Public Address Overkill

[Mark Gleeson]

Originally Posted by MrX

On the signage thing the name plates above the seats should be highlighted with a sticker or something e.g. a LARGE red RESERVED FOR :

If the seat's free it should display "SEAT VACANT"

Bad bad idea, it was tried on the Mk4 and it caused serious problems

The current software is very simple, if the seat is reserved for the portion of the journey in which the train currently is, the name is displayed. If the seat is reserved for a future portion, system says "This seat is reserved between X and Y". The name makes it very much easier to identify your seat and also logically enough makes it easy to spot someone who shouldn't be there

The MK4 PA actually says

Ladies and Gentlemen, Iarnród Éireann welcomes you on board. This is the xx:xx hours service from A to B, calling at C, D & E. Your attention is drawn to the safety and evacuation notices. This is a no smoking service. We thank you for your attention and hope you have a pleasant and comfortable journey.

The legal requirements is the second sentence

The safety notice is result of a recommendation from the Southhall and Ladbrooke Grove accidents in the UK

For a premier intercity service the PA is professional and a massive improvement on the past PA's of random content

The real problem is the intercity railcars give the full long distance spiel when running a suburban service