SWR - the door buttons are now activated

[white43306]

Is anyone able to advise what trains on SWT as they were used to announce in a male voice upon arrival at a station “the door buttons are now activated…….this is Clapham Junction”

Thanks!

 

[swt_passenger]

Is anyone able to advise what trains on SWT as they were used to announce in a male voice upon arrival at a station “the door buttons are now activated…….this is Clapham Junction”

Thanks!

This was the 458s before 5 car conversion, I think.

 

[JonathanH]

Is anyone able to advise what trains on SWT as they were used to announce in a male voice upon arrival at a station “the door buttons are now activated…….this is Clapham Junction”

Thanks!

Class 458s.

 

[LUYMun]

I wonder if anyone has or can find a clip of these announcements?

 

[stadler]

Is anyone able to advise what trains on SWT as they were used to announce in a male voice upon arrival at a station “the door buttons are now activated…….this is Clapham Junction”

Thanks!

It was the 458/0 units. They lost it when they were converted to 458/5 units. So it was around 2015 when it dissappeared.

I wonder if anyone has or can find a clip of these announcements?

Here is an example i have found of this "The Door Buttons Are Now Activated" announcement.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I found those announcements incredibly annoying, most notably the upwards intonation on the station name which sounded really shocked. Mind you I'd be shocked if I'd accidentally gone to "Felthaaaaammmmmm!"

 

[Farnborough]

What would be much better would be that the buttons detect you've pressed them, then open the doors once the interlocks are removed - rather than ignoring that request!

 

[Bletchleyite]

What would be much better would be that the buttons detect you've pressed them, then open the doors once the interlocks are removed - rather than ignoring that request!

Merseyrail had this on the 777s but the problem is that it poses added danger in the event of a wrong-side release, so it's been turned off.

 

[43096]

Merseyrail had this on the 777s but the problem is that it poses added danger in the event of a wrong-side release, so it's been turned off.

Yet it isn’t an issue in many other countries.

 

[Jimini]

[Snip]I found those announcements incredibly annoying, most notably the upwards intonation on the station name [/snip]

Crikey, I’d forgotten about that Almost seemed like the announcement was asking you to confirm!

 

[stadler]

I found those announcements incredibly annoying, most notably the upwards intonation on the station name which sounded really shocked. Mind you I'd be shocked if I'd accidentally gone to "Felthaaaaammmmmm!"

That seems to be an Alsthom issue. For some reason Alsthom keep uploading the wrong inflections. The voiceover artists record both upwards and downwards inflections but Alsthom seem to always mix them up and chose the wrong one. The 175/180/334/458 all have this problem. It was not just the 458/0 as even the new announcements on the 458/4 and 458/5 continue to have incorrect inflections.

 

[43096]

That seems to be an Alsthom issue. For some reason Alsthom keep uploading the wrong inflections. The voiceover artists record both upwards and downwards inflections but Alsthom seem to always mix them up and chose the wrong one. The 175/180/334/458 all have this problem. It was not just the 458/0 as even the new announcements on the 458/4 and 458/5 continue to have incorrect inflections.

It is somewhat ironic that you are complaining about Alsthom (sic) getting the pronunciation wrong, when the company name is "Alstom" and has been since 1998 - admittedly the transition from GEC-Alsthom to Alstom was during the Juniper and Coradia builds, but before service entry.

 

[tfw756rider]

That seems to be an Alsthom issue. For some reason Alsthom keep uploading the wrong inflections. The voiceover artists record both upwards and downwards inflections but Alsthom seem to always mix them up and chose the wrong one. The 175/180/334/458 all have this problem. It was not just the 458/0 as even the new announcements on the 458/4 and 458/5 continue to have incorrect inflections.

Not exclusively though, as Transport for Wales TrainFX Ruth has the same problem.

 

[occone]

The worst offender of this inflection issue is with Grand Central on their 180s when heading to Sunderland.

I don't entirely understand why it's such a persistent issue - it can't be difficult to switch the inflection around when announcing the destination station.

 

[simonmpoulton]

Not exclusively though, as Transport for Wales TrainFX Ruth has the same problem.

But Ruth was taken from the 175's so still kind of relevant here no?
I've got the full recordings from the 175's somewhere and the TrainFX ones are basically identical with only minor alterations!

 

[tfw756rider]

The worst offender of this inflection issue is with Grand Central on their 180s when heading to Sunderland.

I don't entirely understand why it's such a persistent issue - it can't be difficult to switch the inflection around when announcing the destination station.

Not going to lie, I was thinking of it before you posted it

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Jul 2025 ==

But Ruth was taken from the 175's so still kind of relevant here no?
I've got the full recordings from the 175's somewhere and the TrainFX ones are basically identical with only minor alterations!

Ah yeah.

 

[stadler]

But Ruth was taken from the 175's so still kind of relevant here no?
I've got the full recordings from the 175's somewhere and the TrainFX ones are basically identical with only minor alterations!

It is not exactly the same. Only some of the same files (mainly station names) are used. Ruth Michell had lots of new ones for the TrainFX units as the 175s only used her for station names and a few other things.

The 175s had used a mixture of Alison Forster and Ruth Michell for the announcements. But the 150/153/158/230/769 solely use Ruth Michell for the announcements. The 175 did use some of the same files but certainly not all.

When the 175s were first introduced at FNW they solely used Alison Forster. The 180s at FGW were the same. Alison Forster recorded all of the FNW 175 and FGW 180 announcements. So initially it was just Alison Forster.

Then they moved to ATW and of course Alison Forster had not recorded many Welsh stations. So they started adding Ruth Michell for station names and a few other things. But they never fully replaced Alison Forster and the trains used a mixture of Alison Forster and Ruth Michell right up until their 2023 withdrawal.

For a random example lets take a train originating at Shrewsbury and terminating at Hereford and calling at all stops.

On a 175 the automated announcements were a mixture of two voices as follows below:

Ruth: we will be calling at the following principal stations
Ruth: Church Stretton
Ruth: Craven Arms
Ruth: Ludlow
Ruth: Leominster
Ruth: and
Ruth: Hereford
Ruth: emergency information is displayed on the train, for your safety, please take time to read it

Alison: this train is for
Ruth: Hereford
Alison: the next stop is
Ruth: Church Stretton

Alison: we will shortly be arriving at
Ruth: Church Stretton

Alison: we are now at
Ruth: Church Stretton
Alison: the next stop is
Ruth: Craven Arms
Alison: thank you

Alison: this train is for
Ruth: Hereford
Alison: the next stop is
Ruth: Craven Arms

Alison: we will shortly be arriving at
Ruth: Craven Arms

Alison: we are now at
Ruth: Craven Arms
Alison: the next stop is
Ruth: Ludlow
Alison: thank you

Alison: this train is for
Ruth: Hereford
Alison: the next stop is
Ruth: Ludlow

Alison: we will shortly be arriving at
Ruth: Ludlow

Alison: we are now at
Ruth: Ludlow
Alison: the next stop is
Ruth: Leominster
Alison: thank you

Alison: this train is for
Ruth: Hereford
Alison: the next stop is
Ruth: Leominster

Alison: we will shortly be arriving at
Ruth: Leominster

Alison: we are now at
Ruth: Leominster
Alison: the next stop is
Ruth: Hereford
Alison: thank you

Alison: this train is for
Ruth: Hereford
Alison: the next stop is
Ruth: Hereford

Alison: we will shortly be arriving at
Ruth: Hereford
Alison: our final station
Alison: please remember to collect all your personal belongings and take care when leaving the train
Ruth: all of our trains and stations are no smoking areas, when you alight from the train, please do not smoke until you have left the station premises
Ruth: thank you for travelling with Transport For Wales

Alison: we are now at
Ruth: Hereford
Alison: our final station
Alison: please remember to collect all your personal belongings and take care when leaving the train
Ruth: all of our trains and stations are no smoking areas, when you alight from the train, please do not smoke until you have left the station premises
Ruth: thank you for travelling with Transport For Wales

But on the TrainFX units (150/153/158/230/769) it has always been Ruth Michell on her own and with a different script as follows below:

Ruth: welcome aboard
Ruth: we will be calling at the following principal stations
Ruth: Church Stretton
Ruth: Craven Arms
Ruth: Ludlow
Ruth: Leominster
Ruth: and
Ruth: Hereford
Ruth: thank you

Ruth: the next stop is
Ruth: Church Stretton
Ruth: thank you

Ruth: we will shortly be arriving at
Ruth: Church Stretton
Ruth: thank you

Ruth: we are now at
Ruth: Church Stretton
Ruth: this train is for
Ruth: Hereford

Ruth: the next stop is
Ruth: Craven Arms
Ruth: thank you

Ruth: we will shortly be arriving at
Ruth: Craven Arms
Ruth: thank you

Ruth: we are now at
Ruth: Craven Arms
Ruth: this train is for
Ruth: Hereford

Ruth: the next stop is
Ruth: Ludlow
Ruth: thank you

Ruth: we will shortly be arriving at
Ruth: Ludlow
Ruth: thank you

Ruth: we are now at
Ruth: Ludlow
Ruth: this train is for
Ruth: Hereford

Ruth: the next stop is
Ruth: Leominster
Ruth: thank you

Ruth: we will shortly be arriving at
Ruth: Leominster
Ruth: thank you

Ruth: we are now at
Ruth: Leominster
Ruth: this train is for
Ruth: Hereford

Ruth: the next stop is
Ruth: Hereford
Ruth: thank you

Ruth: we will shortly be arriving at
Ruth: Hereford
Ruth: our final station

Ruth: we are now at
Ruth: Hereford
Ruth: our final station

So both the voices and the script was slightly different on the 175s compared to the TrainFX stock.

They both had incorrect inflection issues but it was not always the same files that were affected and there was a lot of differences.

But the voices of both Alison Forster and Ruth Michell are similar enough that they blend in quite well and a lot of people never realise they are two different voices mixed together.

I am not sure where you have got the files from. But if you are referring to the FOI release then those are only the Ruth 175 ones in one folder and Ruth TrainFX ones in another folder. TFW were never able to extract the older Alison 175 files that were mixed in.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The worst offender of this inflection issue is with Grand Central on their 180s when heading to Sunderland.

I don't entirely understand why it's such a persistent issue - it can't be difficult to switch the inflection around when announcing the destination station.

Wow, that sounds amateurish in the extreme. Totally in keeping with the rest of their operation to be fair, and indeed most of the operations of their parent company.

Reading this thread I "recited" a few announcements in my head and I can't think where an exaggerated upward inflection like that would fit. In a list of stations you would always use a downward inflection, certainly for the one at the end!

 

[stadler]

Wow, that sounds amateurish in the extreme. Totally in keeping with the rest of their operation to be fair, and indeed most of the operations of their parent company.

Reading this thread I "recited" a few announcements in my head and I can't think where an exaggerated upward inflection like that would fit. In a list of stations you would always use a downward inflection, certainly for the one at the end!

The automated announcements are voiced by a Grand Central guard based at Bradford Interchange depot. If you travel on that route you may also hear her making announcements in person. I agree they are very amateur sounding. Originally when the GC 180s were introduced they had a different voice (presumably another GC staff member) and she sounded much better. They used the first female from 2009 to 2016 and then in 2016 they switched to the current one. What i never understood is why they switched voices as the original one was far better sounding (still a bit amateur but a better voice that flowed better) and worked perfectly fine.

 

[tfw756rider]

The automated announcements are voiced by a Grand Central guard based at Bradford Interchange depot. If you travel on that route you may also hear her making announcements in person.

I wonder if anyone has a video (or sound recording) of her announcing in both automated and manual form on a service she was guarding?

 

[godfreycomplex]

It was the 458/0 units. They lost it when they were converted to 458/5 units. So it was around 2015 when it dissappeared.


Here is an example i have found of this "The Door Buttons Are Now Activated" announcement.

That just sent a shiver down my spine. Suddenly I’m 15 again and on an endless train journey back to Sunningdale

 

[NSEWonderer]

That just sent a shiver down my spine. Suddenly I’m 15 again and on an endless train journey back to Sunningdale

Speaking about Sunningdale and a 458/0 just seen this video in my recommendations

 

[godfreycomplex]

Speaking about Sunningdale and a 458/0 just seen this video in my recommendations

God the view outside is so grey and depressing. Surrey in “winter” makes LS Lowry look like Yayoi Kusama by comparison.

(On the other hand it’s miles better than whatever AI slop is on the announcements now)

 

[Goldfish62]

God the view outside is so grey and depressing. Surrey in “winter” makes LS Lowry look like Yayoi Kusama by comparison.

(On the other hand it’s miles better than whatever AI slop is on the announcements now)

Grey and depressing it may be, but Chobham Common is the largest nature reserve in Southern England.

 

[godfreycomplex]

Grey and depressing it may be, but Chobham Common is the largest nature reserve in Southern England.

Oh I’m very familiar I (partially) grew up round there

 

[43066]

Yet it isn’t an issue in many other countries.

Countries with different legal systems, safety regimes and in just about all cases less safe railways.

 

[Farnborough]

Yet it isn’t an issue in many other countries.

Indeed... many issues in the UK are not a problem elsewhere