New signs for Railtrack stations

Design Research Unit is overseeing the implementation of new signage across ten major railway stations, following a wayfinding review for Railtrack during the past eight months.

Citigate Lloyd Northover designed the graphics for the system, which has been piloted at Gatwick Airport’s station.

DRU was appointed in December 1999 to undertake a review of wayfinding systems at stations throughout the UK.

Its work included a generic design manual detailing sign specifications, fixings and materials, plus technical specifications for signage. All ten stations are due to be completed by next April.

DRU senior associate and project manager Finn Butler says the most distinctive signage changes relate to “the rationalisation of the hierarchy within each sign panel, especially on the large station concourse.

“Way out information is shown in yellow, indicating the destination and nature of the exit. They are numbered to facilitate multi-lingual communications between customers and customer services personnel. The hierarchy on each sign is from the bottom up: the most important information is closest to the reader,” he explains.