Skip to main content

UK railways to benefit from information upgrade

More than US$13.44 million funding will be spent by train companies to boost passenger information at stations across the UK. The funding will pay for a national roll-out to link customer information screens at stations to the latest live real time train information data, fed from a database developed and maintained by train companies. The upgrade will be rolled out in around 2,000 National Rail stations. The first stations will be switched on in summer 2014 and the whole project is anticipated to be comp
January 3, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
More than US$13.44 million funding will be spent by train companies to boost passenger information at stations across the UK.

The funding will pay for a national roll-out to link customer information screens at stations to the latest live real time train information data, fed from a database developed and maintained by train companies.  The upgrade will be rolled out in around 2,000 National Rail stations.  The first stations will be switched on in summer 2014 and the whole project is anticipated to be complete in 2015.

The scheme follows successful trials at seventeen stations managed by Virgin Trains along the West Coast Main Line and across all the stations operated by Chiltern Railways. The funding is provided through the National Stations Improvement Programme (NSIP) and the data will feed through from National Rail Enquiries (NRE).

Alec McTavish, NSIP lead for the Association of Train Operating Companies (1998 ATOC) said: “This funding is good news for passengers as it means every National Rail station with a customer information screen will be using the most up-to date ‘live’ train running information.

“With train travel more popular now than it has been for 90 years and over 1.4 billion trips made last year, operators know that passengers want the most up to-date information about their journey.

“Significant amounts of time and money have been invested in providing better, more consistent information for passengers. But we know that we can always improve, which is why operators are working with the rest of the industry and listening to passengers to find ways to keep on improving things even further.”

Train companies are working hard to continuously improve the information they give to passengers. Earlier this year NRE launched its own free smartphone app for iPhone and Android operating systems, offering UK passengers even more choice over how they access real time information about train journeys.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Bluetooth aids rail passenger monitoring
    April 12, 2013
    In an effort to reduce congestion and improve passenger flow at railway stations in the Netherlands, Danish software company Blip Systems and Dutch railway consultants NPC have teamed up to monitor passenger movements using Bluetooth and wi-fi tracking. In an eight-week study at Groningen railway station, Blip Systems has installed 22 of its BlipTrack sensors which anonymously detect wi-fi and Bluetooth-enabled devices such as mobile phones and laptops. The sensors will monitor passengers and transmit the
  • UK police recommends psychometric profiling for fleet drivers
    May 31, 2012
    Fleet operators have been warned that police forces across the UK are waiting to convict one of them under corporate manslaughter and corporate homicide legislation. The chilling message was delivered to fleet decision-makers attending this year’s Mercedes-Benz sponsored ACFO (Association of Car Fleet Operators) Conference and AGM by Sgt Gareth Morgan, supervisor of South Wales Police Driver Training. To-date there have been just two successful prosecutions under the 2007 Corporate Manslaughter and Corporat
  • Cubic and TfL launch mobile ticketing app for Oyster card customers
    September 8, 2017
    Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) and Transport for London (TfL) have launched of the TfL mobile ticketing app for Oyster card users in London, England. The mobile app – Designed by TfL and developed by Cubic, the app allow Oyster card customers to manage travel fares and payments, top up cards and view journey history on the go via Android or Apple iOS devices. A range of travel products, including pay-as-you-go, weekly, monthly or annual travel, can be bought using the app and then added to custome
  • Cubic and TfL launch mobile ticketing app for Oyster card customers
    September 8, 2017
    Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) and Transport for London (TfL) have launched of the TfL mobile ticketing app for Oyster card users in London, England. The mobile app – Designed by TfL and developed by Cubic, the app allow Oyster card customers to manage travel fares and payments, top up cards and view journey history on the go via Android or Apple iOS devices. A range of travel products, including pay-as-you-go, weekly, monthly or annual travel, can be bought using the app and then added to custome