In a recent thread we heard about changes to a train's stops that some passengers say they didn't find out about until it was too late. Communication difficulties between the guard and driver aren't impossible to imagine, but rarely seem to be the reason for any problems, so we can assume that they are normally in agreement. Guards are almost always conscientious and try to inform us, the masses with our headphones on, so the Passenger Information System could be the last line of defence. Even when things go well, we have trains with the PIS switched off, not knowing where it is, or knowing where it is but thinking it's travelling in the other direction. I find it very strange that for the (at least) ten years that it's been eminently possible, so few new British trains have real-time information on board showing expected times, connections and cancelled stops of the sort that is now common to find in, say, France, Germany and Belgium. But I'm sure some do, and I'd like to ask who's seen this in use in GB? Having basic information included in the on-board Wi-Fi is useful, but this really needs to be shown for all to see.
As a driver, poor passenger information is a big bug-bear for my colleagues and I.
Thank you for acknowledging that guards are usually concientious. This is true. I know I have seen the guard being shouted at by a passenger who claimed that no announcement was made that the train was not stopping at four consecutive stations (this train wasn't timetabled at any point to stop at these stations and they hadn't been advertised online or on PIS at any point anyway). I heard (from the driving cab), the guard make many, very clear announcements, which would have been clearly audible the first carriage, at least.
First of all, we (staff) all know that PA announcements either don't work, or are stupidly quiet in some carriages. This is a problem on the TOC I work for and on the TOC that I use to travel to/from work. This is not able to be checked on prep (a daily safety check by either drivers or depot staff) and is probably not checked regularly at depots, either. If there was a "test announcement" function on the PA system, the PA could be checked on prep (by a continous test announcement being played at the staff member walked through the interior of the train). This doesn't seem to be a difficult thing to add to new trains, but TOCs will be wary about whether they want it - they don't really want to have large numbers of carriages locked out of use or trains taken out of service!
Regarding PIS being "switched off" (or rather, having no code programmed in), this often happens at weekends during engineering works or at rush hours when trains have unusual stopping patterns. Each journey with a set of stops has a code, which is programmed in to the PIS. If a train is stopping additionally at an unusual stop, or not stopping at a stop which it usually does, there's no code that can be programmed in. Some trains can have the text of the destination programmed to be visually displayed without calling points, but others can't. There are fairly regular weekend engineering work routes that have no PIS code and, therefore, traincrew are unable to get the PIS to display it making it appear "switched off".
I think all new trains should have a PIS system where you can enter in codes and it recognises the stations that service stops at in blue (or another colour of your choice) and stations it passes through in grey. The guard (or driver on DOO services) should be able to toggle stations between blue and grey to create bespoke stopping patterns. If this were possible, a lot more weekend services would have PIS annoucements.
I always get puzzled by PIS systems thinking the train is going in the opposite direction - I believe that it human error entering the wrong code. But please be aware that some services are circular services and on some types of trains, they advertise the whole route and final destination throughout.
Sometimes trains do lose track of where they are, particularly when stations are situated very close together. On at least one type of train, this can only be amended once on the route. If it needs being amended again, it will need to be reprogrammed, which on this stock can take minutes, and really needs to be stationary while doing so, so on this type of train, it would most likely just get knocked out.
You may have noticed tha the 707s have live information about London Underground services, so displaying live information is possible. It just depends on who does it and how it's communicated.
At stations, PIS screens (and accompanying announcements) should warn passengers about trains passing through without stopping. When you are driving a train sceduled along a route and not stopping, this works quite well. When you are running a late-planned not in service train, or you are diverted from another route, or you have a non-stopping order for certain stations, this is not always displayed on PIS screens. If travelling at high speeds, this creates a huge safety risk.
A couple of weeks ago, I was diverted and approached a station which I was not stopping at at around 60mph. The Rule Book tells us to blow our horns on approach if we were due to stop there, but we should ordinarily not blow our horns if we were not due to stop (ie, empties, diverted, etc.). I didn't blow my horn from the usual distance because I was diverted and not previously due to stop (or even pass through) this station. The hoards stepped towards the yellow line so I blew my horn, but most didn't clock that I was approaching very quickly, and continued to step forward. I again blew my horn, by this time, partly in the platform, before passengers realised that a 60mph train was not going to be stopping and jumped back. This is not nearly the first time this has happened.
I realised when I saw them step forward that the PIS had probably not advertised my train, and looking at the PIS as I was passing through, verified that this was correct. I then blew my horn on approach to other stations on the route, assuming the same thing might happen at those. About 50% of stations did not have many people preparing to board my train and the PIS showed that the next train was not stopping, but the other 50% people did stand up and start to move towards the platform edge and the PIS at these stations advertised the next service in x minutes.
This is a safety risk for passengers and, as a driver, the thought of passengers falling or being sucked under my train, is a nightmare. Unfortunately, although the railway has an attitude of minimising any tiny risk in some areas, seem to be completely unaware of risk in others (this being one such case).
There are some stations where my train is often not advertised on the platform it arrives, but another platform, which confuses customers (and at one station, make hoards run towards the subway!)
I would like to see a team under operations control responsible for keeping station PIS announcements correct, and I agree with you, that they should also be able to do this for on-train annoucements of newer stock. This should be viewed as being safety critical, rather than just for information purposes. "The doors are on the left/right" would also be useful at major stations where the train could arrive at a number of platforms, and at major termini where rush hour passengers like to be waiting by the doors.
Regarding non-stopping, the driver is usually the last to know. I've started a train from a station with certain stations not showing on the PIS and asked by a passenger if I'm stopping. My response is that in this case the PIS is usually right, but I've not yet been informed of this. Sometimes the guard calls me up and says, "Driver, I'm just checking you know ..." and the answer is no, so the guard can formally tell me. Sometimes the signaller calls me up and says, "Driver, I'm just checking you know ..." and the answer is no, so the signaller can formally tell me. It's a good job they check because a message often doesn't get to me any other way.
