UK: Eight lightly-used stations on the Far North line in Scotland are being provided with ‘request to stop’ kiosks, removing the need for waiting passengers to give hand signals to the driver of an approaching train.
The kiosks supplied by Unipart Technologies Group’s Comms Design will use the line’s Radio Electronic Token Block equipment to tell the driver to stop to pick up waiting passengers. This means trains will no longer need to slow down on their approach if there is no-one waiting at the station, reducing delays, fuel consumption and brake wear. The kiosks will also provide passengers with live train running information.
The kiosks are scheduled to go live this summer at Scotscalder, which is the trial location, and at Altnabreac, Kinbrace, Kildonan, Dunrobin Castle, Rogart, Invershin and Culrain.
‘Providing the travelling public with a good user experience at rural request stop stations has presented a considerable challenge for a number of years’, said Paul Clark, Managing Director of Comms Design. ’Our technology skill set is a perfect match for this multidisciplinary challenge spanning product development, communication engineering and custom software design, and the new system will put passengers firmly in control, while also bringing operational and environmental benefits.’
