A routine train trip to Newcastle with my daughter today, and I was pleased to note we were on one of the newer trains with on-board CIS. I thought it was great, but my daughter, not used to travelling by train, pointed out an obvious problem I had overlooked. The display simply reads “MetroCentre” which is the final destination of the train. “But”, protested my daughter as we got off “this isn’t MetroCentre – it’s Newcastle!”. Similarly on the return journey the display simply read “Morpeth”. Had she been on her own, my daughter reckoned she would have got off at Manors or Cramlington, believing the CIS to be announcing the current station, not the final destination of the train. That’s a good point. More clarity is needed. Something like: “This train is for Morpeth. The next station is Cramlington”. Can’t think how I didn’t realise how misleading it is before. On returning to Cramlington, I was pleased to note a Carillion van in the car park with some station maintenance work going on. Despite what we are hearing in the press, Northern’s business, it seems, is still getting service as usual.
