Time warp PIS?

[DelW]

Travelling on a GWR North Downs line train this evening, the normal scrolling list of stations was followed by a message for pax "travelling this Christmas". It then warned of NR works at London and Cardiff, and recommended visiting a website "GWR.com/Christmas 2016". Where might that have been dug up from?

 

[MG11]

Travelling on a GWR North Downs line train this evening, the normal scrolling list of stations was followed by a message for pax "travelling this Christmas". It then warned of NR works at London and Cardiff, and recommended visiting a website "GWR.com/Christmas 2016". Where might that have been dug up from?

Some PISs do occasionally give out of date information. When F Hull Ts acquired the Adelantes, I recall one unit announcing Weston Milton a FGW station as we approached Selby. Northern ex-merseyrail units have the same issue too, Liverpool Lime Street was announced at Chinley IIRC. I'd hazard a guess that what you encountered was either a software bug or a bad job at updating the PISs.

 

[squizzler]

Just this morning the display at Tywyn was advising passengers that a revised timetable would be in force on 2 March due to weather related disruption.

 

[185143]

I saw a post on Facebook earlier of the new PiS at Hull, proudly displaying 'Welcome to Stalybridge'...

 

[GW43125]

I saw a post on Facebook earlier of the new PiS at Hull, proudly displaying 'Welcome to Stalybridge'...

The one in the bay at Hayes & Harlington is reading “welcome to West Drayton”

 

[embers25]

Currently on 1003 from Gatwick to Reading formed of a refurbed 165 with power points. The scrolling message is helpfully advising passengers to check if travelling to London or Cardiff as major work will be taking place over Christmas 2016!!!

Also it's nuts that passengers are advised to not get GTR at 0953 and cross over for next GEX (GTR) at 1000 delaying them unnecessarily.

 

[Any_Permitted]

Haha, I remember seeing that exact message when I travelled with GWR between Didcot Parkway and Oxford back in February. They're a bit behind the curve!

 

[JN114]

Currently on 1003 from Gatwick to Reading formed of a refurbed 165 with power points. The scrolling message is helpfully advising passengers to check if travelling to London or Cardiff as major work will be taking place over Christmas 2016!!!

Also it's nuts that passengers are advised to not get GTR at 0953 and cross over for next GEX (GTR) at 1000 delaying them unnecessarily.

Did you report it to the Guard at the time? Alternatively do you have a unit number?

 

[Melancholia]

I believe this issue has been reported to GWR multiple times via Twitter and to on board staff. However it seems like the decision to fix it is certainly not a priority.

Maybe it's a message for our time travellers?

 

[Parallel]

I find the screens on the Turbos just tend to show whatever they want. The automated announcements were getting it right as was the first screen. The second screen was saying “Welcome aboard this Great Western Railway Service”, the third was saying “Welcome aboard this service to Gloucester. We’ll be calling at Yate, Cam & Dursley and Gloucester” and the fourth was just not working at all. And this was a service en route to Weymouth

 

[JN114]

I believe this issue has been reported to GWR multiple times via Twitter and to on board staff. However it seems like the decision to fix it is certainly not a priority.

Maybe it's a message for our time travellers?

Twitter tell the depots; but if the message is still active for that unit on the database there’s nothing for them to fix. That’s not either parties’ fault - A are instructed to pass all fleet issues to B; B see that the train is being sent a message and the train is correctly displaying the message - no fault found.

The database is managed by control staff, if I can get a unit number I can speak directly to the correct person at work tomorrow and at least see if my suspicions on why it’s still showing are correct. Otherwise I can then fault the unit internally with a lot more detail as to exactly what is going wrong.

 

[JN114]

I find the screens on the Turbos just tend to show whatever they want. The automated announcements were getting it right as was the first screen. The second screen was saying “Welcome aboard this Great Western Railway Service”, the third was saying “Welcome aboard this service to Gloucester. We’ll be calling at Yate, Cam & Dursley and Gloucester” and the fourth was just not working at all. And this was a service en route to Weymouth

In theory they should all say the same thing, simultaneously. The messages are generated by the PIS controller in the active cab (including transmission to any coupled units). By your description; it sounds like a combination of incorrect journey code being used (typo either on driver’s diagram or by whichever crew member entered the code); a screen that was working but couldn’t connect to the PIS controller (hence default/generic Welcome Aboard message); and a screen that was broken (hence blank).

 

[thelongestroad]

There are still a few units going around that haven't had the latest PIS software updates with the newer "IET" voice.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

There are still a few units going around that haven't had the latest PIS software updates with the newer "IET" voice.

The newer “IET” voice is that of Janine Cooper-Marshall, she is progressively replacing the former short-lived voice of Faye Dicker who has voiced since 2015.

 

[Hadders]

I don't know if it's still around but until recently there was a class 365 unit that would still say:

Welcome aboard the West Anglia Great Northern service to .....

 

[Parallel]

I don't know if it's still around but until recently there was a class 365 unit that would still say:

Welcome aboard the West Anglia Great Northern service to .....

One of the ex-LM 153s was saying “Welcome to First Great Western” when I was on it last year. Another time it had “Class 158”

In theory they should all say the same thing, simultaneously. The messages are generated by the PIS controller in the active cab (including transmission to any coupled units). By your description; it sounds like a combination of incorrect journey code being used (typo either on driver’s diagram or by whichever crew member entered the code); a screen that was working but couldn’t connect to the PIS controller (hence default/generic Welcome Aboard message); and a screen that was broken (hence blank).

Interesting - I’ve noticed this on a few units on my return commute have done this. I’ll try and keep a note.

 

[plymothian]

TrainFX is not an infallible system, and with everything, GIGO; sometimes it gets lost when the GPS link is lost, some trains never had GPS installed in the first place, some carriages get out if sync with the others, some systems run ahead of themselves when the train hasn't even moved, some services never have a code created in the first place, some don't like it if the driver and the guard attempt to set up the route at both ends, some reject valid route codes, some don't handle request stops or short platforms.

Generally, a full master reset by tripping the MCB of each carriage is needed once in a while when digital Doris goes off on one is sufficient but all in all it's bloody infuriating when it goes wrong that it can be more trouble than it's worth.

 

[SEClass375]

With some PISs e.g. Class 375(/377), when it is not fully broken, you can manually add a static message such as "Train is for Cannon St".

 

[Royston Vasey]

Do Class 365s still boot up with a "BREL Class 465" on the PIS? They certainly did prior to the recent refurb

 

[Clansman]

ScotRail's 158/8 units still announce an automated south English accented safety message after every second station stop, which probably stems back from their Wessex days. It's even compatible onboard 170s when coupled, which has the audacity to override Fletcher Mathers on their PIS' to the extent where it conks out completely and locks onto the last functioning dot matrix display until the system is reset; for example "The next stop is Stirling" being repetitively displayed whilst 200 odd rail miles away at Elgin.

 

[Hadders]

Do Class 365s still boot up with a "BREL Class 465" on the PIS? They certainly did prior to the recent refurb

I don't think so, unless the one announcing WAGN services is still around.

 

[D365]

Do Class 365s still boot up with a "BREL Class 465" on the PIS? They certainly did prior to the recent refurb

I don't think so, unless the one announcing WAGN services is still around.

The WAGN announcement was reinstated as a temporary measure before the new PIS was installed fleet-wide. As it’s a brand new system I don’t imagine it will display that boot message.

 

[tsr]

With some PISs e.g. Class 375(/377), when it is not fully broken, you can manually add a static message such as "Train is for Cannon St".

That function no longer works on the overwhelming majority of 377s. It was removed years ago after being abused. Likewise the old option where you could play music from your own device over the train PA (which was completely bizarre).

 

[D365]

Likewise the old option where you could play music from your own device over the train PA (which was completely bizarre).

Interestingly, I’ve seen that function in use on a diesel railcar in Germany. The driver was provided with an Android smartphone to manually select and play the relevant announcements which were saved as audio clips.

 

[Rail Blues]

I got the train to Liverpool and the PIS had a message: 'alight here for the Rainhill trials'. True story.