Northern Rail

[St Helens Rider]

RE: Northern Rail
A few things I have noticed over the last few days have raised a few questions/observations:

1. I have noticed on the 319's a small what appears to be an LCD panel by the first set of doors displaying "Not In Use". Is this some kind of function that was in use when these units were in Driver Only Operation (DOO) mode down South.

2. I was on the South Fylde Line yesterday and noticed all Blackpool South - Colne were formed of 4 carriages but with 2 carriages locked out of use. Seemed a bit strange given that Northern are regularly short of DMU's I can understand using 4 carriages (in use) in the Blackpool holiday season but on a miserable Saturday in February, I'm sure the spare unit could have been better utilised elsewhere.