Stations with no monitors

[hairyhandedfool]

....Newton-le-Willows didn't when I was there about 2 years ago - that was a weird experience. It had got dark and was snowing a little too - like being back in the dark ages when used to the boards. I had my phone though so could check trains on that....

Newton-Le-Willows has those small scrolling boards and (I think) 'long line' announcements now, the only stations on the Chat Moss line that don't have anything bar poster timetables are Patricroft and Eccles (the only GMPTE stations on an otherwise MPTE line), although GMPTE does have a "how's your train running" phone line, if you have your mobile with you and have the stations NLC to hand. Ofcourse, that is often no use when the train is delayed and at a stand somewhere, the system seems to 'forget' about the train once the 'expected' time passes.

I don't think Walkden, Swinton (Manc), Moorside, Urmston and Irlam have any screens and announcements.

 

[Failed Unit]

Only the biggest stations in Lincolnshire have any. Lincoln, Grimsby etc. (although Barnetby does now). Market rasen had both Pa and monitors under BR but they were removed by central trains on cost grounds. Now most people are glad of mobile phone apps now but I sat at Market Rasen in the evening under CT waiting for a cancelled train. A taxi turned up about 45 minutes later for 10 people. 6 couldn't go anywhere how don't miss CT!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Most people in the end got the person dropping them off to wait until the train turned up, just in case they needed to drive to Newark / Lincoln.

 

[adc82140]

Most of the ex-Thames Trains area now doesn't- they've been broken for nearly a year. Usually the screens are showing a departure from about 6am- that's when the system freezes up. FGW have a very slow programme of rolling out a new system- Pangbourne has been done. As an unrelated aside, the MD for FGW lives in Pangbourne

 

[TEW]

I assume that includes Dorchester West then as last time I was there it was just one of those blue boxes with a button for automated information.

Yes, I'm not sure what system Dorechester West will get, probably at least a help point with a screen built in.

 

[northwichcat]

Newton-le-Willows didn't when I was there about 2 years ago - that was a weird experience. It had got dark and was snowing a little too - like being back in the dark ages when used to the boards. I had my phone though so could check trains on that.

Yeah Newton-le-Willows wasn't good a few years ago. ATW used to run Piccadilly-Llandudno services using 175s in FNW livery with the destination displays turned off while Northern used some 156s in FNW livery on Victoria-Liverpool services and they departed from the same platform within a few minutes of each other.

I actually contacted ATW pointing out the confusion that was being caused at Newton-le-Willows by them not having destination displays on their trains. Their response was it's not our station so not our problem. We've forwarded your feedback on to Northern Rail for them to sort out!

 

[The Barlow Boy]

I was wondering: are there stations on the National Rail network (not heritage railways) with no display boards or announcements? Because if there are none, there would be no way of telling what stations the trains will be stopping at! Only the final destination on the train itself (and that is not on all trains) is shown. Furthermore, what about single track stations? Unless you knew the station, you could end up going the wrong way!

Just wondering what people are 'officially'/normally meant to do in these situations - because trains (unlike on the London Underground) can skip stations on their route, and so you cannot assume it will be stopping at a particular station just because it goes past it. (I would not have thought it essential to know the final destination of your train or the direction of travel for single track sections).

There can't be a final destination, there's only only one.

 

[Greenback]

most of the small swanline stations between Cardiff & Swansea have no screen or audio annoucements. Only Llansamlet does.

I suppose the will be a lot in west wales and on the valley lines network

I don't think there's much at Gowerton.

 

[northwichcat]

I don't think Walkden, Swinton (Manc), Moorside, Urmston and Irlam have any screens and announcements.

Urmston doesn't. For some reason Urmston seems to be one of the few stations that has stacks of Metro papers available in the afternoon.

One other thing to point out about Northern managed stations is if the station has an open ticket office then you'll likely be informed if the train is severely delayed or cancelled even if it doesn't have destination screens or a PA system. They usually do one or more of the following:
1. Write it on a blackboard.
2. Write it on a piece of paper stuck up in the ticket office window.
3. Shout to the people waiting on the platform.

 

[The Barlow Boy]

I think that it's Ash that has an official sign on the down platform that states something along the lines of, "If the signal at the end of the platform is showing some white lights then the train is going to Aldershot, otherwise it's going to Reading".

 

[northwichcat]

How about Ellesmere Port, Overpool, Little Sutton, Hooton, Capenhurst and Bache?

Hooton yes I forgot about. Ellesmere Port probably should have but I'm not sure on that.

Bache and Capenhurst don't unless they recently added them. Overpool and Little Sutton probably fall in to the same category as Bache and Capenhurst.

 

[Welshman]

Only the biggest stations in Lincolnshire have any.

Heckington certainly doesn't come into this category, but it does have a friendly signaller, who, in between signalling trains and manually opening and closing the level-crossing gates [yes, this is 2011!], walks the platforms, informing any passengers of late-running. Now that IS service. Well done to him!

 

[JoeGJ1984]

There can't be a final destination, there's only only one.

I meant at the end of the service, as opposed to intermediate stations the train may stop at, which won't be shown on the train itself.

It's possible to have more than one destination if the train splits though.

 

[me123]

Plenty of stations. Even in the SPT area, you've got quite a few such as those on the Whifflet line. You do, however, have a help point to allow you to contact control if there are problems. Furthermore, the control centre in Paisley will announce any cancellations or severe delays. All Scottish stations, IIRC, have this control point if nothing else. I don't know if there are any in England or Wales that don't.

On the subject of single track lines, there are sometimes signs at the stations showing which direction the train will travel. The best photo I can find (although about half of it is missing!) is here. Presumably no-one has found them interesting enough to take a proper photo yet. It shows the direction in which trains leave so that you don't need announcements to tell in which direction the train is going.

In these cases, you'll also find that the on-train staff are invaluable.

 

[JoeGJ1984]

I always thought there would be no need to know which direction the train will travel in.

Another example of the above (I haven't got a photo) is at Birkbeck station (I was travelling through on a Tramlink tram and spotted a sign with a tube-style map at the opposite platform and it had arrows to indicate the direction of travel - in case anyone doesn't know, Birkbeck has a single track and platform for National Rail trains and another single track and platform for Tramlink trams. In both cases trains/trams can run in either direction). I'm pretty sure that Birkbeck has a display board for the NR platform though, which means that there would be no need to show which way the trains go.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

....Bache and Capenhurst don't unless they recently added them. Overpool and Little Sutton probably fall in to the same category as Bache and Capenhurst.

I'm pretty sure Bache had displays when I went to Chester Zoo last year.

 

[dcmbarton]

The chap in the ticket office at Lichfield Trent Valley occasionally makes announcements if trains are cancelled or delayed, but it's not consistent. It is true that there are no monitors either.

I have complained bitterly to LM recently about this because nearly all the other stations on the network have them (including Atherstone which is tiny in comparison). With services both on the WCML and Cross-City Line, I've lost count of the number of times I've been asked by people where to go, which train is which, which platform they need to be on etc. Their response from LM has been that it's not a priority. Given that in December I was left stranded at the station a total of 15 times because of trains being terminated at Lichfield City, I think it is a priority that there's better communication - given that the ticket office isn't busy (lucky if there's a couple of people an hour in there), I don't think it's too much to ask staff to make announcements to inform passengers of cancellations/delays on a regular basis.

 

[northwichcat]

I'm pretty sure Bache had displays when I went to Chester Zoo last year.

There's none on these pictures:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bache_Railway_Station.jpg
http://www.yourlocalweb.co.uk/image...-near-chester-on-the-liverpool-line-12484.jpg

 

[Chris L]

So what are these display boards ?
We havent seen these on our line to Colne
or announcements, also we had speakers once they stopped working years ago.
The limit of technology here is that the driver has to stop the train
and pull on a string to open the Level Crossing - see Left Pic

 

[cuccir]

On the coast between between Carnforth and Carlisle it's easier to list those which have electronic boards:

Arnside, Grange-over-Sands, Ulverston, Barrow-in-Furness, Whitehaven, Workington.

I think that's it. And actually upon checking them, National Rail suggests that Workington doesn't?

Similarly the Esk Valley line to Whitby doesn't have any to my knowledge beyond Nunthorpe. I've sat at Great Ayton in the snow calling the freephone to Northern Trains to ask about a delayed train to be told by their operator that it's on time (it rolled along about 30 minutes late, with the crew very welcoming and understanding!). A phone line to Whitby station would be of much more use.

That said, this doesn't compare to some of the much busier stations mentioned above!

 

[DarloRich]

North Road, Heighington, Newton Aycliffe, Shildon, Bishop Auckland, Dinsdale, Teeside Airport, Allens West, Eaglescliffe to name but 9!

 

[vjm1975]

Ellesmere Port, Overpool, Little Sutton, capenhurst and Bache have information points, which have monitors that show the time of the next trains and the destination. They don't have any station announcements or the type of displays that are at other MerseyRail stations.

 

[Old Hill Bank]

Hagley and Blakedown have no displays or PA despite being in a TCB area which could work well.
Kidderminster has both automated displays and PA not linked to the antiquated signalling, it therefore gets very confused as a matter of course and provides wrong information.
If you want displays on your station they need to be linked to the signalling system to be reliable.

 

[dcmbarton]

My recent communication with LM revealed that work to install monitors at Lichfield Trent Valley will begin in March.

 

[me123]

Slightly OT, but still relevant to the OP's sentiments.

The Alaska Railroad Corporation operates a train called "The Hurricane Turn" between Talkeetna and Hurricane. It's unusual in that it's one of the last remaining "flag stop trains", where you can literally get on or off the train anywhere along the route!

All interesting, but I'm sure you're wondering why I bring it up. Well. obviously there's no monitors or announcements anywhere along the route. And with a frequency less than once a day, and with the train serving the Alaskan wilderness, it can be a long, cold, lonely wait for the next train if you miss it or it's cancelled. And I doubt you even get mobile phone reception out there, never mind 3G internet access.