WestAnglian
Member
Why should it cost significantly more than spoken announcements? It's a bit of a one-off anyway and can't cost much to run. And I suspect its cost is tiny compared with modifications made for other groups of passengers such as those using wheelchairs.Indeed, I'd expect them to be a ruggedised version of a typical PC monitor with some kind of processor built in to handle the comms and generate the display image locally. Indeed you occasionally see Windows errors displayed when things have gone wrong. Quite apart from the added versatility, they are much more readable than the orange or white LED types, as long as they aren't in direct sunlight.
But there is still an extra cost associated with each extra screen, and installing and maintaining it and its cabling will be far more expensive than the purchase price.
I'm surprised you've only just noticed it. They had it at some LNER stations well over a year ago, and at Glasgow Central last May.