CrossCountry Voyager PIS script updates

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Hello. Nerdy question in case anyone here has XC insider info.

When taking a refurbished XC Voyager about two months ago I noticed there had been some changes to the PIS. By this I just mean the text displayed. When I then got an unrefurbished one home, it was the same. And then the next four times I got on a Voyager (one refurbished, three unrefurbished), it was the same again. I thought OK, they've done an update to all units.

An example of the changes:

Old. (Static) This is Coach B. (At station) Welcome on board the 15:00 to Manchester Picc calling at Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield, Stockport and Manchester Picc.

New. (Static) Coach B (At station) This is the 15:00 CrossCountry service to Manchester Picc. The next station is Stoke-on-Trent.

The new update also included new scrolling messages such as "Listening to music? Please use headphones." and something along the lines of "Thank you for travelling with CrossCountry. Our team are here to help so we will not tolerate any abusive or threatening behaviour towards our staff. Your kindness truly makes a difference."

However, today I'm travelling down to Cardiff on refurbished 220033, which I'm actually pretty sure was the refurbished one I got on the first time I noticed the PIS change, and it's reverted to how it was before. I actually prefer the old format.

Just wondering if anyone knows if XC have officially abandoned or decided against this change to the script.

 

[Scotrail314209]

Hello. Nerdy question in case anyone here has XC insider info.

When taking a refurbished XC Voyager about two months ago I noticed there had been some changes to the PIS. By this I just mean the text displayed. When I then got an unrefurbished one home, it was the same. And then the next four times I got on a Voyager (one refurbished, three unrefurbished), it was the same again. I thought OK, they've done an update to all units.

An example of the changes:

Old. (Static) This is Coach B. (At station) Welcome on board the 15:00 to Manchester Picc calling at Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield, Stockport and Manchester Picc.

New. (Static) Coach B (At station) This is the 15:00 CrossCountry service to Manchester Picc. The next station is Stoke-on-Trent.

The new update also included new scrolling messages such as "Listening to music? Please use headphones." and something along the lines of "Thank you for travelling with CrossCountry. Our team are here to help so we will not tolerate any abusive or threatening behaviour towards our staff. Your kindness truly makes a difference."

However, today I'm travelling down to Cardiff on refurbished 220033, which I'm actually pretty sure was the refurbished one I got on the first time I noticed the PIS change, and it's reverted to how it was before. I actually prefer the old format.

Just wondering if anyone knows if XC have officially abandoned or decided against this change to the script.

I was on 221109 the other day and the new script was in place then.

 

[voyagerdude220]

I don't know if it's connected to these changes, but I noticed both on a Refurbished 220 and unrefurbished 221 that the internal screens were different-

Old style- "This is coach A."
New style- "Coach A- First Class."

I'd also noticed the internal screens a couple of times stated the departure time of the most recent Station alongside the remaining Station stops, whereas I suspect on the old system this only ever occurred whilst still stopped at the Station in question.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I don't know if it's connected to these changes, but I noticed both on a Refurbished 220 and unrefurbished 221 that the internal screens were different-

Old style- "This is coach A."
New style- "Coach A- First Class."

Yes this is part of the aforementioned changes.

I should add the same evening on the day I made this post, the new style PIS was back in place on the ex Avanti Voyager home.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Jun 2026 ==

I'd also noticed the internal screens a couple of times stated the departure time of the most recent Station alongside the remaining Station stops, whereas I suspect on the old system this only ever occurred whilst still stopped at the Station in question.

I believe when in motion, it now alternates between both of:

"This train is for Destination. Calling at Station X, Station Y and Destination.'

and

"This is the XX:XX CrossCountry service to Destination. The next station is Station X."

 

[voyagerdude220]

Thanks, that's interesting. I wonder why Cross Country have changed the way the Voyager screens operate.

 

[LittleRedTrain]

Wonder if they'll also (re-)activate the automated announcements at some point.
In many years of traveling on XC I've only heard them used a couple of times, which is unfortunate as some XC TMs can leave announcements a bit late!

 

[UsefulPenguin]

Appreciate this is a few months old now but stumbled across this and wanted to share from an internal perspective for those interested.

The internal PIS data was updated with altered wording (to make it less clunky) and updated messaging to include things like not playing loud music and due to the introduction of CCTV onboard and body worn cameras worn by train crew.

The coach letter briefly changed to display as “Coach X” but some technical issues meant it wouldn’t appear centred on the screen, so reverted back to “This is Coach X” as it looks neater.

External PIS were also updated to advertise where a coach is unreserved.

Automated announcements get brought up quite frequently (including by train crew). Whilst the Voyagers have the ability to do it and (most) station names have audio recorded, the system is simply not consistent enough to rely on it. It’s 25 years old and doesn’t always trigger the audio consistently. Also the recordings no longer meet the requirements from an equality act perspective.