please empty your brain below

one other thing is that there are now 3 car trains on the woolwich arsenal - bank line which is good and way overdue

Rachel | 01.02.12 - 8:57 a.m. | #

I wonder if this new 'fluffiness' has anything to do with reducing the number of payments they have to make for service delays?

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/tickets/refunds/dlrrefund/default.asp

That is, if there are no definite times widely published for journeys, people don't know when they are exceeeded.

Blue Witch | Homepage | 01.02.12 - 9:06 a.m. | #

Would it be a stupid idea to have TWO different kinds of timetable?

One, dumbed down for those who can't be bothered, and another one for railway geeks with all the necessary details.

Stations have enough space to accommodate both.

cybergreg | 01.02.12 - 10:53 a.m. | #

Given that the DLR is pretty reliable it would only take a quick glance at the live departure boards to see what minutes past the hour trains typically run at. Not ideal I accept but hardly insurmountable for the vast majority of people.

I'd like a bit more detail on timetables generally but I don't think it is going to happen any time soon in London.

PC | 01.02.12 - 8:27 p.m. | #

Overall, I quite like it.
I think it's elegant, simple and concise. Very much in keeping with both the LO & Tube networks current simplifying of platform information.

However, considering it is bi-directional (necessary?) and there are multiple destinations for trains on one platform alone, I do think it would benefit from a "Check vehicle blind" banner, or words to that effect.

But on the whole, a welcomed development...

Benamin | 01.02.12 - 9:53 p.m. | #

I think it should just say

"Trains. Whenever."

langdon | 02.02.12 - 7:58 a.m. | #

They may as well just say "Trains at least every ten minutes" for all the good these new timetables are. I remember when they first stopped showing the actual train times (they used to show every train even in the peak hours) when they started work on extending the trains to 3 cars. They said at the time the full timetables would reappear once the work was complete but that never happened and they've gone completely the other way now. People who can't understand timetables won't bother to look anyway so why dumb down so much?

Added to this they have incorrect info on the Lewisham branch as the "Last Train To Canary Wharf" note shows last trains running 20 minutes earlier than they actually are. Last train north from Cutty Sark for example is shown as 0035 but I believe it's still 0055. Do they want people not to use these services so they can stop them in future?

Bizarrely the Cutty Sark timetable has a separate section for trains to Canary Wharf and Stratford. If you look in this bit the last train is shown as 0025 (which is presumably the last connection) but if you're a newbie you'll most likely assume this is the last train to Canary Wharf. To add insult to injury the "timetable" to Canary Wharf and Stratford says every 6-10 mins whereas the Bank "timetable" says every 4-10 mins! How can trains to Canary Wharf have a best frequency of 6 mins but ones to Bank of 4 mins.

I'm not a timetabling professional and I've spotted these blunders very easily. Somebody at the DLR is doing this for a living. Unbelievable!

Jan Poklewski | 03.02.12 - 1:21 a.m. | #

Jan, I can explain that. The 4-10 min trains to Bank and the 6-10 to Canary Wharf overlap each other - in effect, you have an average gap of 5 minutes between any train turning up Northbound.

There are footnote letters that indicate when a time is indicating a connecting train.

Lastly on the positive front, I like the consistency with LUL format. DLR have been edging towards this for some years and this finally completes the exercise. Even down to the 'web' and 'information' icons. Also the simplified, route-specific, line diagrams. Cosmetically-wise, I very much like.

HOWEVER - I do agree that the abbreviation of actual information has gone too far, and DLR would have been better starting with the Met line LUL template rather than the Jubilee Line LUL template, keeping Mon-Fri, Sat & Sun separate OR, having vertically-divided hour-by-hour areas, like bus timetables, that group hours with the same minute times together - with perhaps just off-peak in the middle using the 'every x-y minutes' style. Footnote letters could be used to distinguish between trains going to different destinations from the same platform.

Mark Boulton | Homepage | 11.02.12 - 9:31 p.m. | #











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