Euston overcrowding

[takno]

Haha yes, it was a bit of a spurious example I'll admit, mainly sparked by 'Trainline-ad-overload' last time i used Birmingham airport as a passenger! Someone from outside London (who missed all the rebrand PR) but within the UK arriving at Euston via train (I think you'd be more likely to have noticed the new sub-brands if using the Tube now most of the maps have been updated onboard/at stations) and continuing to LO is perhaps the more realistic example to make the same point...

I went on the west London Line as recently as last night, and I've already forgotten what I'm supposed to call it now. Not greatly helped by the fact that I actually ended up on a southern service.

 

[All Line Rover]

The "new" departure board is a massive improvement. With my poor eyesight, much easier to read than the current boards. Easier to read than the former board too, which was already easy to read.

 

[BRX]

Departing from a fairly busy Euston this morning.
Notable that most people including those standing between the smaller boards were looking at the big one in preference.



As @All Line Rover says above, the big board is more legible than the small ones. You have to stand quite close to the small ones in order for the text to be the same apparent size. And at that distance the text on the small boards is visibly more pixelated. It is sharper on the big board. These images below are both enlarged from the photo above. I'd say the effect is more pronounced in real life.




This says something about priorities doesn't it, that the passenger info boards were specified at a lower display quality than the one whose purpose was to blast us with advertising?

My train (Avanti to Machester) was called 10 minutes before departure. From 20 minutes pre departure I could see it sitting there on the platform, doors open, no visible activity happening. It seems that the platform announcement was triggered entirely by the 10 minutes timing, rather than by anyone saying, train's ready now, you can let people on.

 

[SCDR_WMR]

This says something about priorities doesn't it, that the passenger info boards were specified at a lower display quality than the one whose purpose was to blast us with advertising?

Surely that's simply down to who paid for it. NR trying to control spend on something which has no income generation Vs an advertising company who can sell expensive advertising space which would surely have made them money, even after commission payments to NR.

 

[HSTEd]

This ersatz station board certainly shows what is achievable with modern display technology

 

[sot]

I see they now have the GWR logo loaded in... Just in time for it to be the last day!

This was from the other day.

 

[The Planner]

I see they now have the GWR logo loaded in... Just in time for it to be the last day!

This was from the other day.

Its not the last time this block and diversion will happen.

 

[sot]

It was more a dig at having the logo for how often this is used at the minute. Is GWR service insufficient?

 

[dosxuk]

This says something about priorities doesn't it, that the passenger info boards were specified at a lower display quality than the one whose purpose was to blast us with advertising?

Pixel pitch (the size of the individual pixels) is unrelated to quality. The pitch will be based on the average viewing distance, the expected content and the budget available.

It may be the advertising screen has a higher pitch (larger pixels, lower resolution if you prefer), but because it's further away, with larger text, it appears to be higher resolution with the same content.

Lower pitch panels are significantly more expensive than higher pitch panels. So a large high pitch display can be cheaper than a smaller low pitch display, so without knowing the exact specifications, it may be the advertising screen was actually cheaper than the information screens.

 

[DelW]

The Watford Observer is reporting that the trial of train times instead of adverts being shown on the big screen has been made permanent.

Main train departure board at Euston station to remain after trial

The main train departure board at Euston station is to remain after a successful trial.

www.watfordobserver.co.uk

(Warning: Lots of adverts)

Watford MP, Matt Turmaine, attended a meeting with Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy in Westminster, where the decision was announced.

This comes after an electronic advertising screen replaced the traditional departure board at the bustling London terminus in 2023.

However, the screen was turned off in October when former Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, halted its use.

At the time, Mr Turmaine supported the move, criticising the screen as "overbearing and oppressive," and said it "added nothing to benefit the experience of passengers."

Following the recent announcement, the MP expressed pleasure at the main departure board's permanent return to what he described as "the ideal position."

He said: "It had been there for decades and now it’s back following the representations I and others have made."

 

[Horizon22]

What a debacle. Wonder how much it cost to change, revert back temporarily and now permanently Someone (I.e the taxpayer) is probably going to have to pay JCDecaux some rather expensive clause.

This is something other industry insiders raised an eyebrow to and even mild enthusiasts could tell was going to be a disaster.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Good. Now remove the transverse displays, they are in the way and encourage people to stand blocking the tunnel.

 

[PG]

Wonder how much it cost to change, revert back temporarily and now permanently Someone (I.e the taxpayer) is probably going to have to pay JCDecaux some rather expensive clause.

Ask the Watford Observer to enlighten us via a FOI request to Network Rail?!!

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Maybe as the next useful service to passengers, they can restore access to the Underground from inside the station

 

[Y Ddraig Coch]

Maybe as the next useful service to passengers, they can restore access to the Underground from inside the station

What did I miss? When could you not access it?

 

[BRX]

Maybe as the next useful service to passengers, they can restore access to the Underground from inside the station

Would be great if they could just restore the concourse to the openness, simplicity and elegance of the original design. Perhaps the display board debacle is a clue that it wasn't broken in the first place, and the need to fix something is a consequence of all the clutter that's been added in over the decades.

 

[bramling]

Would be great if they could just restore the concourse to the openness, simplicity and elegance of the original design. Perhaps the display board debacle is a clue that it wasn't broken in the first place, and the need to fix something is a consequence of all the clutter that's been added in over the decades.

Not saying the clutter is helpful, but guess we do have to bear in mind that the station has tended to get busier over time. So we don’t really know how the station as it was in the 1980s would handle today’s passenger levels.

Also, people seem a lot less ordered in terms of how they behave in public spaces now - a couple of generations ago you wouldn’t have had people walking around with their face buried in a device, for example (and whilst I’m sure there were a few people who did it with books or newspapers, it was very much a minority!).

 

[DynamicSpirit]

What did I miss? When could you not access it?

It's a few months since I've been to Euston but if I remember rightly from a few months ago, the entrance to the escalators down to the tube have been blocked off in the concourse with glass panels, so you have to walk round outside the station building to get to them.

What a debacle. Wonder how much it cost to change, revert back temporarily and now permanently Someone (I.e the taxpayer) is probably going to have to pay JCDecaux some rather expensive clause.

On the up side, they do now have two quite good double-sided displays which if NR did as @Bletchleyite suggests and removed them from Euston, might actually be useful if they were relocated to two smaller stations, and placed not so high up.

 

[Falcon1200]

Good. Now remove the transverse displays, they are in the way and encourage people to stand blocking the tunnel.

Unless the number of passengers reduces substantially, surely wherever they stand will form some kind of blockage, no matter where the departure screens are located?

 

[sh24]

Maybe as the next useful service to passengers, they can restore access to the Underground from inside the station

The new access would be fine IF someone had bothered to specific an awning so there is a covered walkway.

As so often, passenger comes last in today’s railway.

 

[DelW]

Good. Now remove the transverse displays, they are in the way and encourage people to stand blocking the tunnel.

I'd leave the outdoor ones, which are a useful addition.

What did I miss? When could you not access it?

About a couple of years ago the LU escalators were walled off from the rest of the concourse. To interchange now, you have to go outside, turn through 90°, walk along the front of the building, turn through 90° again, and go in through another entrance. Particularly annoying when the weather's bad, or the outside area is crowded.

NR's reason was it allows the NR and LU station areas to be opened and closed independently of each other. I never saw any explanation of why that couldn't have been achieved (when needed) by fitting pull-across gates, just like at virtually every other London terminus.

 

[Harpo]

The new access would be fine IF someone had bothered to specific an awning so there is a covered walkway.

Plus the added awfulness of having to navigate through all of the smokers having their last fix outside. Utterly foul.

 

[Y Ddraig Coch]

I'd leave the outdoor ones, which are a useful addition.

About a couple of years ago the LU escalators were walled off from the rest of the concourse. To interchange now, you have to go outside, turn through 90°, walk along the front of the building, turn through 90° again, and go in through another entrance. Particularly annoying when the weather's bad, or the outside area is crowded.

NR's reason was it allows the NR and LU station areas to be opened and closed independently of each other. I never saw any explanation of why that couldn't have been achieved (when needed) by fitting pull-across gates, just like at virtually every other London terminus.

A couple of years? I'm sure when I was last there I went down the escalators, they weren't working but still accessible.

 

[Bald Rick]

About a couple of years ago the LU escalators were walled off from the rest of the concourse.

It was 6 years ago, and done in relation to the night tube, AIUI.

To interchange now, you have to go outside, turn through 90°, walk along the front of the building, turn through 90° again, and go in through another entrance.

You don’t have to go that way. Many people use the internal stairs by the ticket office, no need to go outside.
Also if you are using platforms 8-11, which more than a third of oassengers do (my estimate), there is still the direct access.

 

[Watershed]

It was 6 years ago, and done in relation to the night tube, AIUI.

Still doesn't explain why they couldn't have kept the internal entrance.

I'd love to see the risk assessment TfL/NR made for people bumping into each other as they turn the 'blind corner'. And inhaling all the second-hand smoke that permeates the entrance.

Something tells me there isn't one, and that as per usual, the rail industry focuses on fixing one set of perceived "risks" or "problems" whilst ignoring the far larger side effects of the fix...

You don’t have to go that way. Many people use the internal stairs by the ticket office, no need to go outside.

You shouldn't have to be familiar with the station layout to stay dry and unfumigated! Based on how quiet those stairs are, most people clearly don't know about them.

Also if you are using platforms 8-11, which more than a third of oassengers do (my estimate), there is still the direct access.

All well and good for them. What about the other two thirds?

Some heads need to be bashed together over the state of Euston.

 

[Bald Rick]

I’m not defending it! Just setting out the facts. FWIW there will be a full and detailed risk assessment for the change, and pedestrian modelling.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Unless the number of passengers reduces substantially, surely wherever they stand will form some kind of blockage, no matter where the departure screens are located?

People won't stand in places where they can't see screens, and in the tunnel is a specific problem, so much of one that there are staff there telling people not to. Remove those screens and the staff are no longer necessary.

 

[DelW]

It was 6 years ago, and done in relation to the night tube, AIUI.

Gosh, one of my less accurate recollections Hard to believe it's so long.

You don’t have to go that way. Many people use the internal stairs by the ticket office, no need to go outside.

I only found those when the escalators were broken last year (or possibly three years ago as above). There was no need to find them when the escalators were indoors and worked.

Also if you are using platforms 8-11, which more than a third of passengers do (my estimate), there is still the direct access.

True, I'm almost always using long distance services so I forget about that link.

 

[duffield]

Ask the Watford Observer to enlighten us via a FOI request to Network Rail?!!

Probable reply: "This information cannot be released due to commercial confidentiality"

 

[DynamicSpirit]

It was 6 years ago, and done in relation to the night tube, AIUI.

So I'm guessing the thinking would have been, to allow access to the night tube while the NR station is closed at night. But if so, a much more passenger-friendly solution would have been, to keep both entrances to the escalators: So if you're coming up the escalators out of the tube, you have a choice of turning left into the station concourse or right to go outside.But with both entrances independently lockable, so that at night when the concourse is closed, you have no choice but to turn right and go outside.