Euston railway station has switched off its big promoting billboard after an outcry from commuters who criticised the substitute of significant passenger data screens.
The choice comes after mass cancellations on Avanti West Coast trains left hundreds of passengers pissed off and confused on the station’s overcrowded concourse.
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh intervened, directing Community Rail to disable the 200ft display screen, which had been displaying commercials for Canadian holidays, ITVX, and the Transformers movie, relatively than essential journey updates. Haigh acknowledged that Euston station has “simply not been good enough for passengers” and demanded rapid motion to enhance situations.
The display screen had changed one of many largest passenger data boards within the UK, and the choice to swap it out was broadly criticised by commuters as a “terrible decision,” particularly during times of serious disruption. With cancellations affecting routes to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and different locations, passengers have been left with out entry to key journey data, sparking widespread frustration.
In response to the backlash, Community Rail confirmed that the billboard had been switched off and {that a} evaluation could be performed to evaluate the display screen’s affect on congestion on the station. “The question is whether the screen is contributing to congestion or not making a difference, or indeed if it’s actually having a positive impact,” a spokesman mentioned. The station will use warmth modelling to watch how the display screen shutdown impacts passenger motion.
Community Rail insisted that the brand new configuration of passenger data boards improves circulation on the station, with a spokesperson noting, “We will never be going back to a bulkhead departure board. However popular it was, the facts prove that it was a hindrance to moving around the station.”
The shutdown of the promoting display screen is a part of a broader five-point plan designed to boost the expertise for passengers at Euston. Further measures embrace creating extra concourse area, bettering how the station operates throughout disruptions, and enhancing the reliability of prepare providers on the West Coast Principal Line.
Gary Walsh, route director for West Coast South, admitted that the current passenger expertise at Euston had fallen brief, saying, “We need to do better.” He expressed confidence that the five-point plan would make a significant distinction within the brief time period by easing congestion and offering clearer passenger data.
Euston station can be in discussions with promoting firm JCDecaux, which owns the billboard, to discover the opportunity of displaying passenger data on the display screen throughout instances of extreme disruption on the West Coast Principal Line. Referred to as the Euston Movement+, the display screen first went dwell in January as a part of a marketing campaign devised by Saatchi & Saatchi for vitality firm Ovo.
