Ladies And Gentlemen, The Next L Train Will Be Arriving 5 A.M. Monday

Apparently those nifty oversized LED clocks on the subway platforms are useful after all:

Transit officials yesterday announced that, in a few weeks, riders on the L line will get real-time train arrival information, which will be displayed on electronic message boards on station platforms.

The signs, which will get train locations from a network of onboard and track-side computers, will take the guessing game out of using the subways, officials said. Upgraded sound systems also have been installed in the stations on the Canarsie line.

“With the introduction of this new system, garbled subway messages are on their way to becoming a thing of the past along the L line and eventually the entire system,” Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Elliot Sander said.

The customer information screens are a side benefit of a larger, more complex system in which train speeds and other directions are set by computer and then relayed to motormen onboard.