There's some very strange and very confusing "logic" being used by
London Midland to decide which train to display on the platform boards
on platforms 8-11.

Yesterday I arrived at about 21:06 expecting to catch the 21:24. Went
down to the platforms and it was nowhere to be seen.

Asked "Is there a 21:24?" expecting to be told it was going from
platform 18, 12 or somewhere else but got the reply "It will be the
front train on platform 8 when it's in." Platform 8 was displaying
the board for the 21:34.

I overheard several other people making similar queries and also
asking why the train on the platform was locked. It turns out that the
21:34 train was the locked train on the platform. It was locked to
stop people getting on the wrong train.

Well a train arrived so I walked up to the front but I still wasn't
sure. I asked another passenger walking along the platform if this was
the 21:24 and he thought so. As the 21:34 also stops at Watford
Junction it wasn't a huge deal if I got the wrong train so I got on.

At about 21:20 there was an announcement on the train, this train
calls at Watford Junction, ... and Northampton. "That's good" I
thought, this must be the 21:24 then. About 30 seconds later another
passenger in the same carriage looked up from his book and asked me
"Does this train stop at Bushey?". "No, this is the 21:24. You want
the 21:34 which is the locked train at the other end of the platform.
At least that's what I've been told"

I can understand the logic of keeping the 21:34 locked until the 21:24
has departed to avoid people wanting the 21:24 getting on the 21:34
without realizing. But I cannot see why it can ever make sense to
display the 21:34 board while the 21:24 is on the same platform. But
the people on duty on the platform seemed oblivious to the fact that
this was causing confusion.

I wonder how many other people got on the 21:24 expecting it was the
21:34 and how many people didn't get on the 21:24 thinking it was the
21:34. At least in the latter case they are likely to ask where the
21:24 is but people who wanted the 21:34 had to realize that there was
no board displaying the 21:24 - ask where it was - and then deduce
that the train on platform 8 with its doors open wasn't their train.

Tim.

wrote in message
...
There's some very strange and very confusing "logic" being used by
London Midland to decide which train to display on the platform boards
on platforms 8-11.

I was able to deduce that you were describing the situation at Euston. Not
always easy to provide full information I guess... :-)

Paul

On Wed, 4 Jun 2008 19:14:57 +0100,
Paul Scott wrote:

wrote in message
...
There's some very strange and very confusing "logic" being used by
London Midland to decide which train to display on the platform boards
on platforms 8-11.

I was able to deduce that you were describing the situation at Euston. Not
always easy to provide full information I guess... :-)

Ahh, but I gave you enough information to deduce that. What I'd like to
know was what bit of information was I not noticing that would enable me
to deduce that the train on platform 8 was really the 21:24 when all the
notices said it was the 21:34 (other than that I couldn't find the
21:24)?

Perhaps this is part of a plan to reduce the peak time loadings. They
won't actually announce the peak time trains at all, just the off peak
trains going in the opposite direction (obviously not at Euston :-) and
then rely on the people who really want the peak trains to know about
them and ask. But then all those people who just turn up at a station
and get on a random train will stop getting on a peak time train and get
on one of the empty off peak trains instead and then there will be space
on the peak trains. ;-)

Tim.


--
God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = - @B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t,"
and there was light.

http://tjw.hn.org/ http://www.locofungus.btinternet.co.uk/

In article ,
(Tim Woodall) wrote:

On Wed, 4 Jun 2008 19:14:57 +0100,
Paul Scott wrote:

wrote in message


...
There's some very strange and very confusing "logic" being used by
London Midland to decide which train to display on the platform
boards on platforms 8-11.

I was able to deduce that you were describing the situation at
Euston. Not always easy to provide full information I guess...
:-)

Ahh, but I gave you enough information to deduce that. What I'd like
to know was what bit of information was I not noticing that would
enable me to deduce that the train on platform 8 was really the 21:24
when all the notices said it was the 21:34 (other than that I
couldn't find the 21:24)?

Perhaps this is part of a plan to reduce the peak time loadings. They
won't actually announce the peak time trains at all, just the off peak
trains going in the opposite direction (obviously not at Euston :-) and
then rely on the people who really want the peak trains to know about
them and ask. But then all those people who just turn up at a station
and get on a random train will stop getting on a peak time train and
get
on one of the empty off peak trains instead and then there will be
space
on the peak trains. ;-)

So you got the subject wrong then. Euston is run by Notwork Rail, not
London Midland.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Wed, 4 Jun 2008 11:00:11 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

I can understand the logic of keeping the 21:34 locked until the 21:24
has departed to avoid people wanting the 21:24 getting on the 21:34
without realizing. But I cannot see why it can ever make sense to
display the 21:34 board while the 21:24 is on the same platform. But
the people on duty on the platform seemed oblivious to the fact that
this was causing confusion.

Never seen them do that. What I have seen that *is* causing confusion
is that the board for platform 10 is broken, but is just displaying
"Welcome to Euston". Somebody needs to get it to display "Out of
Order" (or put a bit of card over it) as it is making people think
they've read the main board wrong and go back to the concourse.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

wrote in message
...
There's some very strange and very confusing "logic" being used by
London Midland to decide which train to display on the platform boards
on platforms 8-11.

I could easily go into a rant here but the answer to this logic puzzle is
simple. 2 words. "London Midland". They are incompetents with no regard to
customers. As a Bushey-ite, they deliver a terrible service for us,
continually pushing us onto the slow service, or cancelling our trains,
whenever there is an issue. Your story does not surprise me in the
slightest. At least once a week you'll see large groups of customers waiting
on platforms 8-11 looking clueless due to poor announcements/information
from the LM staff.

Worse still, they don't update their website when there are incidents. Today
I paid £73 for a taxi into London due to the advertised fast trains all
being cancelled. Tonight their website is showing line problems in the
Wembley area, but is that from today or a current issue?

On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 01:36:29 +0100, "Movilla"
wrote:

Worse still, they don't update their website when there are incidents. Today
I paid £73 for a taxi into London due to the advertised fast trains all
being cancelled.

Er, why not catch a slow train instead?

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

"Neil Williams" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 01:36:29 +0100, "Movilla"
wrote:

Worse still, they don't update their website when there are incidents.
Today
I paid £73 for a taxi into London due to the advertised fast trains all
being cancelled.

Er, why not catch a slow train instead?

Slow train had just departed and I had an appointment in London I could not
miss.

On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 06:55:01 +0100, "Movilla"
wrote:

"Neil Williams" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 01:36:29 +0100, "Movilla"
wrote:

Worse still, they don't update their website when there are incidents.
Today
I paid £73 for a taxi into London due to the advertised fast trains all
being cancelled.

Er, why not catch a slow train instead?

Slow train had just departed and I had an appointment in London I could not
miss.

Fair enough if the appointment was worth £73 to you I guess...

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.