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Countries around the world are investing in modernisation and development of transit infrastructure. In this regard funds are tight and gaining the attention of additional ridership is a challenge. Both issues can be addressed with a time system and clocks.

How do you attract additional ridership and encourage people to use a transit system? Amongst others, a reliable and comfortable transit system is the reason why people travel and commute by train, metro and bus. State-of-the-art time systems and clocks contribute greatly to comfort and reliability. Installation of clocks on platforms, waiting areas and public places inform passengers at every glance about the right time. Analogue clocks offer great comfort advantages as they are still readable intuitively from a big distance – even with sunlight insolation.

Reliability is a newsworthy feature. Issues with impulse clocks showing the wrong time and confusing ridership are history. Nowadays, self-setting clocks are available. They automatically correct a possible deviation from the right GPS time. Or even better: clocks over Ethernet (NTP time code) connected to a centralised management platform which monitors and controls clocks out of the operation control centre (OCC) for a whole railway or metro line over hundreds of kilometres. On the master clock level redundancy of time servers ensure availability of time signal, even in cases of power failure due to battery backups. Such a reliable time system contributes a great deal to the sense of security a transit operator wants to give to its ridership.

Besides that, transit operators also seek to sell their services to potential customers. From a marketing point of view, clocks offer a phenomenal chance to strengthen corporate identity. Imagine clocks on your platforms in your corporate design. Not a dream, but a reality nowadays. At Swiss Railways (one of the most recognised, modern and popular public transport systems in the world) the specific Swiss Railway Clock is the leading marketing instrument for brand awareness of the Swiss Railway company. Customising a clock involves the housing and the dial and has basically no limit at all.

Although reliability, ridership comfort and marketing branding are crucial aspects for transit companies, management of tight funds is of equal importance. Time is money – this phrase is the benchmark: enormous, publicly and privately funded investments in stations, transit networks and rolling stock require efficient and time accurate operations management in order to get the most out of a transit infrastructure. In that respect, highly complex transit systems require accuracy to the second in each phase and in all control loops. This can be ensured with absolutely synchronised time signals and time displays from a master clock system. Such a system allows increasing punctuality and therefore to operate more vehicles in the network, to increase the utilised capacity and even to avoid expensive network extensions.

Time systems and the clocks themselves are on an economical level that is in line with careful fund management. Clocks are robust, easy to maintain and efficient in operation. Robustness for all weather conditions such as rainwater (IP65 protection) or wind (sustaining over 150 km / h). Easy to maintain due to a modular concept of dial, movement and hands which can be exchanged from the operator’s maintenance team without special equipment. Clocks come with efficient LED-illumination which decreases energy consumption and increases the lifetime of the illumination. Overall, robustness, easy maintenance and efficiency of an analogue transit clock have a positive effect on lifespan and investment protection. These advantages outbid the same features of a digital LED-display.

MOBATIME Swiss Time Systems are your choice when it comes to time systems and clocks. With its worldwide experience in transit systems (e.g Swiss Railways, German Railways, Taiwan High Speed Railway, Metro São Paulo, Metro Delhi) MOBATIME ensures that transit authorities and operators benefit from a time system and clock – to gain ridership and to save funds.