Trivia:Best and Worst Station information boards

[thenorthern]

I have just noticed a topic that is rarely mentioned on here which is station information boards. With a huge variety about it made me think which stations have good information boards and which ones have bad ones and what makes a good information board.

From a personal view I think the best station information boards are at:
Derby - Very clear and the first thing you see when you walk into the station and it is above the main concourse, it also shows where the trains are running to and where the are going to stop at as well as who operates them

London Euston - Same as Derby, a big information board at the main entrance showing all the trains as well as where they are stopping at plus who operates them and the main information board is located in the main concourse which is the firs thing you can see when you walk in.

The worst ones in my opinion are:
Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe - all of which the main information boards provide very little information and only the destination of a train and possibly a via but no information about calling points or operators and if it is a fast train or a slow train. Also all of them have arrivals and departures next to each other on the same sized screen which I have regularly see passengers confused by.

Some neither good nor bad ones in my opinion are:
Manchester Piccadilly - the showing next train to each station in alphabetical order is a good idea although it keeps changing which can be frustrating when you have just found your station and it then changes which for people not familiar with the system can find confusing. The airport style "go to platform" and "wait in lounge" for platforms 13 and 14 seems a good idea.

Birmingham New Street - the information boards seem to show quite good detail and the "Next Train to London" is a good idea. The boards themselves though are tucked away in the corner though and may not be the first thing you see when you go into the station.

Which station would you say has the best and the worst information boards?

Try to also base it also on the size of the station as smaller stations are unlikely to have big information boards.

 

[edwin_m]

We've discussed the Piccadilly boards before and they seem to divide opinion.

The new ones at Nottingham are excellent, with several screens on a large "tree" in the outer concourse showing calling points for next few departures and a long list of subsequent ones by final destination. There are more screens on the way to the platforms. A real-time bus departure screen has also appeared recently!

While the concourse and individual platform displays in Derby are good, the information for arriving passengers looking for connections is poor. There is a LED screen on each platform showing only the next six or so trains, which can get clogged up if a few are late, and it faces towards the stairs so arriving passengers don't see it and departing ones will already have seen a much better LCD screen on the bridge. The few platform displays for onward connections at New Street are hard to find and it's usually easier to go onto the bridge.

A pet hate is when displays for the next few trains flip between two pages. If they do it quickly (most places) then it's sometimes not possible to find your train before the flip. The ones at Stockport show page 1 for ages and if you are after page 2 you can miss it by blinking! I'm not sure there is a workable compromise here and these stations really need extra screens.

I was at Wimbledon last weekend where there were no obvious next-train displays in the western concourse, just a long list of major destinations with the next train to each. This would be fine (except perhaps for destinations not listed) if it didn't just show "please enquire" for all the Thameslink destinations.

 

[D6975]

Cardiff is bad, Not because of the design, but because no distinction is made between mainline and valley services and all the boards display in Welsh then English, taking ages to do so. (thereby doubling what Edwin M describes above)

The result is that mainline services get lost in the mass of valley trains and a train on the mainline due fairly soon sometimes doesn't appear until just before it's due, particulary if a few valley line trains are late.

 

[thenorthern]

Cardiff is bad, Not because of the design, but because no distinction is made between mainline and valley services and all the boards display in Welsh then English, taking ages to do so. (thereby doubling what Edwin M describes above)

Having bilingual signs give stations a special uniqueness to them although I know I am going to be controversial here but I think it can sometimes be over the top. English is by far the most common language spoken in Cardiff so its not really right to say that Welsh should have exactly the same status as English at the cities railway stations although there in my opinion information is Welsh should be available.

First Scotrail goes way over the top in my opinion by putting dual language text on some information boards at Edinburgh and Glasgow stations where the amount of Scottish Gaelic speakers is very low.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Birmingham New Street - the information boards seem to show quite good detail and the "Next Train to London" is a good idea. The boards themselves though are tucked away in the corner though and may not be the first thing you see when you go into the station.

To be fair to New St, the current station isn't the final station. I expect the Atrium, as the new main concourse, will have a large display in a suitable position. Probably a bit like the one at the new Kings Cross.

My preference, FWIW, is for a "traditional layout using LEDs" approach like at Euston for the main board, and the 3-line displays for platforms. Though there are stations like Preston which aren't really suitable for the traditional layout as there is nowhere logical to put one. (Did it ever have a large main departure board? If so where was it?)

The one thing I'd change is that if a train runs off the bottom, I'd continue it onto the next panel rather than having changing displays which can be confusing.

Neil

 

[crehld]

London Euston - Same as Derby, a big information board at the main entrance showing all the trains as well as where they are stopping at plus who operates them and the main information board is located in the main concourse which is the firs thing you can see when you walk in.

The worst ones in my opinion are:
Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe - all of which the main information boards provide very little information and only the destination of a train and possibly a via but no information about calling points or operators and if it is a fast train or a slow train. Also all of them have arrivals and departures next to each other on the same sized screen which I have regularly see passengers confused by.

Totally agree with your assessment of Crewe. The main problem I feel is that the screen is so small and it's a busy station, so it only shows you departures for about the next ten minutes (if you're lucky). It does say "page 1 of 3" although it's almost always stuck on 1.

Yes the boards at Euston are clear and display a lot of information. But putting them in the middle of the station concourse makes it really quite difficult to move in the station as everyone is standing around waiting for the platform to be announced at the last minute.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Yes the boards at Euston are clear and display a lot of information. But putting them in the middle of the station concourse makes it really quite difficult to move in the station as everyone is standing around waiting for the platform to be announced at the last minute.

Given that Euston has waiting space on the platform approaches and doors to close the platform off, the best way to resolve that would in my view be to pack in doing that and start putting platforms up as soon as the trains appear on the displays. (Euston platforms are generally very consistent).

Neil

 

[crehld]

Given that Euston has waiting space on the platform approaches and doors to close the platform off, the best way to resolve that would in my view be to pack in doing that and start putting platforms up as soon as the trains appear on the displays. (Euston platforms are generally very consistent).

Neil

Agreed. It is particularly frustrating to see the status "preparing" appear on the displays without a platform number, when clearly the platform number is known. If they're preparing it there is no reason why they cannot start the process of moving everyone towards the platform and doing the ticket check (which always causes an unnecessary bottle neck five minutes before departure), and just keep people waiting on the platform until the train doors are ready to be unlocked.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Agreed. It is particularly frustrating to see the status "preparing" appear on the displays without a platform number, when clearly the platform number is known. If they're preparing it there is no reason why they cannot start the process of moving everyone towards the platform and doing the ticket check (which always causes an unnecessary bottle neck five minutes before departure), and just keep people waiting on the platform until the train doors are ready to be unlocked.

Of course anyone with RTT can circumvent this scrum if they so wish. I always do. I used to do it by tallying arrivals against departures, though it's much easier now

Neil

 

[rdeez]

Agreed. It is particularly frustrating to see the status "preparing" appear on the displays without a platform number, when clearly the platform number is known. If they're preparing it there is no reason why they cannot start the process of moving everyone towards the platform and doing the ticket check (which always causes an unnecessary bottle neck five minutes before departure), and just keep people waiting on the platform until the train doors are ready to be unlocked.

I would guess this is to stop people getting in the way of cleaners who may be getting on and off the train, catering supplies being loaded, etc.

It must be quicker and easier to do this without a platform full of passengers to weave around, and psychologically, I suspect people are more likely to become impatient stood outside a locked train than they are waiting on the concourse.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I would guess this is to stop people getting in the way of cleaners who may be getting on and off the train, catering supplies being loaded, etc.

It must be quicker and easier to do this without a platform full of passengers to weave around, and psychologically, I suspect people are more likely to become impatient stood outside a locked train than they are waiting on the concourse.

Of course Euston has the areas at the top of the ramps, which could be used as easyJet-style queueing pens for those who wished. Tickets could even be checked on entry to the pens.

Neil

 

[D6975]

English is by far the most common language spoken in Cardiff....

You're right there. I used to know lots of bashers from the Newport/Cardiff area and more of them 'spoke' BSL than Welsh.

 

[rdeez]

Of course Euston has the areas at the top of the ramps, which could be used as easyJet-style queueing pens for those who wished. Tickets could even be checked on entry to the pens.

Neil

True. Personally, I'd rather wait in the (relative) comfort and space of the concourse than squashed onto the ramps, but there'd be no harm in offering the choice to those who wished to get in earlier, I suppose.

 

[Statto]

Best
Liverpool Lime Street, which has individual departures boards enough to get the next 10 trains & calling stations up, then subsequent departures & next fastest train to section, plus arrivals & any information.

Worst
I agree with Crewe very poor

 

[PeterY]

Metropolitan mainline north of Harrow on the Hill (except Moor Park) displays have been there years and all they say is Northbound or Southbound please check the destination on the front of the train.

 

[Bletchleyite]

True. Personally, I'd rather wait in the (relative) comfort and space of the concourse than squashed onto the ramps, but there'd be no harm in offering the choice to those who wished to get in earlier, I suppose.

That's my point... it would be better than the scrum. If you wish to board first, queue early. If you don't care, take your time as at present.

Neil
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Best
Liverpool Lime Street, which has individual departures boards enough to get the next 10 trains & calling stations up, then subsequent departures & next fastest train to section, plus arrivals & any information.

Lime St, interestingly, was the first station to prototype the "classic layout" LEDs, though I think it's now been replaced as the early board didn't last so well.

The irony is that this board was said at the time to have been installed because (other than that the old flip-dot one was completely knackered) plasma displays of the type used in Paddington and Waterloo were not affordable. Of course, the expensive plasma displays soon burnt in and/or failed completely, and were completely unfit for purpose, and orange LED was rolled out across the network, including Paddington and Waterloo.

Neil

 

[thenorthern]

Manchester Victoria information boards quite poor but when the station rebuilding is complete I am sure it will look much better.

Wolverhampton information boards are quite poor if I remember correctly, it must be something to do with Virgin Trains managed stations.

For the size of the main station building Peterbrough's information boards do look very good.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Wolverhampton information boards are quite poor if I remember correctly, it must be something to do with Virgin Trains managed stations.

A lot of WCML stations don't really have a main board, not just the VT ones - that's mainly because their layout or building design doesn't make it easy to have one.

Neil

 

[adrock1976]

My own perception of arguably the best information board for departing trains was the good old fashioned mechanical flapperboard at Birmingham New Street.

You could easily see what destination and platform number clearly from a distance, whether coming down the escalators from the Pallasades centre above, or through the main forecourt through the glass doors of the Smallbrook Queensway entrance.

Furthermore, there was also none of this nonsense you get with scrolling pages. Everything that related to a particular train amazingly all fitted into the one column on the flapperboard.

I would like to see the flapperboard brought back for Birmingham New Street. After all, Cadbury's brought back Wispa bars, the BBC brought back Doctor Who, Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham, and Croydon have brought back trams, so the DfT/NR can bring back the mechanical flapperboard on that basis.

In peace

Adam

 

[PeterY]

I used to find the old flapper boards fascinating to watch. Has one been persevered anywhere?

 

[thenorthern]

I used to find the old flapper boards fascinating to watch. Has one been persevered anywhere?

Doubt it, the mechanical cost of running them them is phenomenal.

Ely has bad information boards, many of the platforms still use CRT Televisions which haven't been used for years in most places.

 

[Searle]

From an international point of view, I found Berlin Hbf to be worse than any English station that I've been to. Amazing as a shopping centre, not so useful to actually catch a train from!

 

[ASharpe]

Bradford interchange is bad and could be improved very easily. There are two pairs of CRT tube TVs all showing the same information. Problem is they are mainly used for safety, engineering and other notices with train times only displayed for a fraction of the time.

Could they not change it to one screen for notices and one for train information. Or just turn off the notices and put a poster over one of the screen in each pair.

It particularly bugs me at the bottom of the escalators when I want to know if I have time to buy a paper or drink before the train.

 

[quarella]

A problem now is the spoon feeding of passengers which further limits the number of trains displayed. First class, valid tickets, bicycles, what the guard had for tea last night, etc. Add in a few late runners at a busy station and you are off the bottom of the screen very quickly. As I found out the German franchise holders of several TOCs don't even advertise all the stops on their platform screens.

 

[3141]

Two that I've found particularly frustrating.

York, though it's a few years since I was last there. The screens changed much too quickly for anyone to be able to read all that was displayed. You waited for the information to reappear, but when it did it was on a different screen. By the time you realised that, it was again too late to read much of the information before it changed again...

Lancaster southbound about five years ago. The full details of a Virgin train for London took three successive displays. The last one told standard class passengers where their coaches were. Who was going to wait through all that lot? Instead they'd stay at the south end of the platform till their train arrived, and then walk northwards along it to find their accommodation. Another reason for that was the absence of seats towards the north end of the platform. Virgin were unhappy about the time boarding took, but it was largely their own fault.

 

[thenorthern]

Sheffield's main information boards do look quite good and are very large but I would rotate them by 90' personally.

The most innovative information boards though in my opinion are the "Go to Platform" and "Wait in Lounge" ones on platforms 13 and 14 at Manchester Piccadilly. The idea is just great as it stops a congested narrow island platform being filled up with passengers waiting for a later train.

 

[hallamhash]

I used to find the old flapper boards fascinating to watch. Has one been persevered anywhere?

They do exist still, not in this country as I'm aware though

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-flap_display


Can confirm that the sound they make is as satisfying as one would hope

 

[matchmaker]

The old ones at Glasgow central were the best!

 

[PeterY]

Displays were not working this morning (Wednesday 10/12/2014) properly at Victoria. Information was a bit vague to say the least from the station announcer. I'm guessing a seasoned travelling will know what platform their train departs from. The actual time was correct but nothing else.

Luckily I only needed to spot a class 37 and Tangmere to know I was on the right platform

 

[GatwickDepress]

Those WebCIS help points with inbuilt information displays are quite nifty, especially with the real time train information, but recently they have become awfully prone to errors. At least they have in my neck of the woods.

In the past month the software has crashed multiple times leaving a blank screen, the station has displayed Manchester Piccadilly's information instead of Ore, cancellations aren't automatically added to the screen unlike on other systems, and it was showing real time information five hours in the future last week. All fun and games for passengers!

I used to find the old flapper boards fascinating to watch. Has one been persevered anywhere?

The Network SouthEast Preservation Society has persevered in preserving most of Brighton's old Solari board. It's currently in pieces at their Shoreham depot. It also lacks a control unit iirc.