Final call - now up to 4 minutes at Kings Cross

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Via Yahoo

Rail bosses have been accused of patronising passengers by hiding trains’ departure information minutes before they are due to leave in a bid to tackle last-moment platform dashes.

Under the scheme, which is being trialled at King’s Cross, the final call for long-distance trains will be made four minutes before departure. Train details will be deleted from departure boards three minutes before they leave.

Network Rail said the scheme was designed to stop passengers dashing for trains. A poster for the scheme said: “This is so everyone can board safely and keep trains running on time.”

But passengers have reacted with fury, saying they should be given the information to decide for themselves.

Many also fear the system will cause more rushing than it prevents. They pointed out that trains’ platform departures are often only revealed minutes before they are due to depart, so the new system could only give them seconds to react to platform announcements.

[IndustryInsider]

I think the two minutes currently in use at Paddington works pretty well, and four minutes is probably too long.

[ray951]

And people wonder why nothing appears to work properly or costs a fortune to run in this country; talk about risk averse.

[UstiImmigrunt]

And people wonder why nothing appears to work properly or costs a fortune to run in this country; talk about risk averse.

Don't forget the ambulance chasing leeches as it's always someone elses fault.

[stuving]

Today's Sunday Times contained a sizeable article on this longer cut-off period of departures at Kings cross - or more accurately about how much of a non-event it has been. Based on going there and talking to people, it noted that most people didn't know about it, and even the few who had seen or heard the announcements weren't bothered. The change was made last year, and it was only when it hit the media (social and ... unsocial?) that anyone objected. "The panic and terror and fury described by some newspapers was not evident."

At least it should earn Will Lloyd a Phil Space award for his 30 column inches ...

And it all strikes me as a bit ironic; it's not as if the ST never overstates the "fury" of the public about the railways and their doings. Indeed, there was another piece today, about the level crossing at Wareham station, and NR^» (Network Rail - home page)'s attempts to close it. This says "it hasn't managed to kill, or injure, a single person in its 178 years of operation". A quick look at the British Newspaper Archive comes up straight away with a story from 1884 of "Mr Young of the firm of Marston and Co, brewers, Poole" who was knocked down by a train and had his foot amputated as a result.