Landlord calls time on trains and buses

Suffolk County Council has enlisted the help of a local pub to implement a transport information service.

A link between 66 railway stations will provide information on train and bus arrival times via station equipment ranging from virtual display screens, public address systems and satellite trackers in larger stations, to mobile devices at smaller stations.

The bigger stations will connect to the information via the Racal Telecoms SDH network. Because the smallest of the stations, Berney Arms in the Norfolk Broads, has no electric or telecoms links, its passengers will have to access travel information by visiting the local pub. The landlord of the pub has also become keeper of a pre-programmed mobile handset that will connect visitors to travel information from the central Ipswich site.

The Ipswich-based control centre, which will be run by Anglia Railways, will compare up-to-date transport information to timetable promises. Theoretically, it will allow visitors to accurately plan journeys, including time-sensitive bird-watching excursions.

It will use Racal's Torus information software system, its train reporter, which logs train movements from the trackside and the GPS tracking system installed on buses in the Ipswich area.