Passengers want more information in times of disruption; a problem that persists in the rail industry, and proves a difficult challenge to solve.

First of all, staff at the train stations, or on the trains must be made aware of the nature of the disruption, and the expected time it will take to return to normal services. Yet this is not always as straightforward as it seems, and delivery of information can always be criticised for being too slow. The move to real-time information is a jump the industry has yet to manage.

Secondly, staff must then decide how much information to give to passengers, what is most relevant and how this should be presented. This requires careful consideration; information that is scarce, or overly vague will be met with suspicion and disapproval. But being too frank could easily lead to panic.

Passengers deserve to know what is happening in times of disruption, yet there are barriers to providing the depth of information they want. Sometimes a full run down of the situation is not what they need.

It can be argued that passengers have the right to make their own decisions about how a disruption will affect them, and that their best interests should not be decided for them.

The rail industry has a duty to provide passengers with a service, and perhaps this should take precedence to transparency and free-flow of information at all times.