Class 345 progress

[spark001uk]

Precisely.

The Hamburg U-bahn is similar. It simply announces the current route number and destination, and says "Nächste Halte:" on approach to each stop. No nonsense, efficient, and if you can work out that "nächste" (which sounds like 'next') means 'next,' and "Halte" (which sounds like 'halt') is stop, it's immediately clear what it means. I had no trouble navigating as someone who speaks very little German.

The double bonus is that the conciseness of the German announcements means there's space for another announcement in another language at principal stations likely to be frequented by visitors (in Hamburg there's an extra announcement in English for the benefit of tourists at Hbf and interchanges for the airport.)

Exactly. Concise is better, especially for those with limited English knowledge.
I notice with a lot of people though that they'd probably benefit from tearing their gaze away from their phones for 5 seconds and they'd see what station they were arriving at !!

 

[Via Bank]

Exactly. Concise is better, especially for those with limited English knowledge.
I notice with a lot of people though that they'd probably benefit from tearing their gaze away from their phones for 5 seconds and they'd see what station they were arriving at !!

Perhaps if certain train operators and infrastructure companies could be bothered to light station name boards properly and line them up with train windows, so they're actually visible to people, that would work.

 

[AM9]

Perhaps if certain train operators and infrastructure companies could be bothered to light station name boards properly and line them up with train windows, so they're actually visible to people, that would work.

So there are 72 windows per side of a full length class 345 train, - that's rather a lot of name boards on a platform meaning that each one won't be that big. However many signs there are it won't help those who are blind, very poor sighted or of course not mobile enough to rotate their head through 180 degrees when sitting in the longtitudonal seats with their back to the windows.
spark001uk is right, if passengers want to confirm visually which station the train is at, they will have get their heads out of their phones etc., and pay attention either to the PIS or view the world around them.

 

[D365]

Perhaps if certain train operators and infrastructure companies could be bothered to light station name boards properly and line them up with train windows, so they're actually visible to people, that would work.

I sincerely hope that you're not suggesting that for surface stations where multiple classes of train are stopping..!

Or will the drivers have to stop the train in exactly the right position?

 

[AlexNL]

Precisely.

The Hamburg U-bahn is similar. It simply announces the current route number and destination, and says "Nächste Halte:" on approach to each stop. No nonsense, efficient, and if you can work out that "nächste" (which sounds like 'next') means 'next,' and "Halte" (which sounds like 'halt') is stop, it's immediately clear what it means. I had no trouble navigating as someone who speaks very little German.

The double bonus is that the conciseness of the German announcements means there's space for another announcement in another language at principal stations likely to be frequented by visitors (in Hamburg there's an extra announcement in English for the benefit of tourists at Hbf and interchanges for the airport.)

The National Express trains in Nordrhein-Westfalen do exactly the same: they announce the line number + destination (RE7 nach Rheine), nothing more. When approaching a station they also announce the side on which the doors will open, and if it's a hub station they announce destinations which can be reached from there.

There's no blabbering about stopping patterns, safety information, this being a non-smoking train, that having a ticket is required*, nor asking passengers to ensure that they travel in the correct part of the train.

* There is a text on the outside of the train which stipulates this

 

[MCR247]

Will announcing which side the doors will open on feature in later versions of the PIS, assuming it's not there now?

 

[dp21]

Will announcing which side the doors will open on feature in later versions of the PIS, assuming it's not there now?

This is mere speculation but given they've got it on the vic line and have recently added it to the Jubilee, I can imagine it being introduced in the central section.

Perhaps they don't have it on the TfL Rail route at present because customers can open the doors themselves and the doors do not open automatically once the train arrives at the station unless the button is pressed; thus "doors will open on the right hand side" would be incorrect if one is being pedantic?

 

[ijmad]

Perhaps they don't have it on the TfL Rail route at present because customers can open the doors themselves and the doors do not open automatically once the train arrives at the station unless the button is pressed; thus "doors will open on the right hand side" would be incorrect if one is being pedantic?

Could still say 'exit on the right hand side'. The Rome metro says that ... "Uscita lato... Destro".

 

[macaronlover]

Perhaps they don't have it on the TfL Rail route at present because customers can open the doors themselves and the doors do not open automatically once the train arrives at the station unless the button is pressed; thus "doors will open on the right hand side" would be incorrect if one is being pedantic?

LOL, rubbish excuse. "Doors will release on the left/right hand side" (stations outside of the core section - as necessary)
"Doors will open on the right hand side" (in the core section) job done!

 

[dp21]

LOL, rubbish excuse. "Doors will release on the left/right hand side" (stations outside of the core section - as necessary)
"Doors will open on the right hand side" (in the core section) job done!

Hey, I'm just speculating, chill.

 

[FlippyFF]

Exactly. Concise is better, especially for those with limited English knowledge.
I notice with a lot of people though that they'd probably benefit from tearing their gaze away from their phones for 5 seconds and they'd see what station they were arriving at !!

I rode from Ilford to Stratford yesterday, at one station I looked up from my book to see what station we were at and all I could see were blue hoardings. I think it was Forest Gate (and I wasn't paying attention to the announcements, if there were any, as I was engrossed(sp?) in my book.

(were trains shunting between P5 & P8 at Stratford yesterday or returning back east from each?)


Simon

 

[railfanatic]

Another thing i forgot to mention is that the automated announcements seem really cheap and poor quality as they regularly stutter. For example on one of the 345s i went on it ended up stuttering and saying "Strat....ford" and i heard it at a few other stations as well. So i think that needs to be sorted out as well. I'm not sure what is causing this.

This will be fixed in the next OTA update

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[SpacePhoenix]

Will there be many stations where the doors open on the right, in the direction of travel?

 

[railfanatic]

Once the whole of XRail is open, will they stop at any platforms with a wide enough gap to actually need "mind the gap" announcements?

Only stations that need them will have them in their "approach" phase.

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[railfanatic]

Where do I send my suggestions?

Drop me a PM

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[AM9]

Will there be many stations where the doors open on the right, in the direction of travel?

On the GE, Liverpool St. high level maybe, Stratford (down), Gidea Park (up and down), Shenfield (2 of three platforms).

 

[306024]

On the GE, Liverpool St. high level maybe, Stratford (down), Gidea Park (up and down), Shenfield (2 of three platforms).

And to add some more obscure examples, Maryland platform 2 if running up electric line to terminate in platform 8 at Stratford, or platform 4 if running up main line to terminate in platform 10A at Stratford, both of which are possible under engineering work, then Stratford platforms 9 and 10A themselves. Seven Kings platform 3 if crossing from the down electric line to the down main line is another. At Shenfield platforms 2, 4 and 6 are all on the right and can be used for terminating trains.

 

[macaronlover]

On the GE, Liverpool St. high level maybe, Stratford (down), Gidea Park (up and down), Shenfield (2 of three platforms).

They won't open automatically hence the word 'released' should be used

 

[AlexNL]

Or use a generic phrase: exit to the left/right in the direction of travel.

On the RandstadRail Line between Rotterdam and The Hague, the majority of the platforms are on the right hand side. When approaching a station where platforms are on the left, the PIS announces "Attention, exit to the left" ("Let op, links uitstappen"). This helps to keep the amount of audio clutter to a minimum.

 

[jon0844]

They won't open automatically hence the word 'released' should be used

Not sure Joe Public should be told about doors being released. Can't it just say 'exit on the left hand side' or something?

 

[macaronlover]

Not sure Joe Public should be told about doors being released. Can't it just say 'exit on the left hand side' or something?

That would be better actually, to comply with the 'simplicity' movement. An announcement like this can be made but it's a matter of whether or not the PIS team will approve of it.

 

[ijmad]

On the GE, Liverpool St. high level maybe, Stratford (down), Gidea Park (up and down), Shenfield (2 of three platforms).

Wonder if this means the right side doors will wear out more quickly. Guess the 345s aren't ever getting turned anywhere?

 

[physics34]

can someone please put up the times/diagrams for tomorrow? if its listed a few pages back please let us know the page cheers

 

[AM9]

Wonder if this means the right side doors will wear out more quickly. Guess the 345s aren't ever getting turned anywhere?

Possibly not as passengers causing multiple door open/close sequences are (generally) more common on up peak trains than down ones, therefore the stops on the GWML in the mornings will possibly equalise the higher incidence of right side door openings on the GEML.

 

[ijmad]

Possibly not as passengers causing multiple door open/close sequences are (generally) more common on up peak trains than down ones, therefore the stops on the GWML in the mornings will possibly equalise the higher incidence of right side door openings on the GEML.

Also what I said makes no sense because when the trains reverse and run back in the other direction, they will open the other set of doors (even though those doors are also the right).

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Can the driver manually open all doors on the relevant side and latch them open until they are ready to close them at busy stations outside of the core? In the core, will the doors auto close after a period of no one going through them or will they stay open until the driver closes them all?

 

[Rick1984]

Perhaps if certain train operators and infrastructure companies could be bothered to light station name boards properly and line them up with train windows, so they're actually visible to people, that would work.

At least we have station signs. In Latvia you have to count how many stood you've gone as there's mostly no signs and absolutely no announcements

 

[railfanatic]

Can the driver manually open all doors on the relevant side and latch them open until they are ready to close them at busy stations outside of the core? In the core, will the doors auto close after a period of no one going through them or will they stay open until the driver closes them all?

Yes, the driver can, if required.

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[Dstock7080]

In the core, will the doors auto close after a period of no one going through them or will they stay open until the driver closes them all?

I would've thought that auto-close would be inhibited at core stations, as there would be no way that passengers on the platform side could reopen the screen doors.

 

[Goldfish62]

Could still say 'exit on the right hand side'. The Rome metro says that ... "Uscita lato... Destro".

"Aufstieg rechts." Berlin S Bahn.