Class 180 automated announcements.

[Parallel]

They have indeed certainly done a good job! If you are not listening carefully it sounds like the same exact person! I do wonder why they got two people to record them and then mixed parts of the together? Surely it would have been more simple just to use one person?

I will listen out next time i find 150 243 somewhere. I havent been on that unit for a few years. Its amazing how many different codes and announcements there are. I never realised that certain announcements require codes in order to be played.

Probably, it appears as if the old sound recordings were retained from the original class' voice but the new sound files were inserted and were made by Ruth as she already has recorded every station name in Wales and, I'm sure, plenty in England too. It was probably easier to just insert new sound files they already had than to get Alison or whoever the original voice was to record again.

150243 still hasn't been refurbished yet. Out of the ex Wessex 150/2s, the only ones that still play the old automated announcements are 150221, 150239, 150243, 150244, 150249, 150261. The rest have either been refurbished, or don't play them for some reason (150265 & 150266). Would be quite good to know the list of full announcements these ex-wessex units can play!

 

[D1009]

I definitely remember those automated announcements now! They were certainly very long and very detailed especially about all of the facilities available onboard the train.

I remember traveling on a 180 from Great Malvern to Worcester around that time. The announcement after departing from Great Malvern was so long, we had stopped at and restarted from Malvern Link before it had finished!

 

[swt class 450]

Probably, it appears as if the old sound recordings were retained from the original class' voice but the new sound files were inserted and were made by Ruth as she already has recorded every station name in Wales and, I'm sure, plenty in England too. It was probably easier to just insert new sound files they already had than to get Alison or whoever the original voice was to record again.

150243 still hasn't been refurbished yet. Out of the ex Wessex 150/2s, the only ones that still play the old automated announcements are 150221, 150239, 150243, 150244, 150249, 150261. The rest have either been refurbished, or don't play them for some reason (150265 & 150266). Would be quite good to know the list of full announcements these ex-wessex units can play!

I have just had a look through some old recordings and threads in the automated announcements section. It appears that they can play the following automated announcements.

• "You are travelling on a Wales & Borders Alphaline train. An at seat service of light refreshments is available on this train selling selection of hot and cold drinks and snacks. The steward will be passing though the train shortly. The conductor will be checking tickets and handing you information regarding our timetables and connections. Reserved seats are indicated by the labels on the seats and the coach letters situated on the main doors. You will find the toilets and baby changing facilities situated in the centre of the train. Litter bins and luggage space is situated between seats and luggage space is also located over your head and at the ends of the coaches. Wales & Borders wish you a safe and pleasant journey."

• "You are travelling on a Wales & West Alphaline train. An at seat service of light refreshments is available on this train selling selection of hot and cold drinks and snacks. The steward will be passing though the train shortly. The conductor will be checking tickets and handing you information regarding our timetables and connections. Reserved seats are indicated by the labels on the seats and the coach letters situated on the main doors. You will find the toilets and baby changing facilities situated in the centre of the train. Litter bins and luggage space is situated between seats and luggage space is also located over your head and at the ends of the coaches. Wales & West wish you a safe and pleasant journey."

• "You are travelling on a Wessex Trains Alphaline train. An at seat service of light refreshments is available on this train selling selection of hot and cold drinks and snacks. The steward will be passing though the train shortly. The conductor will be checking tickets and handing you information regarding our timetables and connections. Reserved seats are indicated by the labels on the seats and the coach letters situated on the main doors. You will find the toilets and baby changing facilities situated in the centre of the train. Litter bins and luggage space is situated between seats and luggage space is also located over your head and at the ends of the coaches. Wessex Trains wish you a safe and pleasant journey."

• "Welcome aboard. Please listen to the following announcement for your safety. Please familiarise yourself with the safety information provided on posters displayed in the passenger saloons. Emergency door opening procedures are indicated close to the doors. Please ensure any luggage on the overhead racks if safely stowed. And when you leave the train please mind the gap between the train and the platform and take care as you alight. Thank you."

• "An at seat service of light refreshments is available on this train selling a selection of hot and cold drinks and snacks. The steward will be passing through the train shortly. Thank you."

• "In the next few minutes the conductor will be carrying out a full ticket check. They would like to see all tickets passes and railcards. Thank you."

• "Your attention please. So that all passengers may be seated will you please move any luggage on seats to the spaces between the seats and the overhead luggage racks. Thank you."

• "Your attention please. Please make sure that your luggage placed on the overhead luggage racks is secure and will not fall. Large and heavy items should be placed in the luggage spaces between the seats and at the ends of the coaches. Thank you."

I am not sure if this is the full list. There may possibly be a few other automated announcements as well.

I remember traveling on a 180 from Great Malvern to Worcester around that time. The announcement after departing from Great Malvern was so long, we had stopped at and restarted from Malvern Link before it had finished!

The only ones which are even longer are probably the new Northern Rail onboard announcements! They go on and on and on about buying a ticket before you board / reporting suspicious bags and behaviour / keeping your personal belongings with you / dont leave anything unattended / CCTV is in operation etc!

 

[louis97]

Good to hear that Ruth is still recording announcements. It seems strange that this third person is now on a GWR unit if she is an ATW employee. I wonder if possibly ATW and GWR use the same automated announcements software systems for their trains?

The system on the ATW units and GWR units pre any refurb is the same, the units with this system would both have come from the split of the Wales and West franchise which have eventually became GWR and ATW, via a mixture of other names (Wales and Borders, Wessex Trains, etc).

150243. I'm not sure why, maybe it was a trial. Bizarrely last summer, I was on this train and it played the "in the passenger saloons" announcement with no security message after and it wasn't coupled to anything. And it did the same thing every time I used it until a couple of months later when it went back to saying "mounted between saloon windows" with the security message. Weird. Maybe a guard was having a play around with the announcements at some point.

When I heard it, it was at the same time I would expect the safety information announcement, upon departure from a station, so doubt it was guard intervention.

Given the system is from Wales and West days I suspect Arriva would of done the modification at Canton presumably as part of a trial. Could be that the security announcement was already tagged onto the end of the Arriva "mounted between saloon windows", so could explain the safety announcement change.

 

[swt class 450]

The system on the ATW units and GWR units pre any refurb is the same, the units with this system would both have come from the split of the Wales and West franchise which have eventually became GWR and ATW, via a mixture of other names (Wales and Borders, Wessex Trains, etc).



When I heard it, it was at the same time I would expect the safety information announcement, upon departure from a station, so doubt it was guard intervention.

Given the system is from Wales and West days I suspect Arriva would of done the modification at Canton presumably as part of a trial. Could be that the security announcement was already tagged onto the end of the Arriva "mounted between saloon windows", so could explain the safety announcement change.

Thanks for the info. That would make sense. I always find the whole Wales & Borders / Wales & West / Wessex Trains franchise changes so confusing.

Also i just found this video on Youtube of a First North Western class 175 automated announcement.

https://youtu.be/3u5QEAHgMrg

Can anyone confirm is this announcement entirely the second person (who is possible Alison Foster)? I dont think Ruth is in this announcement?

 

[Parallel]

Here is another video showing two separate voices in the same announcement on a class 175.

 

[louis97]

Thanks for the info. That would make sense. I always find the whole Wales & Borders / Wales & West / Wessex Trains franchise changes so confusing.

Also i just found this video on Youtube of a First North Western class 175 automated announcement.

https://youtu.be/3u5QEAHgMrg

Can anyone confirm is this announcement entirely the second person (who is possible Alison Foster)? I dont think Ruth is in this announcement?

It is that voice, fairly certain it is Alison Foster, I have attached a recording I have from a HST.

 

[TEW]

Another example from a 180 here, leaving Tiverton Parkway:

https://youtu.be/zYK6mP-JmjE?t=31s

 

[swt class 450]

Here is another video showing two separate voices in the same announcement on a class 175.

You do really have to listen so carefully to hear the difference between the two voices! They are so similar!

It is that voice, fairly certain it is Alison Foster, I have attached a recording I have from a HST.

Thanks for attaching that. I hadnt heard the HST ones before. I think that must indeed be Alison Foster.

Another example from a 180 here, leaving Tiverton Parkway:

https://youtu.be/zYK6mP-JmjE?t=31s

It seems like that announcement is also two people? If you listen carefully most of the announcement from the start is (probably) Alison Foster. But then "the next stop is Taunton" at the end of the announcement sounds like it is actually Ruth?

 

[Parallel]

It seems like that announcement is also two people? If you listen carefully most of the announcement from the start is (probably) Alison Foster. But then "the next stop is Taunton" at the end of the announcement sounds like it is actually Ruth?

I think it's all Alison. "The next stop is..." is identical to the ones on the 175s, which I also now think are voiced by Alison with Ruth just saying the place name! Ruth also tends to emphasise words intended for the end of sentences like "Tauntonnnnn"

It's a shame the announcements have been disabled on GWR's class 180s, especially if they are fitted with the equipment to do so. The announcement from that video does go on a bit though, you probably don't get much quiet in the 'Quiet Zone'!

 

[No Fault Found]

It is that voice, fairly certain it is Alison Foster, I have attached a recording I have from a HST.

That'll be Alison FORSTER then

 

[louis97]

That'll be Alison FORSTER then

Oops Didn't notice that typo.

 

[Philip]

The old 175 voice (presumably Alison Foster?) sounded relaxing and not as intrusive as Ruth does. The announcements were altered slightly after W&B took over North Wales duties from FNW. "First North Western welcomes..." became "We welcome..." since the fleet was shared between ATW, FNW and TPE for a few years. Even after ATW had taken full control over the fleet, I remember being on one when the PA randomly came on saying "First North Western thanks passengers for not smoking"...

Are the old FNW routes to Blackpool and Cumbria still in the 175 TMS?

 

[JN114]

FoRster

 

[swt class 450]

I think it's all Alison. "The next stop is..." is identical to the ones on the 175s, which I also now think are voiced by Alison with Ruth just saying the place name! Ruth also tends to emphasise words intended for the end of sentences like "Tauntonnnnn"

It's a shame the announcements have been disabled on GWR's class 180s, especially if they are fitted with the equipment to do so. The announcement from that video does go on a bit though, you probably don't get much quiet in the 'Quiet Zone'!

It would be definitely be good if they were used more often on the GWR 180s. Sprinter153 did say that they are still occasionally used on the Cotswold Line if they are driven by a driver who knows the old codes. I dont know why GWR dont make all their other drivers aware of these codes? It seems like GWR are probably not really bothered about whether the automated announcements are used?

The old 175 voice (presumably Alison Foster?) sounded relaxing and not as intrusive as Ruth does. The announcements were altered slightly after W&B took over North Wales duties from FNW. "First North Western welcomes..." became "We welcome..." since the fleet was shared between ATW, FNW and TPE for a few years. Even after ATW had taken full control over the fleet, I remember being on one when the PA randomly came on saying "First North Western thanks passengers for not smoking"...

Are the old FNW routes to Blackpool and Cumbria still in the 175 TMS?

It wouldnt surprise me if the FNW automated announcements are still in the system. I know that lots of DMUs and EMUs still have old automated announcements stored in their systems which occasionally play. I guess it depends if they deleted the old announcements when they got revised? Also do you know if when FTPE used them did they have automated announcements?

 

[Philip]

It wouldnt surprise me if the FNW automated announcements are still in the system. I know that lots of DMUs and EMUs still have old automated announcements stored in their systems which occasionally play. I guess it depends if they deleted the old announcements when they got revised? Also do you know if when FTPE used them did they have automated announcements?

I never heard it used when TPE had them, but that was because the stopping pattern changed on the Blackpool and Cumbria services, around the time when FNW became Northern/TPE. The Blackpool services became semi-fast during the day, having been all-stops in the FNW timetable. The PA wasn't reprogrammed to include the new stopping patterns. I remember reading at the time that TPE did occasionally use it, on evening all-stops Blackpool services which still followed the old stopping pattern.

ATW updated the software again not long after they took full control of them. Apparently this was because the computer kept getting mixed up and the PA would start firing off North West/Lakes stations whilst the train was working in Wales. This is why I wondered if the old FNW routes were still in the system, or if they'd been completely deleted.

 

[swt class 450]

I never heard it used when TPE had them, but that was because the stopping pattern changed on the Blackpool and Cumbria services, around the time when FNW became Northern/TPE. The Blackpool services became semi-fast during the day, having been all-stops in the FNW timetable. The PA wasn't reprogrammed to include the new stopping patterns. I remember reading at the time that TPE did occasionally use it, on evening all-stops Blackpool services which still followed the old stopping pattern.

ATW updated the software again not long after they took full control of them. Apparently this was because the computer kept getting mixed up and the PA would start firing off North West/Lakes stations whilst the train was working in Wales. This is why I wondered if the old FNW routes were still in the system, or if they'd been completely deleted.

Interesting. So it would appear that they were only ever programmed for the First North Western services but not the First Trans Pennine Express services. Do you know were the announcements programmed to announce all FNW calling patterns and all stations served by FNW services? Or were they just specifically programmed to announce the routes that the 175s worked on?

 

[Philip]

Interesting. So it would appear that they were only ever programmed for the First North Western services but not the First Trans Pennine Express services. Do you know were the announcements programmed to announce all FNW calling patterns and all stations served by FNW services? Or were they just specifically programmed to announce the routes that the 175s worked on?

Can't say for sure but I think they were just programmed to announce the calling patterns which 175s were booked for, similar to now. Interestingly in the early 2000s there were a couple of one-off extras in the Barrow-Manchester timetable, which don't run now I don't think. There was an evening Man Airport-Millom service and also a Manchester-Barrow which called at Morecambe, both booked for 175s. I would imagine these were included in the automated announcements.

They seem to have sorted it now but the 175 PA system now, but it used to be hopelessly unreliable. It was a bit of a comedy factor if anything, it'd often get caught like 3 or 4 stops behind where the train actually was. Did the 180 have similar problems with its PA?