On LU it used to be an announcement 1 minute after the initial delay. I
think it's now 30 seconds. If it's 1 seconds or more later than it should
be and somebody is secretly monitoring the driver, the driver gets a
bollocking. I think the follow up PA is after 2 minutes. I forget what
subsequent ones were. The driver still gets a bollocking if he is late or
misses those as well.

Roger

*From:* Neil Williams
*Date:* Tue, 5 Apr 2011 02:32:38 -0700 (PDT)

On Apr 5, 11:12*am, Chris Tolley (ukonline
really) wrote:

Until those investigating at the scene have actually said, "okay,
we've
finished now" all rail staff can do is offer guesses, though.

What they can do is offer the ability to say "we were told to do
that". Which can be very useful when someone gets stuck further
down
the line.

They can also reassure people that they aren't being ignored. The
LUL
requirement for a "we are being held at a red signal" announcement
after N minutes (N=2?) is a good example. It does not provide
useful
information, but it does provide reassurance that someone gives a
monkeys about the passengers and they are not just an operational
inconvenience.

It's very hard to come up with a one-size-fits-all answer in these
circumstances, apart from "keep calm and carry on".

And reassurance. The human factor is very important, but often
neglected.

Oddly, said human factor can sometimes be provided via technology.
I
find LM's Twitter feed very good for this.

Neil