Great Western Coffee Shop

These quite often don't work very well due to damaged screens, but when they do they are next to useless! It only displays the information that passengers want (destination and calling points) about once every 4 minutes. To get to it you have to sit through a load of pointless welcome, lost baggage and sales guff which I'm sure nobody pays any attention to.

Compare this with the Chiltern system on the refurbished Turbos which always seems to work, is much clearer and gives passengers the information they need within 20 seconds. It also updates as the train progresses on its journey - very neat!

It is surely in everyones interest to improve the current system, even if it means just cutting out the guff and just displaying destination and calling points. It would I'm sure help reduce the amount of time staff have to deal with 'where does this train go' type questions.

Yes it is in need of an update - it is after all a system that was designed and based on late 80's technology. At the time it was quite a novelty to have elwctronic internal displays like that on trains, but the limitations of the system can be a hinderence and it is becoming more different to maintain. As you say there is too much other bumf rotating with the calling points to limit its effectiveness. The good news is that there are plans for the whole system to be replaced on FGW Turbos later this year.

I would question the reliability of Chiltern's system though - on many occasions I have sat through an entire journey being told I was at Birmingham Snow Hill or Marylebone and thanking me for my custom. I believe it works on GPS as opposed to the system on Adelantes which works on distance measured by wheel rotations?

Thanks for that piece of good news - looking forward to sampling the refurbished units. I know it is very minor but could be improved right now very easily by removing the bumf.

I don't use Chiltern that much anymore, but in 2004-6 when I was a regular user the system seemed to work well. Perhaps now it is starting to show its age.

All Turbostar units (i.e. Chiltern) have problems with the PISs on the trains. The GPS never seems to find the right location.

However, Chiltern has improved it, and normally it'll only be a few points out!

I always find when travelling to Derby from Cardiff that the displays will be correct as far as Brum, but then it will constantly tell me that the next station callis Birmingham even once we have arrived at Derby! Is that  GPS problem... or the Birmignahm crews not updating it?