Stuck in the Snow: We Need Pagers!

It has recently been a familiar announcement for train passengers in the UK: "Due to adverse weather conditions, all trains are currently subject to delays and cancellations." Too little information is given to passengers about the problems and a timetable for resumption of service, while attempts by the passengers to contact their families or taxi companies to arrange alternative transportation are hindered by limited mobile phone service. While it's impossible to stop the snow, and many of these problems could be reduced by a better designed, adequately funded train network, pagers could help in several ways.

The network won't overload

One of the key reasons pagers are used by emergency services personnel and hospital staff is that the networks are often proprietary, reserved for a limited number of users, and therefore don't get overloaded. Mobile phone networks, meanwhile, suffer from high usage during emergencies - or, when everyone in the county is trying to call family members and taxi companies because snow has stopped all the trains. If a large number of pager networks were set up for use by the general public, sending a short message - Stuck at East Croydon, will call when I know more - would be easy, promptly informing the family member of the latest information. Local taxi companies could also use pagers, maintaining a network that extends to the nearest train station and their usual area of operations. Potential customers could ask by message or in person to be beeped when a taxi is available. This would allow people to retreat to a café or pub down the road, rather than having to queue or linger outside in the cold winds and snow.

The train staff could be kept informed

One of the biggest annoyances when enduring delayed train services is the severe lack of information. The overhead displays merely say that everything is delayed or cancelled. The train staff, for those stuck on board, struggle to make useful announcements and answer passenger queries because they're told so little. If only they all carried a handy little device that let them send quick messages to one another. Some train companies' employees already use pagers, but the technology could be used far more extensively than at present. On some trains, the member of staff in the carriages must get to a train phone beside one of the doors to get in touch with the driver, while the driver is sometimes forced to put a message over the PA rather than send it privately. Using pagers could speed up the communications process. Staff members on separate trains could also message one another and their platform-bound colleagues with the latest news: another signal has just failed at Havant, the snowfall has intensified in one area and all the trains are having to slow down because of it. Passengers often fail to get this kind of information until they've already been waiting on the train or platform for some time.

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