Let's close all the ticket counters

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on · · 16 comments · 550 words · read ~275 times.
Cartoon. An old woman is at a train ticket counter. The ticket machine is out of order. The ticket office is now called "Info Hub". The ticket seller says "OK, one more time: Go home and log on to our website from your computer, create an account and purchase your ticket with your credit or debit card, download the ticket to a smartphone, then come back at the allocated time... Just what part of 'easier and more convenient' don't you get?"

I bloody hate this cartoon that's doing the rounds (I think it's by the incredibly talented Len in Private Eye). Here's what I want the caption to say: OK, one more time: Get here at least 30 minutes early because the queue barely moves and you'll inevitably be stuck behind someone trying to pay for […]

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Turn an old eReader into an Information Screen (Nook STR)

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on · · 16 comments · 700 words · read ~11,591 times.
Nook with a train display.

Here's a quick tutorial for turning an old Nook into a passive display. This is an update to my 2013 post End Result An eInk screen which displays the trains I can catch from my local station. It shows the next few available trains, and whether they're delayed. It also shows how long until the […]

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Episode 26 - Dan Pope's trntxt.uk

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on · · 50 words · read ~104 times.
A white train on a blue background.

Do you want an ultra-minimalist, open source, train times website? If so, Dan Pope, has created trntxt.uk just for you! https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Dan-Pope-TrainTxt.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:25 — 1.1MB)Subscribe: Google Podcasts Stitcher RSS

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Are @FGW Deliberately Trying To Confuse Their Customers?

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on · · 4 comments · 2,000 words · read ~431 times.

Train companies in the UK are uniformly awful. Because they are privately run but endure no meaningful form of competition, we get to see just how hostile corporations are to customers when left to their own devices. I am a long-suffering passenger on First Great Western. The line between Oxford and London regularly suffers from […]

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Train Tickets With QR Codes

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on · · 1 comment · 250 words · read ~1,213 times.

No, I'm not talking about Masabi's innovative technology, but of this rather odd bit of advertising found on the back of a train ticket. There's no specific call to action - but there's not much space to play with. Let's give it a scan... *sigh* A non-mobile site. With an Adobe Flash plugin in the […]

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SouthWest Trains' Silly Twitter Mistake

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on · · 100 words · read ~234 times.

An amusing mistake spotted by my wife on her way to work. SouthWest Trains are trying to promote their Twitter service - @SW_Trains - via their LED message boards. Looks like the displays don't understand the underscore character. I wonder if anyone tested this before it went live? You can watch the full video

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