Don't people look or listen ??

[moonrakerz]

I went from Warminster to Salisbury and back today - both ways on SWT.

On arrival at Salisbury, there was a young lady in front of me, by the door, on her mobile telling someone she had got on the wrong train - and how long would it take to get from Salisbury to Bristol.
On the return, when an announcement was made that "this train is for Bristol....." - a lady sitting opposite leapt to her feet and started hammering with both fists on the doors at the front of the coach (Isolated as behind driver's cab). Luckily the external door was open and a rail man opened the door to hear her say "isn't this the Andover train ?".

The stations all have excellent departure boards, there are (too many ?) announcements and the SWT trains have scrolling destination displays in each coach.

How do these people manage it ????

 

[Mvann]

People generally don't read all of what's put in front of them. I've had people come into work quoting a timetable off of the web on a Sunday that has clearly stated changes for Saturday. And it's not just Joe public. Have had volunteers and even directors of a certain railway that have misread timetables.

 

[ungreat]

Train passengers read NOTHING in front of them(except i frigging phones or todays paper),or have headphones blaring yankee rap **** into their skulls.Then get peed off with delays because they dont hear the tannoys.Sorry you missed it,I really must tell every individual passenger where/what/why/how/if and but.Ten times.Then get mouthed off at because they didn't know. Others make an effort.Why can't they?

 

[LE Greys]

Short answer is "no". People clearly have "more important" things on their minds. :roll:

 

[cuccir]

How do: grow up; you're not perfect; learn to cope with others' mistakes; work as responses?

 

[Fincra5]

Ugh, the amount of times people get on the wrong section of the train. Even though it is announced loads of times during the journey.

 

[causton]

Ugh, the amount of times people get on the wrong section of the train. Even though it is announced loads of times during the journey.

Or the wrong train, then laugh and say "Ha, that's not right is it!" when the PA announces "The next stop is Brighton"! *cue embarrassed faces when they stay on the train at Brighton to go all the way back to East Croydon*

 

[O L Leigh]

And this merits a thread of it's own...? Come on, it's hardly the surprise of the century.

Quite simply, people are stupid. Either they fail to absorb the information available to them because they don't read the screens or hear the announcements, or they refuse the believe that the information they are getting is correct. And this happens with boring regularity. Almost every departure will generate at least half a dozen enquiries that could so easily be avoided, and often times many many more.

O L Leigh

 

[ainsworth74]

Glad to see that staff have such a high opinion of their passengers

 

[O L Leigh]

Stand at any gateline at any major station for half an hour and you'll see what I'm talking about.

O L Leigh

 

[Skimble19]

Train passengers read NOTHING in front of them(except i frigging phones or todays paper),or have headphones blaring yankee rap **** into their skulls.Then get peed off with delays because they dont hear the tannoys.Sorry you missed it,I really must tell every individual passenger where/what/why/how/if and but.Ten times.Then get mouthed off at because they didn't know. Others make an effort.Why can't they?

Could also be that FCC's tannoys generally spend all day banging on about suspicious packages and not smoking at the station, making people switch off listening to the prison wardens monotone voice?!

 

[HST Power]

As ungreat so rightly said, people are too busy hammering rock music into their skulls and scanning the News of The World to find out who Rooney's been sleeping with to actually bother looking up and taking a glance at the departure boards. The departure boards say that a train stops at Royston. The annoucements say that a train stops at Royston. The sign on the front of the cab says 'Royston.' But you still get people walking up to you and saying 'does this train stop at Royston?'

A few years ago, I took a fast service from London Kings Cross, calling at Letchworth and Royston then going non-stop to Ely. As we were leaving Royston, a youngish looking fellow walks up to me and asks if the train is stopping at Foxton.

I wonder how long it took him to get back.

 

[sulli_os]

There are other reasons why this sort of thing happens.

Not so long back I tried to catch a CC service from New Street to Derby (so the Nottingham/Stansted service). One screen said the train at platform X was the one I needed, another said that the train at platform X was for somewhere further south (still a CC train though).

Being diligent, I asked a member of the train crew, who assured me that it was the Nottingham train. As we pull away, however,

"This is the XXXX train to #somewhere other than Nottingham#".

 

[Ferret]

Glad to see that staff have such a high opinion of their passengers

It's hard not to be amused at some of the goings on! I guess you have to make allowances for those unfamiliar with the railways who don't use them often or even haven't done so for 25 years, but there are some who you really do question how they cope in life! All part of the challenge of the job though really...

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The 0930 from Manchester Airport to Blackpool and Windermere that my wife uses regularly for travel to Preston is comprised of two Class 185 units that seperate at Preston. The illustrated electronic notice board on ALL the stations clearly states that the front set is for Blackpool and the rear set is for Windermere. People do look at these boards, but seem to take in the time from them.....but little else. The clarification about which set is going where is clearly announced verbally by the female automated voice and by the screen on the train, but not a day goes past when panic-stricken passengers realise they are in the wrong section of the train. My wife says that she cannot see what else can be done to resolve this problem of human nature.

 

[WelshBluebird]

In the defence of some passangers, it is not always clear.
There have been several times that I have encountered where the information screens or automated annoucments have been incorrect, or quite simply confused (this is especially true with delays, or services that terminate and then make up a new service right away).

 

[Smethwickian]

The 0930 from Manchester Airport to Blackpool and Windermere ... is comprised of two Class 185 units that seperate at Preston ...... not a day goes past when panic-stricken passengers realise they are in the wrong section of the train.

Substitute the daytime London Midland service from London Euston to Birmingham New Street and Crewe, two lots of four-car 350s, splitting at Northampton, on Saturdays - same thing.

I've been sat there, listening to repeated announcements on board and booming in from the platform, watched apparently sentient people look at the screens, get on board, stand underneath the scrolling display unit and STILL ask 'is this the Birmingham train?'. I know not everyone travels frequently, and not everyone is familiar with such operating procedures, but, really, some people just aren't safe to be out on their own.....

Now, there's no excuse for staff being rude, but I can thus understand why they must be sorely tempted.

 

[Yew]

Who can blame pax for wanting assurance when you liik at the penalty fares/court cases that come along. Recently we have seen a £140 penalty fare, and a few court cases of over £500.

 

[stut]

I agree that there's so much superfluous information given that you tend to tune out and can easily miss important stuff.

"Here's an announcement to help you with boarding and alighting from the train. Do not attempt to board or alight from the train when the hustle alarm sounds."

"Emergency procedure notices are on display throughout this train. Please take a moment now to familiarise yourself with procedures."

"QUIET CARRIAGES ARE LOCATED AT THE END OF EACH 4-COACH UNIT. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT MAKE EXCESSIVE NOISE IN THESE CARRIAGES."

etc, etc.

From my part, I've arrived the Pancras Road entrance to King's Cross in the evening peak, looking for the 1814 to Peterborough, to find all the departure boards except the main one were disabled "to prevent overcrowding". I didn't have time to walk all the way down platform 8 and back, so asked if the train on platform 8 was the 1814, as it was the only FCC one in sight. It was. All the LED signs on board were disabled, and there was not a single announcement made.

It was only when the train sailed through Finsbury Park that I realised there was also an 1814 non-stop to Cambridge...

As for splitting trains, surely if the tickets were checked, people could be told if they're in the wrong part of the train?

 

[sburnley]

Although I agree in principle with the notion that people don't pay attention, the announcements about units and their destinations can sometimes assume too much knowledge on the part of the passenger.

On one station, for example, the announcer said that the train at the South end of the platform was for X and the train at the North end for somewhere else - but not all of us know our North from our South, especially on stations where the alignment is not obvious.

Passengers do not always know whether they are in the front or the rear set - they might not even know how to recognise where a set starts and finishes. What's the difference between a 'carriage', a 'set', a 'unit', a 'portion', or a 'train'? Rail-knowledgeable people go by the position of cabs and set numbers and know things like the fact that 185s are 3-car sets, but most passengers won't know it. On the three car 158s there is a cab in the centre car just to confuse matters further.

Arriving at Shrewsbury from Birmingham there is usually a very thorough announcement about the Aberystwyth train splitting at Machynlleth but it gets very confusing because the conductor has to make the announcement before the train has reversed and so the front unit becomes the rear unit and vice versa.

Sometimes the announcements are too quiet as well. Some conductors give a good clear message but on many an occasion the announcement is only very slightly louder than the ambient noise. It can be hard to tell that there is an announcement, let alone hear it clearly enough to understand it and take action. I think also that there are many folk who think that the announcement 'won't be for me'!

I reckon the only way to solve the problem is to have someone physically walk down the train before a split takes place and tell people that their bit of the train is for 'X'. That would work for short units like 158s but I don't know how sensible it would be in 8 car sets.

 

[The Barlow Boy]

Hah! It's not just passengers who don't listen. These are true examples that have happened to me.
Clapham Junction
"When's the next train to Croydon?" (Asked of a railman as the tail lights of the one that I'd just missed were passing by.
"You've just missed one". This I really needed to be reminded of..................

Three Bridges a couple of years ago.
"Which platform does the Balcombe train go from?"
"Ten-thirty two".
Brizzle Temple Meads.
"Where do I get the Westbury train from?"
"Now, where are you going to?"

In fairness to the great unwashed, if there were less nonsensical announcements and more clear factual announcements things would improve...but it ain't gonna happen.

 

[Holly]

... not a day goes past when panic-stricken passengers realise they are in the wrong section of the train. My wife says that she cannot see what else can be done to resolve this problem of human nature.

Of course, in days of yore, before we had all the "advantages" of modern technology, carriages bore paper signs on windows showing the destination, where there was risk of confusion.
Not merely which section to board but which train if a "Summer Only" train stopped at a rural station.

So when did paper destination signs for coaches fall into disuse?

 

[philjo]

In some cases the problem is that the announcements were not clear enough for people to understand them.

e.g.there are a few FCC services which divide at Letchworth Garden City or Royston. The driver usually makes an announcement just after leaving Hitchin, but quite often the volume is so low or he talks too fast or it coincides with the driver receiving an AWS bell as the train approaches the next signal etc that it is not clear. I have good hearing but often cannot hear what is being said but do know that the train divides there so can guess what he is saying (& I get off at Letchworth anyway so it doesn't affect me). Anyone who is hard of hearing or is asleep or listing to music or on the phone etc would have no chance. They are often left sitting in the rear unit whilst the staff member comes through telling them to move forward.

The announcement last night caused some people to panic as it announced it would dividing on approaching Letchworth then corrected it afterwards to say that it would actually divide at Royston!
The FCC on board system on the 365s or 317s can't cope with displays/announcements warning passengers that the train will divide.
It also seems that the new ATOS system on the platforms cannot do his either, or at least if it can they haven't implemented it.
In the old southern region areas you regularly hear the announcements saying which portion of the train you need to be in (e.g. at waterloo or Victoria). Not in FCC land on the GN route, though you may get a cryptic abbreviated message at the end of the platform display - but it isn't announced automatically. So you get loads of people joining the rear unit at Kings Cross or finsbury park finding that they have to move forward at Letchworth or royston or Cambridge as they didn't know before joining the train. Of course regularly commuters will know.

Good cause for confusion at Cambridge - visitors having confusion form Kings Cross with Kings Lynn - especially if an 8 coach train arrives in platfrom 4 & divides. Front unit goes onwards to Kings Lynn. rear unit is the next service non-stop to Kings Cross. both from the same platform!

 

[OMGitsDAVE]

Who can blame pax for wanting assurance when you liik at the penalty fares/court cases that come along. Recently we have seen a £140 penalty fare, and a few court cases of over £500.

If they wanted assurance, they can look at the boards or ask the Guard (on services which have one). People are just switched off when in stations, then fall in to deep panic when they realise the time.

 

[HST Power]

Ifthen fall in to deep panic when they realise the time.

I have to confess, that was me all the time as a child!

 

[Skimble19]

In some cases the problem is that the announcements were not clear enough for people to understand them.

e.g.there are a few FCC services which divide at Letchworth Garden City or Royston. The driver usually makes an announcement just after leaving Hitchin, but quite often the volume is so low or he talks too fast or it coincides with the driver receiving an AWS bell as the train approaches the next signal etc that it is not clear. I have good hearing but often cannot hear what is being said but do know that the train divides there so can guess what he is saying (& I get off at Letchworth anyway so it doesn't affect me). Anyone who is hard of hearing or is asleep or listing to music or on the phone etc would have no chance. They are often left sitting in the rear unit whilst the staff member comes through telling them to move forward.

The announcement last night caused some people to panic as it announced it would dividing on approaching Letchworth then corrected it afterwards to say that it would actually divide at Royston!
The FCC on board system on the 365s or 317s can't cope with displays/announcements warning passengers that the train will divide.
It also seems that the new ATOS system on the platforms cannot do his either, or at least if it can they haven't implemented it.
In the old southern region areas you regularly hear the announcements saying which portion of the train you need to be in (e.g. at waterloo or Victoria). Not in FCC land on the GN route, though you may get a cryptic abbreviated message at the end of the platform display - but it isn't announced automatically. So you get loads of people joining the rear unit at Kings Cross or finsbury park finding that they have to move forward at Letchworth or royston or Cambridge as they didn't know before joining the train. Of course regularly commuters will know.

Good cause for confusion at Cambridge - visitors having confusion form Kings Cross with Kings Lynn - especially if an 8 coach train arrives in platfrom 4 & divides. Front unit goes onwards to Kings Lynn. rear unit is the next service non-stop to Kings Cross. both from the same platform!

Must admit to barely ever actually being able to hear any announcements the drivers make on any FCC train. The automated voice on the 365 is fine when it's turned on, but drivers announcements are extremely quiet compared to them, not sure if its an issue with the mic they use?

 

[chris89]

A lot of the time people will just not pay attention and this happens everywhere, Quite oftern at Edinburgh the amount of people that get on VT's service to Birmingham, and they are waiting for the Kings Cross service is just stupid.

Regarding music i do play the music a lot seem to hate (rock) but then when i hear 'Ding Dong' i always take a earphone/ both off to listen to the annoucememt. But quite often my music isn't loud enough to not hear others over.

Chris

 

[HST Power]

A lot of the time people will just not pay attention and this happens everywhere, Quite oftern at Edinburgh the amount of people that get on VT's service to Birmingham, and they are waiting for the Kings Cross service is just stupid.

Film it and get it on 'You've Been Framed!'

 

[chris89]

Film it and get it on 'You've Been Framed!'

Haha i would love to, but since moving VT's trains to P7 from P11 it no longer happens or is a lot rarer now.

Chris

 

[tbtc]

Of course, in days of yore, before we had all the "advantages" of modern technology, carriages bore paper signs on windows showing the destination, where there was risk of confusion.
Not merely which section to board but which train if a "Summer Only" train stopped at a rural station.

So when did paper destination signs for coaches fall into disuse?

GNER kept this tradition up, the closest you get now is units with screens by the doors telling you the next stop/final stop (Voyagers/ Pendolini).

I should bring this thread back up next time we have a thread about "why are there so many announcements/ I don't need to be reminded which service I am on", because for every "knowledgeable" enthusiast, there's someone who needs that information/reassurance.

As an alternative, does anyone know if it'd be possible to play "tannoy" annoucements specific to each coach? That may make things easier (especially on services which will "split" or have a buffet car - no point in saying its "to the rear of the train" if people don't know how far along the train they are sitting).