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Numbers on Preston station

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Hellfire

Hellfire

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Some painted numbers have appeared on the surface of platforms at Preston station. Black numbers on a yellow roundel with a black arrow pointing at the platform edge.

I'm sure they weren't there before Christmas.

Can't be carriage stopping locations as they don't line up, at least with Pendos. Anyone know what they are?
 
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MidnightFlyer

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According to posters at the station and info on the CISs that's exactly what they're for IIRC :|
 
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snowball

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For class 350/4's perhaps, running Manchester-Scotland, first run 30 Dec?
 
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shx

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Hellfire said:
Can't be carriage stopping locations as they don't line up, at least with Pendos. Anyone know what they are?
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They're for carriage stopping locations. Posters show which number translates into which carriage for each type of (Virgin) rolling stock.
 
Crossover

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Yeah, was going to say Wigan NW had them when I was there last week. Carlisle have had them a few months and were asking for feedback regarding them
 
tsr

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There have been temporary, primitive versions of those markings by the appropriate Southern-side buffer stops at London Bridge over the past few years, which have been for the purpose of lining up 442s.
 
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Sheepy1209

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Well that's nice and simple for the travelling public!

Especially when half the Virgin services through Preston are Voyagers, usually doubled up. Is there anything similar for the Voyagers?

Pendolinos are easy - at least you can walk through the train if you get on at the wrong end (might get there by Wigan); try doing that with a 2x5 car Voyager.

And when are 'customers' told that it's a Pendolino?

As these numbers are widely spaced it's easy to confuse them with platform numbers - it's not obvious on a crowded platform. I've seen people head for the stairs thinking they're in the wrong place. It might work for commuter services, but many Virgin passengers only use the train occasionally.
 
Hellfire

Hellfire

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Sheepy1209 said:
Well that's nice and simple for the travelling public!

Especially when half the Virgin services through Preston are Voyagers, usually doubled up. Is there anything similar for the Voyagers?

Pendolinos are easy - at least you can walk through the train if you get on at the wrong end (might get there by Wigan); try doing that with a 2x5 car Voyager.

And when are 'customers' told that it's a Pendolino?

As these numbers are widely spaced it's easy to confuse them with platform numbers - it's not obvious on a crowded platform. I've seen people head for the stairs thinking they're in the wrong place. It might work for commuter services, but many Virgin passengers only use the train occasionally.
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That's what made me suppose they weren't carriage markings but replies on this thread confirm they are. I must admit I hadn't seen the posters at Preston but I board at silly o'clock so probably half asleep.

Maybe Virgin has put out information but I'm not sure its obvious to most passengers.

The electronic displays at Preston usually show the type of train expected if it's run by VT even giving an indication as to whether its a 9 or 11 car Pendo so, as a regular traveller in coach A I know how far to walk along the platform. But, as has been pointed out, these things are not so obvious to the occasional user.
 
Eagle

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Sheepy1209 said:
And when are 'customers' told that it's a Pendolino?
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VT services are pretty much universally announced as "the 09.00 Virgin Pendolino service" or "the 12.30 Virgin Voyager service", even at stations not operated by VT.

The departure screens usually display the number of coaches (something you don't otherwise see outside of the southeast, for some reason).
 
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Sheepy1209

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Trouble is - they've been announcing 'Pendolino' for years for marketing reasons - the casual passenger doesn't realise they need to take action depending on what gets announced. And in my experience those announcements aren't consistent anyway (Preston uses real announcers, not recorded voices - and I'd rather keep it that way).

...and we seriously expect passengers to understand the difference between a 'correct' and a 'Reverse' formation? And to take in all the information on that poster while they're waiting for the train? Assuming they even see the poster - I certainly didn't a couple of weeks ago.

At Preston if a train comes in on platform 6 most of the passengers will be clustered between the stairs and the subway - only to watch their coach go flying past when it arrives. I know this is a problem, and I admire Virgin for trying their best to do something about it - but I really can't see this working with the number of variables to take into account. It's complicated enough and of course doesn't account for Voyagers.

Platform staff do try to help, but they've got other jobs to do such as actually despatching the train. That means the help available is inconsistent. To my mind this needs uniformed staff on the platform whose role is specifically to communicate and guide. Sadly that costs money.
 
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edwin_m

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They probably need the type of thing they use at Grantham where shortly before most East Coast departures there is an announcement for people to check their reservations and go to the coach letter boards that are attached to columns and lamp posts. But at Preston they'd have to announce individually the position numbers for each coach on each train.

I think people will get the position number confused with the platform number - that's probably why previous efforts have used letters or colours.
 
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cf111

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Sheepy1209 said:
Well that's nice and simple for the travelling public!

Especially when half the Virgin services through Preston are Voyagers, usually doubled up. Is there anything similar for the Voyagers?

Pendolinos are easy - at least you can walk through the train if you get on at the wrong end (might get there by Wigan); try doing that with a 2x5 car Voyager.

And when are 'customers' told that it's a Pendolino?

As these numbers are widely spaced it's easy to confuse them with platform numbers - it's not obvious on a crowded platform. I've seen people head for the stairs thinking they're in the wrong place. It might work for commuter services, but many Virgin passengers only use the train occasionally.
Click to expand...

I've seen "11 car Pendolino" on the screens at Glasgow Central before.
 
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Brian1947

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Passengers are a bit like penguins, clustering by the platform entrance. And I include myself in that comment when I am unsure of the train formation!

Great idea by VT but if you take the likes of Wigan or Warrington on a wet & windy day then few will venture to the outer edges of the platform. Most board somewhere in the middle then hope they choose the right direction to find their reserved seat, providing, of course, if it’s not been commandeered by someone else!
 
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shx said:
They're for carriage stopping locations. Posters show which number translates into which carriage for each type of (Virgin) rolling stock.
Click to expand...

As a sideline I noticed a year or two ago there were still rather faded painted stopping markings on Preston stations plat 3 or 4 can't remember exactly ,for the APT
 
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snail

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Sheepy1209 said:
Trouble is - they've been announcing 'Pendolino' for years for marketing reasons - the casual passenger doesn't realise they need to take action depending on what gets announced. And in my experience those announcements aren't consistent anyway (Preston uses real announcers, not recorded voices - and I'd rather keep it that way).
Click to expand...
The Preston PIDs tell you the train length and which numbers correspond to coaches. They have even started displaying which way round TPE trains are.

I think the numbers are helpful, as Pendolino drivers are very adept at stopping at the same place every time, but it is a bit confusing having the numbers start at the southbound end on the northbound platforms: Coach A stops at 1 southbound but 11 northbound. Not that the markings stop the stampede of passengers from the middle of the platform to their reservations in the end coaches on arrival. :roll:
 
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fireftrm

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Eagle said:
Does this mean we're finally seeing the end of the Gold, Blue, Purple and Orange Zones?
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Yes. A much simpler system and works very well (Carlisle).

As for informing customers - all West Coast platform information screens state the train type and length, with the older zones, or where numbers are already done have the carriage letters by number area. So if there is a 10 coach Voyager your reservation carriage will be in a particular number area, not the useless first class is in the gold zone. Of course there are two, in quite different zones. With numbers it is coach per area. So works whichever train type and formation.
 
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Sheepy1209

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I've got a trip to Crewe in a couple of weeks so it'll be interesting to see how it's going at Preston - I think last time I was there they'd only just put the numbers down. The screens didn't say anything about train length, plus there were flooding problems in Cumbria so it was all a bit chaotic anyway (ended up with a Euston direct and a Euston via Birmingham on the same platform four minutes apart).
 
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