Farigiraf
Member
Avanti would never. LNER is great but Virgin trains was the superior operator of the WCML (maybe I'm biased as I got a pendolino on the Holyhead service once, but always a delayed voyager with AWC)
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Frighton (Brighton given a spooky temporary name by GTR)
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Signal_Box
Member
The country and railway is broke but GTR can waste money on sticky signs
OneOfThe48
Member
I haven’t seen any stickers on signs, but I can’t imagine that changing a couple of station names on platform dot matrix screens cost much if any money.
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Signal_Box
Member
You do realise any work carried out for any railway company is many many times more expensive than normal industries, add to that IT work - much and any aren’t words used in railway financial matters!
Silver Cobra
Member
Would 'Hogsmeade' appearing as a destination on a Thameslink 700 be in relation to this? I saw this at Peterborough this morning.
Picture shows a Class 700 with it's destination blind displaying 'Hogsmeade' instead of 'Horsham' at Peterborough.
Picture shows a Class 700 with it's destination blind displaying 'Hogsmeade' instead of 'Horsham' at Peterborough.
whoosh
Established Member
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It's only on CIS screens at GTR stations where the temporary changes have been made. Announcements over PA systems are not altered. Fixed signage at stations has not been altered.
There are five stations on GTR that have been changed, four of which have been mentioned in this thread. Hauntingdon, for Huntingdon is the other one.
The change is from 07:00 until 21:00 today.
There are five stations on GTR that have been changed, four of which have been mentioned in this thread. Hauntingdon, for Huntingdon is the other one.
The change is from 07:00 until 21:00 today.
OneOfThe48
Member
Wait what?
According to the puff pieces they put out it was only for Brighton, Billingshurst, Crawley, Huntingdon and Winchmore Hill and only on the platform screens.
Do you remember what time you took that photo? Didn't know they were changing the destinations on the front of the trains too
lxfe_mxtterz
Member
I would assume it was probably just a guard* getting into the spirit of things. I don't know about the Class 700s but on the Class 455s you can manually type in custom text to display using the PIS panel.
* Unsure if they have guards. If not, then driver.
brad465
Veteran Member
It's probably £0 because it can be done in-house by usually employed staff.
Signal_Box
Member
Okay then - there is still a cost even if it’s time from their usual duties.
The railway is there to get people from A to B we struggle to do that daily- maybe stick to the day job and not try to be comedians.
Doing this would take very little time and was likely implemented on the CIS overnight when operators would otherwise be doing nothing else. It's programmed in and pretty simple to implement. You seem to just be looking to find a battle when there is none.
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Whilst I take this is as being intended to be a bit of harmless fun, I do fully appreciate how it could confuse some people and on that basis think it shouldn't happen. They should mark it in some other kind of way. By all means put up a post, formally known as a tweet, on X, formally known as Twitter but not on the screens.
Having said this, I like the idea of Guildford become Ghostford but it's better if it isn't on the screens.
As for name changes for fun, Worthing could become Woooooor-thing.
Having said this, I like the idea of Guildford become Ghostford but it's better if it isn't on the screens.
As for name changes for fun, Worthing could become Woooooor-thing.
Sly Old Fox
Member
As a driver in another part of the country, I genuinely wouldn’t have known that Frighton was Brighton. I’d just presume that a train was terminating short at a station I’d not heard of.
Why only 07:00 to 21:00. Halloween doesn't just happen during those times and if people are going to be confused it doesn't occur only before 07:00 and after 21:00.
There will be people with lesser hearing who rely on the screens being accurate.
As someone who loves puns but also works in street naming and numbering and maintains address and street gazetteers, it's a no from me.
Find another way to celebrate it with puns.
If they has changed Fratton they could have had Frighton and Fritton.
No idea but until someone is, it's impossible to say.
But do we want to encourage that possiblity?
As I say, there must be another way to mark the day with puns.
Have they sped up the time it takes to input the CIS info now. I'm sure it use to be rather tidious.
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Eh? This would be one simple edit to change the name of the station between the hours defined.
I was born in the UK, have lived here all my life and am (of course) a native English speaker. Neither am I disabled or have learning difficulties, but if I saw "Chillingshurst" on a departure board I wouldn't think "Oh that must be Billingshurst"; I'd think it was a different place. Unless I was local to the line and knew the station stops.
"Frighton" for "Brighton", well, possibly. I'd probably realise that was just a crap joke. But "Hogsmeade" instead of "Horsham"? Not a chance. I know what Hogsmeade is so I'd know it wasn't actually going there, but I would never have linked it to Horsham. Other than beginning with the same two letters it isn't remotely similar.
The whole thing is just puerile.
"Frighton" for "Brighton", well, possibly. I'd probably realise that was just a crap joke. But "Hogsmeade" instead of "Horsham"? Not a chance. I know what Hogsmeade is so I'd know it wasn't actually going there, but I would never have linked it to Horsham. Other than beginning with the same two letters it isn't remotely similar.
The whole thing is just puerile.
OneOfThe48
Member
Seeing as Horsham to Hogsmeade (which isn’t a very Halloween-y word) wasn’t mentioned in the comments etc they sent out to the media it might be that it was a driver or some other member of staff taking it upon themselves to make the change for a laugh
I fully agree with this, even glancing at Frighton on a screen in a busy station wouldn't jump out to me as Brighton, especially as there's plenty of stations that do have similar names. I assume they didn't change the screens at Victoria to say Frighton though and it was just local stations that got it.
In any case the idea of the screens is to help everyone and this doesn't. Imagine if Highways England started slapping new names on signs for a laugh? There'd be uproar.
Ironically, the job of the social media team and the whole Marcom team is to do things just like this to generate publicity and promote a business - although whether this was a wise idea or not is clearly dividing opinions. But, ultimately, they should have time to do these things!
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CaptainHaddock
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I agree. If I were the boss of whoever came up with this pathetic infantile prank, I'd have him in my office first thing tomorrow and give him the sack.
Running a railway is a serious business; anyone wasting their working day on this nonsense might be better advised to seek a career elsewhere.
No, Frighton was everywhere. From North in Thameslink, to London Bridge, Victoria and East and West Coastways
kristiang85
Established Member
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I really hope it didn't say this at Gatwick, otherwise that would potentially be a lot of confused visitors...
(I'm a proper curmudgeon about Halloween so such humour does not do it for me, and seems to have caused more problems than amusement).
(I'm a proper curmudgeon about Halloween so such humour does not do it for me, and seems to have caused more problems than amusement).
HSTEd
Veteran Member
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It's amazing the sort of stuff they spend effort on in the modern railway, even as it enters a financial death spiral......
AlbertBeale
Established Member
Quite possibly - but they're unlikely to be found here, are they...
On the way home I saw a screen at Three Bridges said 'change at Frighton for Brighton'.
Perhaps what could have been done is leave the screens alone, but change the station name boards at the northern end of the platforms at Brighton to say Frighton. The chances of anyone not getting out as they didn't know they were in Brighton would then be all but nonexistent.
I've been told (but never seen) that at Hove they hang the word 'Actually ' underneath one of the platform signs so it reads Hove Actually.
(For non locals, Hove and Brighton share a common boundary which is not always obvious. As Hove is considered the posher of the two,anyone living in Hove will, on being asked Do you live in Brighton? Will reply, no, Hove Actually).
Perhaps what could have been done is leave the screens alone, but change the station name boards at the northern end of the platforms at Brighton to say Frighton. The chances of anyone not getting out as they didn't know they were in Brighton would then be all but nonexistent.
I've been told (but never seen) that at Hove they hang the word 'Actually ' underneath one of the platform signs so it reads Hove Actually.
(For non locals, Hove and Brighton share a common boundary which is not always obvious. As Hove is considered the posher of the two,anyone living in Hove will, on being asked Do you live in Brighton? Will reply, no, Hove Actually).
Signal_Box
Member
It cost nothing apparently…
Class15
Established Member
Yes I have. A tourist who I had to rather embarrassingly tell that GTR had changed the names of its stations.
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