LAST OF THE FLAPPER BOARDS DEPART LIVERPOOL ST

Wednesday 7 Nov 2007

LAST OF THE FLAPPER BOARDS DEPART LIVERPOOL ST

Region & Route:: Eastern: Anglia; | Eastern

The 120 million passengers who use Liverpool Street station each year will now have their journey planning made easier by a brand new LED customer information departures and arrivals board.

Liverpool Street is the last mainline station in London to have the iconic, old style flapper boards replaced. Network Rail has invested £2m in the new screens and public address system designed to make it simpler for passengers to find where their next train is leaving from, and be given the most up to date information. With the liquid crystal black and bright orange display, the new boards are easier to read and maintain. The system's features also include:

a dedicated Stansted Express panel
a 'fastest service to' panel
linked automatic PA announcing
the flexibility to display information about service alterations and engineering works.

Patrick Hallgate, Anglia Route Director for Network Rail said: "This investment is all about making people's journeys easier. Liverpool Street is the gateway to the City, is used every day by thousands of people from East Anglia and Hertfordshire as well as international travellers going to and from Stansted Airport.

"The new screens are easier to read, in time order rather than by region which was sometimes a little confusing for people, and they give us the flexibility to provide additional information if we need to. It was sad to see the last of the traditional flapper boards go but we must move with the times and provide what's best for passengers." Andrew Chivers Managing Director of 'one' railway commented: "We welcome the installation of new CIS screens at Liverpool Street station, which represents a significant investment on the part of Network Rail, as part of an ongoing joint project to improve information provision for our customers. Earlier in the year the public address system was upgraded to improve the volume and clarity of announcements. 'one' railway will continue to work closely with Network Rail to improve the service we offer to our passengers at this crucial station."

Notes to editors

- flapper boards were installed at Liverpool Street in 1991. - 120 million people use the station every year. It’s is London’s busiest station – twice as busy as Heathrow. - 100,000 people arrive at Liverpool Street and Fenchurch St every morning during the peak.

Contact information

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020 3357 7969
southeastroutecomms@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

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