Euston departure board to be moved

[Bletchleyite]

During the disruption last week when nothing could leave Euston, the departure boards were clearing services as they were due to depart (many were not showing as cancelled, just vanishing) except for Tring bound trains. At one point the departure boards were 50% Tring services

I think that was probably because they were set to "only show what is actually running" mode? I was looking at the Tiger version as I was travelling that day and it did indeed show pretty much only Tring and Watford for a fair while.

 

[high camera]

Some of you guys are really living in the past and don't have a clue about how much a revenue stream this large screen will create. The advertising industry has enormous pockets and will pay big money for renting space at such such a prestigious site. Yes it will spoil the view, & yes it's taking up space of what could be a big departure board. But when the beancounters are in charge they will go with the money every time. Train departure screens cost money, advertising screens makes money, simple as that really.

 

[josh-j]

There's no lack of money in this country, there is just massively unfair distribution of it. That the railway is left begging for money and having to interfere with the passenger experience by renting space out to advertisers on that kind of scale is definitely not ok in my view. Its not about living in the past, its about wanting better.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There's no lack of money in this country, there is just massively unfair distribution of it. That the railway is left begging for money and having to interfere with the passenger experience by renting space out to advertisers on that kind of scale is definitely not ok in my view. Its not about living in the past, its about wanting better.

A transverse main board could be made to work, and for about a tenth of what they spent on the awful boards that have been installed. It's like nobody actually thought about it.

 

[MalaiseForever]

Some of you guys are really living in the past and don't have a clue about how much a revenue stream this large screen will create. The advertising industry has enormous pockets and will pay big money for renting space at such such a prestigious site. Yes it will spoil the view, & yes it's taking up space of what could be a big departure board. But when the beancounters are in charge they will go with the money every time. Train departure screens cost money, advertising screens makes money, simple as that really.

It really does not bring in much money at all in the grand scheme of things - and it wasn’t a ”beancounter” led decision.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It really does not bring in much money at all in the grand scheme of things - and it wasn’t a ”beancounter” led decision.

In which case what kind of utter stupidity led to such a sub-optimal solution being adopted?

I could understand if it was money, but did someone genuinely believe it would be better? That person wants the sack, they clearly know nothing about how the station works (or doesn't).

 

[MalaiseForever]

In which case what kind of utter stupidity led to such a sub-optimal solution being adopted?

I could understand if it was money, but did someone genuinely believe it would be better? That person wants the sack, they clearly know nothing about how the station works (or doesn't).

I can’t say too much but it was between the Station management team and NR property as I understand it.

As to the rationale... well I honestly can’t say, it is lost on me and others to say the least.

 

[Brooke]

I can’t say too much but it was between the Station management team and NR property as I understand it.

As to the rationale... well I honestly can’t say, it is lost on me and others to say the least.

Then if true, this whole thing is both hilarious and rather tragic (that a front line management team might genuinely have thought it was a good idea)!

 

[Dr Hoo]

There's no lack of money in this country, there is just massively unfair distribution of it. That the railway is left begging for money and having to interfere with the passenger experience by renting space out to advertisers on that kind of scale is definitely not ok in my view. Its not about living in the past, its about wanting better.

Well, there is quite a long history of commercial advertising on stations. W H Smith & Son used to organise it for several railway companies, going back to the 1860s, alongside their newspaper kiosk business.

As for the Euston boards, I have to say from a personal perspective that I found the previous board quite hard to read unless I was standing immediately in front of the relevant column. Obviously this would sidle across the board to the left as the departure time approached, still without the platform being revealed. It was often difficult to move to the left because of all the other waiting passengers.

The new boards seem to suit my Specsavers' varifocals and neck muscles admirably. I commonly approach Euston from the Euston Square direction, glance at the new West-facing board and gain an immediate impression of how things are running before popping to Sainsbury's to lay in supplies for the journey (or not, if there's an imminent suitable departure). Works for me.

I agree that suitable information provision also needs to be made for intending passengers waiting on the mezzanine but rarely go up there myself. With my regular route being to Stockport or Manchester, with a frequent service, I'm rarely hanging around for very long.

 

[Hadders]

I agree that suitable information provision also needs to be made for intending passengers waiting on the mezzanine but rarely go up there myself. With my regular route being to Stockport or Manchester, with a frequent service, I'm rarely hanging around for very long.

The old departure board could be seen perfectly well from the Mezzanine. The new departure boards cannot be read from the Mezzanine.

 

[josh-j]

Well, there is quite a long history of commercial advertising on stations. W H Smith & Son used to organise it for several railway companies, going back to the 1860s, alongside their newspaper kiosk business.

As for the Euston boards, I have to say from a personal perspective that I found the previous board quite hard to read unless I was standing immediately in front of the relevant column. Obviously this would sidle across the board to the left as the departure time approached, still without the platform being revealed. It was often difficult to move to the left because of all the other waiting passengers.

The new boards seem to suit my Specsavers' varifocals and neck muscles admirably.

Yes I suppose you're right. For me it really feels like a downgrade and an intrusion on the functionality of the station but I'm just one person with one opinion on it after all. And it's probably a lot to do with the wider commercialisation of things which shouldn't be commercial not just this board being removed that gets me worked up about it!

Especially it's fair enough if you find the new screens better. I actually don't mind them as screens but not convinced by the location. I would be more than happy to have both the old and new screens at once

You make a good point about the mezzanine, in that providing information up there could be done separately and doesn't need to rely on the old main board's positioning.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I commonly approach Euston from the Euston Square direction, glance at the new West-facing board and gain an immediate impression of how things are running before popping to Sainsbury's to lay in supplies for the journey (or not, if there's an imminent suitable departure). Works for me.

With that side being a lot quieter I can see why it might work for you (though I do think the boards need about 3-4 more panels). It's the other much busier side, which has the entrance from the main Tube station and the major flow from the City via the Northern Line, that really doesn't work.

As I've said before I think, unscientifically, that probably about two thirds of people enter by Marks and about a third by Sainsbury's. This being the case, having only one transverse board roughly where the Sainsbury's end one is now would probably manage the crowds better than the two.

As for the mezzanine it'd not be difficult to add some 42" LCD summary boards laid out so they are visible from all the seating.

 

[jon0844]

Screens are cheap, so they should absolutely fill the hall on both floors with screens so people will 'learn' that they can find their 'secret' spot to stand and still see what's going on. I guess that's what the idea was with multiple screens now, but they can use smaller summary boards too - and perhaps scroll the stopping patterns under each service (just having the destination may cause confusion and worry).

Then people can spread out more, or more comfortably relax in a nearby restaurant/pub (which I believe do have summary of departure boards, but without stopping patterns, so people may be 99% sure what train they want but that 1% leaves them with anxiety the whole time - and makes them want to go and stand with the rest of the sheep).

 

[Sad Sprinter]

I hate the new boards, partly because of the awkward location, but as an autistic person I find them far too over stimulating. Too bright, too much clashing colour and too much moving on the screen too. It’s nauseating to look at. I tried to look at one of the smaller departure boards on with the touch screens on the concourse, but again these are human sized screens and extremely bright, so it’s too hard to use. The smaller, older dot matrix screens by the platforms themselves is what I use. The old screens were perfect, wish they didn’t get rid of them.

 

[TJM]

If only the National Rail Enquiries app was actually any good, in theory the vast majority of passengers would have their own personal departure board in their pocket, making screens on the concourse fairly superfluous.. Perhaps the assumption of Euston management? Alas, although the data is usually kept more accurate than most other alternatives, the app interface itself doesn't appear to have been updated to improve usability in over a decade, and I've never seen it advertised to passengers!

 

[Sad Sprinter]

If only the National Rail Enquiries app was actually any good, in theory the vast majority of passengers would have their own personal departure board in their pocket, making screens on the concourse fairly superfluous.. Perhaps the assumption of Euston management? Alas, although the data is usually kept more accurate than most other alternatives, the app interface itself doesn't appear to have been updated to improve usability in over a decade, and I've never seen it advertised to passengers!

You’re right, the app still has the ancient UI design of having 3D buttons from the early touchscreen era

 

[HSTEd]

The Web interface has been updated repeatedly, getting considerably less useful each time.

 

[Gaelan]

You’re right, the app still has the ancient UI design of having 3D buttons from the early touchscreen era

For iOS users, I can't recommend the Railboard app highly enough - it displays Darwin data, so should be identical to the departure boards. Not aware of anything quite as good for Android, though RailChecker seems usable.

 

[Bletchleyite]

For iOS users, I can't recommend the Railboard app highly enough - it displays Darwin data, so should be identical to the departure boards. Not aware of anything quite as good for Android, though RailChecker seems usable.

Thanks, I was after an alternative to Tiger, as the whole WMT network bar Network Rail stations has now been removed from it now they don't use Anne any more. Realtime Trains is great, but as it doesn't have a Darwin feed it can sometimes need a bit of other input to understand what it is showing.

Tiger does still work for Euston though and is what I use.

Tiger - Real Time Train Information is the link if anyone doesn't have it.

 

[AY1975]

Not sure if this has already been discussed earlier in this thread or elsewhere, but does anyone know what the different colour codes at the tops of the screens mean? Similar screens have been installed at a number of other stations such as London Waterloo.

As far as I can make out green would appear to mean that a train is running on time and is ready for boarding, blue means a train has been delayed.

 

[Wolfie]

Not sure if this has already been discussed earlier in this thread or elsewhere, but does anyone know what the different colour codes at the tops of the screens mean? Similar screens have been installed at a number of other stations such as London Waterloo.

As far as I can make out green would appear to mean that a train is running on time and is ready for boarding, blue means a train has been delayed.

Green includes the platform and that the train is ready for boarding. Blue means wait on the concourse.

 

[Russel]

Not sure if this has already been discussed earlier in this thread or elsewhere, but does anyone know what the different colour codes at the tops of the screens mean? Similar screens have been installed at a number of other stations such as London Waterloo.

As far as I can make out green would appear to mean that a train is running on time and is ready for boarding, blue means a train has been delayed.

On a similar note, what do the different colours on the illuminated V shaped ends of the screens signify?

It's usually green but I'm sure I've seen it lit up in different colours.

 

[thomalex]

On a similar note, what do the different colours on the illuminated V shaped ends of the screens signify?

It's usually green but I'm sure I've seen it lit up in different colours.

I'm curious as well.

Then again if you're having to ask it's not doing a good job as signage

 

[yorksrob]

Some of you guys are really living in the past and don't have a clue about how much a revenue stream this large screen will create. The advertising industry has enormous pockets and will pay big money for renting space at such such a prestigious site. Yes it will spoil the view, & yes it's taking up space of what could be a big departure board. But when the beancounters are in charge they will go with the money every time. Train departure screens cost money, advertising screens makes money, simple as that really.

Its an interesting point.

We find this in retail on the concourse as well. How much can you clutter up the passenger journey in favour of commercialism !

 

[zwk500]

Its an interesting point.

We find this in retail on the concourse as well. How much can you clutter up the passenger journey in favour of commercialism !

Of course, additional revenue that then doesn't need to be found from the farebox will help keep passenger fares accessible to a wider customer base (in theory). Which is good for the railway as more potential customers, good for the passengers as more potential journeys, and good for advertisers who will have a bigger potential audience. And the cycle then hopefully goes round again....

 

[josh-j]

Or the government could just fund public services properly, instead of funding themselves and their mates.

The idea that we can only have trains if they're ad-supported is pretty ridiculous - not to disagree with the folks here pointing out the money that could be "made" by advertising in such a prominent location but the railway is only in this state because of political choices. Whether to take ad revenue or not is a false choice - there shouldn't be any need to be in that position in the first place. There are also downsides to constant ad bombardment, and not just that this thing knocked the departure boards into second place.

What's that book? "Advertising s***s in your head"

 

[Hadders]

I wonder how much revenue this new advertising screen is actually going to generate? I do hope it's not been sold 'on the cheap'. Given it's huge size it's a shame there won't been room for some it to be used as a departure board.

Also, I was at Euston station on Wednesday evening waiting for a friend to arrive. I couldn't see an arrivals board. Is there one nowadays or did I just miss it?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I wonder how much revenue this new advertising screen is actually going to generate? I do hope it's not been sold 'on the cheap'. Given it's huge size it's a shame there won't been room for some it to be used as a departure board.

Also, I was at Euston station on Wednesday evening waiting for a friend to arrive. I couldn't see an arrivals board. Is there one nowadays or did I just miss it?

No, there isn't one. Another fault with the new setup.

 

[zwk500]

The idea that we can only have trains if they're ad-supported is pretty ridiculous

Where has anybody said the choice is absolute?

Whether to take ad revenue or not is a false choice - there shouldn't be any need to be in that position in the first place.

It's not a false choice, it's all part of the balancing act. Like every business, the railway has many different revenue streams, and if one of those streams is generating less cash at the moment it will look to maximise others. It's all very well banging your fist and demanding the treasury hand over the chequebook but there's other vital services that are doing the same and the railway is arguably in less need than e.g. Health or Education. Adverts are visible on platforms in the Victorian era, and train companies themselves use the advertising spaces to increase custom. BR carried them throughout it's life.
It's a legitimate discussion whether the correct balance is being struck today, but the idea that there is no place for adverts within the railway is laughable.

 

[yorksrob]

Where has anybody said the choice is absolute?

It's not a false choice, it's all part of the balancing act. Like every business, the railway has many different revenue streams, and if one of those streams is generating less cash at the moment it will look to maximise others. It's all very well banging your fist and demanding the treasury hand over the chequebook but there's other vital services that are doing the same and the railway is arguably in less need than e.g. Health or Education. Adverts are visible on platforms in the Victorian era, and train companies themselves use the advertising spaces to increase custom. BR carried them throughout it's life.
It's a legitimate discussion whether the correct balance is being struck today, but the idea that there is no place for adverts within the railway is laughable.

There's a difference between there being "no place" for advertising on the railway and allowing it to get in the way of providing travel information.