Why no timetables at train stations?
So one annoying thing in this modern digital world is the disappearance of timetables at train stations. In the olden days you’d rock up at a train platform and a row of reassuring printed timetables were on the walls. You could look up your destination and instantly find your train. Which was especially handy if you were in a rush and needed to quickly scan your travel options.
Nowadays printed timetable posters are virtually extinct on the British rail network, often along with staffed ticket offices for advice. I’m not saying we should bring back national rail timetable books - launched in 1839, the very last printed National Rail Timetable, which ran to more than 1000 pages and weighed more than 2kg, came out in 2020 and had the most boring plot - but posters of timetables are a different matter.
No doubt the cancellation of printed poster timetables is due to the march of digitalisation of everything. Nowadays there’s this widespread assumption you’ll use QR codes and have apps on your smartphone, not just for timetables but for buying and displaying discount railcards and tickets.
Of course, not having printed matter commendably saves paper and energy, but the principal reason printed timetables have disappeared is to trim costs for the train companies. And there are so many delays, strikes, engineering works and other changes on the UK train system these days that the timetable quite regularly becomes redundant.
But most of the time train timetables are accurate, and just relying on digital apps isn’t ideal. What if your mobile has run out of battery or data, or there’s bad wifi or mobile reception? What if you don’t have your phone with you? Even if you do and it is working fine, it’s often rather more cumbersome to find a timetable online than to just look at a timetable on a wall, just as using a printed menu in a restaurant is quicker and simpler than having to use a QR code to access the menu on your phone.
Talking to the Daily Telegraph about the subject, The Rail Delivery Group, which represents the UK train companies, said that people wanting a paper timetable would have the option of asking for a copy to be printed at some stations or could request a copy from the train operator. Well, the first option is unlikely as so often ticket offices are closed, and the second option (presumably by requesting a paper version is posted to you using a mail service that is now slower than a snail on Diazepam) is hardly workable when you’ve got a couple of minutes to spare, running for your train.
Digital signs at many stations just state the line and last station the train is going to, and only list all the stations on the route for the train just about to arrive. Unless you know the network well it can be difficult to plan your trip. A few bigger stations, such as London Bridge, have further passenger information digital boards listing each station and indicating the next train to catch, but such signs are few and far between.
It’s not just the train network that has this march against simplicity. I’m writing this from an underground train on the newest London Underground line, the Elizabeth line, and the nearest tube map on the train is about 30 feet away from me. On earlier train designs the maps are always near you. It’s frustrating: on your journey it’s reassuring to be able to look up and see how your journey is progressing, so you can prepare in good time when to alight. On the Elizabeth line you have to keep remembering to listen out for your stop as often the digital signs don’t keep up with the speed of the journey.
It’s not like this in many countries. Switzerland for example which does everything better than us except comedy, music and train strikes, still has those old fashioned printed timetables on the train platforms. It’s so much more sensible.
It’s bad enough being stranded at a station late at night, where the ticket office is closed, not knowing what train to get because your mobile has run out of juice. But what if you are digitally excluded? London’s independent transport watchdog, London Travelwatch, found these are typically older people, people on lower incomes and disabled people.
The digitally excluded face numerous barriers. They often lack confidence going online and may be embarrassed to ask for help. There’s the financial hurdle: they may not be able to afford devices and internet access, and may be concerned about losing money online. Low literacy and language barriers particularly affect migrants and refugees.
London Travelwatch has a campaign against digital exclusion and a survey it commissioned found that 1.5 million Londoners are being left behind by a digital-first approach to transport. It found that one in six people in London say they are unable to buy a ticket as they can’t use or don’t have access to a smartphone or internet connection, while one in five Londoners say they have paid more for travel because they are not able to buy tickets online or by using mobile apps.
The watchdog recommended, among other things, that transport authorities and operators should maintain non-digital options to allow freedom of travel for digitally excluded and disadvantaged Londoners.
London Travelwatch concluded that ‘digital exclusion and disadvantage has a negative impact on people’s wellbeing, independence and confidence in managing activities in many aspects of their life, and can leave people feeling left out from society.
‘Digitally excluded and disadvantaged people have less access to tools and services which facilitate travelling around London - particularly planning information, payment platforms and up-to-date information on timetables and disruptions.
‘Even among digitally included Londoners, over half (53%) use non-digital assistance to help them when travelling – showing it is not only the digitally excluded or disadvantaged who rely on these forms of support.’