Several PATCO Upgrades In The Works
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- PATCO says new information boards are on the way for its train platforms.
PATCO riders know the frustration of trying to decode garbled announcements over the station loudspeakers. But a platform info upgrade is in the works, says DRPA deputy CEO Michael Conallen.
"We have decided to remove our old, antiquated messaging boards and replace them with new, state of the art VMS, or variable message systems," Conallen says.
The old red-letter boards have all been taken down. Conallen says new flatscreen info boards should be installed at the Lindenwold, Woodcrest, Haddonfield and Ferry Avenue stations by the end of January. After that?
"Then our next three largest volume stations -- Broadway, 8th, and 16th, should be completed by the end of April," says Conallen. All stations will be getting them by the end of 2015.
At the start, Conallen says the flatscreens will display manually-entered info including delays, additional trains or schedule changes. But once the refurbushed rail cars are in service -- and there's no word on when that will happen -- precise train times will be automatically transmitted.
Conallen says PATCO also is working to have wi-fi on all trains and platforms by the end of 2015.