Avanti take needless announcements to a new level

[SuspectUsual]

Checking the security announcements won't be down to ordinary mystery shoppers. It'll be DfT staff who check that.

Oh I’m sure it isn’t. It was just some info I happened to hear over the weekend that was vaguely relevant.

 

[Fokx]

Checking the security announcements won't be down to ordinary mystery shoppers. It'll be DfT staff who check that.

It's scored by both.

 

[styles]

I noticed that on italo, they repeat the Italian announcements in English, but don't translate the station names. So you hear "This is the train from [obvious pause, obviously different voice]: Milano Centrale [back to English voice] to [back] Reggio Calabria Centrale". It's strange to me that they don't say "Milan Central".

I was on a regional train in Germany a week or so ago and there were lots of schoolchildren who joined partway through my journey.

The announcements were in German first, then English. A bit redundant but tourist-friendly. I'll accept it as a compromise but I can't imagine Avanti following their English announcements with Spanish or French copies.

But the schoolchildren were mainly speaking German. All except, "SIX SEEEEVEN!", with the accompanying hand gestures.

It's always been thus with languages - some things just don't get translated, like place names or indeed memes. I only realised last week then people in Germany use the phrase, "walking tour", in English. I'd have thought that would be translated as an common noun, but apparently not.

 

[sheff1]

This thread about Avanti announcements seems to cover those on the train but at Stockport Station, which is Avanti run, passengers awaiting a Euston service will be confronted with an announcement that tells them to travel in the front 9 coaches (if it's 390/0) or the front 11 (for a 390/1) before listing the station stops en-route...

Been going on for a few months now...

For more than a few months, when approaching Sheffield Platform 1 on a 6 car TPE from Manchester people sat in the rear coach are advised that due to a short platform anyone wishing to alight should move forward to the next coach. Of course the platform is not short and all doors are opened on arrival - anyone taking notice of the announcement and struggling through to the next coach will find themselves walking back past the coach they have moved from with people alighting and boarding it.

 

[Fokx]

For more than a few months, when approaching Sheffield Platform 1 on a 6 car TPE from Manchester people sat in the rear coach are advised that due to a short platform anyone wishing to alight should move forward to the next coach. Of course the platform is not short and all doors are opened on arrival - anyone taking notice of the announcement and struggling through to the next coach will find themselves walking back past the coach they have moved from with people alighting and boarding it.

That's due to the points across 1A/B.

Originally a 6 car 185 would only JUST fit between the points and the stopping position and if the first class section was at the rear, the doors wouldn't open (unless overridden).

 

[BuhSnarf]

It's always been thus with languages - some things just don't get translated, like place names or indeed memes. I only realised last week then people in Germany use the phrase, "walking tour", in English. I'd have thought that would be translated as an common noun, but apparently not.

It always made me chuckle when I dated a Chinese girl and when around her friends you'd hear random English words dropped in like "DVD" or "Wifi" and "PPT" for a slide deck... but then that last one might be because she was a teacher so I'd hear it more often.

 

[fwsmVor]

I noticed that on italo, they repeat the Italian announcements in English, but don't translate the station names. So you hear "This is the train from [obvious pause, obviously different voice]: Milano Centrale [back to English voice] to [back] Reggio Calabria Centrale". It's strange to me that they don't say "Milan Central".

That could be hazardous: Munich in Italian is Monaco. (Not that Italo trains call there or at the other Monaco, but I presume it's the same announcements for Nightjets).

 

[Taunton]

I noticed that on italo, they repeat the Italian announcements in English, but don't translate the station names. So you hear "This is the train from [obvious pause, obviously different voice]: Milano Centrale [back to English voice] to [back] Reggio Calabria Centrale". It's strange to me that they don't say "Milan Central".

Always seemed reasonable in mainland Europe to use the form of the country itself. Cooks Continental Timetable, although written in English, always used the local form of place names, so when you arrived there they aligned with what was on the station signs.

In your case, if they did German language announcements as well (reasonable, for trains coming from Zurich etc) should they announce it as 'Mailand', the German version. Or fully 'Mailand Hauptbahnhof' ?

 

[Bikeman78]

It's important to note as well that as a forum of people very confident and used to using the rail network that we might find all these announcements as 'overkill' but my partner actually likes the announcements as she's a nervous traveller and they give her reassurance that she's on the right train etc / what to do at station etc. If there are no announcements and she's on her own she can become quite anxious and will often shoot me a text to double check she's on the right train.

One size doesn't fit all, unfortunately. But I will agree that when the manual announcement just repeats the automated one it adds little to no value.

Do people like to be told to mind the gap at every stop? Why does SWR do it but not Southern or Thameslink? Different TOCs do different random announcements. E.g GWR do not attempt to board or alight the train when the doors are closing. That applies to every train in the country but I can't think of another TOC that says that.

 

[Taunton]

E.g GWR do not attempt to board or alight the train when the doors are closing.

This is a classic announcement where the H&S side do not understand how trains work. Because the tone that the doors are closing for departure is the same one as that used when the doors just close, after an interval, to keep the heat/air con in. In those cases you do need to be at the door, to press the button and it will open again for you. And indeed, potentially at the same platform, one train will be fitted with this, and the next only does it for departure. The latter is generally only done when the guard has checked the train doors are clear anyway. The automated ones happen when people are halfway through.

The cacophony you get at Waterloo nowadays where each door on the new 701s independently decides to close after x seconds and has to be reopened can be heard to ricochet all up and down the platform.

 

[Bikeman78]

I note up thread that Dutch and Belgian railways are cited as treating people like adults with their limited announcements.
However one thing I noticed on NS during a visit last week was a repeat of the announcements in English, including dreadful English pronunciations of the Dutch station names. If I were Dutch travelling on these trains frequently, it would REALLY annoy me.
THERE IS ONLY ONE CORRECT PRONUNCIATION OF "LEEUWARDEN" or NAARDEN-BUSSEM (for example) whether you're Dutch or not.

I find that annoying too to be fair.

 

[Kilopylae]

In your case, if they did German language announcements as well (reasonable, for trains coming from Zurich etc) should they announce it as 'Mailand', the German version. Or fully 'Mailand Hauptbahnhof' ?

That would have seemed like common sense to me, right? The announcement is in German, so I would have assumed the station names would be as well.

 

[Coleridge]

We had a train manager who loved the sound of his own voice on GWR yesterday. He just wouldn't shut up.

Ten minutes before each stop he'd start telling us all the connections available from the next station. "If you're travelling to xxx, the first train is the xx.xx to xxx from platform x... If you're travelling to yyy, the first train is the yy.yy from platform y... If you're travelling...." ad nauseum. Then he'd tell us to check that we have everything, and to take care when getting off the train, and even how to leave the window blinds when getting off.

Then, upon departing, he'd start by repeating the automated announcement listing all the stopping places. Then he'd describe the train, carriage by carriage. "Carriage K is the first class carriage. You can identify the first class carriage by the fact that it says "first class" on the headrest. Half of carriage J is also first class. The other half of carriage J is standard class. Please make sure you're sitting in the correct part of the carriage. You can identify the first class carriage by the fact that it says "first class" on the headrest. Carriage H is standard class..." and so on, through the entire train. Then he'd tell us that it's hot today, and that we should drink plenty of water. See it, say it, sorted. The British Transport police number is..."

Then the catering manager would take over, listing the entire contents of her trolley, the meal deals available and every payment type accepted. Please keep all aisles and vestibules clear.

Finally, the catering manager would wish us all a pleasant journey and urge us to sit back and relax. By which time we were approaching the next station and it started all over again.

What is wrong with these people?

 

[CaptainHaddock]

I've been impressed by the new rule at the World Cup where players have to take a throw in within five seconds and the crowd counts down 5-4-3-2-1 to speed then up. Perhaps the same should apply to train announcements - train managers get five seconds to announce what passengers need to know then their microphone automatically cuts out?

 

[Transilien]

France can be quite bad, especially on TGVs where, before and/or after every station, you get the full list of following stations, mind the gap between the marchepied and the platform, don't forget your personal belongings, the bar is in coach 14, thank you for travelling with TGV Inoui, etc... all of which would be OK except that the whole sequence often comes out twice, as the automated announcements are repeated by the train staff or vice versa.

I find in Paris for suburban trains, the lack of announcements in stations to be confusing. There only seems to be the useless safety ones and not about your actual train and the stopping pattern!

 

[jfollows]

Do people like to be told to mind the gap at every stop? Why does SWR do it but not Southern or Thameslink? Different TOCs do different random announcements. E.g GWR do not attempt to board or alight the train when the doors are closing. That applies to every train in the country but I can't think of another TOC that says that.

Northern.
Every single station Wilmslow to Manchester.
Almost all of which are dead straight.
So most people will ignore them.

 

[assimilated]

"Please note that we are about to make an announcement. We are announcing the announcement in advance in case anyone should be startled by an unexpected announcement and spill a hot drink on themselves."

 

[To the trains]

I was on a CrossCountry from Bristol TM to Manchester Piccadilly today (yesterday by the time I click post), and the catering announcements were so annoying, the lady sounded like she'd eaten the microphone (along with their range of delicious sandwiches).

Not only did we have to hear all about the range of delicious sandwiches, snacks, hot and cold drinks including alcoholic drinks after every stop, each announcements she kept going in circles, say it about four times per announcement. The poor PA technique made it 100 times worse. I want to hear announcements actually relevant to the running of trains.

I find in Paris for suburban trains, the lack of announcements in stations to be confusing. There only seems to be the useless safety ones and not about your actual train and the stopping pattern!

I've also been on a Breizhgo TER from Quimper to Nantes where they never made any audible announcement explaining that the train divides at Redon, the front goes to Rennes, the back goes to Nantes either on board or at Quimper station. I only figured it out because I astutely observed that a Rennes and a Nantes trains were leaving from the same platform at exactly the same time, with the "repères" for each destination. It was not clear at all.

This is a classic announcement where the H&S side do not understand how trains work. Because the tone that the doors are closing for departure is the same one as that used when the doors just close, after an interval, to keep the heat/air con in.

And the lack of distinction always causes people to panic that they'll miss the train when they always make announcements and put up signs telling not to run or rush. The number of times I see people sprinting for a train whose doors are just closing after the preset interval at Paddington when the train doesn't leave for another 15 minutes.

 

[CHESHIRECAT]

At least redline announcements on 13/14 at Manchester Piccadilly have stopped !

 

[apbj]

The one that makes me grind my teeth irrationally is the GWR "Change here for the RailAir coach (!) link (pause) to Heathrow Airport", in that tone of delighted surprise, as if anyone on board the train who didn't already know this would hear that information and decide spontaneously to alight for the RailAir coach link.

Someone at GWR has added "change here for the bus to Minehead" to the usual auto/GPS announcements when approaching Taunton. What are the chances that anyone sets off for Minehead without the slightest idea how to get there? And why is GWR concerned specifically about Minehead?

And while we're here... has anyone in human history left a personal item behind because an automated announcement failed to remind them to take it? You might as well say "try not to fall ill" or "don't get hit by a bus".

 

[speedy1]

And while we're here... has anyone in human history left a personal item behind because an automated announcement failed to remind them to take it? You might as well say "try not to fall ill" or "don't get hit by a bus".

Funny you should say that (I've commented many times about hating useless announcements), I did actually remember my charger the other day because of an announcement. I think it was a guard though, so a non-standard announcement which stood out.

Despite that, I would still choose fewer announcements, and possibly lose a charger once a year

 

[Krokodil]

Someone at GWR has added "change here for the bus to Minehead" to the usual auto/GPS announcements when approaching Taunton. What are the chances that anyone sets off for Minehead without the slightest idea how to get there? And why is GWR concerned specifically about Minehead?

The Minehead bus did directly replace a closed branch line, that's probably relevant.

Could be worse, the ex-Arriva Trains Wales 158s announce "alight here for connecting bus services to local destinations". Which gives you absolutely no useful information whatsoever.

 

[DelW]

Someone at GWR has added "change here for the bus to Minehead" to the usual auto/GPS announcements when approaching Taunton. What are the chances that anyone sets off for Minehead without the slightest idea how to get there? And why is GWR concerned specifically about Minehead?

The Minehead bus did directly replace a closed branch line, that's probably relevant.

The Minehead bus (First service 28) is effectively treated as a train in information systems. There is through ticketing to/from Minehead, and the bus times appear on Taunton station departure boards, in the NR journey planner, on Realtime Trains, etc. Though AFAIK there's no actual tracking of individual buses, the times shown are as per timetable only. (Actual running can be tracked via bustimes.org or the First bus app).

 

[voyagerdude220]

I thought it was a bit pointless yesterday that the Retail Service Manager on yesterday's 16:00 Bristol Temple M to Manchester Picc did his usual catering announcement and ended it by stating the next Station call on the journey. (erm yes I'm aware of that, seeing that's the Train Manager's job to announce the calling points, which they had already done so as normal)

 

[BuhSnarf]

Someone at GWR has added "change here for the bus to Minehead" to the usual auto/GPS announcements when approaching Taunton. What are the chances that anyone sets off for Minehead without the slightest idea how to get there? And why is GWR concerned specifically about Minehead?

And while we're here... has anyone in human history left a personal item behind because an automated announcement failed to remind them to take it? You might as well say "try not to fall ill" or "don't get hit by a bus".

People travelling to Butlins by train is why they announce this. Most of these won't have travelled by train previously or at least very infrequently.

 

[pr1]

And while we're here... has anyone in human history left a personal item behind because an automated announcement failed to remind them to take it? You might as well say "try not to fall ill" or "don't get hit by a bus".

Well lost property services exist so I'll politely suggest that yes, this happens!

 

[Krokodil]

Well lost property services exist so I'll politely suggest that yes, this happens!

That wasn't the question. People have left property behind for the entire history of transport. The question was have announcements actually achieved any reduction in this?

 

[londonmidland]

I find CrossCountry catering announcements on their Voyagers really long winded. The hosts seem to announce everything that they have stocked up on their trolley.

 

[Jimini]

I find CrossCountry catering announcements on their Voyagers really long winded. The hosts seem to announce everything that they have stocked up on their trolley.

If only the first class hosts would do that (in the carriage, not on the PA), as opposed to having to ask for a sandwich / sausage roll / tuna melt etc.

The verbal ripple that went through carriage A on the train I was on the other day was hilarious. Drinks and light snacks dealt out as usual, until the bloke at the front of the carriage asked for a sandwich. Cue the rest of the passengers all placing orders!

 

[trainophile]

I’m on a XC now to Paignton. Just left Exeter and they’ve just announced that they’re sorry but there’s no catering on this train. Glad I didn’t book 1st Class now.