Great Western Coffee Shop

New help points at stations

Rail travellers will be able to obtain comprehensive train information at stations in Oxfordshire. Train operator First Great Western is installing push-button Help Points at all its stations in the county at a cost of around ^250,000.

At 13 stations, including Shiplake, the Help Points will be upgraded with WebCIS technology. This delivers comprehensive information on a 15in screen, including easy-to-read train information, live departure times, stops, length of trains and disruption alerts.

The upgrade was paid for with ^68,000 from Oxfordshire County Council and ^53,000 from the Department for Transport. First Great Western and Network Rail are also renewing or upgrading the existing customer information systems, public address and CCTV at Goring and Streatley and Henley stations.

New high-tech train information at Oxfordshire stations
Published on: December 1, 2010

Oxfordshire County Council has helped bring new state-of-the-art train information to 13 railway stations across the county.Train operator First Great Western is currently installing new push-button Help Points at all its stations in Oxfordshire at a cost of around ^250,000. With extra funding of ^68,000 provided and signed off by Oxfordshire County Council in early 2010, and ^53,000 from the Department for Transport^s Access for All scheme, some of these Help Points have been upgraded with WebCIS technology.

New technology

The WebCIS Help Point delivers comprehensive information on a 15-inch visual display giving easy-to-read train information including live departure times, stops, length of trains and disruption alerts. They also have an emergency call button, and an induction loop for the hearing impaired.

WebCIS technology allows accurate up-to-the-minute information to be displayed for the first time at smaller and mid-sized stations that do not have ^traditional^ customer information systems. It follows positive feedback from passengers during a two-year trial at Hanborough and Radley stations.

Which stations have benefitted?

WebCIS Help Points have been installed at the following 13 Oxfordshire stations:

Appleford, Ascott-under-Wychwood, Bicester Town, Combe, Culham, Finstock, Hanborough, Heyford, Islip, Radley, Shiplake, Shipton and Tackley.

More Improvements

First Great Western and Network Rail are also renewing or upgrading the existing customer information systems, public address and CCTV at the following stations in Oxfordshire:

Charlbury, Cholsey, Didcot Parkway, Goring & Streatley, Henley-on-Thames and Kingham.

Partnerships

Rodney Rose, Oxfordshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Transport said: "Last year we successfully worked with First Great Western to try out this new technology, and I am pleased we have been able to follow that up by extending the benefits of the WebCIS Help Point to all of our small and mid-sized stations.

"These are important stations in their communities and are being used by more and more passengers. They deserve to have accurate real-time information about their trains, and I am delighted we have played our part in making that available."

He added: "During times of austerity it is more important than ever that we work with our partners in the rail industry to make best use of our joint resources and get the best outcome for local people. This is a good example of that in action.^

First Great Western^s Project Sponsor, Mikael Sheikh said: "We are pleased to be working with Oxfordshire County Council and DfT to keep customers up to date with their journeys in this way. Feedback from customers so far has been positive and we believe the system will encourage more people to leave the car at home and travel by train."

It's hardly high tech! Essentially a screen hooked up to a network with a phone built in  :P