New Customer Information Systems

[whole diary]

[IndustryInsider]

I'm with Blakey on this one, although to be fair the stations that are fitted are large ones, and places like Reading and Bristol TM^‡(resolve) probably use up the same total amount of equipment that would cover whole routes of smaller stations.  Some of the CRT^‡(resolve) monitors are starting to look a little out of date at places like Reading.  Worth also bearing in mind that the the former Thames Trains system is only 13 years old - it was just based on inferior software as it was the first or second such system to be installed.

[willc]

Telent were back at Kingham today and both platform displays were working.

Can't see any reason why there should be any problems with the new system. In my experience it has performed faultlessly at Oxford since its installation there.

[IndustryInsider]

Not quite faultlessly - issues with the departure of the Bicester trains via the new Down Jericho route are an example - but certainly a huge improvement on what was there before.  Ealing Broadway, Maidenhead and many others will benefit massively from the new system.

[Louis94]

Telent were back at Kingham today and both platform displays were working.

Can't see any reason why there should be any problems with the new system. In my experience it has performed faultlessly at Oxford since its installation there.

The system at Oxford isn't the new system it's connected to the old one (HSS^▸ (High Speed Services)), same with slough.

[Zoe]

I always thought at large stations like Bristol that Paddington style departure boards would have been better than just a bank of monitors repeating the information displayed on the platform.

[inspector_blakey]

That's what the new system has, at least in Oxford, although space limitations in the booking hall at Temple Meads might be an issue if the new system was installed in the same location as the old system since the ceiling is not very high in that location (outside Smith's, adjacent to the barriers).

[Zoe]

Actually 10 years isn't as bad as what they did at Paddington.  They replaced the solari there with new plasma screens in 1999 but they only lasted 5 years until 2004.

[willc]

Okay, there may have been the odd issue with the Bicester line - presumably due to the oddities of the working arrangement and explaining that to the software designers and/or driving it off Oxford's ageing signalling kit - but what I meant by faultlessly was that it doesn't tell you a train is hideously late as it rolls into the platform on time and doesn't fail on a regular basis but does do its basic job of conveying information to passengers clearly and reliably - and as a passenger, I would rather have it than the Thames or HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) systems any day.

Since I have only observed the Kingham set-up from passing trains, I've no idea what is in the booking hall instead of the old Thames Trains' system's VDU screen. Hopefully a flat screen like those at Oxford. Certainly looks like something new is going to go in the booking hall at Moreton-in-Marsh, as there was much measuring up going on one morning the other week around the existing VDU. Any ideas, Insider?

[Louis94]

I always thought at large stations like Bristol that Paddington style departure boards would have been better than just a bank of monitors repeating the information displayed on the platform.

Hopefully that is what should happen when the new system is installed.

I would rather have it than the Thames or HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) systems.

The system at Oxford IS the HSS system although through new monitors, etc.

[willc]

Do I really have to spell out that what I meant was how it delivers information to passengers out on the platforms, in booking halls, etc. Couldn't really give a monkey's about what the software driving it is, so long as it works.

[inspector_blakey]

Absolutely agree willc - the new system at Oxford has been in place for well over a year now and is absolutely fantastic from a customer's point of view. Big flat-screen displays giving info about next fast trains to various places, as well as full calling information for all trains due on the station concourse, backed up by LED-screens on each platform with info about the next three trains plus strategically placed flat screens giving summary details of the next hour or so's scheduled departures. The preceding system was a horrendous mess - a very limited number of VDU screens that spent much of the time out of service when the system crashed. Quite honestly towards the end I think they were unserviceable more often than they were working (which was mitigated more or less effectively depending on which shift of station staff were on, and whether they bothered using the "manual" PA^▸ (Public Address) system), which sometimes made it tricky to catch the right train even for those of us who knew the station well. How the hordes of non-English-speaking tourists managed I have no idea, it can't have given them a very good impression of our illustrious rail system!

I'll be very, very happy to see the same system across the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) network, and like you I really don't give a flying **** about the rivet-counting detailed of where the information is coming from.

[IndustryInsider]

Yes, an LED style display on each platform, with a flat screen in the booking halls (the standard size ones would be fine, rather than the long ones on the platforms at Oxford) would suit the Cotswold Line stations perfectly - especially if the one in the booking hall is still visible from the outside when it's closed. 

Still, it should be remembered that whatever system is installed on the Cotswold Line it will still struggle to show accurate information as it still relies largely on manual inputs from signal boxes.  That situation will improve when the revised signalling comes in post-redoubling, but I can still see trains entering the Moreton area going missing with regard to delays, and places like Hanborough and Pershore occasionally being inaccurate when a train's sitting at the end of the double line section waiting for something to come the other way.

[Louis94]

Will be exactly the same in cornwall, liskeard downwards. Hopefully the signallers will be more prompt with putting information into trust, although they don't do bad now. Main problems on Cornwall will proberly be at stations which currently give no report (redruth, st austell, bodmin parkway) as the system won't be able to tell when the train has departed.

[Zoe]

Main problems on Cornwall will proberly be at stations which currently give no report (redruth, st austell, bodmin parkway) as the system won't be able to tell when the train has departed.

In the case of Redruth it would be a bit difficult as that station is in a long AB section.  Unless you got the station staff to update the system.



Edit Note: Quote marks amended, for clarity. CfN.

[Louis94]

Yep thats what i mean, they need to get staff to put reports on to keep the data accurate. Bodmin Parkway and St Austell both have had reports in the past, so i dont understand why they dont have reports all the time.