Spot the stupid station signage competition...

[whole diary]

[TerminalJunkie]

TerminalJunkie, are you an online spell checker robot? 

Sir, I fear you underestimate me. I do grammar, too

[jane s]

Has FGW^▸ (First Great Western) lost the plot? It's not just the signs - it's the announcements! Twice last week I was waiting on Platform Six at Reading station waiting for the 08:12 to Ealing Broadway and heard "Please stand well away from the edge of Platform Six - the approaching train is not scheduled to stop at this station!"

If you are not familiar with platform six, this was rather worrying - if the train did not stop, it would demolish the buffers, a brick wall, the escalators & WH Smiths before coming to rest in the middle of a coffee shop!!!!!

The second day this announcement was made, they compounded the error by announcing a platform change to Platform Ten, just as the train was about to draw into Platform Six! Some of the passengers had already made it on to Platform Ten, but I stopped to ask the guard, who said it was definitely Platform Six, so I yelled the news over to the unfortunates who had to come all the way back again. (They did finally make the correct announcement!)

[Ollie]

That would be down to however the train was being viewed as coming in, if the system doesn't recognise it as booked to go there, then the announcement will sound, whether it is a bay platform or not.

[Electric train]

I am not sure who has the ownership of the CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) systems if it is the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) or NWR, the system does interface with the signalling system and the announcers at places like Reading and Slough are located in the Panel (Signal Box), that aside the CIS system in the Thames Valley has been playing up of late, either metal mickey has got some bugs / techie problems or someone has programed him / her wrong

[IndustryInsider]

The signage at Hanborough has now been corrected. There is only one silly sign telling you that your bike may be searched, and the 'do not pass this point' has now been moved to the post nearest to the end of the platform. Did someone read it on here? Either way, praise where it is due!

[willc]

The signage at Hanborough has now been corrected. There is only one silly sign telling you that your bike may be searched, and the 'do not pass this point' has now been moved to the post nearest to the end of the platform. Did someone read it on here? Either way, praise where it is due!

May have been a reaction to the posts here, but I know that Teresa Ceesay, the Cotswold Line service delivery manager, does regular checks on all the stations and acts on the things she finds, so she may have spotted the silly signs herself. And when I emailed FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to point out that the platform lights at Kingham were switched on in glorious evening sunshine a few weeks back, someone fixed that fault sharpish, though a similar problem on platform 2 at Oxford persists.

While we are dishing out praise to FGW employees (see a couple of other threads), Teresa and the staff who work at Evesham, Moreton, Kingham and Charlbury do an excellent job in looking after things, in conjunction with community groups. While Charlbury's prizewinning garden is the envy of many, there are now flowerbeds and tubs at other stations, including Shipton, where I believe they are sponsored by the adjacent FWP Matthews flour mill.

Even Network Rail are doing their bit at Moreton, by repainting the signalbox in Great Western colours from the battleship grey its timberwork has worn for some time. Now if only someone would cough up to deal with the dreadful grey footbridge and the endless unpainted galvanised fencing that surrounds it...

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks, willc, for further confirmation that at least some of what we say here is noted by 'the powers that be'!

Hopefully, someone will also note our concerns about the state of the bridge at Nailsea & Backwell - see http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=1732.msg11863#msg11863

[John R]

Unfortunately that would be a Network Rail responsibility Chris, so don't hold your breath.

[Chris from Nailsea]

I did say, "Hopefully, ... "   

Is there anyone from Network Rail here on this forum, who would care to pop their head over the parapet to comment, by the way??

[smokey]

There are some picturegram Cycle Route signs on Truro station that point along the platforms.

Railway By-laws state: CYCLING IS NOT PERMITTED ON PLATFORMS

Oh such "fun" who's running the railway these days?

[John R]

I suppose it would help if we posted a picture of the rustbucket, but I'm not sure how to do it (post it, not take the picture )

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hmm, yes, the link in my original post doesn't seem to work any more.

On the other hand, a quick bit of 'digging' on the internet produces these pictures, on the excellent 'bristol railway archive' website, at http://bristol-rail.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page :

See http://bristol-rail.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Image:Nailsea17.jpg

See http://bristol-rail.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Image:Nailsea18.jpg

[John R]

Ah yes, the Backwell view (18) shows it at it's best.

[gwr2006]

The signage at Hanborough has now been corrected. There is only one silly sign telling you that your bike may be searched, and the 'do not pass this point' has now been moved to the post nearest to the end of the platform. Did someone read it on here? Either way, praise where it is due!

The improvements at Hanbrough are yet another investment by Oxfordshire County Council. They funded the larger waiting shelter, new metal fencing, and some extra seats along the platform, as well as the new cycle racks and the shelter. The signs were always down to be moved but there was a time lapse between the cycle shelters being turned around (you now get to them off the platform rather than from the car park!) and someone taking down the old duplicate sign.

Work is now about to start on upgrading the approach road in a joint scheme between the county council, FGW^▸ (First Great Western) and Network Rail.  This will see the many potholes filled and the road resurfaced, with a new footpath amd car park bays clearly marked to improve safety, and comes after the previous expansion of the car park by the council and FGW Link a few years ago.