Where have the station clocks gone?

[whole diary]

[johoare]

They disappeared from the platforms at Maidenhead fairly recently I think.. I do hope they are going to be replaced? Does anyone know?

I guess it could be a good trick so that no one knows whether the trains leave late or in fact early..

[JayMac]

Have Maidenhead's dot matrix displays not got a clock on them?

[coachflyer]

We have been informed that all the station clock are being removed so that the new cis screens can be installed!!

As most of the turbo's do not have clocks in them anymore us at the sharp end are have no means to get an accurate time fix as the watches supplied are not the most accurate.

[johoare]

Have Maidenhead's dot matrix displays not got a clock on them?

No.. So no idea of the real (railway) time at Maidenhead at the moment.. As we went thru Slough earlier I noticed their information screens on the platforms do have the time on so I am hoping Maidenhead will get that..

Mind you I'd have thought installing that before removing the clock would have made more sense..but that's just me 

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hmm.  Where did you get this rather quaint notion that logic features anywhere on the railways, Jo? 

[johoare]

Very good point! I forgot that for a moment there 

[inspector_blakey]

How odd. The old, red NSE^▸ (Network South East) "flap" clocks have been out of use at Didcot for a long time (they may have been physically removed by now) but there are digital clocks on the CIS^▸ (Customer Information System). The new Oxford system certainly has a clock as an intergral part of the information screen as well, so I'm amazed there's nothing at Maidenhead!

[johoare]

We still have the old information boards.. I did have a quick look this morning but they definitely didn't have the time on 

[coachflyer]

According to the notice that went up this week the old Thames and Wessex CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) is being replaced between now and the end of the year.

All the new platform information displays will be similar to the one in place at slough/oxford with the clock under the running info.

The notice also stated that they will have a dimming feature so that they are not too bright at night!!

All the planning and sighting has been completed and instillation is to start soon.

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

If I find myself at a station with no clock (and there are now many in the Thames Valley), would it be in order if I pressed the button on the white communication "circle" and asked those nice people in Swindon for a timecheck?

[Electric train]

Mind you I'd have thought installing that before removing the clock would have made more sense..but that's just me 

We are not allowed to use common sense anymore what we did have has been cut back to save money 

Seriously, when it comes to locating equipment yes you can put it somewhere but for ever that somewhere will never be the best place so it is often better to strip out existing equipment to make space.  The old NSE^▸ (Network South East) clocks were installed in the mid / late 80's I would think the parts are like hens teeth.

[Btline]

They're probably installing the new PIS^▸ (Passenger Information System) at the site of the old clock. Hence the clock has to be ripped up first.

CT did this at Worcester and Kidderminster (and elsewhere probs).

[johoare]

So meanwhile we have no idea if the train has left on time or late or early? 

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are currently in breach of the Chris Green/Peter Hall Report on Better Rail Stations,  (http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/passenger/stations/betterrailstations/pdf/report.pdf) which states on page 24 that for small staffed stations that "Clock [should be provided  .. for]  Each platform with scheduled service (discretionary if built into CIS^▸ (Customer Information System))".

Are there too many FGW functionaires on this blog?  All this rubbish that the old NSE^▸ (Network South East) clocks (which performed OK and gave the time OK) had to be taken down before new CIS displays are put up?

[inspector_blakey]

It's not necessarily rubbish, is it? Logic would dictate that the NSE^▸ (Network South East) clocks were probably put where they were for a reason, and it's self-evident that you can't install a new piece of kit in the same place without removing the old one first. Of course ideally the replacement would happen rapidly and the station wouldn't be left "clockless" for any length of time.

And I'm not really sure how you can be "in breach" of a report - there's no obligation on anyone to abide by what Chris Green and Stan Hall said in the report, regardless of how sensible it may be.

I'm not necessarily trying to excuse the situation, which isn't a good one. It just strikes me that your post is somewhat unreasonable.