incorrect departure board information at City Thameslink

[AndyY]

Last night I was waiting for a northbound stopping train at the station around 20:45.

An earlier fast train was delayed for 11 minutes and the departure board at the station showed that it would arrive after the slow train.
A train duly pulled into the station. I thought it was the stopping train and got on. Fortunately I realised that it was actually a fast train (the one that was delayed) just before it left St. Pancras. Had I not done so, the next stop would be St. Albans.

I wonder if there is a problem with the display and if I should rather trust the announcements more. Last night I assumed that what I saw on the departure board was correct, and I had been working nearly 12h on the trot, so did not pay much attention to the announcements.

What are the consequences if I ended up on the wrong train and there was a ticket inspection (I only have Oyster card so no valid ticket to St. Albans)?

 

[SAPhil]

The displays on the platform are usually correct, although when there are delayed trains they might not show the correct train until the last minute! The big blue display above the ticket barriers is less reliable - I've missed a few trains thanks to it

 

[Bald Rick]

Do you mean the main boards at the gate line, or the boards on the platform?

When there is late running, the CIS system predicts which train will arrive first based on its lateness at the last monitoring point. A train due in 10 minutes that is last reported on time will be calculated to arrive before one scheduled in 5 minutes but is 6 minutes late.

However, it isn't an intelligent system. If the signaller regulates the service to put the second train first, the CIS won't know this until the overtaking train arrives at the next monitoring point (or nearly so). In the example you experienced, this means arriving at Blackfriars. I have stood on Blackfriars countless times where the next train display changes with one rolling in. Arriving Blackfriars to arriving City Thameslink can be as little as 90 seconds. If this was the problem, there's not much can be done until Traffic Management arrives next year which is an intelligent system and will automatically update with what the signaller / controller is planning to do.


There is a 'but'. The new departure screens on the Thameslink platforms at some stations (notably Blackfriars and St Pancras, not sure about City) are arranged with two screens side by side in portrait orientation. The info displayed is such that the next train from the platform is always on the left screen. This means that if you are on a northbound platform, looking towards the north, the next train displayed is on the screen furthest from the train itself at the platform on the right, whilst the second train due is displayed next to the train in the platform. I find this counter-intuitive. Of course it works the 'right' way if you are on the northbound platform looking south.

If this is what happened, ie you were looking at the screen next to the train, and it was actually for the 2nd train, then I'd complain.

 

[AndyY]

Bald Rick, SAPhil,

Sorry I was not able to reply earlier.
Yes I meant both. The departure boards on the wall upstairs (behind the ticket barriers) and at platform level were both showing the stopping train as the first one. It was incorrect 1 minute before the train arrived. Perhaps it changed just as the train was arriving - I am not sure.

I hope that Oyster cards are accepted in St. Albans and Radlett soon. That way, people will not be fined if they got on the wrong train and got overcarried.