In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at 18:59:14 on Thu, 19 Jun
2014, Roland Perry remarked:
After trying to rationalise Network Rail's management of the platform
announcements at Kings Cross, this evening they changed the platform
for the 18.44 Kings Lynn service from 10 to 1 with six minutes notice.

It occurs to me - having looked at the normal pattern of trains, plus
the fact a different train was in platform 10 at the time, and the
way they tannoyed a retraction of the screen announcement of platform
10 about a minute later - that the 10/1 thing here was a manual typo.

Which means the massive departure board is *not automated*, not even
at the level of "is it yet time to manually reveal the automatic
information that this train is destined to depart from platform 1".

You need to know when they committed the incoming Downham Market train to
platform 1. It arrived at 18:39 so maybe the 6 minutes was all the notice
there was.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message , at 16:23:19
on Thu, 19 Jun 2014, remarked:
After trying to rationalise Network Rail's management of the platform
announcements at Kings Cross, this evening they changed the platform
for the 18.44 Kings Lynn service from 10 to 1 with six minutes notice.

It occurs to me - having looked at the normal pattern of trains, plus
the fact a different train was in platform 10 at the time, and the
way they tannoyed a retraction of the screen announcement of platform
10 about a minute later - that the 10/1 thing here was a manual typo.

Which means the massive departure board is *not automated*, not even
at the level of "is it yet time to manually reveal the automatic
information that this train is destined to depart from platform 1".

You need to know when they committed the incoming Downham Market train to
platform 1. It arrived at 18:39 so maybe the 6 minutes was all the notice
there was.

The important fact is that platform 10 *already* had what was later
revealed to be a 'Foxton' train in it (since 1827).

I'm pretty sure that when they announced "platform 10" at about 8
minutes notice it was a typo for "platform 1".

HOWEVER, having decided to use platform 1 for the train I can now see
why it was announced relatively late:

1827 Train from Letchworth arrives platform 10
1830 I arrive at station, the 1814 is scrolled off the main departure
board (as one might expect). Only two of the numerous trains
displayed had a platform number at this point.
but...
1834 Late running 1814 leaves platform 1
1836 Departure of 1844 is announced for platform 10.
1838 Departure of 1844 re-announced for platform 1.
1839 Inbound train arrives platform 1, five minutes late. It hadn't
been held outside the station, because it was running late all the
way from Cambridge.
1844 My train departs platform 1 on time.
(1857 Train leaves platform 10 for Foxton/Cambridge, 5 late)

So even if they knew well in advance that the train was going to be
using platform 1, they couldn't really announce it before approx 1835
because then people would have been mistakenly boarding an earlier train
(with the slight complication that it's one going to the same
destinations, so no real harm done).

No doubt the board by the buffers at platform 1 had the 1814 advertised
until at least 1832, but because that's the far side of the barriers
no-one is in a position to see it.

ps The late-running stopper we got stuck behind from Royston is the
detached 3rd unit of the 1814, running about 25 late.
--
Roland Perry

In article ,
Roland Perry wrote:

So even if they knew well in advance that the train was going to be
using platform 1, they couldn't really announce it before approx 1835
because then people would have been mistakenly boarding an earlier train
(with the slight complication that it's one going to the same
destinations, so no real harm done).

Seriously? Every non-terminus station out there seems quite capable of
posting the same departure platform for multiple trains without causing
undue confusion.

In message , at
12:38:09 on Fri, 20 Jun 2014, Espen H. Koht remarked:
So even if they knew well in advance that the train was going to be
using platform 1, they couldn't really announce it before approx 1835
because then people would have been mistakenly boarding an earlier train
(with the slight complication that it's one going to the same
destinations, so no real harm done).

Seriously? Every non-terminus station out there seems quite capable of
posting the same departure platform for multiple trains without causing
undue confusion.

At non-terminus stations you tend to get platform announcements, and
people are aware that there's a flow of trains (like buses at a bus
stop) and the first to arrive might not be the one you want.

However, at a terminus station people are much more inclined to think
that the train in the platform is uniquely the one they want. It's quite
unusual for trains to be departing a terminus platform only ten minutes
apart.
--
Roland Perry

In article ,
Roland Perry wrote:

In message , at
12:38:09 on Fri, 20 Jun 2014, Espen H. Koht remarked:
So even if they knew well in advance that the train was going to be
using platform 1, they couldn't really announce it before approx 1835
because then people would have been mistakenly boarding an earlier train
(with the slight complication that it's one going to the same
destinations, so no real harm done).

Seriously? Every non-terminus station out there seems quite capable of
posting the same departure platform for multiple trains without causing
undue confusion.

At non-terminus stations you tend to get platform announcements, and
people are aware that there's a flow of trains (like buses at a bus
stop) and the first to arrive might not be the one you want.

However, at a terminus station people are much more inclined to think
that the train in the platform is uniquely the one they want. It's quite
unusual for trains to be departing a terminus platform only ten minutes
apart.

That has always been a dangerous assumption. I learnt it the hard way 15
years ago when I ended up on the 'wrong' (ie. slow) Cambridge train on
platform 7A rather than the fast one on 7B.

In message , at
16:32:52 on Fri, 20 Jun 2014, Espen H. Koht remarked:
So even if they knew well in advance that the train was going to be
using platform 1, they couldn't really announce it before approx 1835
because then people would have been mistakenly boarding an earlier train
(with the slight complication that it's one going to the same
destinations, so no real harm done).

Seriously? Every non-terminus station out there seems quite capable of
posting the same departure platform for multiple trains without causing
undue confusion.

At non-terminus stations you tend to get platform announcements, and
people are aware that there's a flow of trains (like buses at a bus
stop) and the first to arrive might not be the one you want.

However, at a terminus station people are much more inclined to think
that the train in the platform is uniquely the one they want. It's quite
unusual for trains to be departing a terminus platform only ten minutes
apart.

That has always been a dangerous assumption. I learnt it the hard way 15
years ago when I ended up on the 'wrong' (ie. slow) Cambridge train on
platform 7A rather than the fast one on 7B.

Having trains on the two separate halves of a platform is slightly
different to having to ignore the train completely and wait for it to
depart, then wait for another one to arrive into the terminus platform
before boarding.
--
Roland Perry