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[email protected] · August 15th 17, 01:22 AM posted to uk.transport.london

In article , (Certes) wrote:

On 14/08/17 11:00, Recliner wrote:
Basil Jet wrote:
On 2017\08\14 09:43, Anna Noyd-Dryver wrote:
Basil Jet wrote:
On 2017\08\10 21:55, Recliner wrote:

Note the 10:22 Addlestone train on the board is shown as the "Front
8 coaches of the train".

I wish they'd say "Near" and "Far": I never know what "Front" means!

At certain locations I can understand your confusion - though 'near'
and 'far' don't help either if the entrance to the platform is in the
middle, or if it's a multi-platform through station whether or not
your train is already present when you arrive on the platform
(especially if it's an unfamiliar location and you don't know which
direction the train will depart).

However at a terminus station where you walk past stop blocks to get
to the platform I'd have thought that 'front' and 'rear' were fairly
obvious descriptors?

Obvious to the guy sat at the pointy end! But in general, the front of
something is the side that's facing me, and the back is the side that's
facing away from me. It's a bit different with cars because they are
asymmetrical: the business end is always the front even if it's facing
away from you. The front of a train coming into the terminus is the
back leaving, so while it's stationary it doesn't have a front or back.

There's also the issue that I think Roland raised: if you're walking
from the back of the train, how do you know when you've got to the front
eight cars unless there's a sign (on the platform or train door display)
to tell you? You might remember how many cars you've walked past, but
how do you know how many lie ahead in a long platform.

Regarding the front or back, I'm always amazed at how many people
(usually female) board a train at the terminus and then ask which way
it'll be going.

Returning to (most of) the subject line, in my commuting days the
announcements at Waterloo (Main) were quite clear: "The front 8 coaches,
furthest from the ticket barrier" formed the Basingstoke stopper. At
Woking, the rear 4 were detached very smartly to form the Alton service.

I agree that it's more of a problem where there are no buffer stops.
Platforms 1a and 1b are a good attempt but the boundary between them
will shift between trains. I've also seen coloured zones, but I think
only to distinguish intercity[1] carriages with the same destination but
different accommodation.

Many (CHX-)Waterloo East-Ashford services are for "Ramsgate & Ramsgate".
They split at Ashford into a main train for Ramsgate via Canterbury and
a portion for Ramsgate via Dover. That must cause confusion.

[1] generic term, but including the late InterCity

The 1814 from Kings Cross to King's Lynn causes confusion too. The rear
4-car unit of three is detached at Royston and follows the rest as far as
Ely, stopping at all stations. Passengers for Cambridge to Ely get on the
back unit at King's Cross not realising they get a slower journey. If they
want Cambridge North which the Lynn portion doesn't stop at, they are still
better off changing cross-platform at Cambridge to a Norwich train than
using the back portion.

--
Colin Rosenstiel