Automated Announcements

[PR1Berske]

There has been an updated one, where Phil states "Please extinguish all smoking materials immediately", which is more of a general catch-all announcement for smoking. The "cigars and pipes" part of the older announcement amuses me too when I hear it, as if they are commonly smoked on railway stations haha.

Hehe

"My good man! Would you awfully mind extinguishing your pipe, most uncalled for!

And further to this, there's one of those ballied platform alterations, what-what?"

 

[sprinterguy]

Hehe

"My good man! Would you awfully mind extinguishing your pipe, most uncalled for!

And further to this, there's one of those ballied platform alterations, what-what?"

 

[Aictos]

At some stations, which are monitored, announcements can be triggered manually when someone is seen cycling or smoking. At Stevenage, I've heard manual announcements made when people block the stairs to sit down. It's funny when the announcement is made over and over, right down to the 'yes, you' as it finally dawns on people that this announcement is somewhat targeted!

I know the supervisor responsible for these announcements, so it's good to see from a passenger view that they're effective.

At Hatfield people cycle along the platforms all the time - so maybe it's good to bring that announcement back. The ones who cycle at speed around people, and cross the yellow line on the down fast line are complete idiots - and I feel for the poor driver that may one day find one falling off the platform in front of them. But, would such an announcement stop these people? They'd just laugh and feel proud of the fact that they're breaking the law.

I don't use Hatfield but if there's one location which ought to have the safety announcement about no cycling, it's that station.

 

[PR1Berske]

Was at Wigan NW over the weekend. There was a moment when almost every automated announcement went through a non-stop rendition.

 

[Aictos]

Stevenage since 1100 today seems to be a mix of both Anne from the ATOS Origin LICC system and Phil from the Ditra system but mainly Anne on the announcements - some announcements were strange as it was a combination of both for the one announcement! ie:

The train now approaching Platform 2 is the East Coast service to London Kings Cross calling at London Kings Cross only.

Anne
Phil

She does sound rather posh though or is it just me?

 

[philjo]

I'll listen out when my train home calls at SVG tonight.
At least it now mentions East Coast - there was previously a gap in the announcement where the words"East Coast service to" should have been!
(e.g. it actually said something like "Platform 3 for the 07:56 Leeds)

 

[Aictos]

I'll listen out when my train home calls at SVG tonight.
At least it now mentions East Coast - there was previously a gap in the announcement where the words"East Coast service to" should have been!
(e.g. it actually said something like "Platform 3 for the 07:56 Leeds)

That's right, Platform 3 for the 06:19...........Leeds calling at Peterborough, Grantham, Newark Northgate, Retford, Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate and Leeds.

Good to see East Coast finally being acknowledged at long last, Anne seems to be very very clear.

Another thing I noticed was the fact that they seem to play endless announcements that cycling, skateboarding and rollerblading on the platforms is illegal so obviously someone in power has read one or two messages here and has got that message being played!!!

 

[jon0844]

Yes, it's now being played loads at Finsbury Park too. I wonder if someone had unchecked this in some settings menu somewhere and somebody just noticed. It may even have replaced the one about leaving parcels unattended!

 

[Jordy]

How odd!

If anyone in the area could get a recording for reference it would be appreciated, I doubt that arrangement will be around for long.

 

[thefab444]

Atos Anne is not what I would describe as "posh" though, she has a neutral voice really - no accent, no class, and no real feeling either - just a deep hatred for Liverpool South Parkway.

 

[philjo]

The most misleading announcements I used to hear a lot at Stevenage were when East Coast (then NXEC) trains still regularly had a full restaturant service. I regularly heard the annnouncements for the southbound services end with "a Restaurant service is available on this train" (?) - The last sitting had always finished at the very latest Peterborough (if not earlier) & the journey is only 19 minutes so you would never be able to use it!
Obviously it was appropriate for northbound services.

I did query this with FCC once & they said that NXEC required them to include this in the announcements

 

[PR1Berske]

I like the very mild hint of snobbish arrogance in the delay between "There is a buffet service....." and "....avalable on this train"


:P

 

[alexdodds]

More changes at Leeds station. The announcements still play at the same time underneath the roof but now they only play on the relevant platform been announced on the open air parts of the platforms including the canopies.

e.g. train on P1 only gets announced underneath the roof and on P1.

The only announcements that play at the same time all over the station are those safety ones.

 

[PR1Berske]

More changes at Leeds station. The announcements still play at the same time underneath the roof but now they only play on the relevant platform been announced on the open air parts of the platforms including the canopies.

e.g. train on P1 only gets announced underneath the roof and on P1.

The only announcements that play at the same time all over the station are those safety ones.

That's the same as Manchester Picadilly isn't it?

 

[Fred26]

The most misleading announcements I used to hear a lot at Stevenage were when East Coast (then NXEC) trains still regularly had a full restaturant service. I regularly heard the annnouncements for the southbound services end with "a Restaurant service is available on this train" (?) - The last sitting had always finished at the very latest Peterborough (if not earlier) & the journey is only 19 minutes so you would never be able to use it!
Obviously it was appropriate for northbound services.

I did query this with FCC once & they said that NXEC required them to include this in the announcements

A similar announcement is made now. It's something like 'a trolley service with hot drinks and snacks available'. It's a bit daft for a train twenty minutes from London.

 

[thefab444]

Because this forum is full of Celia Drummond fans, and in the interests of keeping this thread vaguely alive, here's some announcements from Christchurch including everyone's favourite "Do not leave cases or parcels" announcement.

Copyright, as ever, remains with Ketech Ditra and Celia Drummond.

 

[Ibex]

Nice one

Speaking of automated announcements, what the hell is up with the CCTV announcement at Waterloo? Missing the word 'monitoring' out of 'remote video monitoring'?

It's been like it for a while but I've only just thought to ask. Sounds stupid.

 

[networkrail1]

on the blog where can you find the recordings as all i can see is news updates.

 

[thefab444]

I took a lot of the content down off that website because it was inconvenient to edit and upload new material. I might try adding some new stuff at some point.

Speaking of automated announcements, what the hell is up with the CCTV announcement at Waterloo? Missing the word 'monitoring' out of 'remote video monitoring'?

It's been like it for a while but I've only just thought to ask. Sounds stupid.

Ah yes, "Please note that closed circuit television and remote viddy is in use at this station...".

Not sure why it does that, but it has always done it. Possibly some kind of corrupted file.

 

[159jim]

They've restored the chimes at Salisbury, the chimes have been turned off for 2 years!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

on the blog where can you find the recordings as all i can see is news updates.

http://jsphotography.swlines.co.uk/sounds/

 

[thefab444]

Indeed, there seems to be a new SWT policy on chimes for larger stations, possibly as a result of comments made by a member of this forum.

Now it's the same voice (Celia) for both. It's been like that for a year or two at least. Not sure why? Surely it's a simple option in a settings page somewhere.

Interestingly, Phil is now back at Finsbury Park on all platforms, although I imagine the Atos system will be taking over soon.

 

[jon0844]

Interestingly, Phil is now back at Finsbury Park on all platforms, although I imagine the Atos system will be taking over soon.

Now you mention it, I just realised he has indeed been speaking for some time at FPK! I miss the posh voice when pronouncing '2', but don't miss not having the skateboarding and rollerblading one.

 

[Aictos]

Indeed, there seems to be a new SWT policy on chimes for larger stations, possibly as a result of comments made by a member of this forum.

Well if that is the case, wishful hoping would be for FCC to follow suit,

 

[jon0844]

What's with the apology being read out at all GN stations this morning saying they've reported a fault with the screens/announcers?

Is it because, for once, it was working properly?

 

[thefab444]

Well if that is the case, wishful hoping would be for FCC to follow suit,

Well, by comments made by a member of this forum, I meant communicated directly to SWT. Still, you never know who is reading this!

 

[me123]

Edinburgh has automatic announcements. I quite like them, but when it gets quiet she starts barking orders such as "To comply with legislation, and in the interests of comfort and safety, Scotrail operates a no smoking policy on this station. Please don't smoke". It seems she can't go thirty seconds without announcing something, no matter how useless it is. But she is very clear; if only they could get her to shut up when she doesn't need to be speaking!

Glasgow Central still has manual announcements; often not very easy to hear, but they're there. They also don't announce every single train, particularly not the smaller ones such as Whifflets and Paisley Canals.

Glasgow Queen Street is also manual, often with a proper teuchter lady at the mic. I quite like the ones at Queen Street to be honest.

Many smaller Scotrail stations have a seemingly unique automatic announcement system, which is very clear and concise, but often misses out valuable information in my experience. For example, I've never heard the auto-announcer explain why a train's delayed/cancelled. Furthermore, I've also noticed that the way the announcements are formatted for delays and cancellations are not perfect. She might say "I am sorry to announce that the 0804 service to Balloch has been cancelled. The next train to Balloch is the 0834". All well and true, but what about passengers for Queen Street? The next train to Queen Street (where most people go in this example) is at 0819. So the information's accurate, but not complete if you get my drift.

There's also a woman (I'm pretty sure it's the same woman) who records some seasonal announcements, which play every so often. At the moment, she's talking about buses replacing trains between Airdrie and Drumgelloch (which she pronounces "Drumgellock" :roll: ) and advising you to keep your luggage with you, although it does change as appropriate (she was announcing service alterations over the last winter, for example).

 

[alexdodds]

Glasgow Central still has manual announcements; often not very easy to hear, but they're there. They also don't announce every single train, particularly not the smaller ones such as Whifflets and Paisley Canals.

Glasgow Queen Street is also manual, often with a proper teuchter lady at the mic. I quite like the ones at Queen Street to be honest.
.

I like the tannoy jingle at Queen Street. It is a bit tricky to understand what the announcer is saying if your not Scottish like me.

Its a shame they removed the old jingle at central which i liked and replaced it with a bog standard 2 tone sequence. It was the only station with a jingle like that it lasted at least 12 years.

 

[Aictos]

Hmm interesting, wouldn't mind a chance for a behind the scenes look sometime as I've used these stations except for Glasgow Central yet....

 

[Jordy]

The system that is being installed at a number of (mostly small for now) Scotrail stations is Ditra.

 

[jon0844]

Is the new system just a 'simple' bit of software running off of one PC and then linked with interfaces to a myriad of different screens/speakers? There are many different types of LED displays, and the old TV monitors, plus newer flat panels and so on - and all of them can display in a different format.

Do they need individual drivers for each device, or is there a recognised standard for how all of them work?

I say this because if it's all standardised and only software, it can't be that hard to come up with something better - or that expensive to change.