The new trial is aimed at reducing passenger (Image: PA)
A trial run by Network Rail saw removed from departure boards three minutes before they pulled away, sparking anger from travellers.
The is trialling a scheme to reduce passenger rushing at King’s Cross station in by erasing train listings from departure screens three minutes before they leave.
Final call announcements for services from the central London station are now being made four minutes before they depart, in a move that passengers have slammed as “patronising” and “crazy”.
Signs at King’s Cross informing passengers of the change state: “We’re trialling earlier final boarding calls for long-distance trains so people don’t rush.
“Last tannoy announcements will be four minutes before departure. Trains won’t show on station displays within three minutes of scheduled departure times.
“This is so everyone can board safely and keep trains running on time.”
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The move hasn’t been welcomed by passengers (Image: PA)
Commentators on social media described the scheme as “so patronising” and suggested it implied that Network Rail “would prefer [that] you missed your train than that you ran to catch it”.
Simon Watson, who commutes to the capital from York, said: “The trains are every 30 minutes and when I am heading home, which one I’m on can make the difference between being home for the children’s bedtime or not.”
“Whether I run for the train is my decision,” he told .
Others suggested that the distance between the barriers and the platforms at King’s Cross were “nowhere far apart enough” to justify the earlier boarding calls – sitting only a few minutes’ walk apart.
“A thinly veiled attempt by the railway industry to … drum up more penalty fare income from people who ‘missed’ their booked train,” one traveller suggested.
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King’s Cross was recently revealed to be the UK’s after a disruption calculator found that 26% of arrivals at the station were delayed by over five minutes.
The station is served by rail routes including the East Coast Main Line, North Eastern Railway, Grand Central, Hull Trains and Great Northern Railways.
Network Rail also introduced new measures including early boarding at nearby Euston Station, after complaints that platform numbers were only displayed on boards minutes before departure, causing commuter stampedes.
A spokesperson said: “Our stations plan their announcements to give passengers the safest and easiest start to their journeys and to make sure trains can depart on time. There is no change being made to actual boarding times, and passengers can still board their train up to 20 minutes before departure, as is the normal process.”