SWT Passenger Info System - 1990S

[442Haz]

Hi all

I have submitted a FOI request in to Network Rail but suspect I will get a non reply, so I'm here to ask the experts.....

In the late 90s, SWT were shopping about for a new PIS package. They had inherited a lot of Informat tech and bar Guildford which was voiced by the wonderful John Eldgar, everything else was Rob Lister and Julie Berry. If memory serves me well, they even recorded TOC snippets so announcements said "xx for the South West Trains service to xx".

Anyway, in about 1998 a system was installed at various stations including Surbiton, Woking, Southampton Airport Parkway, and Bournemouth. It wasn't voiced by Phil Sayer, but a different chap. Does anybody know the voice and the system installed?

Attached is a clip from Bournemouth.

 

[Millsy_2102]

I feel like I've heard his voice on the railways before, but I don't know who it is. Could be an announcer chosen by the stations rather than SWT themselves.

 

[stadler]

Hi all

I have submitted a FOI request in to Network Rail but suspect I will get a non reply, so I'm here to ask the experts.....

In the late 90s, SWT were shopping about for a new PIS package. They had inherited a lot of Informat tech and bar Guildford which was voiced by the wonderful John Eldgar, everything else was Rob Lister and Julie Berry. If memory serves me well, they even recorded TOC snippets so announcements said "xx for the South West Trains service to xx".

Anyway, in about 1998 a system was installed at various stations including Surbiton, Woking, Southampton Airport Parkway, and Bournemouth. It wasn't voiced by Phil Sayer, but a different chap. Does anybody know the voice and the system installed?

Attached is a clip from Bournemouth.

I think it was either a QSL system or a RCIS system. I have heard that SWT used both QSL and RCIS at different stations around then. They were trialling a lot of CIS systems during that period.

London Waterloo had a QSL system from 2002 to 2006 using a male voice that sounded similar. QSL was another Ditra based system that ran off a Ditra PC like the Amey system. It may well be the same voice but it is difficult to tell for certain from your recording. If it is the same voice then that confirms that it is a QSL system.

Not mine but some recordings of the old London Waterloo voice are available online here:

Index of /~muzer/Waterloo/

I have converted those to .mp3 and attached them as the .wma format often does not play.

I think it sounds very similar to your recording from Bournemouth so it likely is the same voice and system. No idea who he is. He could well be a staff member of either SWT or the CIS company.

SWT seemed to be trialling a lot back then. There was also that older Ditra system with Phil Sayer at Southampton Central for a couple years from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. This only lasted a couple years and i am not sure if any other SWT stations ever got it. It seemed similar to the older Ditra system with John Elgar but just with a new voice. I think a couple other non SWT stations like London Waterloo East also had this older Ditra system with Phil Sayer during the same period.

I remember that Amey was rolled out to SWT stations around 2002 but i think the rollout took a couple years to complete. Amey was the main system from 2002 to 2018 with Celia Drummond and Phil Sayer voicing. It was originally known as Datel at the time of installation but then Amey bought them. SWT stations (2002 to 2018), SN stations (2002 to 2018), GN stations (2004 to 2010), GWR stations (1998 to 2012), VTWC stations (2006 to 2018), LO stations (2010 to 2024), Birmingham New Street station (2004 to 2012), all had this same Amey Datel system.

 

[442Haz]

That's fantastic thank you for the information! I agree - that is absolutely the same voice as was used at Surbiton, Woking, Southampton Parkway, and Bournemouth. The snippets of "South West Trains" etc may be sounded slightly differently but the voice is the same. I personally like it - but I can see why it was ditched I remember the Surbiton one being hopelessly unreliable. There would often be large gaps between speech segments.

Yes the info you have provided of the Amey roll out resonates with me. Wimbledon station though was one of the last to ditch the old Infomat announcements and solari boards back in 2002. Robert Lister was solely used there and had recorded the TOC branding segments in 1999. By 2002 though the system on Platforms 5 and 6 had packed up, and only 7,8 and the Thameslink City Metro announcements would work. I recorded a huge range of Rob Lister SWT branded announcements back in 2001 but can't find the tapes! If anybody else has any I'd love to hear them.

 

[jamieh27]

I think it was either a QSL system or a RCIS system. I have heard that SWT used both QSL and RCIS at different stations around then. They were trialling a lot of CIS systems during that period.

London Waterloo had a QSL system from 2002 to 2006 using a male voice that sounded similar. QSL was another Ditra based system that ran off a Ditra PC like the Amey system. It may well be the same voice but it is difficult to tell for certain from your recording. If it is the same voice then that confirms that it is a QSL system.

Not mine but some recordings of the old London Waterloo voice are available online here:

Index of /~muzer/Waterloo/

I have converted those to .mp3 and attached them as the .wma format often does not play.

I think it sounds very similar to your recording from Bournemouth so it likely is the same voice and system. No idea who he is. He could well be a staff member of either SWT or the CIS company.

SWT seemed to be trialling a lot back then. There was also that older Ditra system with Phil Sayer at Southampton Central for a couple years from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. This only lasted a couple years and i am not sure if any other SWT stations ever got it. It seemed similar to the older Ditra system with John Elgar but just with a new voice. I think a couple other non SWT stations like London Waterloo East also had this older Ditra system with Phil Sayer during the same period.

I remember that Amey was rolled out to SWT stations around 2002 but i think the rollout took a couple years to complete. Amey was the main system from 2002 to 2018 with Celia Drummond and Phil Sayer voicing. It was originally known as Datel at the time of installation but then Amey bought them. SWT stations (2002 to 2018), SN stations (2002 to 2018), GN stations (2004 to 2010), GWR stations (1998 to 2012), VTWC stations (2006 to 2018), LO stations (2010 to 2024), Birmingham New Street station (2004 to 2012), all had this same Amey Datel system.

Phil announced trains at Birmingham New Street longer than 2004 from the old videos I seen, he was announcing trains on a video dating back to 2000 which had the 4 chimes. I do remember somone told me that they were trialling QSL system but didn't know much about it other than it was unreliable. It certainly wasn't at Claham Junction as Rob Lister was announcer until 2001 when Southern platforms installed Amey with Data Displays voiced by Phil and Celia.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Oct 2025 ==

I think it was either a QSL system or a RCIS system. I have heard that SWT used both QSL and RCIS at different stations around then. They were trialling a lot of CIS systems during that period.

London Waterloo had a QSL system from 2002 to 2006 using a male voice that sounded similar. QSL was another Ditra based system that ran off a Ditra PC like the Amey system. It may well be the same voice but it is difficult to tell for certain from your recording. If it is the same voice then that confirms that it is a QSL system.

Not mine but some recordings of the old London Waterloo voice are available online here:

Index of /~muzer/Waterloo/

I have converted those to .mp3 and attached them as the .wma format often does not play.

I think it sounds very similar to your recording from Bournemouth so it likely is the same voice and system. No idea who he is. He could well be a staff member of either SWT or the CIS company.

SWT seemed to be trialling a lot back then. There was also that older Ditra system with Phil Sayer at Southampton Central for a couple years from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. This only lasted a couple years and i am not sure if any other SWT stations ever got it. It seemed similar to the older Ditra system with John Elgar but just with a new voice. I think a couple other non SWT stations like London Waterloo East also had this older Ditra system with Phil Sayer during the same period.

I remember that Amey was rolled out to SWT stations around 2002 but i think the rollout took a couple years to complete. Amey was the main system from 2002 to 2018 with Celia Drummond and Phil Sayer voicing. It was originally known as Datel at the time of installation but then Amey bought them. SWT stations (2002 to 2018), SN stations (2002 to 2018), GN stations (2004 to 2010), GWR stations (1998 to 2012), VTWC stations (2006 to 2018), LO stations (2010 to 2024), Birmingham New Street station (2004 to 2012), all had this same Amey Datel system.

His voice is a bit of a mix of Rob Lister and Mark Stutter, "Please check timetable display and listen for further information". is the phrase Only Woman uses.

 

[nw1]

They had inherited a lot of Informat tech and bar Guildford which was voiced by the wonderful John Eldgar, everything else was Rob Lister and Julie Berry.

A bit late to this but I do remember a very distinctive announcement style when visiting Guildford in Sep 1997.

It was a male pre-recorded announcement: "Platform 5 for the 1529 service to London. Waterloo. Calling at Woking, Clapham Junction and WaterLOO, only." (with the "LOO" much louder than all else and a noticeable gap between London and Waterloo).

I don't remember any other SWT station at that time having the same style.