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Next Train Indicators

Express Central Line Trains

Have you seen the new express trains on the Central line? They start at the new Tottenham Court Road, and then head all the way to the end of the line without stopping at any intermediate stations…

TCRdmi1

At least that’s what the new Dot Matrix Indicator boards suggest.  If you’re a regular traveller on any National Rail service you’ll know that when ‘Calling at…’ appears beneath the destination, a scrolling list of stations then appears telling you the intermediate stopping points.

Not so with the new DMIs at Tottenham Court Road.  A train going to Epping beneath it says “Calling at : Epping’ and nothing else, thus replicating the destination that’s already shown on the line above, and doesn’t scroll with any other station names, thus possibly suggesting that the only station the next train is calling at just the station at the end of the line…

The destination of this train is ...

The destination of this train is …

Next Train Indicators / Tube — — 11 Jan 16

KHS

At Kew Gardens last night, we spied the one evening service that was going to bed for the night (triangle sidings, or Ealing Common depot?).  But we were amused to see that whilst the onboard DMI and audio announcement had the train going to HSK (High Street Kensington), the display on the platform had it going to a station we’d never heard of before … Kensington High Street.

Kensington High Street

Kensington High Street

Next Train Indicators — — 31 Jan 15

Live Times at National Rail stations

A bit cheeky/sneaky of us to put this one in here – as it doesn’t pertain to the Underground but to National Rail services instead, but it’s the first time we’ve seen it and is kinda cool, so we couldn’t not mention it.

It now appears that for all National Rail stations you can text the full name of the station to 84950 and within a few seconds it will text you back with the next departures from that station.

For stations with more than one word in their name, just type it in without the spaces as one long word. Try it!

Live times

Live times

Next Train Indicators / Timetables — — 27 Aug 14

Change at Canning Town

We’re not sure how long it’s been there, but we just got round to noticing that there is now an electronic sign at the bottom of the main escalators at Canning Town to tell you if the next train to Woolwich or Beckton is leaving from the upper, or lower platforms.

It’s a shame it’s a small electronic sign though, tilted in the wrong direction, when what would be better would be a LARGE sign saying “Next train…” and then an arrow pointing in which direction to the platform you should take, but it’s better than nothing.

When the station first opened, there was no way of knowing and it was pot luck whether you shuffled to the right platforms or not, so at least this finally helps.   It’s a bit off if you’re coming BACK from either Woolwich or Beckton though and your train is destined for Stratford but you want to go to Bank or Tower Gateway.  When you change at Canning Town do you stay on the platform you came in on, or do you shuffle down to the board to check the display? It’s still a bit confusing …

Canning Town next DLR

Canning Town next DLR

DLR / Next Train Indicators — — 26 Feb 14