Displays respect East Coast heritage

A need to maintain the overall look of Grade II listed Doncaster railway station while upgrading its customer information displays has been achieved by Infotec Ltd.

Heritage officers specifically requested that when the new displays were installed, the old blue GNER line around the station concourse remained untouched

East Coast Main Line wanted to replace the two summary displays situated above the station’s Travel Centre with screens providing more comprehensive and detailed information.

Heritage officers specifically requested that when the new displays were installed, the old blue GNER line around the station concourse remained untouched, which meant that Infotec was not allowed to mount screens directly onto this.

The solution provided has seen Ashby-based Infotec design, strength calculate and have three metal posts manufactured which have been bolted to the floor inside the Travel Centre and to the rolled steel joist (RSJ) above its glass frontage.

Three of the glass panels were removed to allow arms to extend horizontally through, which then supported a beam on which the displays could be mounted. The panels behind the displays have all been filled in with hardboard and painted GNER blue to match the line.

The two original displays showing summary departure information have now been replaced with a bank of 13 Infotec 42” LED monitors – 10 Next Train, one Summary of Departures (SOD), one Special Notice and one Summary of Arrivals (SOA), to create a main board.

And the two old displays have been put to good use elsewhere in the station. One (SOA) has been moved to join three existing ones on the side of the Lift Wall, the other (SOD) has been installed in the subway beneath the platforms.

Installation of the new Infotec displays has been carried out by Fone-Alarm Installations Ltd (FAI). FAI Director John Horner said: “FAI working closely with the Infotec design team managed to install the main displays above the Travel Centre in timely and efficient manor with minimum disturbance to East Coast customers and staff.”

The passenger information display upgrade was funded from East Coast’s National Stations Improvement Programme (NSIP) funding allocation, a pot distributed by Network Rail and ultimately recovered from the Department for Transport.

Commenting on the new displays, which have just been handed over, Debbie Ambler, Station Projects Manager for East Coast Main Line Company Limited, said: “The feedback from passengers, staff and Network Rail is that the new installation offers a considerable improvement to information offered at the station.”

Award-winning Infotec’s products and technology are used to provide display solutions at overground and underground stations and on metro systems – at the last count more than 8,000 displays at over 1000 UK stations and in an increasing number of locations overseas including Mexico and the USA.