Passenger Information Screens (PIDs)

Park Rd is now Boggo Rd.

Is there merit in returning to numbered/lettered train lines in SEQ?

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Returning? I don’t recall we’ve ever had them. Numbered aren’t perfect, either. A T1 Western train in Sydney could be going to Emu Plains, Penrith, Richmond, or Schofields. A T1 North Shore train could terminate at North Sydney, Gordon, Hornsby, or Berowra.
A T4 could be going to Waterfall or Cronulla. A T8 could terminate at Macarthur, Campbelltown, or Revesby. It might travel via Sydenham or Airport. These are just a few examples.

The City Train map had numbers on them in the 80s, but my understanding was that was just to make the legend make sense rather than being the name of the line. See the post on Transit Maps.

I get that TfNSW has the standard in branding and communications, but I definitely feel that the multiple stopping patterns / route options under the same name (e.g. T1 as above) is confusing for infrequent passengers. I would like our network to have numbers, letters and shapes to go with the line names.

I would really like to see the end of the current route codes for all the different transposals being part of the public image of the network. As much as it is reasonably legible if you know a bit about the network, I think we could do something better.

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Interesting. I’ve been travelling reasonably regularly in trains in Brisbane since the late '80s, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen that map. I vaguely recall other maps in the SX sets, which would’ve been even older than this.

I’m guessing due to line pairings, this is probably from before the Ferny Grove line flyover was built?

50% of the route code (the originating station) is unnecessary information for a rider down the line. E.g., VLBD - where the train came from, Varsity Lakes, is not important, only the destination is.

Perhaps some sort of combination- T1 Brisbane Domestic ?

Not sure, I’m not that old :wink:

Looks like the flyover was under construction in 1978 along with the electrification scheme so it would have been operational before the map was in use. The post said the map was from 1980 based on the FG to Darra section being the only shown as electrified, but there were comments saying it was later than that because the Cleveland (Lota) line has been extended to Thornside (but not shown as electrified).

I agree generally. My issue is more with the routes that swap lines part way through, like VLDB. If you turn up at Helensvale and see a T8 Doomben train, do you know that it still runs the regular GC pattern to the city and then becomes a Doomben train? In my mind it would be better for the train to be a ‘T1 Brisbane City’ train until the transposal happens.

I think that the route code/identifier should be addressed as part of also addressing how trains get transposed (and how that affects the GTFS feeds). I have a vague recollection @alexjago posting about this before.

This is attractive. Translink/QR, please take note and/or implement this.

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Part of the solution from a legibility perspective is to just be better and never transpose. But the alternative is - as you say - to communicate it as a change of route where one stays on the vehicle. “This is now a Tx train to Foobar, passengers for other lines please change here.” (From memory GTFS even has a concept for this - block_id.)

Where it probably has issues is tying in with the legacy QR systems which are (I presume) based on internal information about what the train is actually doing. (And they always colour by destination.)

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Yeah, I’ve noticed this during the Gold Coast/Beenleigh line closures. Southbound trains are gold, northbound trains are red.

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And six months later, they still are not working. Six months. :scream:

You literally have to get to a platform to check if you’re on the correct platform or not, and only Platform 4 and Platform 5 have the PIDs that show 3 next services.

If you’re waiting for a Gympie North service, if it’s changed from Platform 2 to Platform 1 - like it often is - good luck.

Inaccurate, no gobbledegook about busways :stuck_out_tongue:

Along with the fact this service doesn’t exist, along with Tennyson Station?

The whole point is the PID and layout. It will be nice once they update the rail PIDs. Hopefully we might see some prototypes popping up by the end of the year.

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Is there a confirmation updated PIDS with new graphics are coming that match the network?

Yes a Singaporean company I believe.

Will they be on all QR trains or just QTMP trains and CRR stations

I’ve been thinking about how we can improve the experience for bus users at major stops with e-ink PIDs.

A common issue I hear infrequent bus users complain about is the stress of having to always be alert so you can hail the bus.

I think there’s an opportunity to improve this pain point by introducing a revised version of the e-ink PIDs which has an extra ‘request next bus’ button. When pushed, this button could illuminate an LED at the top of the J-Pole to indicate to drivers that the stop has been hailed.

This would also benefit those with visian impairments.

What are your thoughts?

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My major concern is, how will that work for stops that serve multiple routes?

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