In the Spring of 2011, Northern Rail succeeded in what ought to have been a simple task of fixing a public address system on Slaithwaite and Marsden stations. It only took five years. If it seemed too good to last, it was. It took another 3 years for an obsolete system to be replaced. It was an example of how the train operating companies failed to give the need for passengers to have accurate and timely information the priority it deserved.
To a large extent, technology has moved on since then, and passengers are able to obtain information on delays/cancellations from a range of internet sources. Technology means that it’s now possible to track the location of just about anything. Anything except rail replacement buses, that is.
The challenge now for the train operating companies is to provide information tailored to the needs of passengers travelling to or from specific locations. For example, passengers at Manchester Piccadilly whose train for Slaithwaite has been cancelled need to be told how to adapt to the disruption and make their journey with as little delay as possible – too often the information provided is aimed at longer distance passengers and ignores passengers at places like Marsden and Slaithwaite.
Information on stations needs to be relevant and useful to passengers, and often it isn’t. Slaithwaite and Marsden stations are still managed by Northern (even though the last time a Northern train called at Slaithwaite was December 2018), and Northern’s contractors put up posters about Northern’s products which aren’t available for passengers at Slaithwaite, and other posters about engineering work affecting their services “in the region” (which often turns out to mean places hundreds of miles away which most people have never heard of). We spend far too much time trying to get the railway industry to put up posters about the engineering closures directly affecting Marsden and Slaithwaite.
We also keep pointing out the need for real-time tracking of rail replacement buses. There is real time tracking of trains, and of regular service buses. We are told there are also apps which parents can use to track the location of their teenage offspring. Seemingly the only thing in this world which can’t be tracked is a rail replacement bus.