Showing train lengths on station information panels

[class57basher]

I have only seen FGW do it a couple of times other than when a train is shortformed.
Maybe it is more common around the London / Reading / Oxford area?

down here in devon FGW put up the train length on all their services even with the announcement "this train is formed of one carriage"

 

[dvboy]

The only time I've seen it at Euston is when a 5-car Voyager was operating a Birmingham/Wolverhampton service. They don't do it VT stations between Cov and Wolves, and I don't think LM do it for the VT services that call at Sandwell & Dudley either.

 

[stanley T]

I wish Southeastern would do it at London Bridge...

London Bridge through platforms are an information black hole.

Hell would be spending eternity on platform 4, not knowing where you are supposed to go, but always ending up at Dartford.

 

[asylumxl]

London Bridge through platforms are an information black hole.

On platform 6 at leeast, your best bet is to stand near the S car stop sign near the ladies room (which incidentally smells as bad as the mens from outside).

 

[pemma]

Imagine Northern Rail doing that! "this service is formed of one carriage". They'd probably still manage to get it wrong nearly all of the time anyway!

It's be misleading for Northern because a 4 car 156 is almost identical size to a 6 car 142 and a 3 car 323 is larger than a 4 car 142.

 

[tnxrail]

The only time I've seen it at Euston is when a 5-car Voyager was operating a Birmingham/Wolverhampton service. They don't do it VT stations between Cov and Wolves, and I don't think LM do it for the VT services that call at Sandwell & Dudley either.

They do at Birmingham International for 9 and 11 car Pendlions and they say it by voice to.

 

[dvboy]

They do at Birmingham International for 9 and 11 car Pendlions and they say it by voice to.

By voice it must depend on who's on as they are manual announcements I know at many stations there are some staff who will announce the bare minimum (sometimes not announcing trains at all).

 

[gogogoadam]

Imagine Northern Rail doing that! "this service is formed of one carriage". They'd probably still manage to get it wrong nearly all of the time anyway!

This happens quite a lot in the FGW world. Also happened at Soton Central when the FGW 153 turned up for the slog to Bristol!

 

[WelshBluebird]

down here in devon FGW put up the train length on all their services even with the announcement "this train is formed of one carriage"

Where abouts? Certainly never heard it at Exeter St Davids or Barnstaple (and can't remember if I have heard it at Tiverton or Exeter Central).

 

[cjp]

Where abouts? Certainly never heard it at Exeter St Davids or Barnstaple (and can't remember if I have heard it at Tiverton or Exeter Central).

See post 4 above

 

[WelshBluebird]

See post 4 above

Truro isn't Devon though
I have never been to Cornwall (well I went to Bude in a car - never been anywhere near a railway station in Cornwall), so no idea what happens there.
But I have been to stations in Devon (and spent way too long hanging around waiting for trains at stations in Devon!), and have never noticed announcements about train length.
However, perhaps I have just started to block out PA announcements?

 

[gogogoadam]

Where abouts? Certainly never heard it at Exeter St Davids or Barnstaple (and can't remember if I have heard it at Tiverton or Exeter Central).

It occurs where the new system (horrible Atos Anne) is installed, coming to Exeter soon regrettably, look out for the new white speakers being installed.

 

[DavidL]

Bit of a surprise but just arrived at St Helens Central to see that the (Northern) 7:56 was showing as 1 min late and "this train will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 4". First time I've ever seen this message here.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Ps thankfully is a 156 not a pacer, so at least some of the people at huyton will have a chance of boarding!

 

[jon0844]

It occurs where the new system (horrible Atos Anne) is installed, coming to Exeter soon regrettably, look out for the new white speakers being installed.

And hope they wire them up properly so you actually get sound coming out of them!

Since September 2010, FCC has still not bothered to fix the speakers at Hatfield on the far platforms (2/3) and because FCC stopped using the zoned system that it had before (not required, apparently, as they told me on their 'meet the directors' forum) everyone on platform 1 to London gets to hear the announcements for trainings going north, except for people actually going north.

As trains are announced just 20-30 seconds before they arrive, visually impaired people should probably not wait on platform 1 or in the ticket hall and then attempt to run over the concrete bridge and down to the far end of platform 3!

But, on the bright side, they do at least announce the train formations!!

 

[DavidL]

Bit of a surprise but just arrived at St Helens Central to see that the (Northern) 7:56 was showing as 1 min late and "this train will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 4". First time I've ever seen this message here.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Ps thankfully is a 156 not a pacer, so at least some of the people at huyton will have a chance of boarding!

Well, the Northern e-display board message wasn't a one off - it happened again this morning. I did notice that the outdoor on-platform screens don't function correctly while displaying the message though. Still some work to do there.

Sadly, this meant the 0756 was short-formed again. I'd have posted at the time, but they sent a 150, so there was no room for luxuries like moving or breathing without the consent of your immediate circle of new intimate friends. Crush-loaded and people left behind again. Fearing they might continue this downward trend, I am worried Friday's train might be a single 142 or a specially arranged 153. I may try a different train

Rant aside, it's good to see the quality of real-time information is improving up here too.

 

[Jedipickles]

Southeastern always say 4 car even if it's a Javelin Service which have 6 carriages. Some of the Victoria leave as 6/7/8 cars even though the boards say 4. It's an automatic system with only one option to automatically select! FYI I've only seen this at Dover Priory as thats where i get on, so i dont know what the rest of the network is like!

 

[Rich McLean]

Or, for Northern, 'This train is made up of pacer stock. Bounce bounce bounce'? They could offer a replacement bus service, but their trains are already buses, so what would be the point?

 

[TDK]

Why nothing then at Bicester?

It comes down to my original question then of Chiltern perhaps being to lazy or too mean to introduce it.

I think that later this week, armed with information from here about how widespread it is, I will get in touch with them again.
Thanks.

At Bicester on the up line there is a 2/3/4 car mark and an 8 car mark, if you stand at the 2/3/4 car mark you cannot go wrong can you, in the down direction all trains stop at the front end of the platform so if you stand at the front end you cannot go wrong. Only on occasions are there trains longer than 4 coaches these are peak trains and the engine and stock. However if there is a ceratain coach or seat you want to sit in you have a valid point however the general public are not too concerned as long as they get a seat

 

[philjo]

I have noticed that the format of the FCC announcements on GN route have changed in the last couple of days.
It now announces the number of coaches before listing the intermediate stations. it used to say the train length at the end of the announcement.

e.g. This morning:

"Platform 1 for the 07:20 First Capital Connect Service to Kings Cross. This train is formed of _8_ coaches. Calling at .... "

 

[Super Sprinter]

Southern also say how many cars will make up the unit during the morning rush at Purley.

 

[dvboy]

I noticed this evening at COV they do it now, even show which coach the bike space is in.

 

[asylumxl]

This is one thing I find FCC TL to be reasonably good at. Usually the information is accurate and if there is a shortformation for any reason manual announcements are made several times.

 

[455driver]

SWT show it for nearly all stations, its just a pity the passengers dont read it, stand at the 12 car mark when its only a 4 coach train and then moan when they get left behind.

If they could make a bit of effort I would wait but if they think I am going to sit there getting later and later while they stroll along the platform they are sadly mistaken.

Before you start moaning about "customer service" etc, I am showing good customer service to the 100 people on the train by not delaying them while we all wait for someone else.
Oh there is a train every 7 minutes as well so it gives them time to get to the correct bit of the platform.

 

[VTPreston_Tez]

SWT show it for nearly all stations, its just a pity the passengers dont read it, stand at the 12 car mark when its only a 4 coach train and then moan when they get left behind.

Southampton Central does it, however there needs to be markers on which half is going to Weymouth and they need to be clearer. That's a big problem where service information doesn't supplement each other and so causes people to miss their trains (the conductor blew the whistle at the wrong time as well which doesn't help)

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Really? Where? I travel every weekday Waterloo-Wimbledon and occasionally other SWT stations and I don't recall ever seeing the train length listed on the departure boards.

ALso, to be fair to the passengers, those who don't travel often may not know where on the platform shorter trains stop, even if they are told how long the train will be.

 

[jon0844]

Yeah, the stop boards aren't exactly clear (to Joe Public) and some trains will stop short, while others will all proceed to the end (S-stop) which means you can safely stand there for ALL trains.

It can also be quite hard to work out how long, say, 4-cars actually is (unless a train arrives earlier that you don't want) as there are no (obvious) markers on the platform.

 

[MK Tom]

At MKC London Midland used to do it for the Crewe-bound services, but since they all split now the message has been replaced with 'travel in the front four coaches for...' etc. They sometimes do it for other services and sometimes don't, as far as I can tell it seems pretty random... Now that they announce a big list of places to change for, adding the coaches number as well makes the announcement insanely long.

 

[cjp]

At Bicester on the up line there is a 2/3/4 car mark and an 8 car mark, if you stand at the 2/3/4 car mark you cannot go wrong can you, it

Only 4 OR 8 carriage marks,
and today's train had three carriages.
Still I found the bike/disabled section quite quickly having guessed right