New Customer Information Systems

[whole diary]

[willc]

A small army of Telent staff were installing a new train departures screen on the Oxford-bound platform at Kingham this morning.

[Louis94]

Do you have any pictures willc?

[ChrisB]

Oddly, they should look like the others already posted here....

[tramway]

Not entirely impressed with the muzak feature of the system, the selection being broadcast from the info point at Trowbridge last Sunday was awful.

White metal poles up at Filton as previously reported, took about a week.

[IndustryInsider]

Do you have any pictures willc?

Very similar to the LED style ones at Oxford/Slough.  One's working and the other not yet switched on.  Seems a strange place to start, Kingham, but I suppose you have to start somewhere!

[James Vertigan]

Not entirely impressed with the muzak feature of the system, the selection being broadcast from the info point at Trowbridge last Sunday was awful.

Muzak?! Good Lord!

Is this what we have to look forward to at AML?

[TerminalJunkie]

The station cafe at Barnstaple has it's own departures screen:

Which may have to be turned off on 23rd November:

With affect[sic] from Tuesday the 23rd of November, National Rail Enquiries will be introducing tokens in to SOAP header of the Darwin Webservice for licenced users of the system. For more information on licencing and obtaining a token, please contact nrelicensing@atoc.org

[paul7575]

Which may have to be turned off on 23rd November:

If it is like the screens in the various catering places at Southampton, surely it'll just be part of the station's normal CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) system, which FGW^▸ (First Great Western) almost certainly have a licence for?

I think the news is more to do with external parties using the data feed without a licence...

Paul

[inspector_blakey]

It's not. The Barnstaple station cafe system is a private initiative on the part of the proprieter (not FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) to provide a service to patrons, much like the similar service in the Prince of Wales, just across the road from Didcot Parkway. It would be a sad and retrograde step were ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here) to insist on payment for these systems, since after all they're providing a service to rail passengers at no cost to the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) given that the data are already available.

[Chris from Nailsea]

See http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=7283.msg74005#msg74005 for a sample of the cafe screen at Barnstaple. 

[Zoe]

I'm going to say this again.  The current HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) is only 10 years old, does it really need replacing?

[inspector_blakey]

Not necessarily, but put it in context:

a) Both the ex-Thames and ex-Wessex systems have got to the stage where they are, for the most part, steaming piles of poo that don't work. I don't think anyone would argue against replacing them.
b) The HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) system is actually fitted to a relatively small number of stations overall (i.e. only those ones that were managed by the "original" First Great Western - don't know the number for sure but I'd guess it as maybe 20-30 or so, certainly a small proportion of the total number of stations to be fitted with the updated system).
c) It undoubtedly benefits the franchise as a whole (which, remember, is likely to run for another 6 years or so) to have a standardized system fitted across its territory as far as possible.
d) Given the scale of the task of fitting the system (whether full for bigger stations or scaled down for smaller stations) across all FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s stations, the additional cost of replacing the older HSS system at the small number of stations that has it is probably marginal as a proportion of the overall bill, andthe additional expenditure may be considered worthwhile for the sake of having a standard system across the franchise. Look at the length of that list, further up this thread, at which the "full" system is apparently due to be installed.

[Louis94]

I'm going to say this again.  The current HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) is only 10 years old, does it really need replacing?

You are so correct, that's exactly my argument, just introduce it at other stations.

Systems that currently have this system are Plymouth, totnes, newton abbot, Exeter St davids, tiverton parkway, taunton, pewsey, reading, didcot parkway, Swindon, Bristol parkway, Bristol temple meads, bath spa and chippenham. Also although not original installs but are connected to the same system, Oxford and slough.

[inspector_blakey]

Just a thought, but why would you want to install any kind of computer system right now that's 10 years old...? It just means that even though you've gone to the expense of buying and fitting it you're already 10 years further down the road to obsolescence and lack of spares etc than by installing a new system. Yes, it's a very good system but in computer terms it's already ancient (I don't suppose any of you would seriously suggest "retro-fitting" a new PC with Windows 98). Louis94, if you're correct then the number of stations that actually has the system fitted is even smaller than I thought at 14. FGW^▸ (First Great Western) manages 210 stations, according to Wikipedia. So if they're embarking on a major re-fit across the board with a brand new, up-to-date system, it seems entirely sound for them to spend a little extra money and also bring the remaining 14 stations up to the same standard. THe suggestion that all those stations should have a system that's more than 10 years old fitted is crazy!

[Louis94]

Surely just as anything it can just be updated, new computers installed, etc , I believe some stations have had a new computer installed during the 10 years of operation.
As far as I'm aware not all of the stations I mentions even have a computer for the system. And according to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) and NR^» (Network Rail - home page) HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) stations are all going to have a slightly different setup to everywhere else. Something to do with NR funding it. The supposed advantage of this being the installation of new speakers and also a network rail style concourse and also LED departure screens instead of TFT screens.

Let's hope this system does not go as badly wrong as the new capital connect system, which is supposed to be the same system I must add! It is currently announcing and showing trains that don't even exist!