Rail bosses remove trains from departure signs to prevent passengers from hurrying – despite claiming that people will run instead of looking at their phones.
Network Rail has confirmed that it is carrying out a test at London King's Cross who sees information disappear from screens three minutes before the service leaves.
The last call announcements at the station, which serves cities, including York, Newcastle and Edinburgh, are now made for four minutes before a train is planned to leave.
Posters in the busy station have informed passengers that Network Rail tests 'Earlier final entry calls for long -distance trains, so that people do not hurry'.
The message from the government company, which manages 20 large train stations, adds: “This is so that everyone can safely go on board and let trains run on time.”
But passengers have criticized the 'patronizing' movement, where one claims that this would lead to more people running while they use their phones to check their platform on an app.
Some railway users are already looking at websites such as Trainline to confirm their platform, which can sometimes appear there before it does on the station's departure signs.
Passengers are waiting for information for departure plates at London King's Cross
Travelers Board A London North Eastern Railway (LNER) Service at London King's Cross
Simon Watson, who regularly travels between London and York, said to The Times: 'The trains are every 30 minutes and when I go home, which I am, can make a difference between being home before the children's sleeping or not.
“Whether I run for the train is my decision. It is better to hurry to look at the departure boards than your phone. '
Michael Solomon Williams from the Better Transport campaign told MailOnline: 'We understand the good intentions behind this, but it only contributes to the list of reasons why the public should be frustrated with the railways, and the risk of encouraging people to encourage people to to give up and ride and drive instead. '
And travel expert Nicky Kelvin, generally editor of the Points Guy, said MailOnline: 'Stations can be quite often chaotic, especially during peak times, and although this is only a test, it may affect those passengers who have no access To a smartphone or that are cautious to use their devices in a busy environment because of the risk of theft. '
He added that although passengers are always advised to leave enough time during the home -working traffic, 'we all know that this can be outside of our control, with delays and on the tube and roads that often influence our further journeys' .
Mr Kelvin continued: 'It will be interesting to see the outcome of the process and if Network Rail actually decides to roll out this over all major travel hubs.
A departure board at King's Cross with details about services on the main line of the East Coast
“To stay ahead of the crowds, travelers must download the right app for their train company or other train schedule apps that show the platform numbers so that they can arrive at the station where they are going.”
King's Cross is the London terminus of the main line of the east coast, used for long-distance services by London North Eastern Railway (LNER), Grand Central and Hull Trains.
Great Northern also operates forens services of the HUB, the 17th busiest station on the British network in 2023/24 with 24.5 million submissions and outputs according to the Rail and Road office.
MailOnline understands that network rail bosses want to allow King's Cross to allow three minutes, while most other stations cut it nicer because the departure combination is a real distance from the lower numbered platforms.
They believe it can take three to four minutes to go to Platform 0, which is furthest away, especially for people with luggage or the elderly.
That is why bosses believe that it makes no sense to announce the last call for trains so close to the departure that people could not really catch them unless they sprint – which staff does not want to happen.
A spokesperson for Network Rail said: 'Our stations are planning their announcements to give passengers the safest and easiest start of their travels and to ensure that trains can leave on time.
'At King's Cross we show long -distance trains on the most important departure boards up to three minutes before departure, and this has been normal for some time.
'The process will only see that the last Tannoy announcements are made four minutes before departure on long-distance trains to give people enough time to get to their trains.
Network Rail has already promised to reduce bodies of passengers that hurry to platforms in London Euston (depicted) by allowing previous boarding from some services
“No change is made to the actual boarding times, and passengers can still board their train up to 20 minutes before departure, just like the normal process.”
Last October, Network Rail promised to reduce bodies of passengers that hurry to platforms in nearby Euston by allowing more entry of some services.
The bosses said they had started allowing passengers who travel at about 40 percent of Avanti West Coast services from the London station, trains 20 minutes before departure trains.
This was raised to around 55 percent in the run -up to Christmas.
Passengers traveling on the services of London Northwestern Railway to Birmingham, were invited to platforms to wait for their train as soon as the previous service had left when the so -called 'continuous boarding' was launched.
The changes came after the then transport secretary Louise Haigh Network Rail ordered to revise and improve how it manages the station.
That followed on Waakhond London Travelwatch -warning that passengers in Euston 'were put in danger' by 'high levels of overcrowding'.
It stated that 'last-minute announcements' the hasting from passengers to platforms 'meaning'.
The plan included other measures, such as switching off a large advertisement screen while its use was assessed, creating more neck space, upgrade toilets and improving the way in which the station works during the disruption.
Plans to redevelop Euston include creating a larger hall, but these are subject to network rail that protects more government financing.
