FOR hardcore railway enthusiasts it may be the best thing since Stevenson's Rocket.But for the rest of us, the latest railway website – a web cam fixed on the departure board at Liverpool St Station, is about as interesting as, well, trains.

FOR hardcore railway enthusiasts it may be the best thing since Stevenson's Rocket.

But for the rest of us, the latest railway website – a web cam fixed on the departure board at Liverpool St Station, is about as interesting as, well, trains.

For 24-hours a day, seven days a week a newly-installed web cam monitors the movement, or lack of it, on the station's time table. It shows a freeze frame shot, which is updated every 60 seconds.

The website – www.vicinitee.com – is designed to let Suffolk commuters check train departures in 'real time'.

Manningtree Rail Users Association chairman, Derek Monnery, said: "It's a bit like watching paint dry. You'd have to be a real anorak to watch it all day. It might be useful though for wives to check when their husbands are due back. But even if you know when the train leaves, you can never know if it will be delayed on its journey."

Regular commuter Simon Green, from Queens Road, Felixstowe, said: "It's just a picture of a departure board. I was waiting for the times of the trains to flop over, like they do when you watch them at the station. But they just stayed where they were."

But a spokesman for Anglia Railways defended the site. He said: "It's a useful service for people working close to the station if they want to check if their trains are delayed.

"If they log on and see a sea of red delayed notices they can opt to stay at work for a while or go to the pub."

According to its designers, Broadgate Estates, it is the first live webcam service installed at a London mainline service.

Managing director,Barry Winfield,said: "The new webcam service plays an important role in providing the latest information for people within their local community.

"We know businesses in the area will welcome this initiative to aid employees who travel through Liverpool Street."

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