Digital advertising displays at York Station turned down (From York Press)

Hooray! Well done Fiona Mackay and CYC planners.
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We *do* care about our visual environment, and we don't want it polluted by advertising any more than it already is. (In fact, come to think of it, it'd be good to get rid of some we've already got, at the station and elsewhere. Any chance, Fiona?)

Good move. Protect those kinds of sites, plenty of alternate locations for modern advertising. Perhaps in the walkway in the Leeman Road tunnel, would save looking at the graffitti...until they graffitti'd the signs of obviously...

Ms Mackay (as some of her recent efforts prove) hasn't a clue. The concourses are cluttered - look at all those signs from each train operator about previous months' performance, and the seating area by the food outlet - so what has she done about that? Why hasn't she acted previously? What's wrong with digital signage? At least it won't be at ground level.

Perhaps they should get rid of the digital departure screens, and revert to the big scrolling printed screens which some of us with long memories may recall.

Am I missing something here?
"The firm said the existing advertising panels were in a “poor condition” and replacing them with digital displays would make the concourse tidier, while they would also offer “increased flexibility” for potential advertisers and raise more advertising revenue while cutting costs. " Turning this down is not forward thinking. leont's comment: "we don't want it polluted by advertising any more than it already is" makes no sense. These new digital advertising boards are to replace existing out-of-date ones which are in "poor condition".
I would never describe the station's concourse as impressive or pleasing on the eye. In my opinion should either: be modernised in-line with other stations around the country OR perhaps revert back to its original state, visitors and travellers would be transported back in time to a golden age of rail travel. It could be a partnership with NRM and a train could run between the station and the NRM. This would highlight York’s historical importance of the rail industry of the past.

Think I must be missing the point here too. Getting rid of the tatty, cluttered signage sounds fantastic. Digital signage doesn't peel off, become worn or faded and is much easier to keep up to date. Where's the argument?

Is that awful rotating ad board still in place just above the Burker King outlet? Can't be any worse than that...

Agree with Bucktrout and P3ter1, some people don't read the article fully before commenting, because if they did they would realise that this would have been a good thing, and some dopey councillor is being very backward about what is going on, they are replacing old with new, no difference DUUUURRRHHH.

Bucktrout wrote:
Think I must be missing the point here too. Getting rid of the tatty, cluttered signage sounds fantastic. Digital signage doesn't peel off, become worn or faded and is much easier to keep up to date. Where's the argument?

Is that awful rotating ad board still in place just above the Burker King outlet? Can't be any worse than that...

Is Burker King where they sell Halal Whoppers?

Ms Mackay (as some of her recent efforts prove) hasn't a clue. The concourses are cluttered - look at all those signs from each train operator about previous months' performance, and the seating area by the food outlet - so what has she done about that? Why hasn't she acted previously? What's wrong with digital signage? At least it won't be at ground level.

Agreed. If it's acceptable to have paper posters, the design and content of which clearly isn't 1840s, then why is it not acceptable to have digital displays of the same size and in the same locations? As long as they can be put up without making any irreversible changes to the fabric of the original structure, I can't see the problem.

If you look at the train station as a whole without any sort of bias, you will see that the station is actually quite dirty and has been for a while. The trainshed roof is covered with decades worth of soot and filth, the flooring in places has broken and been patch repaired, Stanctions for info screens need a good clean and have parts covered in pigeon poop, columns supporting the trainshed roof are dirty and the detailled metalwork attached has become faded due to being covered all over by soot, the current fixed and 'toblerone' shaped revolving advertising boards are often ripped with the wood surrounds going rotten (and the toblerone ones often seem to be not working), the lighting still consists of orange High Pressure Sodium which at night makes the station feel like a freight yard....

Current documentation from the DfT does have speculation about shifting running of York station from the incumbent TOC to Network Rail (as is the case with Leeds, Liverpool, Edinburgh Waverley, and Manchester Piccadilly stations) as part of the new franchise, which might give some investment for the station.

When National Express was running the trains, York was the very last station to receive Nat Ex themed 'york' running boards, only for them to be taken down something like 12 weeks later when NXEC went bust. The Public Address system cannot be heard properly in some areas of the station due to too much echo. The PA speakers need to be installed at about 8-10m above platform level and facing downwards to direct the sound at waiting persons below, rather than the current setup which directs sound outwards at the sides so that it bounces around the trainshed.

The current toblerone type advertising boards always make me think of concrete cities and towns like Birmingham, Rotherham and Doncaster, and would look more in place beside the A64 at the designer outlet junction. LED advertising boards would look modern yes, but if their surface area was the same as the old toblerone boards then the end effect would be better due to the screen looking fresh and new - in addition as it'd be using LED's there'd be no need for a backlight and so would only be about 60cm thick and so would look as though it was flush with the wall line, instead of the current ones which are propped out about 2m from the wall to enable service access at the back.

As for the rest of the station, the trainshed roof needs a complete overhaul of a similar scale to St Pancras along with repainting and a deep clean to make the upper level of the building look clean and fresh. Any flat horizontal surfaces above platform level need spikes fitted to deter pigeons (either that or home a pair of resident Hawks in there!). The lighting needs a redesign to provide more luminaires at about 3-5m height above the platforms to create a better night atmosphere whilst also prodiving reliable light for people to read the paper under; and at the same time the number of high level lights suspended from the roof can be reduced and the lamps changed to white light or LED. A few more clocks and passenger information screens for departures would also be useful, particularly on platforms 3,5,9,10 and 11 (especially 10 and 11, because currently once you leave the area at the bottom of the stairs there are no screens). The round portals in the trainshed wall could have glass/perspex fitted to reduce crossdrafts. Outside, LED projector lights could be fitted so the walls of the station are sensitively bathed in coloured light at night to give a nice welcoming appearance to persons arriving or driving by the station.

Current rail projects including an additional carriage with a pantograph fitted for Crosscountry trains, and the Transpennine Electrification scheme due to start in a few years will see more electric trains and less diesel ones entering the trainshed, and so a good deep clean will last much longer than the last deep clean has done (which judging from the state of things, was probably in the early 1970's at best!)