In message of Tue, 1 Jul 2014
22:38:02 in uk.railway, Clive Page writes
First Capital Connect has recently implemented two extremely passenger-
hostile measures at Luton Airport Parkway.

Firstly it has programmed the departures screens to remove trains
several minutes (I think 4 or 5) before the train is due to depart.
Displays on the platforms still show the train (mostly) but those in
the entrance hall and elsewhere do not are artificially censored.

Secondly it has covered all windows that overlook the tracks with
obscuring film. The apparent aim is to prevent passengers seeing what
is actually going on.

At this station trains are often switched from slow to fast lines or
vice-versa only just before arriving, and at certain times there may be
two trains to London due to leave at similar times from different
platforms with varying degrees of lateness, so that passengers
sometimes want to wait until they see a train arriving before deciding
which platform to use. Consequently canny passengers have been in the
habit of waiting in front of a convenient departure board or even
pausing on the footbridge so they can spot a train in the distance.
Both of these activities are deemed to be sinful by the management,
although I have *never* seen enough people doing this to form a
significant obstruction to the passageway let alone anything that could
be deemed in the slightes bit dangerous.

The FCC excuse has been that Luton Airport Parkway has "one of the
highest" accident rates, but the published figures show that in the
first half of 2014 the accident rate had already fallen considerably
below that in earlier years, well before they implemented the two
measures noted above.

Relevant URLs, please?


Is FCC unique in its attitude to censoring timely passenger information
on spurious elf-n-safety grounds?

I am pleased to see that a small-scale war has broken out: it is
obvious that some passengers have been scraping off bits of the
obscuring film on the footbridge so they can see out again, while the
management has attempted the odd repair. Given the relative numbers of
passengers and staff it is clear who is going to win.

It all seems completely batty and pointless to me. Most of us have a
device in our pockets which can show an uncensored departure board:

What apps does Clive suggest? Is London Underground covered?

having people run for the train while simultaneously glancing at their
fondle-slab is hardly going to improve safety.



There is a similar practice for several London Underground ticket halls.
At Farringdon, trains from the Circle/Hammersmith & City/Metropolitan
platforms, 1 and 2, disappear a couple of minutes before arrival.
I find myself interpolating the missing information.
I can't remember other examples, but do find the practice irritating.

I have added uk.transport.london to Clive's report, as I have not seen
another report of the practice.
--
Walter Briscoe

On Wed, 2 Jul 2014 07:02:57 +0100, Walter Briscoe
wrote:
Relevant URLs, please?

Realtimetrains is good, but as its data source is the signalling
system you have to beware of trains changing platforms at the last
minute. Good for working out platforms at Euston though.

For the Tube there are lots of apps.

Neil

--
Neil Williams. Use neil before the at to reply.

On 02/07/2014 07:02, Walter Briscoe wrote:
Relevant URLs, please?

I can't find anything online, but there are posters at the station
claiming an improvement from the start of 2014 (which can't be a result
of covering the windows etc as this wasn't done until this June). Here
is an extract from an email I got from the local station manager in
response to my complaint.

quote
The strategy for example for train drop off times and covering windows
is a proven science used throughout the rail industry. It has used a
simple science that if a customer cannot see a train they won't be able
to run for it. Our published timetables for example, clearly indicate
that to access the station here in a safe manner the customer should
arrive at least 7 minutes prior to the train departure. It is
unfortunate that many passengers do leave travelling until the last
minute and this is when we see the majority of our accidents.

Most of the recommendations have now been implemented and we have
already seen a drastic decrease in our passenger accidents which is
great news not only for the customer who passes through our station as
we have obviously made it a safer place to travel through, but also to
our staff who pass through it, plus of course benefits to the business.
Some of these projects, due to their success will be rolled out across
our network as good practise.
end quote

I think he means "practice". Fortunately FCC are about to lose the
franchise; unfortunately the incoming owners are likely to take on most
of the staff, especially the incompetent ones who won't be as employable
elsewhere.

What apps does Clive suggest? Is London Underground covered?

The app I use on my Android phone is a free one called simply "National
Rail" which I found on the Google Play site. It has a poor user
interface but is just about usable. It doesn't cover TfL services,
unfortunately, but there are plenty of other apps that do that; the one
I sometimes use is called London CityMapper.


--
Clive Page

In message , at 09:01:37 on Wed, 2 Jul
2014, Clive Page remarked:

What apps does Clive suggest? Is London Underground covered?

The app I use on my Android phone is a free one called simply "National
Rail" which I found on the Google Play site. It has a poor user
interface but is just about usable.

I use the FCC Android app, which at the time of writing has most of the
platform numbers at Kings Cross 30 minutes into the future and at Luton
Airport Parkway two hours into the future [although after an hour or so
the numbers thin out a bit].

The information is the same as he

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/ldbboard/dep/KGX
http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/ldbboard/dep/LTN

--
Roland Perry

In message , at 09:42:05 on Wed, 2 Jul
2014, Roland Perry remarked:
I use the FCC Android app, which at the time of writing has most of the
platform numbers at Kings Cross 30 minutes into the future

And now (at 0956) it's only got platforms for the trains up until 10.08,
plus for some reason the 10.35 to Leeds.
--
Roland Perry

In article , (Clive Page)
wrote:

On 02/07/2014 07:02, Walter Briscoe wrote:
Relevant URLs, please?

I can't find anything online, but there are posters at the station
claiming an improvement from the start of 2014 (which can't be a
result of covering the windows etc as this wasn't done until this
June). Here is an extract from an email I got from the local station
manager in response to my complaint.

quote
The strategy for example for train drop off times and covering
windows is a proven science used throughout the rail industry. It
has used a simple science that if a customer cannot see a train they
won't be able to run for it. Our published timetables for example,
clearly indicate that to access the station here in a safe manner the
customer should arrive at least 7 minutes prior to the train
departure. It is unfortunate that many passengers do leave
travelling until the last minute and this is when we see the majority
of our accidents.

Most of the recommendations have now been implemented and we have
already seen a drastic decrease in our passenger accidents which is
great news not only for the customer who passes through our station
as we have obviously made it a safer place to travel through, but
also to our staff who pass through it, plus of course benefits to the
business. Some of these projects, due to their success will be
rolled out across our network as good practise.
end quote

7 minutes is utterly ridiculous!

I think he means "practice". Fortunately FCC are about to lose the
franchise; unfortunately the incoming owners are likely to take on
most of the staff, especially the incompetent ones who won't be as
employable elsewhere.

What apps does Clive suggest? Is London Underground covered?

The app I use on my Android phone is a free one called simply
"National Rail" which I found on the Google Play site. It has a poor
user interface but is just about usable. It doesn't cover TfL
services, unfortunately, but there are plenty of other apps that do
that; the one I sometimes use is called London CityMapper.

I use the Real Time Trains web site but I have a Windows phone so the range
of apps is more limited. I've not used anything for the Underground.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message , at 11:01:53 on
Wed, 2 Jul 2014, Paul Corfield remarked:
What is interesting about the 7 minute reference is that it refers to
"connection time* not the time from arriving at the station to
reaching the platform. I went to FCC's own timetable pdf booklet on
their website to check. The time parameter is shown in a box beside
the station name.

Here's the quote from their booklet.

"Please ensure you leave enough time to change trains. At most
stations you should leave at least ?ve minutes. At some stations a
longer connection time is required.

Which goes to show that FCC admit it's a problem station if you have to
allow two minutes longer to interchange due to the layout. Although even
the most pessimistic can't believe it takes 7 minutes to use an
overbridge. I wonder if these timings assume you have to go from the
arrival platform to the ticket hall (to discover the departure platform)
and then back again?

This will be indicated by a number
in a box within the timetable, e.g. 10 denotes that at least 10
minutes should be allowed to change trains."

Clearly the FCC station manager cannot read a timetable booklet. I
would have thought that was a fairly basic part of the skill set for
someone running a station.

Don't get me started on the skill sets exhibited...
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 04:40:15
on Wed, 2 Jul 2014, remarked:

7 minutes is utterly ridiculous!

Although Luton Airport Parkway station is particularly awkward, with
multiple sets of escalators to get to the overbridge and then the
"platform bingo" mentioned by the OP, made worse because it's not
organised as islands.

Committing yourself to a platform too far in advance is setting yourself
up for a fall (literally, if FCC are to be believed).
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 12:55:42 on
Wed, 2 Jul 2014, Paul Corfield remarked:
"Please ensure you leave enough time to change trains. At most
stations you should leave at least ?ve minutes. At some stations a
longer connection time is required.

Which goes to show that FCC admit it's a problem station if you have to
allow two minutes longer to interchange due to the layout. Although even
the most pessimistic can't believe it takes 7 minutes to use an
overbridge. I wonder if these timings assume you have to go from the
arrival platform to the ticket hall (to discover the departure platform)
and then back again?

I suspect the timings are set for people who are encumbered and need
to use lifts or struggle with stairs. As an airport station that seems
a reasonable assumption

Why are airline passengers *changing* trains at Luton Airport Parkway?

and it also gives FCC a "get out clause" if
people miss trains. I've never been to Luton Airport but as it's a
relatively new station I assume there are lifts to every platform.

It's a bit odd to picture because the ticket office and entrance is at
ground level but above that there's a mezzanine floor with
shop/toilets/seating that opens out to platform 4 (northbound fast)
which like all the platforms is raised above ground level.

A lift from ground to mezzanine, which continues up to the overbridge.
From the overbridge there are lifts down to platforms 1 and 2/3.
--
Roland Perry

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at
04:40:15 on Wed, 2 Jul 2014, remarked:

7 minutes is utterly ridiculous!

Although Luton Airport Parkway station is particularly awkward, with
multiple sets of escalators to get to the overbridge and then the
"platform bingo" mentioned by the OP, made worse because it's not
organised as islands.

Committing yourself to a platform too far in advance is setting
yourself up for a fall (literally, if FCC are to be believed).

OIC. I've never made the acquaintance of Luton Airport Parkway station.

--
Colin Rosenstiel