Automated Announcements

[Aictos]

Question that should be asked is fair enough Anne was probably cheaper then Phil, Celia etc...however how come London Midland got a pretty decent setup compared to others?

 

[londonmidland]

Question that should be asked is fair enough Anne was probably cheaper then Phil, Celia etc...however how come London Midland got a pretty decent setup compared to others?

I remember when London Midland first installed Anne the wording was "interesting". A non-stopping train would be "stand behind the yellow line, through train approaching", I think that's how it went, it was so simple! East Midlands Parkway seems to have a system unlike Sheffield or Nottingham! Speaking of E.M.P it was the first time I heard Anne say "will passengers intending to travel on this service, please join the train now, as it is ready to leave", I only heard that announcement once.

 

[Captain Chaos]

I heard Anne say "will passengers intending to travel on this service, please join the train now, as it is ready to leave", I only heard that announcement once.

I tend hear this one a lot at Paddington. Is it just me though or does anyone else find the announcements at Paddington a bit quiet? They have improved a bit but at one point you could often barely hear the announcements.

 

[londonmidland]

I tend hear this one a lot at Paddington. Is it just me though or does anyone else find the announcements at Paddington a bit quiet? They have improved a bit but at one point you could often barely hear the announcements.

The announcements at London Paddington are really quiet, are there any speakers on the platform or are they just in the main waiting area?

 

[schwa]

The announcements at London Paddington are really quiet, are there any speakers on the platform or are they just in the main waiting area?

They only really need to be in the waiting area/concourse.. people don't tend to hang around on the platforms because of the platform numbers being announced so close to the train's STD.

I do like that "Will passengers intending to travel on this service, please join the train now, as it is ready to leave." announcement though.. definitely needs implementing elsewhere on the GWML, particularly for all the passengers that like to put a door on the catch just before departure. Not that the announcements are listened to though.

 

[thefab444]

The announcements at London Paddington are really quiet, are there any speakers on the platform or are they just in the main waiting area?

Even when you're next to a speaker it's usually difficult to hear! There are definately some speakers along platforms 1 and 12, and also along the footbridge.

 

[londonmidland]

I really hope EMT install the automated announcements at more stations along the MML, I want to listen to them !

 

[gogogoadam]

Well, I knew it was coming ... disappointing to hear Annoying Anne at WSM now especially as I am such a Ruth fan !

Will have to spend a lot of time at Gloucester and Cheltenham now before they get downgraded to Anne!

Does anyone think they may 'forget' to change any Ruth stations to Anne?

I certainly hope so !

Adam

 

[londonmidland]

Well, I knew it was coming ... disappointing to hear Annoying Anne at WSM now especially as I am such a Ruth fan !

Will have to spend a lot of time at Gloucester and Cheltenham now before they get downgraded to Anne!

Does anyone think they may 'forget' to change any Ruth stations to Anne?

I certainly hope so !

Adam

I don't think they will forget but there will be a few stations that they will leave till last, so there will be a mix of Anne and Ruth. When FCC where replacing Phil Sayer, they didn't do the stations in any particular order so there was also a mix of Anne and Phil Sayer.

They will eventually replace Ruth though so don't get your hopes up!

 

[Ibex]

Question that should be asked is fair enough Anne was probably cheaper then Phil, Celia etc...however how come London Midland got a pretty decent setup compared to others?

This confuses me. The announcements are exactly identical, I have put in FCC stations into a fake calling pattern on quiet days and it announced the exact same clips that the FCC system uses. I suppose it also depends on the TOC's ability to make it announce the right things at the right time.

It's an absolutely horrific system to work with during disruption and yesterday we had a cable theft just outside Watford - it was a complete utter failure. The auto announcements were muted and I did it all manually but getting the right delays on the screens was a complete nightmare.

Speaking of E.M.P it was the first time I heard Anne say "will passengers intending to travel on this service, please join the train now, as it is ready to leave", I only heard that announcement once.

If you want to be driven crazy, take a trip down to Euston and you'll hear it 15 times per hour.

 

[londonmidland]

This confuses me. The announcements are exactly identical, I have put in FCC stations into a fake calling pattern on quiet days and it announced the exact same clips that the FCC system uses. I suppose it also depends on the TOC's ability to make it announce the right things at the right time.

It's an absolutely horrific system to work with during disruption and yesterday we had a cable theft just outside Watford - it was a complete utter failure. The auto announcements were muted and I did it all manually but getting the right delays on the screens was a complete nightmare.




If you want to be driven crazy, take a trip down to Euston and you'll hear it 15 times per hour.

I've been to Euston and for the first 15 minutes there where no announcements. Then I heard the London Midland, Virgin Trains & London Overground announcements, I also heard Anne's safety announcements.

 

[trentside]

I heard a new one from Anne at Lincoln, announcing the arrival of a Northern service from Sheffield at 0805;

"The next train on platform 5A is the 0643 service from Sheffield. This train terminates here..."

This doesn't make sense to me - surely it should be the 0805 from Sheffield? Announcing the time it left there makes it appear as if the train is over an hour late. Is this done anywhere else? I've not heard it before.

Also, for those with a dedicated interest - the Lincoln system also has a 'ding' before the announcements. Not heard this before either.

 

[Aictos]

Regards last post, FCC's system does exactly that.

 

[Jordy]

Yes for some reason the Atos system announces the time of a terminating train as the time it left its origin.

 

[Ibex]

I heard a new one from Anne at Lincoln, announcing the arrival of a Northern service from Sheffield at 0805;

"The next train on platform 5A is the 0643 service from Sheffield. This train terminates here..."

This doesn't make sense to me - surely it should be the 0805 from Sheffield? Announcing the time it left there makes it appear as if the train is over an hour late. Is this done anywhere else? I've not heard it before.

Also, for those with a dedicated interest - the Lincoln system also has a 'ding' before the announcements. Not heard this before either.

Yes for some reason the Atos system announces the time of a terminating train as the time it left its origin.

The 'terminates here' announcement is not an uncommon one though you won't hear it on the WCML. It does sound a bit odd announcing the time it left it's origin (especially if it was some 4 hours ago or something), personally I think something like "The next train to arrive at platform 2 will be the 10:24 departure from London Euston, this train terminates here" would be better suited, to make it clear that it's not a very late train!

 

[thefab444]

The way the Racal system announced terminating trains was quite good I thought.

"The next train to arrive at platform 2 is the 08:15 First Great Western service from London Paddington. This is the 10:36 arrival which terminates here."

 

[Aictos]

I think personally that it ought to be:

"The next train to arrive at platform 2 will be the 10:24 arrival from London Moorgate, this train terminates here"

This is far better,

 

[londonmidland]

Or the original, "The next train to arrive at platform 6 will be the 14:49 East Coast service from London Kings Cross, this train will terminate here".

 

[gogogoadam]

I heard a new one from Anne at Lincoln, announcing the arrival of a Northern service from Sheffield at 0805;

"The next train on platform 5A is the 0643 service from Sheffield. This train terminates here..."

This doesn't make sense to me - surely it should be the 0805 from Sheffield? Announcing the time it left there makes it appear as if the train is over an hour late. Is this done anywhere else? I've not heard it before.

Also, for those with a dedicated interest - the Lincoln system also has a 'ding' before the announcements. Not heard this before either.

I have always liked seeing people's faces when this gets announced (confusion) as Ruth does on ATW and did on FGW. Especially when it was a train that had travelled quite a distance (ie from Holyhead arriving in Cardiff). It makes sense from a railway perspective but isn't particularly user friendly.

Adam

 

[Aictos]

I have always liked seeing people's faces when this gets announced (confusion) as Ruth does on ATW and did on FGW. Especially when it was a train that had travelled quite a distance (ie from Holyhead arriving in Cardiff). It makes sense from a railway perspective but isn't particularly user friendly.

Adam

Indeed which is why my idea is better for the passengers.

 

[londonmidland]

Why have the announcements at London Liverpool Street gone less frequent now? I was getting off my train from Colchester and all I heard was one announcement, & that was about 'no smoking'.

 

[alexdodds]

Why have the announcements at London Liverpool Street gone less frequent now? I was getting off my train from Colchester and all I heard was one announcement, & that was about 'no smoking'.

They might have changed the system so that it announces on the concourse and the relevant platform rather than every platform.

 

[trentside]

East Midlands Trains have also now installed new CIS and announcements at Newark Castle, making use of the PA system which never appeared to have a function before. The announcements are (surprisingly) not Anne, but a system which sounds similar to a text-to-speech system.

I did manage to snatch a recording of it, but not sure about the legality of posting it on here!

 

[Blindtraveler]

post away.

 

[Ibex]

I think the subject of legality has been done to death on some other forums (including one discussion with Phil Sayer joining in), the announcements remain copyright of the voice over artist and recording them and distributing copies is the same as music sharing, as far as copyright laws are concerned.

A text-to-speech computer of course is not a voiceover artist so post away!

 

[thefab444]

I think the subject of legality has been done to death on some other forums (including one discussion with Phil Sayer joining in), the announcements remain copyright of the voice over artist and recording them and distributing copies is the same as music sharing, as far as copyright laws are concerned.

On the other hand, if you could legally buy clean copies of the announcement samples we wouldn't need to share recordings, so they are creating the problem themselves.

 

[schwa]

East Midlands Trains have also now installed new CIS and announcements at Newark Castle, making use of the PA system which never appeared to have a function before. The announcements are (surprisingly) not Anne, but a system which sounds similar to a text-to-speech system.

I did manage to snatch a recording of it, but not sure about the legality of posting it on here!

Oh yes.. like that at Severn Tunnel Junction. Sounds awful, especially the pronunciation of Westbury as "West-burry".

 

[londonmidland]

They've put new lampposts up at Kings Cross with speakers attached to them so now you can hear Anne on the platforms!

 

[jon0844]

Anne is so bad that I would rather walk around aimlessly not knowing what train goes where!

 

[trentside]

Anne is so bad that I would rather walk around aimlessly not knowing what train goes where!

People used to manage perfectly well at Lincoln with no announcements at all.

About the Newark Castle recording, I'm having trouble converting the file - will let you know when I manage it, sorry!