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Thomas Crame · January 17th 04, 06:02 PM posted to uk.transport.london

Paul Corfield wrote in message . ..
On 16 Jan 2004 11:16:14 -0800, (Thomas Crame)
wrote:

[train info on line]
Firstly, I didn't write tracker (it was before I joined LUL), but a
colleague of mine did. It seems to be an LUL initiative at the moment
to produce ideas that have very little benefit (unless of course you
live across the road from a Bakerloo line station), but look good in
the eyes of the public.

A couple of comments

1. I understand Tracker is being rolled out to assist in giving
information to station staff on where the trains are.

Yes, when the S/S isn't using the tracker PC to play games or surf the
net on, which I've seen them doing more than once. And then they
report that the Tracker display isn't working when it's their own
fault!

Given the unremitting negative comments from passengers about poor information
surely it is a good idea to provide something that can help improve
matters? It obviously isn't a cure all - trains and signals that don't
break down would be a great help in that direction.

By all means, giving the info to station staff is useful, especially
for last train connections or service disruption etc. However, at
Oxford Circus for instance the staff have tracker (which only works
for the Bakerloo and Vic lines), a terminal for the vic line DMI,
another for the central and a camdata display for the bakerloo. Do we
really need four separate methods to deliver the same information,
especially when the existing information is perfectly adequate?

How often will having the DMI on your home PC help, unless you live
opposite the staion? Personally, I find the service info section on
thetube.com or Ceefax good enough.

2. Can you provide examples to support your sweeping statement about LUL
having an initiative to produce ideas of little benefit? If LUL is so
crap at creating such ideas in your view what do you suggest should be
done then? Or do we have to pay you a fee for copyright before you will
tell us?

The phrase 'good service' springs to mind as something to make LUL
look good when it isn't. There are a number of problems with it.
Firstly, it's not an accurate statement, as it means that there may be
some delays and extended intervals, though generally a good service.
It makes LUL look good as they are saying there is a good service,
whereas in truth the service may not be good at all!
I wonder at times if the staff at Acton Town ever say that a good
service is running when passengers have been waiting 20+ minutes for a
Rayners Lane service in the freezing cold?
The other problem with the good service board is that not all the
information is cascaded down. For instance, a whiteboard at Waterloo
can say Good service on all lines, when according to Embankment's
boards there are lines running with delays! I think a phase such as
'normal' would be far more appropriate, as the regular passengers
(sorry customers) will find it more meaningful.

And as I write this, I'm pleased to announce that ETA is down, so we
are discussing something that doesn't even work!! If tracker wasn't
made available to the public it would actually make LUL look better,
as they wouldn't know it is currently defective.
And finally, I don't want a copyright fee, I just think credit where
credit's due, not taking something and claiming it is your own work.

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