So today I did a bit of a comparison with the PIS we will be getting for the preserved update for Peninsula Corridor and the real life PIS. Here is the PIS that we are currently getting for the route: As you all know, these are the UK styled PIS boards that are also seen on the other US passenger routes. I took a look at the real life PIS to compare the differences. Below are the 2 screens that the real life PIS usually shows. The images below are from Burlingame and Santa Clara Stations. I am unaware if the PIS is different at other stations like San Francisco or San Jose Diridon. So I’ll just go under the impression that this is the main PIS used. I do know however that there are different PIS boards on track 3 at Santa Clara, but this is only exclusive to Capitol Corridor and ACE trains, so I will not discuss it. The first image shows the next 2 trains due to arrive at the station. It shows the train number with a #, the time it is due to arrive, and if it is on time or late. The second image shows what happens when a train is late. Instead of showing ‘on time’ it says how many minutes late the train is. Just above it, you can also see that when a train is arriving at the station, the PIS boards show ‘arriving’. The arriving text usually flashes on and off. The third image is the second screen that is shown on the PIS which is a screen showing the time and date. This usually shows for only about 5 seconds. The normal screen showing the times of the next 2 trains usually shows for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. The screen below is then shown for 5 seconds. There are other things that the PIS do such as making announcements about schedule changes, train delays, elevators not working, face mask requirements and more. Usually alongside with this, a voice can be heard mimicking the message shown on the PIS boards. I personally don’t think these need to be added other than the train delay announcement. There probably are more announcements the PIS can make, but with a lack of resources, that was all I was able to find. Something I have also only seen at Santa Clara is that the PIS boards say ‘Train approaching’ if an express train is going through the station. To better explain some of these, here are some Railfanning videos showing the PIS in action, and some of these announcements. (Skip to 4:10 to see a train delay announcement) (Skip to 0:36 to see a train approaching announcement) (This video mostly just shows how the PIS usually works) Hopefully this is useful to the preservation crew. I am not saying this needs to be released with the Peninsula Corridor update since I’m assuming it’s nearing release, but I would love to see these more accurate PIS boards on the route. Feel free to post any additional screenshots/videos to give more useful information to the preservation crew. Feel free to correct me on any misinformation I may have said.
