"Continental Railways Are Better Than Ours"

[ainsworth74]

I'd say on signage probably German and French at minimum (even if just small print) with Pictograms/Icons too where appropriate...

Maybe like
Platform
Voie / Gleis

Yeah that's the kind of thing I was thinking of and it wouldn't be too difficult to implement (well in theory), wouldn't be annoying for the natives and would be a big help (hopefully) to visitors.

If more second language announcements/signage were to be introduced, and at the risk of being a traditionalist, it should IMHO be French.

Can you imagine the reaction of the Daily Mail (or the Daily Express for that matter) to that

 

[transmanche]

You could argue that signage in "immigrant" languages would be more helpful, in areas where, say, Polish and Urdu are widely spoken.

There are some stations where that has been tried. This is the English/Punjabi sign at Southall. (Although there was a bit of a kerfuffle when speakers of other minority languages wanted their language added to the sign too.) Personally I think it adds a bit of character to the station, something interesting to look out for.


Southall Station by R~P~M, on Flickr

 

[Gordon]

I spotted a warning sign in Polish at Evesham station earlier this year.

 

[Oscar]

I'd say on signage probably German and French at minimum (even if just small print) with Pictograms/Icons too where appropriate...

Maybe like
Platform
Voie / Gleis

Perhaps something like this for a station concourse?:

Platforms Pictogram
Voies/Gleise/Vías/(Japanese)/(Mandarin)/(Arabic)

German and Japanese are important tourist languages and French, Spanish and Arabic are important world languages which large numbers of people worldwide understand. The next two languages which I would have liked to have added would be Russian and Italian. I think such signage would be extremely useful in London and the surrounding area where there are large numbers of visitors who do not have a good command of English but would perhaps be unnecessary in certain other areas of the country. I would also suggest limited automated announcements in other languages where a large number of speakers of that language is known to use particular stations, so for example German in parts of the Highlands.

 

[D1009]

Our announcements are too long already, we don't want to make them longer.

 

[starrymarkb]

That's something else which could help, cut the announcements down...

"Welcome aboard train GW3983 to XXXXX, calling at XXXX, XXXXX, XXXXX and XXXXX - Bienvenue à bord de trains GW3983 à XXXXX, appelant à XXXX, XXXXX XXXXX et XXXXX"

"The next station is XXXX, Doors open on left, La prochaine gare est XXXX, portes ouvrent à gauche"

It says a lot when Eurostar conductors can do 3 languages in less time then some of the more verbose 'read the safety card at your seat, smoking is not permitted including the loo and vestibules, watch out for terrorists and call BTP if you see any' are done in English only on domestic TOCs

 

[Oscar]

That's something else which could help, cut the announcements down...

"Welcome aboard train GW3983 to XXXXX, calling at XXXX, XXXXX, XXXXX and XXXXX - Bienvenue à bord du train GW3983 à XXXXX, qui s'arrête à XXXX, XXXXX XXXXX et XXXXX"

"The next station is XXXX, Doors open on left, La prochaine gare est XXXX, portes ouvrent à gauche"

It says a lot when Eurostar conductors can do 3 languages in less time then some of the more verbose 'read the safety card at your seat, smoking is not permitted including the loo and vestibules, watch out for terrorists and call BTP if you see any' are done in English only on domestic TOCs

I'm not sure how useful general announcements in one second language would be, as information needs to be communicated in around ten major languages for it to be of much use to the majority of passengers whose mother tongue is not English. The vast majority of passengers on British trains are of course English speakers and will not want to always listen to announcements in ten languages, so it may be better to just shorten, simplify and improve the quality of most announcements. French is likely to be very useful in and around London but is rarely heard in the rest of the country in my experience. In my opinion a more useful and practical step would be to fully translate booking sites, TVMs and detailed information on tickets into around ten major languages as this is much more complicated information than where a train stops.

 

[jon0844]

In Stockholm, I'd have just asked any other passenger for a translation. Swedes love the opportunity to talk English and are usually excellent at doing so.

 

[nathanclass323]

"Continental Railways Are Better Than Ours"

IMHO, I don't see how the Slovenian Railway Network is better than ours. Same definitely goes for the graffiti covered rolling stock in most areas!

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Last week - 35 delay Amsterdam - Zaandvoort (track fault) - 54 late Amsterdam - Berlin due to OLE problems , then diverted in Germany due to impacts of recent flooding.

On a positive note - the Berlin S Bahn seems to have upped it's game - 3 min service on the superb S41 Ring ! - watched the "peak" at F/strasse at 1745 , seats a plenty ! ( seemed more passengers going East rather than West. Very little train graffiti noted this time which is good news...

The Berlin U-Bahn seems odd - headways often 5 mins or greater off peak - and one contra flow journey towards Krumme Lanke was infuriating as one train turned short , then the next one was also reversed , forcing yet another change.
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There are some stations where that has been tried. This is the English/Punjabi sign at Southall. (Although there was a bit of a kerfuffle when speakers of other minority languages wanted their language added to the sign too.) Personally I think it adds a bit of character to the station, something interesting to look out for.


Southall Station by R~P~M, on Flickr

Way , way back - Tilbury Riverside had Russian information - due to the use by their cruise ships (Morline from memory..) - an odd , exotic quirk)

 

[gordonthemoron]

most Germans speak english so I wouldn't bother with that language

 

[ChiefPlanner]

most Germans speak english so I wouldn't bother with that language

Not so - my son is working out there now (hence the recent visit) - he is there of course to improve his German , and whilst a good number of younger people speak excellent English - the fact remains a very large % do not. Take as an example , I paid a visit to the Staasi Records Office in East Berlin , and not a single member of staff there spoke English - so blundered through with my pidgin German and a sketch or 2 !.

On train staff etc are good with English though ...(or some basic grasp in some cases)

 

[jon0844]

Given most of their TV programmes are dubbed, I am not surprised a lot of people don't speak great English, compared to those that have loads of English-speaking TV programmes that are merely subtitled - such as Sweden.

 

[gordonthemoron]

I used to live in Germany, it is true that Ossies in the sticks are not good at English, however the vast majority speak better english than most english people

 

[WestCoast]

I used to live in Germany, it is true that Ossies in the sticks are not good at English, however the vast majority speak better english than most english people

I'd say English skills in German-speaking countries are pretty good on the whole, but IME* it's mainly the under 50s and white collar private sector workers (except for higher level mechanics and suchlike) who have enough English to hold a decent conversation. There's over a 100 million German speakers in Europe so it's not necessary for many to learn more than basic English at all. The Netherlands and Sweden officially have the highest level of English comprehension in non-Anglophone Europe and its not difficult to see why.

*I am actually half German...

 

[87015]

On train staff etc are good with English though ...(or some basic grasp in some cases)

They also, unless I am getting countries confused which is very possible, carry a book in their bags which has English (and no doubt other) translations of various phrases to aid them. Most countries seem to have this to some extent - albeit I've seen some very ropey translations in the BDZ one! - any UK TOCs have something similar?

 

[gordonthemoron]

in Finland, everyone can speak English because they do not expect many foreigners to speak Finnish. I watched Dr Who with David Tennant in a pub in Kemi (Lapland) last year, it was in English with no subtitles

 

[jon0844]

however the vast majority speak better english than most english people

Not that hard these days!

 

[30907]

Take as an example , I paid a visit to the Staasi Records Office in East Berlin , and not a single member of staff there spoke English - so blundered through with my pidgin German and a sketch or 2 !.

Given that the Stasi archive is in German, I can imagine that bilingual staff are a slight luxury
Seriously, remember that in DDR schools English was at best one of the second foreign-language options - and that affects anyone over the age of about 35. And my guess is that a lot of those who have learnt English at school have no real incentive to practise it.

 

[starrymarkb]

Indeed - English is less Common in the East as Russian was the second language taught. Younger people do speak English though (and kept answering my pidgin German in English)

 

[nathanclass323]

As long as I'm in a Spanish or English speaking country, I do fine but that said, I do try to learn the basics of a language for the country I'm visiting. I think it's rude not to even have a go!

But back to this, considering I've spoken about Spain technically now, most RENFE operations are better than a few British ones. *Cough* Greater Anglia *cough*

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Had a decent experience with DB last week travelling from Munich. My booked ICE train (booked, by the way, using self-printing tickets - what a neat, easy to execute idea...) broke down in the station and after the usual wait to see what would happen it was eventually cancelled.

I was directed to the assistance desk where they stamped my self-printed ticket to confirm I was okay to use a subsequent train they recommended and then when I asked about reservations (as I expected the train would very busy), was referred to the ticket desk where they were able to make me seat reservations on the new service (even though it was due in only fifteen minutes). All very efficient.

Oddly though, first class on an ICE means free food and drink at the station lounge, but not on the train itself.

 

[radamfi]

Free food on the train is a British thing. I would rather pay less for the ticket and buy refreshments if and when I want them!

 

[jon0844]

In Sweden on the X2000 it's a case of help yourself to tea/coffee, take a (small) bottle of water, or take some biscuits.

As I've said before, if we had that here, I do believe some people would take all the water bottles and biscuits and shove them in their bag, or people would sneak in from standard to grab stuff.

 

[D1009]

I'm sure when I once went first from Brussel to Köln on Thalys, I was offered complimentary coffee and biscuits from the trolley. I agree it's very much the exception rather than the rule on European trains generally.

 

[gordonthemoron]

IIRC Thalys does or used to offer free meals in first class

 

[radamfi]

Yes, Thalys does offer free meals in 'Comfort 1', but it is more like an airline style of service.