New LM Desiro Announcements

[ChrisTheRef]

Don't know if anybody's been on board in the last few days, but the automated announcements on London Midland's Desiro's have been changed.

It's now the woman who does the Merseyrail ones, and everything seems a lot more long winded and pointless.

eg: Liverpool South Parkway is now 'Liverpool Parkway for John Lennon International Airport'

why????

500th post by the way

 

[thefab444]

Indeed, Julie Berry kills off another locally voiced set of automated announcements. :-x

 

[Daimler]

Yes indeed, it's a pity as I quite enjoyed the previous lady -though the new system gives more information, and while at stations permanently displays the station name in the PIS. It also repeatedly scrolls the train's calling pattern as it's travelling, while before the PIS would remain blank most of the time (stupid, I always thought).

Having said that, there are issues at Watford, where she announces '...London Euston calling at Bushey, Harrow and Wealdstone and /obviously erroneous break/ the next stop is Bushey.'

She also doesn't appear to have an 'only' in the system, but has two different ways of saying 'London Euston' - when it's the only remaining stop, she says '...calling at (stroppy voice) London Euston.'

 

[Mojo]

Sure has... I noticed it last Sunday!

 

[ChrisTheRef]

I like the scrolling displays, but preferred the old voice.

She does have an 'only' because I go it on the approach to Liverpool L St this morning. I never go anywhere near London in a Desiro as I quite like to get there the same day as I leave!

 

[Pumbaa]

Will keep an eye out tomorrow for all combinations. Going from LIV to EUS with LM. Could be fun.. not!

 

[Squaddie]

Going from LIV to EUS with LM. Could be fun.. not!

Why would you choose to spend 3 hours 45 minutes on a journey that would take just over two hours with Virgin? Is it that much cheaper?

 

[Pumbaa]

£45 odd quid vs £14. Yes it is!

 

[Trains06]

Haha! We had £20 (LM) vs £160 (VT)... any guesses which one we went on?

 

[bengley]

I think Julie Berry does the best announcements. They sound the most human compared to most others. I thought that the PIS on the class 395 was a bit crap, but otherwise she's good.

 

[thefab444]

The clips used on the 317s are awful.

As long she doesn't invade the 444s/450s I don't mind her too much, I'd much rather hear Celia than her, and that's saying something!

 

[SWT Driver]

Who cares about who's voice it is!

At the end of the day it's a recorded automated announcement operated by a GPS module in DMC1 or 2, it's not a human being IT IS A DIGITAL RECORDING; And as long as it's clear & concise, I really don't give a monkey's chunky if it's a recording of Celia, Julie, Phil, Bert, Ken, Terry Wogan etc, as long as it's clear!

 

[krus_aragon]

Now there's a thought. Isn't Terry Wogan free now?

 

[thefab444]

it's not a human being IT IS A DIGITAL RECORDING!

Obviously the wording and spacing cannot be changed by the v/o artist, that's down to the designer and software respectively, but the quality of the clips can.

I really don't give a monkey's chunky if it's a recording of Celia, Julie, Phil, Bert, Ken, Terry Wogan etc, as long as it's clear!

Why are you posting in a thread about the voice used for on train announcements then? :roll:

Anyway, Julie Berry seems to be the stock choice for voicing the automated systems; she replaced the Essex bloke on the 317/321/360s in Anglia, and now the Stafford student on the LM 350s, as well as the original female voice on the 357s. The first two were much better sounding as they were local and less patronisingly posh.

 

[generalvegitable]

somehow I can't help thinking that they should get Stephen Fry doing an automated announcement, "The next station is London Euston where this train terminates, interestingly this was also the Terminus for the first railway to reach London ..." and continues to tell you all about the station

 

[bengley]

somehow I can't help thinking that they should get Stephen Fry doing an automated announcement, "The next station is London Euston where this train terminates, interestingly this was also the Terminus for the first railway to reach London ..." and continues to tell you all about the station

That is a fantastic idea!

 

[CMS]

This is how they ran as Southern operated PIS.

 

[Pumbaa]

After a long journey, thanks to LM forgetting to run trains from Northampton this afternoon, I was able to think back to why the Desiros were so relaxing. There were hardly any announcements! One "we are approaching x" and once there, "this is z, train calls at y and terminates at z". Peaceful, and simple.

Now she just natters on, and the constantly scrolling PIS annoys me, try not to look at it! And I'm going back on Wednesday!

 

[Daimler]

I like the scrolling displays, but preferred the old voice.

She does have an 'only' because I go it on the approach to Liverpool L St this morning. I never go anywhere near London in a Desiro as I quite like to get there the same day as I leave!

I think it must have been added - on the first couple of days of the new timetable, she didn't, but today she did indeed - though it still sounds unconvincing after the rather angry 'London Euston'!

 

[Fincra5]

Now there's a thought. Isn't Terry Wogan free now?

He would be great for annoncements, i could almost imagine him saying "Welcome aboard the Southern service to London Victoria...."