MaidaVale
Member
Now it does happen from time to time on every line, Usually due to a faulty system or a driver incorrectly setting it up, But from experience it appears that the Piccadilly line (73 stock) have relatively poor reliability for announcements functioning correctly over any other line.
What do I mean by this?
From experience on quite a few occasions, Most in the last year or so, I've experienced the Piccadilly Line onboard announcements being completely non-functional or cutting-out mid journey. This is an issue train-wide across all carriages, rather than just an isolated case in a single carriage. More often than not, The matrix displays still show correct information whilst no announcements play. One thing I have noticed (although it could come down to complete coincidence) is that mid-journey cut outs tend to happen in-and-around South Kensington. Could this possibly be related to the station closure (as I have only really noticed the issue within the timeframe it has been closed), as a few times they've been working fine as far as South Kensington (or within one stop either side) and then cut out completely for the rest of the journey afterwards. Anyone know a specific reason as to why this might be, or could it just be down to the system being old and unreliable?
Side note: The information system onboard the 73 stock has also been known to have other unreliability issues regarding certain displays showing random words, ususally a combination of two other words you may see displayed during normal service. Some examples I've seen are "This is a Pis", "The nod Green", "Changekfosters", "Thisckfosters", "Thi9ckfosters" and "UNKNOWN POSITION". I'd assume these were much more likely to just be general display reliability issues as opposed to a specific cause.
What do I mean by this?
From experience on quite a few occasions, Most in the last year or so, I've experienced the Piccadilly Line onboard announcements being completely non-functional or cutting-out mid journey. This is an issue train-wide across all carriages, rather than just an isolated case in a single carriage. More often than not, The matrix displays still show correct information whilst no announcements play. One thing I have noticed (although it could come down to complete coincidence) is that mid-journey cut outs tend to happen in-and-around South Kensington. Could this possibly be related to the station closure (as I have only really noticed the issue within the timeframe it has been closed), as a few times they've been working fine as far as South Kensington (or within one stop either side) and then cut out completely for the rest of the journey afterwards. Anyone know a specific reason as to why this might be, or could it just be down to the system being old and unreliable?
Side note: The information system onboard the 73 stock has also been known to have other unreliability issues regarding certain displays showing random words, ususally a combination of two other words you may see displayed during normal service. Some examples I've seen are "This is a Pis", "The nod Green", "Changekfosters", "Thisckfosters", "Thi9ckfosters" and "UNKNOWN POSITION". I'd assume these were much more likely to just be general display reliability issues as opposed to a specific cause.