Deepgreen
Established Member
I am seeing more and more examples of the poor/no siting of passenger information displays at stations. Today, I travelled through Redhill and on via Clapham Junction, then back again. Redhill is notoriously badly planned and managed and it has recently had the opportunity for comprehensive review of information provision as part of the introduction of platform 0. New screens have been installed throughout, but exactly where the old ones were, not where they would be useful today.
For its size, it's quite a complicated station and confusing for passengers (a significant proportion of whom will be Gatwick passengers). The platforms are all split into two sections (north and south, suffixed A and B respectively), but there are no clear signs that trains may use either section. On coming up the stairs to platform 1, for example, there is a standard DMI for platform 1B, and another for 1A sited a lot further along. On arrival on the platform there is no mention of the fact that one's train may leave from the other section - a simple, large printed sign near the stairs would help hugely.
Then there is platform 0 (the new one) where there are FOUR DMIs spread out along the 12 car length, but none of them anywhere near the stairs entering the platform, which is exactly where people need confirmation of the next train(s). However, there IS a general departures screen near the stairs (facing people coming up the stairs to the platform), which is not needed there! Given that many trains using platform 0 stop a ridiculously long way from the stairs, passengers have to stop to try to pick out their train from the list and then decide if they are in the right place. By the time they've done this and set off for the distant train, it's too late - I've seen many people miss trains for this very reason - not funny on the infrequent North Downs line.
At Clapham Junction, platform 15 (down Victoria slow), the western-most stairs down from the footbridge produce a large passenger flow, but there is no DMI that can be seen from the area. Today I witnessed a succession of passengers come down the stairs, look round for information, board the train (just in case) and then hold the doors to ask staff (who sarcastically and uselessly said the information was as shown on the screen!). Delays and friction are produced for the simple lack of vital information where it's needed - again, no attempt seems to have been made to understand the passengers' needs.
I've seen countless other examples of poor space planning and I wonder if any TOCs/NR actually use professionals for this vital task, or do they just provide x number of screens, signs, etc. per station and scatter them semi-randomly. The latter seems to be the case. As someone who used to plan station information systems for a living, I find it hard to believe that anyone actually looks at the stations' layouts from the perspective of passengers needing quick and clear information.
For its size, it's quite a complicated station and confusing for passengers (a significant proportion of whom will be Gatwick passengers). The platforms are all split into two sections (north and south, suffixed A and B respectively), but there are no clear signs that trains may use either section. On coming up the stairs to platform 1, for example, there is a standard DMI for platform 1B, and another for 1A sited a lot further along. On arrival on the platform there is no mention of the fact that one's train may leave from the other section - a simple, large printed sign near the stairs would help hugely.
Then there is platform 0 (the new one) where there are FOUR DMIs spread out along the 12 car length, but none of them anywhere near the stairs entering the platform, which is exactly where people need confirmation of the next train(s). However, there IS a general departures screen near the stairs (facing people coming up the stairs to the platform), which is not needed there! Given that many trains using platform 0 stop a ridiculously long way from the stairs, passengers have to stop to try to pick out their train from the list and then decide if they are in the right place. By the time they've done this and set off for the distant train, it's too late - I've seen many people miss trains for this very reason - not funny on the infrequent North Downs line.
At Clapham Junction, platform 15 (down Victoria slow), the western-most stairs down from the footbridge produce a large passenger flow, but there is no DMI that can be seen from the area. Today I witnessed a succession of passengers come down the stairs, look round for information, board the train (just in case) and then hold the doors to ask staff (who sarcastically and uselessly said the information was as shown on the screen!). Delays and friction are produced for the simple lack of vital information where it's needed - again, no attempt seems to have been made to understand the passengers' needs.
I've seen countless other examples of poor space planning and I wonder if any TOCs/NR actually use professionals for this vital task, or do they just provide x number of screens, signs, etc. per station and scatter them semi-randomly. The latter seems to be the case. As someone who used to plan station information systems for a living, I find it hard to believe that anyone actually looks at the stations' layouts from the perspective of passengers needing quick and clear information.