As the new class 377 trains have been introduced onto the Thameslink route (connecting Luton and Gatwick Airports to London) I've been hearing but not really noticing the announcements on platforms as they approach.

One thing I did notice last night - and started to think about - is an element of laziness.

The 4-car units have a first class section at each end.

But regardless of whether the train has one or two 4 car units, the announcement is always to the effect that 'First class accommodation is at the front and rear of the train'.

So it is, of course, but if it's an 8-car train it's also in the middle! And there are plenty of stations where you might wish to alight and you might wish to be in the middle of the train rather than at the front or rear for speed of egress. Especially with ticket barriers making it more of a scrum to leave the station!

Is this someone taking the easy way out and ignoring the passengers? Especially the premium passengers?

The current management seem to have cracked this counting business: if a 4-car train is announced, it's likely to have four coaches. With the previous guys, you knew that there were two kinds of 4-car train - those which actually had four coaches and those which had 8. There were also two kinds of 8-car train, which was sometimes distressing because it necessitated a sprint!

Now that counting has been cracked - or so it seems - it ought to be possible to have separate announcements for 4 and 8 car trains. The next Great Leap Forward!

I have blogged before about the new trains being introduced to First Capital Connect's Thameslink route connecting Gatwick and Luton Airports to London.

They look nice, and they are air conditioned.

A downside I have noted before is the lack of seats - they have about 50 fewer in a 4-car unit than the class 319s they replace (although at some time in the future they will run as 12-car formations, when all the platforms on the route have been lengthened).

Another is that they ride very firmly - downright roughly in places, almost to the point of being alarming. I've only sampled them north of the Thames - I wonder what they are like to the south, where the railway is even more heavily used?

This station has recently become much more important to Heathrow Express users. This is because of the change in the operating pattern of the Circle Line, which now no longer serves the City directly from the Circle and District Line platforms. It's good to see that the platform environment has been much improved over the last few weeks.

The main visual impact is light. The station is much more light and airy. At the London end in particular, the area has been significantly enhanced with the demolition of some walls and overhead structures, so there is now much natural daylight.

At the other end, the out-of-use footbridge which only went to the adjacent platform has been removed. This too has created more light and more space.

Some of the clutter has also gone from the platforms.

In addition, the Next Train information system is much better.

As yet, there is no sign of a lift (elevator). This would be a major benefit to passengers with heavy luggage - and at a major London terminus handling a lot of holiday traffic as well as the Heathrow Express, this is a major issue. However, there is space, so we can hope!

Indeed, the facilities for changing level constitute the major remaining drawback. The stairs to the footbridge, the only exit from the platforms, get very congested in the peak (although the staff do their best). And there is also congestion by the ticket machines as you emerge onto the main station overbridge.

But overall, the station is significantly better than it was.

We were amused to read a publicity brochure from Keolis entitled 'Helping authorities make the right choice'.

In the brochure, Keolis claim that they won a key contract in Melbourne - the world's largest tramway - because they 'think like a passenger'.

But that's something IARO has always said too - that people designing systems need to think like a passenger!

It's nice to be flattered!

Each year, I get invited to speak at the European Training Centre for Railways (ETCR) in the College of Europe in Brugge (Bruges). My remit is to talk to European railway middle managers (who are there on a 2-week course) about the aviation industry and air-rail intermodality. It's always a pleasure to meet these young and enthusiastic people.

It means I get to ride on the train between Brussels and Brugge. There is a half-hourly service, usually calling at Gand (Ghent) only. Sometimes - as on my outward journey - these are double-deck units: coming back, it was a single-deck train. Trains are up to 10 vehicles long - comfortable, spacious and reasonably quiet (although I have found, coming from Brussels on a sunny day, that they can be full of people off to the seaside!). They are usually push-pull units, and sometimes divide at Brugge. Sometimes the loco is in the centre of the train - something I've seen no-where else!

You can catch these trains at three stations in Brussels. This time, I used Central - the terminus of the bus from my hotel. It's a horrible place to wait - it's a busy 6-platform underground main-line station: particularly in the peak, there are lots of trains there. Most stop in Central but a few intercity ones do not. Many of the trains are going just one or two stops - to Midi in the south or Schaarbeek in the north. On the day I travelled this year, many were up to 10 minutes late.

The big departure indicator at central concourse level is good, but at platform level the most visible indicators only showed the next train from that platform - so if platforms were changed (because trains were running late!) it would be difficult to know! Yes, there are announcements - but not very audible because of the background noise and the low roof. And if you could hear them, could you understand them? They are in anything up to four languages, since Belgium is legally tri-lingual and English is also used when announcing long-distance trains.

Brussels Nord and Midi are both big stations, elevated above ground level, with a number of subways under all of the tracks. This can be confusing, especially at Midi where the main subway houses facilities like the Eurostar check-in and the main ticket office while others are really only for changing platfoms or leaving the station (although the Air France check-in is in the south subway).

Midi has clearly benefitted from the major investment occasioned by the arrival of Eurostar and the decision to make it the main international station. Nord, by comparison, can appear the poor relation: investment is coming to the area but fairly slowly, so it is still in a relatively scruffy part of the city.

The route to Brugge has been upgraded over recent years, with new canal bridges and new grade-separated junctions.

More noticeable, though, has been the upgrade of Brugge station. At platform level, there is much marble and glass: it looks good, but there are insufficient seats and it would be an unpleasant place to wait in wet windy weather. At subway level - ground level, because the tracks are elevated - there are some shops and tourist information kiosks. Just outside is a small supermarket, a large bus station and an enormous bike park.

Announcements at Brugge station are only in Flemish.

The station has 10 platforms and lots of trains of all sizes - including freight and direct trains to places like Lille.

The trains and infrastructure were in good condition. It is especially good that, if you buy a Eurostar ticket to Brussels, it takes you to any Belgian station.

One downside of my travel experience was my attempt - ultimately successful - to change my reservation to an earlier Eurostar.

Having found the right place, I was prompted by a screen for my preferred language and destination country and then given a numbered ticket for the queueing system.

The ticket number indicated my place in the queue - normally a good thing because you can wait somewhere comfortable until your number is called, rather than waiting in a snaking line of people! However, the number I'd got bore no relation to any sequence on any screen I could see. After a bit, the screens changed and my number came up - so I went and stood behind someone trying to get to Germany, in a place where I could see a number of desks staffed but where the occupants were doing nothing except studiously ignore anyone who came to them.

Eventually, the person at the position next to the one I'd been called to attended to me.

This was unimpressive. While it was probably necessitated by the number of train companies using it, it didn't seem very efficient.

So it seemed that, as so often, information and other soft issues - the difficult bits - could be improved.