Big advertising board at Waterloo

[Bletchleyite]

Not used Waterloo for a while, but it seems a Euston style mess has been made of it, with a large, excessively bright advertising board like Euston having replaced the middle set of main departure boards (by 6-11) and distributed smaller boards in sub optimal locations. Most notably, when walking from M&S Food to 6-11 you don't pass or see any board. Though one upside is that the distributed boards at least have more panels than Euston.

Have others seen this? It is very poor in my eyes.

 

[James H]

It's been there for ages - long before Euston.

I think because the Waterloo concourse has more natural light it doesn't feel quite so oppressive, so people didn't get so outraged

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's been there for ages - long before Euston.

I think because the Waterloo concourse has more natural light it doesn't feel quite so oppressive, so people didn't get so outraged

It's certainly less oppressive for that reason, but having large swathes of the concourse from which no board is visible and the eye is not naturally led to one is utterly terrible design.

 

[James H]

Just checked and the giant screen at Waterloo was installed a decade ago in 2014

I'm more annoyed about the new smaller advertising plinths cluttering up the concourse. They've spent years decluttering the concourse and now they're filling it up with rubbish again.

My other Waterloo pet peeve is having amplified buskers outside the ticket office, drowning out the announcements. Makes the station experience much more stressful.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Just checked and the giant screen at Waterloo was installed a decade ago in 2014

Interesting. Wonder if I've just not used 6-11 in a long time, or if the new M&S location has brought my attention to it.

 

[DelW]

I don't remember there ever having been a third large display - IIRC even back to the days of the Solari boards, there were only two sets (subject to correction if my memory is astray).

A set of screens was added midway between the main boards many years ago, and has been through several variations - the originals were maybe as far back as CRT days.

I always liked watching the Solaris - at quiet times the noise would alert you to a change, but at busy times the whole set of boards was in almost constant movement.

 

[Via Bank]

The boards being parallel to the gates makes a big difference. I'm convinced that part of the problem at Euston is that trains are called late, and then it takes time for people to actually find their platforms, because if they're looking at the boards (perpendicular to the gates) then their platform may be behind them.

Agreed that the smaller advertising plinths need to go, though. More clutter is not welcome.

 

[dosxuk]

The boards being parallel to the gates makes a big difference.

I don't think it's that clear cut - the boards being perpendicular at Liverpool Street seems to work pretty well.

 

[modernrail]

I don't think it's that clear cut - the boards being perpendicular at Liverpool Street seems to work pretty well.

It works at Liverpool St because a decent amount of footfall is coming in from the sides. Not a single foot is falling in from the sides at Euston.

Also, at Liverpool St most services are more local and leave more predictably from particular platforms. The opposite is true other than the middle platforms at Euston.

The very best case scenario at Euston is that passengers would come in, often from the tube, straight in, look up, see platform and either proceed or wait. That is what the previous arrangement allowed for. Not you come out of the underground, go out into an open area with no little protection, then do an instant 180, then walk in to the concourse, then walk forward and if you know the station curve around into the area with the screens. If you don’t know the station you headless chicken for a bit then find them. Then you find out the outer boards don’t have any useful info on them so you walk in further. Then you are stuck in a fairly tightly compacted section of grumpy passengers.

If that number of conflicting moves has been proposed on a flat junction I am sure somebody would have had something to say about it. That is before you build in the human disorientation/annoyance factor.

 

[Bald Rick]

It works at Liverpool St because a decent amount of footfall is coming in from the sides. Not a single foot is falling in from the sides at Euston.

I routinely enter Euston from the side entrance by Platform 16, and I am rarely alone. Accepting that it is a small percentage.

 

[modernrail]

I routinely enter Euston from the side entrance by Platform 16, and I am rarely alone. Accepting that it is a small percentage.

I would say that is a back entrance not a side one, accepting it is at ‘the side’. The reason I say back is that to get to the boards from there you have to swing in to all the other conflicting moves - you are not hitting the boards ‘from the side’ like at Liverpool Street and to some extent the main entrance at Waterloo.

 

[RailWonderer]

I don't think it's that clear cut - the boards being perpendicular at Liverpool Street seems to work pretty well.

They don't work, and they never have done. You can't stand to read them without people knocking into you from all directions.

It works at Liverpool St because a decent amount of footfall is coming in from the sides. Not a single foot is falling in from the sides at Euston.

It does not work at all. Liverpool St is not a station you walk around, you just shuffle to get around crowds of passengers and strafe to avoid them. People come diagonally, horizontally and vertically and it has always been a big mess.

 

[Goldfish62]

I certainly don't recall any departure screens being removed to make way for the advertising screen, which as others have said has been there for a long time (as has the M&S). From memory the advertising screen was previously a long-standing static advertising board.

What's really needed at Waterloo is replacement of the main departure screens. The orange displays really aren't up to current-day standards of clarity.

 

[modernrail]

They don't work, and they never have done. You can't stand to read them without people knocking into you from all directions.

It does not work at all. Liverpool St is not a station you walk around, you just shuffle to get around crowds of passengers and strafe to avoid them. People come diagonally, horizontally and vertically and it has always been a big mess.

I don’t personally find Waterloo or Liverpool Street that bad, partly because they both just feel a lot bigger than Euston. Plus trains seem to be called reasonably well in advance, despite many more local services than Euston. They are both chaotic, but in a busy big station way rather than the claustrophobic Euston ‘Hunger Games’ way.

 

[Via Bank]

No countdown timers with "platform closing in," no aggressive revenue blocks, considerably more people on flexible rather than train-specific tickets, fewer people with luggage, and I don't think I've ever had a bad experience with the gateline staff at Waterloo or Liverpool Street (although in fairness most times at Liv St I've been exiting on PAYG rather than with a paper or e-ticket.)

To be clear, the situation at Waterloo is not great by any means (announcements too quiet/not clear enough & often cut off by even worse manual announcements, screens not up to scratch, during times of disruption I've had a few cases where a train has been called and then cancelled just as people got onto the platform.) But it's considerably less awful than Euston because the concourse is a lot more spacious, there aren't the same choke points, and the staff seem to generally give a damn.

 

[Goldfish62]

Of course, Waterloo must be a lot easier to manage these days. Compared with 10 years ago there are fewer passengers, fewer trains and 24 platforms instead of 19!

Nevertheless a good job is still done. For example, as soon as trains are displayed, if they're from platforms 20-24 passengers are directed to that separate concourse to wait. Also, once trains are physically present they tend to be platformed and boarding allowed irrespective of whether the crew are on board. When necessary platform staff release the doors. It all helps to keep the concourse clear and reduce last minute surges.

 

[norbitonflyer]

I don't remember there ever having been a third large display - IIRC even back to the days of the Solari boards, there were only two sets (subject to correction if my memory is astray).

There were three. One on the Suburban side. One in the middle. One on the Windsor side. Only the middle one showed all the trains.

 

[DelW]

There were three. One on the Suburban side. One in the middle. One on the Windsor side. Only the middle one showed all the trains.

Was that in pre Eurostar days, when the Windsor lines platforms were right over on the north-west side? If so, it's maybe the Windsor lines board I'd forgotten about, since I rarely used them.

 

[Goldfish62]

Was that in pre Eurostar days, when the Windsor lines platforms were right over on the north-west side? If so, it's maybe the Windsor lines board I'd forgotten about, since I rarely used them.

I assume so, but then that disappeared around 35 years ago

Of course the "new" Windsor lines platforms ie platforms 20-24, have their own concourse and departure board, so essentially Waterloo is as it was prior to Eurostar.

 

[Starmill]

I routinely enter Euston from the side entrance by Platform 16, and I am rarely alone. Accepting that it is a small percentage.

Ironically that makes the point of the person you're quoting fairly well. Where can you see any departures info if you do walk in through there? Nowhere other than your own devices!

 

[Bletchleyite]

I routinely enter Euston from the side entrance by Platform 16, and I am rarely alone. Accepting that it is a small percentage.

Is that even still open? Thought it closed for HS2 work.

I did used to use it when I commuted, the 1823 "Master Cobbler" Northampton fast (even had that on the displays once!) always used 16. No need to look at any display bar the platform one for a quick check.

 

[Bald Rick]

Ironically that makes the point of the person you're quoting fairly well. Where can you see any departures info if you do walk in through there? Nowhere other than your own devices!

IIRC there is a small board just by the seated waiting area as you walk in through that entrance.

Is that even still open? Thought it closed for HS2 work.

I did used to use it when I commuted, the 1823 "Master Cobbler" Northampton fast (even had that on the displays once!) always used 16. No need to look at any display bar the platform one for a quick check.

Yes, still open