Euston announcements

16mins before departure and
no platform shown for the 1730

Problem 1
A 4-car train arrives on Euston platform 8. A horde gets off at the doors are locked while the train is coupled to another 4-car unit already on the platform. The station staff knows the train is the 1730 and the regular passengers know that too, but the VDUs on the ramp and the platform say the train is the 1751.


Problem 2
A train still isn't due to leave for a couple of minutes but it disappears from the departure boards and VDUs. Why? Health & safety apparently - To discourage people from running to get a train that's about to leave.

Problem 3

The Network Rail Enquiries online boards (at least the versions I get on my iPhone as above right) is proving unreliable when it comes to displaying departure platforms at Euston .  I might think that this were accidental, but coming on top of problems 1 & 2 I don't think so.

The above aren't one-off incidents and they affect other trains and other platforms. The practice of misleading passengers might have been happening for a while, but if it has then I've been lucky and haven't been affected until the last couple of weeks.



If you are reading this and wondering why this really matters then I'll tell the story of what happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I had to get home early and got to Euston at around 1750 intending to get the 1754. As I arrived on the station concourse I saw that the 1754 was leaving from platform 8. At the top of the ramp I noticed that the VDU for no.8 was blank. At the bottom the same.


On the platform itself I had time only to read "front 4 cars only". I squeezed onto a packed train. All fine? No, this wasn't the 1554 for Milton Keynes stopping at Bletchley. It was the delayed 1534 which terminates at Tring. Fortunately I realised this after departure and was able to change onto the correct train at Watford Junction.  If I hadn't then I'd have potentially ended up with a long wait somewhere.

This Friday the rolling stock for the 1730 came in a few minutes late and at 1725 the VDUs were still showing the train on platform 8 as the 1751.  I was already queued at the locked doors at 1727 when the loudspeakers burst into life and announced that the train was in fact the 1730.


So what's going on?  Whoever is in charge of announcements at Euston (London Midland/Virgin Trains or Network Rail?) has clearly decided that they need to keep us off the platforms until the train is in and ready to board.  That might be fine for a long-distance Virgin Trains service where people can still be given 20+ mins notice of where to board, but it isn't on for commuter trains where the period between the rolling stock arriving and the service leaving can easily be 10 mins or less.  Virgin Trains passengers don't have a crowded ramp and ticket barriers to negotiate through! 


Have you experienced this?  If so, does it annoy you too?  I'd like to hear your views.

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