Great Western Coffee Shop

Just noticed at Paddington this morning that the departure baords have had a software tweak- there is now a flashing "Now Boarding" status once a platform has been announced, and the High Speed services also display a status of "preparing" if the train is in but is being turned around.

A good development IMO.

Same as has been at Euston for years

However it does give a life to the smart ones - if you know its preparing, you know its one of the HST's in at the moment and you can rule out which ones are already announced as boarding..........

Yes I noticed this too yesterday getting a train back home about half seven.. It was platform 13 but still said boarding when I arrive and I only had 3 minutes to spare but thought I'd test out what happened, how much time there was..etc just walking... I got the train and so did the old lady who was behind me and who I waited for to make sure she got the train ok (or at least if she missed it she had someone to talk to :-))..

Noticed a slight difference at SWT stations of late, 30 secs before depature time, the monitors and auto announcers state: "Stand away from the train at platform X as it is now ready to leave."