"Walter Briscoe" wrote:
In message of Tue, 15 Feb 2011 09:58:40
in uk.transport.london, d writes:
Why are there no train indicator boards at wood lane? Did they run out
of money when it was built or is the H&C still so unreliable it wasn't
worth the bother? And wouldn't it have made sense to build some sort
of walkway to White City all of 100 metres away so you don't have to
go through 2 gatelines to move between the stations?
None of the stations between Paddington and Hammersmith have train
indicator boards. I always assumed that putting them in would require
signalling hardware between the two points. The lack of information is
an abuse for those with hearing difficulties. Somebody does give good
announcements on that stretch of line. It seems to be done by an
individual rather than machinery.
"an abuse" - that's rather strong. Truth is, everything hinges on the new
SSL signalling system, which is some years off still. Without the new
signalling system there's no data feed for any such 'train describer'
boards. In essence it's in the pipeline, just that the pipeline is a bloody
long one (because everyone kept putting off building it, and when they
started in earnest then a dodgy construction model was chosen which has of
course subsequently imploded - I'm poss stretching the analogy into
nonsenseville here!).
I find it more irritating that Dot Matrix Indicators are installed and
not commissioned. e.g. at North Harrow - Northwood which had displays
which acted as expensive clocks. (They might have been commissioned by
now). [...]
One must presume that when these SSL stations were refurbished, it was
considered cost-effective to install the 'train describers' at the same
time - at the time, the timetable for the signalling upgrade would've
suggested that they'd be needed sooner than is now to be the case - though
perhaps we should be a bit grateful that the upgrade is actually happening
at all, and didn't get canned.
[...] A similar situation can be seen in Waterloo's Shell Centre Ticket
Hall where Bakerloo and Northern Line displays are commissioned but the
Jubilee Line display shows nothing.
There is also a problem between Queen's Park and Harrow and Wealdstone
where help points have waited for commissioning for more than a year.
Can't offer a guessplanation for those - though thinking about the latter, I
wonder if there might be some difficulties given the LU / Network Rail
interface on that stretch of line (all stations are owned by Network Rail
but nowadays are managed by LU, apart from Willesden Jn which is managed by
LOROL).