Station clock

Clock on a platform in Mechelen

A station clock is a clock on the station premises , the passengers prescribes the mandatory time for the train and station staff.

technology

Station clocks were mostly minute jump clocks . Even today they are often controlled across the station by a master clock , which only sets the minute cycle by sending an electrical impulse to the daughter clocks every minute and thus moving the minute hand.

A second hand, if present, is driven by an electric synchronous motor, or the mother clock also supplies a second pulse. The minute-by-minute control of the synchronous motor with the minute pulse was first used in the Swiss train station clock . The second hand runs a little faster and waits at 12 o'clock for the next minute impulse.

The mother clocks in Germany are synchronized via the DCF77 radio time signal. Some station clocks are not connected to the mother clock and instead have their own DCF77 receiver.

In timetables, the indication “24 o'clock” indicates arrival at midnight, the indication “0 o'clock” indicates departure at midnight.

As a special feature, there is a station clock in St. Gallen , which does not show the time on a dial, but as a binary clock . Hours, minutes and seconds are displayed in binary form on three lines.

See also the additional article clock system .

design

The design of station clocks in Europe used to be quite different. Today most of the clocks are similar to the Swiss train station clock designed by the designer Hans Hilfiker in 1944. The clocks have a white dial that is illuminated in the dark with black, bar-shaped hour and minute hands and black minute bars. The second hand, if present, is a thickened, otherwise thin red rod at the end. So the clocks are easy to read from a distance.

The German Bahn AG has the Swiss design retained in principle. It has undergone minor changes over time. Housing colors and shapes (round and square), as well as the shape of the hour and minute hands (curved, pointed and blunt), vary. If there is a second hand, it has a point and a wide red ring instead of a trowel. There is also no numbering on the scale.

The Austrian Federal Railways used a few years ago own design without a second hand, which was very similar to the train station signs. With the introduction of the new wayfinding system, the shape of the new DB clocks was adopted.

Modern European station clocks
Round clock with curved hands
Square clock with pointed hands
Clock in fall leaf bezel and pointed hands
Current design from Deutsche Bahn AG
Binary display (here: 09:25:46 am) on the facade of the St. Gallen train station , Switzerland
Station clock in the ÖBB design
Current design of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen