bingley hall Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Functionally, the running in board has been replaced by the recording of 'the next stop is Allstations North' with a running LED display showing the name. What motivation does a commercial railway operator have for spending money on supplying hobbyists with incidental information? If the announcements are foolproof and commercial operators are so intent on making money why bother with providing station signs at all? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted January 23, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 23, 2012 If the announcements are foolproof and commercial operators are so intent on making money why bother with providing station signs at all? It costs more to take the signs down than leave them in place. Also not all trains have the LED display. Down in the South West the vast majority don't. It's also not infrequent that the on train announcements don't happen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenman Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 To be fair, with some TOC's I think we've now go to the point of announcement saturation - there are just too many, hence it's no surprise passengers 'switch off'. A change of jobs a while back led to a different daily commute, involving a change at Leicester Square Underground station in the early hours of the morning. Often it would just be me and the station assistant on the platform, but he still insisted on *shouting* at me, through the tannoy, that I must stand behind the yellow lines -- despite the fact I *always* stand behind them. I asked him why he did it and he just wittered on about rules (which didn't explain either why he needed to shout or to be so verbiose). I got so fed up with him that I started changing at King's Cross instead where, strangely, no-one seems to care which side of the yellow lines you stand. And the incessant pointless announcements on pretty much every train got so annoying that I have taken to wearing noise reducing headphones, so now I don't hear a single thing the wretched TOCs scream at me. Life is so much less stressful as a result... Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremyC Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 People don't seem to have ever listened to announcements, nowadays it's probably because they've got their iPod stuck in their ears and haven't heard them!. In the days when West Coast trains used to divide at Carstairs for Glasgow and Edinburgh I occasionally travelled between the south and Edinburgh. The guard would always walk through the train before arrival at Carstairs announcing clearly for the coach I was in "This is the Edinburgh Portion, This is the Edinburgh Portion." You could guarantee that 5 minutes after departing from Carstairs for Edinburgh someone would say 'Is this the train for Glasgow?' Jeremy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenman Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 People don't seem to have ever listened to announcements, nowadays it's probably because they've got their iPod stuck in their ears and haven't heard them!. Or, in my case, I have my headphones on precisely so I don't have to listen to ungrammatical twaddle shouted at me every few minutes. I used to think airlines were bad, but trains are now much worse. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Its to be hoped there are never any emergency announcements when you are on the train then..... One hopes that in that situation fellow passengers will nudge those who aren't listening! (Mind you, this depends on the nature of the emergency, I imagine that even the most inattentive person would have noticed an accident and taken their earphones out ...) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsforever Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Going up to Birmingham International on a LM service last November the conducor made regular station stop announcements with humour as the train was packed with many fed up passengers,(customers) but due to his pa callseveryone felt happy and in poscecion of all the info they needed.Many times on trains I have also had people ask where the train was going to they will need a sat nav soon! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZ Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Dont mention "Freshford"!! I got off there by mistake when going to the Bradford on Avon show a few years ago It wasnt my fault of course, no one told me there were request stops on the line, and I was "counting stations" to my destination How ? There was only one request stop on the line and that was Avoncliff, either before or after Bradford depending on your direction. Freshford has never been a request since CamRail has been at Bradford. I suggest next time you listen for the guards announcements(am I right in saying you were or are one ? Shame on you ) Pompeys never stop at FFD and AVF, the WSB, FRO and WEYs all do. Anyway getting off at FFD these days, you could visit the Inn at Freshford(Box Steam Brewery) for a pint or two, before crossing the fields to AVF for another or two in the Cross Guns(Box again) . Then along the canal to the Canal Tavern ( Wadworth) for two more. Then walk or stumble along Frome Road to the 3 Horseshoes(probably GK these days) and arrive at St.Margaret's Hall and realising that the show finished hours ago, you've lost your return ticket and spent all your money in the pub. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I guess there is scope for confusion if you've previously been on a train that is non-stop from Bath to BoA (about half of them) and are expecting the same, but this time you are on one that stops at Freshford. Maybe that's what the running-in board is for? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenman Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Its to be hoped there are never any emergency announcements when you are on the train then..... Yes, that thought had of course occurred to me when I weighed up the pros and cons. Still, I take comfort from the fact that there may be deaf people on board, and the TOC has a duty of care to people with disabilities, so they're just gonna have to deal in the same way with passengers who have taken defensive action against all those years of aural abuse. And the odd occasion when I get whisked through an Underground station that has been closed is a small price to pay for never having to listen to shouted drivel. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katier Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 If they still had droplights on carriage doors they could do them in braille. I was on a train the other day from Glasgow Central. A woman sat next to me and in due course the train pulled out and as we had cleared the station and were gathering speed she asked me, 'Where does this train go to?' LOL I was on the Wolves->Euston Pendo a few weeks ago heading to the NEC.. suddenly I overhear a bit of disruption in the Shop area (I'm seated in that coach).. "Does this train go to Temple Meads" "No" "But we were told it did" etc. They all had to get off at International and wait for their ( delayed I believe ) train... Three points :- 1) the matrixes on the doors WERE working ( I know cos I check them out of habit ). 2) Virgin don't do Temple Meads 3) It wasn't a X-Country train I got a chuckle out of that one.. I think that the TM train was behind us coming into the same platform and passengers just didn't check!! Talk about lemmings!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 There's always scope for confusion if the system isn't designed properly, and even the best systems sometimes fall foul of the peculiarities of the railway. A few years back I was changing at Temple Meads onto an HST towards Birmingham. Saw a HST standing there next to an indicator with the correct destination so climbed on board. Only to jump off rapidly as it was announced on board as going to Plymouth - but managed to leave my coat on the luggage rack which cost me £16 to get back via lost property. The problem here was the famous (not quite) double length platforms at Temple Meads. Seems an HST standing on 5 (?) overhangs a short distance into 4, just far enough to sit nicely underneath the first indicator. My train arrived in 4 a few minutes later. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium petethemole Posted January 29, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 29, 2012 I had to go to Potters Bar in the week; came back to Town on a Moorgate stopper rather than wait 20mins in the cold. Had to change to the Tube at Finsbury Park in the dark, so I was grateful for the running-in boards I could spot, especially at FP. They aren't that easy to see in the dark at the speed the train runs in. There were no illuminated dispays or announcements on the train I was on, although I have encountered Sonya on other FCC units on that line. Pete Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 96701 Posted January 30, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 30, 2012 I had to go to Potters Bar in the week; came back to Town on a Moorgate stopper rather than wait 20mins in the cold. Had to change to the Tube at Finsbury Park in the dark, so I was grateful for the running-in boards I could spot, especially at FP. They aren't that easy to see in the dark at the speed the train runs in. There were no illuminated dispays or announcements on the train I was on, although I have encountered Sonya on other FCC units on that line. Pete If you do that again, and need to get to the Cross from a Moorgate train, can I suggest you change at Highbury & Islington because you only have to go through a short cross-passage to the Victoria Line platform. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium petethemole Posted January 30, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 30, 2012 Thanks, but i needed the Piccadilly Line! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted January 30, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 30, 2012 the running in and station boards on LMs managed stations are black, they are dire to see in the dark yet alone at speed even the illuminated ones, tring springs to mind immediatly as being particularly poor we do our own announcments on chiltern south of banbury, north of there its the guards job,i dont mind doing them, christmas eve one of my trains was "the polar express" to birmingham snow hill calling at ding d0ng merrily on high wycombe, that raised a few chuckles in the train according to a passenger who came up to thank me at banbury! i try to keep my announcements brief and to the point, if ive got a train with lots stops i'll announce them all at the starting station, and remind passengers where the 1st stop is prior to departure so as not to overcarry etc, at intermediate stations i'll simply say "this is the such and such service the next stop is blah blah blah in 10 minutes" any more and people just switch off Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Chris116 Posted January 30, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 30, 2012 I am all in favour of a limited number of announcements but SWT on Sundays is impossible! The Basingstoke and Alton service divides at Woking and between Wimbledon and Surbiton you are told six or seven times that this part of the train is for.... Then between Surbiton and Woking it gives the same information between twenty two and twenty five times! The guards all come through the tran asking where people are going and we still regularly get someone who manages to be in the wrong portion of the train upon leaving Woking. If this is not overkill on the PA I don't know what is. I did try phoning SWT but was informed that it was a Health and Safety requirement!!!!!!!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 96701 Posted January 31, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 31, 2012 but was informed that it was a Health and Safety requirement!!!!!!!!! That just has to be complete cods doesn't it? Isn't Health & Safety about making sure you, your employees and your neighbours don't suffer loss? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 On certain rolling stock it is actually mandatory to make certain announcements for the benefit of the visually impaired. However a lot of the "mind the gap when stepping from the train" type stuff (at every station not just those with big gaps) is really about backside covering, as they think you are less likely to win if you fall down the gap and sue them. Perhaps some enterprising ambulance-chaser could have a go at an action for mental harassment by excessive announcements? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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