Chiltern Railways requests exemption from £6.5M modification to onboard passenger information screens
Chiltern Railways is requesting that the Department for Transport exempts it from having to spend £6.5M on modifying passenger information screens (PIS) across its fleet, to enable the PIS to display every single permutation of stopping pattern during disruption. The DfT has refused to fund the modifications and manual announcements are deemed not acceptable, as not accessible to deaf passengers.
At the start of their journey, the driver selects a route code that contains the destination and stopping pattern for the journey. The route codes are stored in a database in each cab and are compiled using special off-train database software. The database is then manually uploaded to each cab (134 in total). The database is limited in size to 999 route codes. This is more than adequate for the base train plan used on most days.
If there are short-term changes to the train plan due to engineering works and special events, such as events at Wembley Stadium, this results in changes to stopping patterns and destinations. It is impractical to generate a new database and upload it to each cab for these short-term changes. Therefore, it is not always possible to display the correct destination and stopping pattern. Drivers have the ability to make audio announcements for passengers reliant on audio announcements but there is no way in the PIS system for drivers to make changes to the visual announcements.
Chiltern Railways has stated that should an exemption not be granted it could adopt a policy of not altering stopping patterns for special events and only using pre-programmed stopping patterns in the event of engineering works. This would further limit the range of options available to passengers to get to special events (such as Wembley Stadium) and increase the number of bus replacement services in the event of engineering works. Neither of these outcomes are advantageous to customers. Alternatively the operator could create a team to update and roll out changes to the PIS database in near real time. This team of around 5 people would prepare data base updates in conjunction with the train planners and then apply them across the fleet 24 to 48 hours in advance. This would require a team of 4 to 5 people at an annual cost of £280,000 to £350,000 but still would not achieve full compliance as changes to stopping patterns made on the day due to disruption would not be reflected in the visual announcements, and a team of 4 to 5 people is unlikely to achieve 100% roll out of a new database in 24 hours.
The period of exemption is requested to be for the remaining vehicle life. Current plans for new, compliant, trains are not yet firm but indicate that all the class 165 and class 168 units will be retired by 2040, although there is a good chance this could be extended depending on rolling stock requirements on the UK network.
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