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Wednesday 15 Jul 2020

London Waterloo trials new high-definition colour screen to provide better passenger information

Region & Route:

Southern: Wessex

| Southern

Network Rail Southern region is spearheading a trial of full-colour, high-definition customer information display at London Waterloo station to provide passengers with high quality train running information.

This is the first time a full colour LED display has been installed at one of Network Rail’s managed stations solely to provide customer information in a trial which is due to last until December 2020.

The LED display - which measures 3 metres by 1.5 metres - was installed last month by engineers from Network Rail’s Telecoms team for easy-to-read, up-to-the-minute journey and passenger information; including details of onward transport connections when there is disruption. 

The flow of information is managed by South Western Railway (SWR) working with Network Rail station staff.

John Halsall, Network Rail Southern region managing director, said: “Accurate, real-time, and easy-to-understand customer information is critical to passengers’ experience in stations and is key to putting our passengers first. 

“We’re really happy to see the introduction of this new technology at London Waterloo, which is the country’s busiest station. With its position on the station concourse, it will provide passengers with the latest information to help them make more informed decisions about their journey.”

Charlene Wallace, director of national passenger and customer experience at Network Rail said: “ This project has been a fantastic collaborative effort from our telecoms, stations team and Southern region colleagues and is a great example of how we are using technology to really improve the experience of our passengers at our major stations.”

Alan Penlington, customer experience director for South Western Railway, said: “We know our customers want reliable and up-to-date information when travelling with us.

“We’re delighted to be able to work with Network Rail to trial this new information screen at London Waterloo, allowing our customers to get easy to understand information so they can stay up to date and plan their journey.”

A second six-month trial of a larger display (5 metres x 2.5 metres) using the same technology is planned for London Victoria station in late September. Depending on the success of the trial, it could eventually be rolled out across all of Network Rail’s regions in future.