In the month now I have been using Plaistow station every morning, I don't
think I have seen it ONCE announce the arrival of a train.

What's the point of wasting electricity and failing to announce the arrival
of the next train.

Even if it was just a notice to say how many minutes, without announcing
whether it was a District or a H&C line, would be something. But instead it
just says nothing.

But why? Surely in this day and age, it's all computerised? Obviously
there's not some bod with a radio in a shed beside the tracks in East Ham
saying "Hi guys, yep, there's a train leaving just now so it should be with
you in three and, wait a minute, yep it has green coloured things to hang
on to, it's a District, I repeat, a District, over and out."

Theres a computer. So why are these things not linked up? They've got it
working at other stations so why don't they just pick up the feed from, I
don't know, Mile End, and then add VALUE=VALUE+5 to it or something?

Perhaps they really don't know in some stations. Perhaps they're utterly
clueless when a next train is coming. Which scares the pants off me, to be
honest. But let's assume a modicum of knowledge he if they know, and
they MUST know, someone MUST know in a station when the next train is due
and what it is, then bloody TELL US. Because it's a pain in the arse.

In the meantime, they're on day and night, wasting electricity (that we're
paying for, one way or another) and doing jack diddly.

Not just at Plaistow. At my local station, Totteridge and Whetstone,
the indicators purport to show the time and route (ie Bank or Charing
Cross) of the next 3 trains. Trouble is they're almost always wrong.
You can generally double the time to the next arrival, and the routing
information changes every couple of minutes. As only about one train
in 4 goes via CX in the morning peak, it is especially frustrating to
wait for an indicated train, only to have it turn up via Bank.

I wrote to TfL about this last month, and got a 'we don't care' reply.
They said:-

"These problems will be solved by the new signalling system to be
installed on the Northern line. The systems take time to design,
manufacture and install, but should be in place by 2011."

Four more years to cure a simple problem, of their own making! How
difficult can it be to connect the indicators to the signals? Still,
as we only pay £1,328 a year for the privilege, who are we to complain?

Not just at Plaistow. At my local station, Totteridge and Whetstone,
the indicators purport to show the time and route (ie Bank or Charing
Cross) of the next 3 trains. Trouble is they're almost always wrong.
You can generally double the time to the next arrival, and the routing
information changes every couple of minutes. As only about one train
in 4 goes via CX in the morning peak, it is especially frustrating to
wait for an indicated train, only to have it turn up via Bank.

I wrote to TfL about this last month, and got a 'we don't care' reply.
They said:-

"These problems will be solved by the new signalling system to be
installed on the Northern line. The systems take time to design,
manufacture and install, but should be in place by 2011."

Four more years to cure a simple problem, of their own making! How
difficult can it be to connect the indicators to the signals? Still,
as we only pay £1,328 a year for the privilege, who are we to complain?

In message .com,
"These problems will be solved by the new signalling system to be
installed on the Northern line. The systems take time to design,
manufacture and install, but should be in place by 2011."

Four more years to cure a simple problem, of their own making! How
difficult can it be to connect the indicators to the signals? Still,
as we only pay £1,328 a year for the privilege, who are we to complain?
Do you wish to pay more than the £1,328 you already do so that TfL has
the cash to deal with these non urgent matters?

At least there are plans to rectify the situation, although I agree that
monitors which show no useful information whatsoever might as well be
turned off (or is it simple to programme them just to show average
waiting times like the central line does occasionally "Next train to
XXXXXX within 10 minutes", if it is not possible to feed real time
running information through them yet?)

--
Paul G
Typing from Barking

Firstly apologies for the double post last time. Don't know how this
happenned.

If its so difficult and expensive to connect the signalling to the
platform displays, then why was the system installed in the first
place? And how much of our money did that cost? Wrong information is
worse than no information.

This morning at 7:22 the indicators were indicating the next three
trains as Bank, Charing X, Bank. They arrived as Bank, Bank, Charing
X. If TfL don't know where their own trains are going, they should
admit it and switch the bloody things off.

peter wrote:

Firstly apologies for the double post last time. Don't know how this
happenned.

If its so difficult and expensive to connect the signalling to the
platform displays, then why was the system installed in the first
place? And how much of our money did that cost? Wrong information is
worse than no information.

It's much cheaper and easier to install indicators when you refurb a
station, rather than as a one-off project. So if you know the
signalling system due in a few years will fully support the indicators,
any ou're refurbing the station now, it makes sense to do it now.

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

Maybe someone at TfL reads this group! For the last two mornings the
indicator at Totteridge has been switched off.

peter wrote:
Maybe someone at TfL reads this group! For the last two mornings the
indicator at Totteridge has been switched off.

Several people do, but you are more likely to get an explanation if you
send it to TfL directly:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/contact_home.shtml
--
Michael Hoffman

Paul G wrote:

In message .com,
"These problems will be solved by the new signalling system to be
installed on the Northern line. The systems take time to design,
manufacture and install, but should be in place by 2011."

Four more years to cure a simple problem, of their own making! How
difficult can it be to connect the indicators to the signals? Still,
as we only pay £1,328 a year for the privilege, who are we to complain?
Do you wish to pay more than the £1,328 you already do so that TfL has
the cash to deal with these non urgent matters?


I used to get the northern line into college in the 80s just after the
indictators had been installed. And they didn't work even then then
brand new. Theres non urgent and theres we-dont-give-a-****.

B2003

"Boltar" typed

I used to get the northern line into college in the 80s just after the
indictators had been installed. And they didn't work even then then
brand new. Theres non urgent and theres we-dont-give-a-****.

The light box indicators were more useful in the '70s...

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.