "Service operates Tuesdays to Fridays only" - although this doesn't appear until right at the end of the list of notes. Unless you've been studying railway timetables for years, how are you supposed to realize this?
Or how about this one: 1751 from Swansea to Paddington, arrives in Reading at "2042aq". "a" means "arrival time", and "q" means "departs 3 minutes later from 1 July"... but "aq" means "arrives 7 minutes earlier from 1 July". I truly do not know which is meant here, though I strongly suspect it's the second, mainly because there are several trains arriving at Paddington also marked "aq", which obviously don't have a departure time. But it took a fair bit of detective work to establish this.
Timetables should be straightforward documents that are easy for passengers to understand, not a form of Chinese puzzle. Are they all as bad as this one?
0828 (weekdays) from Swansea to Paddington, annotated "AE". Let's see... "A" means "Also calls at Keynsham 0808". Twenty minutes before it leaves Swansea? And "E" means "Until 8 September train continues to Pembroke Dock calling at Llanelli 1206..." (etc.) Well that's impressive, given that it arrives at Paddington at 1132. Some mistake here? But no. There's a separate note "AE", meaning "The Red Dragon. Also calls at Carmarthen 0730..." (etc.) How is one supposed to know whether the letters are meant to be taken together or separately?
You can work that one out by common sense, but not all of them. 1430 (Saturdays) from Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare has its arrival time indicated as "1635ab". Let's see: "a" means "arrival time", so that's OK, and "b" means "by bus", so presumably you have to change at Bristol Temple Meads for a bus. No, hang on: "ab" means "train calls until 8 September", so maybe it's a through train until then. The only clue is that the time is marked in pink, meaning "operates on certain days only", so I suspect the second is meant. But would someone who hadn't studied the timetable carefully?
Or what about the CrossCountry service departing Bristol Temple Meads at 0519 and arriving Cardiff Central at 0618? This one is entirely marked in pink, and it's annotated "MX". "M" means "Runs until 8 September and from 27 October", so that makes sense. And "X" means "Runs from 24 June", so the dates are 24 June-8 September and 27 October onwards. Except that "X" also has the notes "Also calls at Slough 0002", and, as we all know, "MX" actually means "Service operates Tuesdays to Fridays only" - although this doesn't appear until right at the end of the list of notes. Unless you've been studying railway timetables for years, how are you supposed to realize this?
Or how about this one: 1751 from Swansea to Paddington, arrives in Reading at "2042aq". "a" means "arrival time", and "q" means "departs 3 minutes later from 1 July"... but "aq" means "arrives 7 minutes earlier from 1 July". I truly do not know which is meant here, though I strongly suspect it's the second, mainly because there are several trains arriving at Paddington also marked "aq", which obviously don't have a departure time. But it took a fair bit of detective work to establish this.
Timetables should be straightforward documents that are easy for passengers to understand, not a form of Chinese puzzle. Are they all as bad as this one?