At Seat Train Entertainment!!!

[leedstraindude]

Just seen this in BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8619167.stm

Do wonder if there is a market for this and if it will ever take off!

 

[j0hn0]

for me one of the great things about a train is the opportunity to either a) read or b) watch the world go buy.

I already find the screens at football grounds distracting from the football, would hate to be sitting next to someone watching say, a kids programme.

I really do not want to bombarded with adverts and tv screens everywhere i go. I currently do not watch any television, its quite a revelation.

 

[wintonian]

Just don’t use it if travelling by yourself and you need to leave your seat to go to the toilet/ buffet.

Is the guard going to be able to help if you have paid your fee and it doesn’t work? – I doubt it and wouldn’t expect them to be TV engineers either.

Will it work in tunnels so you can watch it with out it breaking up?

Are pepole realy going to want to watch a TV that is only a handfull inches awayfrom there face?

Will those pepole that don't have their ipod with them know/ remember to bring earphones with them or can they be bought on board at some silly price?

 

[deltic]

This is something which has missed the boat by years. A surprisingly large number of people watch DVDs on lap tops while 00s are using iphones and soon ipad or kindles. Witness what happen to Virgin's in train entertainment - within a short time it will be taken out.

It will only show pre-recorded programmes as per the airlines not live ones so signals are not an issue. It will also offer internet access but this can be flakely and on-board staff are usually unable to assist - rather you have to call a helpline

 

[Geezertronic]

I prefer to sit and watch the world go by as well and even when it is dark, I usually have a doze or tinker with my phone. I did see a guy watching Family Guy before on his laptop and even though he had headphones and I couldn't hear what was going on, it was still funny as a recognised the episode

As long as it does not affect other passengers, then it could be ok but not at that price I would suggest Plus is there a deposit to pay for the headphones and who would issue them?

Some of the Birmingham locals have a TV playing in the background and it gets annoying after a while seeing and hearing the same thing cycling around every few minutes or so. Not been on one for a while though, is it mainly Cross City trains?

 

[the sniper]

Some of the Birmingham locals have a TV playing in the background and it gets annoying after a while seeing and hearing the same thing cycling around every few minutes or so. Not been on one for a while though, is it mainly Cross City trains?

I haven't seen a 323 with working TV's for months now, I think they've switched them all off. Money well spent, heh.

 

[Geezertronic]

I haven't seen a 323 with working TV's for months now, I think they've switched them all off. Money well spent, heh.

Or somebody with common sense saw what a pain in the @rse they were

 

[Bittern]

Doesn't the Night Riveria have on-board TVs as well?

 

[gordonthemoron]

Many DB ICE trains have back of seat TV screens in first class. Hardly anyone ever watched them and I haven't seen them in use for a long time, and they were free

 

[CCF23]

These screens were on the back of every seat on my way home from Devon last Friday. They were in standard class coach C and if anyone cares they were in the set with power cars 43086 (country end) and 43161 (London end) i don't know if this is the only set they are on but they were all free but were more like infromation screen telling the trains location, maps of the route and what to do at certain destinations and i think there was radio too.

 

[Ivo]

As a rule, Volo TV facilitites are found in Coach D of FGW HST sets. They feature, among other things, maps, news and TV. On Monday evening I was quite content to lie back along the Golden Valley watching the speed and altitude change real-time. And having had the facility through the Box Tunnel a few times, I can confirm that the system does appear to work in tunnel. Whether it works under the Severn is another matter. I'm not sure how many times I have had the facility now, probably about five, but I always try for Coach D if not reserved or First Class now.

As for several other criticisms, watching TV at point blank range is a big plus for the average young traveller, especially given there is a comedy selection. The whole system is I believe £3.95 per journey (whether short or long) for programmes, and free for information (including map and speed data). There is support available, either over the phone or by e-mail. Having said that, the latter isn't that useful without wi-fi...

 

[Mojo]

Didn't take the BBC long to catch up did it? As posted by me in November last year:

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=28215

The first coach has been running for quite a while now I believe.

 

[mrcheek]

With all the people who have laptops, netbooks, iphones and so on, surely the money would have been better spent simply on having on board wi-fi for all.

 

[starrymarkb]

As I understand it Volo have paid for the installation, hence the charge

 

[TheExmoorBeast]

I find I regularly get at seat entertainment, especially when some realises their on the wrong train at Reading, the doors are closed & locked and we're rapidly heading out towards home, when they want to go to Cardiff.

The best thing of all is I do not ned to pay FGW any extra for the privilege.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Just need to connect the screens through to the forward facing camera in the leading cab.

 

[asylumxl]

Ive used it. Wasn't impressed with it.

 

[Kingfisher200262]

I happened to be on a Cardiff - London HST today, so thought I'd walk down the train and have a look.

The kit is OK, but the content is rubbish. It's all old TV show repeats. The best thing about air travel is the new films that probably haven't been on at the local cinema. There it's free.... I was kind of hoping for something similar.

The route map's useful if you are an infrequent traveller, but not a primary reason to use it.

A question.... can you reserve a seat in that coach and then choose not to pay to view, thus depriving somebody of a screen.

Also, what about First Class passengers... do they have to slum it to watch?

 

[37401]

I find I regularly get at seat entertainment, especially when some realises their on the wrong train at Reading, the doors are closed & locked and we're rapidly heading out towards home, when they want to go to Cardiff.

The best thing of all is I do not ned to pay FGW any extra for the privilege.

, I remember once someone flipped because a woman knocked over his drink, she offered to pay too and he still flipped, bladdy hell didnt realise £1.60was that important, still watching his hissy fit was funny

 

[asylumxl]

I happened to be on a Cardiff - London HST today, so thought I'd walk down the train and have a look.

The kit is OK, but the content is rubbish. It's all old TV show repeats. The best thing about air travel is the new films that probably haven't been on at the local cinema. There it's free.... I was kind of hoping for something similar.

The route map's useful if you are an infrequent traveller, but not a primary reason to use it.

A question.... can you reserve a seat in that coach and then choose not to pay to view, thus depriving somebody of a screen.

Also, what about First Class passengers... do they have to slum it to watch?

You can book a seat in Coach B yes, and thus deprive someone of a place.

Not that they seem to care. Everyone just watches the realtime map in my experience...

 

[jon0844]

Have they turned off the realtime map? Was on a FGW train today and couldn't find it (first time I've seen the screens).

Also, I noticed the interior lights have been set so only every other light is on - so it isn't as bright as it once was. Has anyone who thought it was far too bright noticed this?

Is it all the FGW HSTs or just the ones with the screens? And do they put all the lights on at night?

 

[richw]

when im travelling long distance i use my laptop and vodafone dongle thing, i think it only loses signal a small handful of times between cornwall and Paddington

 

[Daimler]

Have they turned off the realtime map? Was on a FGW train today and couldn't find it (first time I've seen the screens).

Also, I noticed the interior lights have been set so only every other light is on - so it isn't as bright as it once was. Has anyone who thought it was far too bright noticed this?

Is it all the FGW HSTs or just the ones with the screens? And do they put all the lights on at night?

It's all the HSTs, as far as I'm aware - and I believe it remains the same at night. They're still fairly bright inside, but pleasantly so, in my experience.

 

[Ivo]

Have they turned off the realtime map? Was on a FGW train today and couldn't find it (first time I've seen the screens).

Damn, he beat me to it. I was going to as this same question. It seems that everything is now payable, as the login screen comes on as soon as the system is powered up. I was on the 1900 ex-Paddington between Chippenham (2015) and Bath (2029) today, and made a point of travelling in Coach D because Volo TV was advertised as being available (apparently unlike seats, which was far from true - I had a double to myself). So much for that...

Another thing of note is that the carriage numbers are clearly stated in-car now (they may have been before, but I've never noticed it until now), for the purposes of customers experiencing problems with the system ("call and give the carriage number and your login code for references", or something like that anyway).

Downright annoying that, because I used to quite enjoy tracking the speed of the service. Storming through Twerton on a viaduct at 90 certainly feels quite impressive! (Twerton is the western-most suburb of Bath; it had its own station until 1917.)

 

[thelem]

A question.... can you reserve a seat in that coach and then choose not to pay to view, thus depriving somebody of a screen.

When I travelled on one of these services recently I was given a seat in this coach without asking. I actually found it quite annoying. The only thing I could get without paying were the safety and help videos, and if I just wanted to turn it off so it didn't distract me from reading then I had to pay for that too! Not realising that I would have this screen, if I had decided to use it I would also have had to walk to the buffet car and pay more money for a set of headphones to use it! I would have though at the very least if you're already paying to use the service then they could have set up some deposit system for the headphones.

 

[Ivo]

When I travelled on one of these services recently I was given a seat in this coach without asking. I actually found it quite annoying. The only thing I could get without paying were the safety and help videos, and if I just wanted to turn it off so it didn't distract me from reading then I had to pay for that too! Not realising that I would have this screen, if I had decided to use it I would also have had to walk to the buffet car and pay more money for a set of headphones to use it! I would have though at the very least if you're already paying to use the service then they could have set up some deposit system for the headphones.

You don't have to pay to turn it off. Just press the power button. At least, it worked when I did it four hours ago

- Not trying to offend you here; just stating a fact. Sorry!

 

[thelem]

You don't have to pay to turn it off. Just press the power button. At least, it worked when I did it four hours ago

- Not trying to offend you here; just stating a fact. Sorry!

Trust me, I tried that several times! Including holding it down (well, covered as it doesn't actually move) until I got bored. It even said in the help video that you'd be able to turn it off once you'd paid.

 

[jon0844]

You can use the touch controls without paying anything. I paid nothing and turned off two screens (I moved from aisle to window) after the novelty had worn off watching the 'spend money' demos.

It only turns the screen off as another press puts it back on instantly. They can presumably restart all the screens for the start of a journey so none look broken.

 

[fairlie]

I travelled in the "entertainment" coach recently (had a reserved seat which was in it) and I was able to turn the screen off. However, it turns itself on again after every station, which does get a bit irritating after a while. I can't see myself wanting to pay to watch things - I'd sooner look out of the window.

 

[jon0844]

I did get off at the first stop (Reading) so I didn't notice if it came back on. Makes sense, if a little annoying for someone who has turned it off and has many stops to go.