Phil Sayer's announcements

[MidnightFlyer]

are! Not been through for a bit. Still manual announcements or has anoying Anne taken over god forbid?

You'd have to talk to announcement experts on here for that, they are automatic, but very clear, listenable at leat. you'd be best talking to me123 or other Glasgow members for that.

 

[Solent&Wessex]

I went through Glasgow Central the other day and noted that the new system had a particularly annoying habit of announcing every train as "the front train" or similar - even when there was only one train, or in my case an East Coast train which filled the whole platform so there couldn't be more than one train!

 

[Rhydgaled]

Would it have been Phil Sayer doing the on-board announcements on the slammers and 5-WES on the Portsmouth - Waterloo route in the late NSE to SWT desrio introduction era?

I find the woman's voice that seems to be at most Arriva Trains Wales stations anoying, and the voice on the 175s to. "This train is for Carmarthen..... The next stop is Pembrey and Burry Port". :-x

 

[thefab444]

Would it have been Phil Sayer doing the on-board announcements on the slammers and 5-WES on the Portsmouth - Waterloo route in the late NSE to SWT desrio introduction era?

No, it would have been the guard.

 

[alexdodds]

Who is the woman that does the announcements at stations in the north west such as Blackpool North, Penrith, Oxenholme, Lancaster, Wigan NW and Warrington BQ.

Also is there any other stations she or at least her voice is heard at.

 

[IanXC]

Who is the posh lady!? I'm not sure whether the announcements at Driffield have been changed, or whether its just because they regularly work now, but she isn't half annoying!

Some of the journeys announced can have 15+ calling points, and its quite amusing to listen to the disdain with which she says any of them I expect shes heard of, and the snooty village way anything else is pronounced. Its as if shes thinking, well I have to record these announcements, but why anyone would want to go there is beyond me!

 

[WestCoast]

Who is the woman that does the announcements at stations in the north west such as Blackpool North, Penrith, Oxenholme, Lancaster, Wigan NW and Warrington BQ.

She's one of the mystery auto-announcers!

We've discussed this before and the simple answer is no-one is really sure (at least on the forum). She may be the same auto-voice as on the Pendolinos and Voyagers (which are rarely used - so hard to compare to). I have also heard suggestions of Charlotte(?) from the South Eastern Trains area.

The fact that she is at one Northern station as well (albeit in the same area) makes it even stranger!

She has a unique way of saying "ONLY!" after calling points, which is particlaury amusing at Lancaster when she announces a stopping service to Carlisle via the Coast followed by "ONLY!".
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Who is the posh lady!? I'm not sure whether the announcements at Driffield have been changed, or whether its just because they regularly work now, but she isn't half annoying!

Could well be Celia (she isn't used much on the Northern network any more) - although she's everywhere on the South West Trains network, along with many other places!

The alternative is Anne, who I couldn't say is posh! She is at Leeds and other mainline stations.

Guide here - thanks to THAMESLINK319

 

[thefab444]

The fact that she is at one Northern station as well (albeit in the same area) makes it even stranger!

The fact that she is at one Northern station, but not the entire Virgin network, suggests to me that it was sponsored by a local authority or such-like. There was no expansion of the system either, it merely replaced the original Ditra system at those stations. Not sure who the voice is, but it is not "Charlotte" (or Pauline Cavilla to give her real name).

Talking of mystery auto-announcers, one of my favourites is this chap, who provided the voice for announcements used on the southern WCML under NSE, including Watford Junction. Judging by the chime, it was also manufactured by Ditra.

For more clips of some of the older Ditra systems, I can recommend Robert Payne's excellent website - there are also many recordings of the Infomat systems used on most NSE stations on his websites.

Could well be Celia (she isn't used much on the Northern network any more) - although she's everywhere on the South West Trains network, along with many other places!

I've heard reports that the more recent Northern Ditra systems have recently switched over to full Celia; previously she just announced the "Do not leave your luggage unattended" style announcements, and Phil did the train announcing.

 

[IanXC]

Could well be Celia (she isn't used much on the Northern network any more) - although she's everywhere on the South West Trains network, along with many other places!

It is Celia! Maybe its just because the system seems to actually be in use recently, and shes always been there?

thanks to THAMESLINK319
+1

 

[WestCoast]

The fact that she is at one Northern station, but not the entire Virgin network, suggests to me that it was sponsored by a local authority or such-like. There was no expansion of the system either, it merely replaced the original Ditra system at those stations.

I could do but there all in different local authorities/PTEs. Wigan NW is GMPTE, Lancaster is just Lancashire County Council e.t.c. Perhaps it was just a replacement for the exiting system used in the area, the "Good morning, welcome to Lancaster/Warrington e.t.c voice".

Virgin favour manual announcements anyway, which can be good or bad, there's a guy at Crewe than mumbles and it's barely comprehensible, not good for a large station. Only Virgin's "quieter" stations use this unidentified voice (all in the North West) - plus the addition of Northern operated Blackpool North.

 

[thefab444]

Hopefully when Virgin lose the WCML franchise, large stations like Carlisle and Crewe will finally be brought into the 21st Century!

thanks to THAMESLINK319
+1

Worth pointing out that all the clips used in Thameslink319's video are actually my recordings, which he didn't ask my permission to use (sorted now).

Judging by the comments on that video, Celia is very unpopular! I actually prefer her to Phil.

 

[WestCoast]

I've heard reports that the more recent Northern Ditra systems have recently switched over to full Celia; previously she just announced the "Do not leave your luggage unattended" style announcements, and Phil did the train announcing.

I think that's more on the East side (ex-Arriva Trains Northern) - there is still a clear divide between the East and West sides of Northern!

 

[thefab444]

I think that's more on the East side (ex-Arriva Trains Northern) - there is still a clear divide between the East and West sides of Northern!

Yes, I think it is sponsored by SYPTE. The stations west of Leeds all have that awful Funkwerk system using Phil's voice.

 

[WestCoast]

Hopefully when Virgin lose the WCML franchise, large stations like Carlisle and Crewe will finally be brought into the 21st Century!

I wouldn't bet on that, the Dft may not like them all that much but in my opinion they're in with a good chance. Plus, I'd much rather have them than First, no-matter how much they are improving on FGW. (That's off-topic though - there's a thread for that).

Preston also has manual, along with all others except the ones with the auto-system discussed earlier. It's good and bad like I said before, some of the announcers are clear and are local so pronounce stations appropriately, Crewe has a lady with very accurate pronunciation of Welsh station names. It does sometimes give a touch of local flavour with accents (as long as they are understandable) - which you don't get with automated voices. Plus, delay information is better than the automated system.

HOWEVER, some of the manual announcers should not be doing their job, mumbling, strange abbreviations and fast-paced incomprehensible calling points shouldn't happen. Announcers should be employed on clarity of voice.

So there's pros and cons for both automated and manual - but manual is dyeing out so I think it's quite nice that Virgin, East Coast and EMT (among others) are retaining manual announcements at some stations.

 

[Blindtraveler]

carlisle has good announcers, just as well as atos ann wud be lost there. loving some of the old nse stuff and have to say no objections to what northern have done with phil

 

[thefab444]

I wouldn't bet on that, the Dft may not like them all that much but in my opinion they're in with a good chance. Plus, I'd much rather have them than First, no-matter how much they are improving on FGW. (That's off-topic though - there's a thread for that).

Preston also has manual, along with all others except the ones with the auto-system discussed earlier. It's good and bad like I said before, some of the announcers are clear and are local so pronounce stations appropriately, Crewe has a lady with very accurate pronunciation of Welsh station names. It does sometimes give a touch of local flavour with accents (as long as they are understandable) - which you don't get with automated voices. Plus, delay information is better than the automated system.

It would be quite easy to get one of the existing station announcers to record the samples for a new automated system, be it Atos or Ditra. I'm pretty sure the original Ditra system at Waterloo (2004 - 2007) used the voice of one of the station announcers.

 

[Solent&Wessex]

There are a number of curiosities with the system to be found in the North West. As stated, it has replaced the original Ditra "Good Afternoon Welcome to..." system which could be heard at Lancaster, Wigan NW and Warrington BQ.
(See post number 204 for an example)
That system was also installed at Blackpool North, but was rarely used in later years (I did remember hearing it around 1999 / 2000 ish). None of the stations have a common TOC (They are all Virgin except Blackpool which is Northern). They do not even have a common Local Authority who may like to sponsor them. While Wigan NW is technically in GMPTE land, GMPTE seem to have nothing to do with this station as only a handful of local services to / from GMPTE area stop per day. Warrington is in Cheshire and Lancaster / Blackpool in Lancashire.

At Blackpool it also annoyingly announces "This train originates here" at the end of every announcement. I am not what the relevance in that is. Last time I was at Lancaster the other week they were announcing manually.

As regards West Yorkshire. Some areas such as the Aire, Wharfe and Calder Valley stations which had a Phil Sayer based Ditra system now have that horrendous Phil Sayer based Funkwurk system, which is truly awful. Others, i.e. Mirfield, have had Phil replaced with a lady. I have a friend who is an announcer for Northern in their control at York so I might ask for a bit more gen on the different systems.

Other Intercity stations appear to prefer manual announcements. Wakefield Westgate used to have what I believe to be a Ditra system (sounded the same as the system still in use at Bishops Stortford and Seven Sisters) in the mid 1990's, but it is long gone. Wakefield, along with York and others, have manual announcements. Like many stations the announcers at York vary greatly. Most are quite poor. There is a bloke that talks far far too fast with a strange accent which means that you cannot hear a word he says. There is a woman who talks at a reasonable speed but has such an annoying high pitched voice that it nearly bursts your ear drums.

One of the best manual announcers in the North can actually be heard at Manchester Victoria. There is a chap there with quite a broad Lancashire accent, but he speaks slowly, at the right volume and with correct pronunciation and intonation.

 

[Blindtraveler]

whats everyones objection to the new phil system? i quite like it!

 

[thefab444]

Last time I was at Lancaster the other week they were announcing manually.

I believe the systems at Lancaster and Wigan are a bit unreliable and not as talkative as the one at Warrington BQ.

As regards West Yorkshire. Some areas such as the Aire, Wharfe and Calder Valley stations which had a Phil Sayer based Ditra system now have that horrendous Phil Sayer based Funkwurk system, which is truly awful.

Agreed. Particularly the way it only has the 'mid sentence' station recordings ("service to Leeds!..."), even though Phil said he provided both middle and end of sentence variations! The whole flow of the announcements is nothing like as good as the more recent Ditra systems.

Wakefield Westgate used to have what I believe to be a Ditra system (sounded the same as the system still in use at Bishops Stortford and Seven Sisters) in the mid 1990's, but it is long gone.

I believe Darlington (and possibly Durham) also had Ditra systems, long since gone.

 

[WestCoast]

At Blackpool it also annoyingly announces "This train originates here" at the end of every announcement. I am not what the relevance in that is. Last time I was at Lancaster the other week they were announcing manually

That "originates here" is terribly annoying, I feel like saying "well where else has it come from?":roll:.

Regarding manual announcers, there's a few good ones at Preston, but there's also one guy who is on quite a lot who really does mumble!

 

[Blindtraveler]

For any die hard phil sayer fans, google this afternoon found me this:
7 pages of facination from northern railways forum with postings by the man himself! Amazing!
http://northernrailways.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2430

 

[Class 466]

Strood has recently become a battle ground between Charlottes platform 1 and rogers 2and 3 roger is slowly dissapearing...

 

[Blindtraveler]

Strood has recently become a battle ground between Charlottes platform 1 and rogers 2and 3 roger is slowly dissapearing...

best news all weekend, thanks mate! Never liked Rodger! Charlotte I do like however!

 

[Class 466]

Rodger was also used to announce se highspeed services at ebbsfleet and stratford but Charlotte has replaced his stern voice with a nicer one

 

[thefab444]

It's interesting how at Ebbsfleet she can actually say "Ebbsfleet International", but at all the non-HS stations the recording is missing so the announcement just stops after "Platform 1 for the 12:34 Southeastern service to St Pancras International"!

 

[Mintona]

There's an automatic man at St. Pancras on Southeastern HS now. Dunno if it is Phil, though it does sound like him.

 

[thefab444]

Does it actually announce the trains, or just random security stuff?

If so, and it's not Phil, it's probably this chap.

 

[bicbasher]

Phil's still going strong at London Overground stations on the southern extension of the East London Line, although Celia is at New Cross Gate and no announcements are made from the southbound ELL platform 1.

 

[Mintona]

Does it actually announce the trains, or just random security stuff?

If so, and it's not Phil, it's probably this chap.

Nah, not him, it's a new guy announcing trains. Only been on a few days.

 

[DarloRich]

I much prefer real annoucements - so much better than these generic ones. I really dont undertstand the fascination!