Greater Anglia Intercity stock in train guards announcements

[Rick1984]

Have they been automated?
The Norwich bound service I'm currently on the announcement starts "Hi I'm Matt your senior conductor" but it sounds pre-recorded. With unnatural pauses between and no change in delivery. If not he's got an impressive delivery and should be doing infomercials!

 

[dk1]

Have they been automated?
The Norwich bound service I'm currently on the announcement starts "Hi I'm Matt your senior conductor" but it sounds pre-recorded. With unnatural pauses between and no change in delivery. If not he's got an impressive delivery and should be doing infomercials!

Not at all. Matt is superb & known as Tory boy by those who love him. Classic that you thought he was robotic

 

[MrPIC]

They always crack me up with the "senior" conductor bit

 

[dk1]

They always crack me up with the "senior" conductor bit

It's their official job title. Senior for mainline, simply conductor for locals. The latter covers on HGD but does not use 'senior' in the announcement.

 

[306024]

Matt was the guard (in old money) on my train today too. Very brave man, predicting we would arrive Norwich early after leaving Diss, but we did.

 

[Rick1984]

4 minutes to be precise!
Which carriage where you in? I was in B but you may have seen me as the disgruntled man going all the way back to the cafe bar with a cold bacon sandwich!

Matt is in wrong job. Needs to be on videos like "do you know how a nuclear powerplant works?..."

 

[AlexNL]

Who knows, Matt could be doing voice-overs in his free time.

 

[306024]

4 minutes to be precise!
Which carriage where you in? I was in B but you may have seen me as the disgruntled man going all the way back to the cafe bar with a cold bacon sandwich!

Matt is in wrong job. Needs to be on videos like "do you know how a nuclear powerplant works?..."

Judging by your post at 20.44, I would have been on an earlier trip, so I missed cold bacon sandwich gate.

There are a few distinctive individuals on the Norwich line, all of them excellent.

 

[SPADTrap]

It's their official job title. Senior for mainline, simply conductor for locals. The latter covers on HGD but does not use 'senior' in the announcement.

Certainly makes funny reading when you see 'Trainee Senior Conductor' advertised!

 

[IanXC]

I've always thought it was clear who should record any auto announcer used on that franchise in the future!

 

[Sprinter153]

Matt is an excellent Senior Conductor. It sounds daft but as a guard one can pick up some ideas and techniques to improve your own train working from travelling round the network, and he is definitely an excellent role model. A good advert for guards on trains and I've told Abellio so.

 

[grumblingalong]

Matt is an excellent Senior Conductor. It sounds daft but as a guard one can pick up some ideas and techniques to improve your own train working from travelling round the network, and he is definitely an excellent role model. A good advert for guards on trains and I've told Abellio so.

Not daft at all, I often go on little jaunts to be nosy. It's very valuable to be a passenger every now and then, it certainly helps me understand my passengers needs better!

 

[86246]

Matt is an excellent Senior Conductor. It sounds daft but as a guard one can pick up some ideas and techniques to improve your own train working from travelling round the network, and he is definitely an excellent role model. A good advert for guards on trains and I've told Abellio so.

Agree. As a regular AGA mainline passenger I must say that he is a top chap. I did think a couple of years ago that his announcements were starting to sound automated.

Public facing roles, whether on the railways or elsewhere, are far from easy. There are several excellent examples on our rail network of those who make that job look easy despite problems occurring beyond their control.

 

[AnonymousUser1]

Certainly makes funny reading when you see 'Trainee Senior Conductor' advertised!

why ? it is only odd if you presume that all Senior Conductors are promoted from Conductors

no different to 'Trainee Detective Sergeant' in the police , ( they are CID Sergeants who haven't completed the CID / investigator course yet)

 

[Rick1984]

Not at all. Matt is superb & known as Tory boy by those who love him. Classic that you thought he was robotic

His delivery was brilliant and none of that straining to hear what he said quality very helpful

 

[LowLevel]

I'm going to hold my hands up here and say I hate the job title 'senior conductor' which I also regale in as it sounds overly pretentious and doesn't exactly roll off the tongue! I refuse to use it except on report forms (though it is on my name badge) and stick to 'guard' instead. We got it by virtue of an early privatisation pay deal by Central Trains where they withdrew the conductor grade and bumped all their guards up to the senior conductor conditions (despite the vast majority if not all of them being conductors anyway as they worked for Provincial/Regional Railways). I believe Anglia were the only TOC to retain the two tiers of the guards grade in that way.

Most passenger just call us conductors or train managers anyway!

 

[grumblingalong]

I'm going to hold my hands up here and say I hate the job title 'senior conductor' which I also regale in as it sounds overly pretentious and doesn't exactly roll off the tongue! I refuse to use it except on report forms (though it is on my name badge) and stick to 'guard' instead. We got it by virtue of an early privatisation pay deal by Central Trains where they withdrew the conductor grade and bumped all their guards up to the senior conductor conditions (despite the vast majority if not all of them being conductors anyway as they worked for Provincial/Regional Railways). I believe Anglia were the only TOC to retain the two tiers of the guards grade in that way.

Most passenger just call us conductors or train managers anyway!

I'd rather we were called "Train Managers", I think it better reflects the work we do on long distance, penalty fare services.

 

[dk1]

Guard sounds better.

 

[BestWestern]

Guard is indeed the preferable term. Train Manager I don't mind, as it is at least a logical description of the job, but always Guard and never Conductor! Even if it is an 'original' BR term, I'be always thought it sounds a tad demeaning and has far less clout than Guard.

Funny how we obsess about such things!

 

[Blindtraveler]

Guard for a guard, train manager or onboard manager for non safety chritical customer service and revenue duties

thats my view

 

[Sprinter153]

Guard is indeed the preferable term. Train Manager I don't mind, as it is at least a logical description of the job, but always Guard and never Conductor! Even if it is an 'original' BR term, I'be always thought it sounds a tad demeaning and has far less clout than Guard.

Funny how we obsess about such things!

Conductor has shades of 'ticket man' about it. Another thing I get frequently called that makes me wince!

 

[BestWestern]

Conductor has shades of 'ticket man' about it. Another thing I get frequently called that makes me wince!

Precisely!