Don’t run for your train – it’s already gone!

Platform details removed just before departure to stop last-minute rush

RAIL operators are taking the destinations of trains off departure boards minutes before they leave to stop people rushing to catch them.

Passengers say they are missing trains because details vanish from departure board screens, sometimes before a train even arrives.

Govia Thameslink Railway, whose franchises include Thameslink and strike-hit

‘This seems exceedingly stupid’

Southern, said it removes the details two minutes before the scheduled departure time for ‘ health and safety’ reasons to ensure that people do not dash to catch a train that is about to leave.

It said that running through a station is dangerous and can cause accidents. The same policy is used across the industry by Network Rail and train operators.

But commuters say that not only are trains still waiting in the platform for up to two minutes, but sometimes they haven’t even pulled in when they disappear from screens in station foyers and ticket offices.

Clive Page posted on a Thameslink Passenger Panel website: ‘ This seems exceed- ingly stupid. It means that accurate information on departures can only be obtained by using one’s smartphone.

‘ Is it really safer to have passengers passing up and down staircases and escalators looking at their screens than to have the information made properly public so that they can take it all in before they leave the concourse?’

Samantha Leighton added: ‘Information is hidden when there is more than enough time to make the train safely.’ Thameslink spokesman Angela Okello said: ‘Despite warnings and posters asking passengers not to run, this still happens. Passengers will run to try and catch a train that is shown as departing within a minute. There have been accidents as a result of this.’

She said trains could also be prevented from leaving promptly by passengers trying to board within 20 seconds of the departure time.

A Network Rail spokesman said: ‘The safety of passengers is absolutely paramount.

‘We always encourage passengers to allow plenty of time to board their train safely before departure.’

A train drivers’ overtime ban on Southern, due to start on Sunday, has been suspended for two weeks as rail and union bosses hold emergency talks.