CIS screens to be turned on

[ThomasJ]

from community voice
http://www.communityvoice.ie/pages/CV165/CV165n10.htm

Over the past number of years, readers have contacted Community Voice to complain about the information screens at local railway stations which have lain idle since they were installed over seven years ago. Despite a number of enquiries by some of the paper’s most intrepid reporters no logical reason was ever forthcoming from Iarnród Éireann.

Some months ago following his appointment as Minister for Transport, this paper approached Leo Varadkar to see if he could throw some light on the non functioning information screens.

In a “note to the Minister” passed on to Community Voice by Minister Varadkar, the company explained that “the Customer Information System (CIS) screens were originally purchased for these stations at the same time as DART screens, for economies of scale reasons, in the knowledge that they would not be operational until signalling upgrading work was undertaken on the Maynooth line.

This work would fully integrate signalling with our Central Traffic Control. This is why the screens do not provide service information, and the signalling upgrade is a costly project which will be undertaken along with future electrification of the Maynooth line.”

Bearing in mind that the electrification of the Maynooth Line is still aspirational and no timescale has yet been put in place for it to take place, Iarnród Éireann has now decided to undertake work “to provide an interim solution.”

According to the company spokesperson, “this will require manual input of information, but will provide customers on the Maynooth line with improved information at stations.”

As to a time scale for getting the CIS screen finally up and running the company said “hardware and software will be ordered to affect this change and installation and testing will then follow.

It is anticipated that the project will take eight months to implement, and the CIS screens will be operational on the Maynooth line by the end of April 2012.”