Thameslink: "formed of" Vs "which has"

[Tobberz]

Thameslink announcements now seem to say "a Thameslink service which has x coaches", whereas I'm sure it used to say "formed of X coaches".

Am I amnesiac, or has it changed?

And, further, is this part of this premise of the supposed de-lingoifying of the railways, e.g.: abandoning use of the word "terminating"?

 

[py_megapixel]

For as long as I can remember in Northern land, the displays have said "A Northern service which has 4 carriages", but the wording of the announcements has been "This train is formed of 4 carriages".

 

[londonmidland]

Is this onboard the train itself or at the station? If it's the latter, what station did you hear it at?

 

[class 9]

Thameslink announcements now seem to say "a Thameslink service which has x coaches", whereas I'm sure it used to say "formed of X coaches".

Am I amnesiac, or has it changed?

And, further, is this part of this premise of the supposed de-lingoifying of the railways, e.g.: abandoning use of the word "terminating"?

Also they don't announce "platform alteration" it's now "platform change"

 

[Rescars]

Internally, may a service still be "short formed" or "caped"?

 

[GordonT]

Also they don't announce "platform alteration" it's now "platform change"

I've similarly not heard the word "alight" in announcements as much recently.
A previous thread covering some of this territory:

Station announcer phraseology no longer used

What were examples of once quite common phrases used by station announcers which are no longer heard now? Announcers at Glasgow and Edinburgh used to be able to announce things like "a Griddle Car is conveyed on this train". There were occasional references to "the carriage sidings" when...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Horizon22]

Probably just a bit of adjusting to use better "Plain English". I believe this has changed across the board at several TOCs.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Today at 14:33 ==

Internally, may a service still be "short formed" or "caped"?

Internally sure, but this is about what language is provided to the passenger for which neither (except maybe the odd rogue manual announcement) would be used.

 

[yorkie]

Internally, may a service still be "short formed" or "caped"?

The internal code "CAPE" has not been used for decades; it meant cancelled throughout (not in part; the old code for that was PINE)

 

[Cdd89]

If we're complaining about Thameslink announcements, my greatest annoyance is that the "new" Brent Cross West has a downward intonation when every other non-terminal station has an upward intonation.

 

[Mattplans]

If I remember correctly, the Thameslink announcements were recorded before they knew what the station would be called, so the 'West' on that recording is taken from another station.

 

[bramling]

I've similarly not heard the word "alight" in announcements as much recently.
A previous thread covering some of this territory:

Station announcer phraseology no longer used

What were examples of once quite common phrases used by station announcers which are no longer heard now? Announcers at Glasgow and Edinburgh used to be able to announce things like "a Griddle Car is conveyed on this train". There were occasional references to "the carriage sidings" when...

www.railforums.co.uk

Seems to be another example of dumbing everything down to suit the dumbest.

So back in the good old days your average kid could ask their parents “what does alight mean?”, and the better end of the tree could probably work it out themselves through context. Now it’s even easier, people can just type a word in their phone and find out what it means. But, no, that’s allegedly too difficult for people - sigh.

 

[Cdd89]

If I remember correctly, the Thameslink announcements were recorded before they knew what the station would be called, so the 'West' on that recording is taken from another station.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but this theory has a couple of unanswered questions:

• Where did they get "Brent Cross" from?
• The only other Thameslink stations containing "West" are West Hampstead Tlk., West Sutton and Westcombe Park, none of which have "West" read with a downward intonation
• I don't think that announcer is used on other services? Edit: Ah, I see she's on Southern and G Northern as well, so quite a few other options, I think the only one that fits is the rarely-served Penge West!

Another Edit (apologies!): according to the Brent Cross West thread, "Brent Cross Cricklewood" and "Brent Cross Thameslink" appeared in early schematics. It's plausible that it was recorded with one or both of these names, and then "West" was sourced for the splice. So I'm on board with your recollection!

 

[ollyexe2808]

Seems to be another example of dumbing everything down to suit the dumbest.

So back in the good old days your average kid could ask their parents “what does alight mean?”, and the better end of the tree could probably work it out themselves through context. Now it’s even easier, people can just type a word in their phone and find out what it means. But, no, that’s allegedly too difficult for people - sigh.

In soth, I trowe that we sholde goon ayein to a tyme whan rightful Englissh was spoken, er we moste maken it dul for the comune man!

In all seriousness though, language evolves and if the new announcements make it easier to be understood, all the better. I have more of a problem with over-engineering of sentences. One example is for request stops: "[station] is a request stop. Passengers Wishing to alight at this station must alert the conductor on the train to allow for the train to stop to allow them to leave". Surely there is a more succinct way to say this?!

 

[GordonT]

One example is for request stops: "[station] is a request stop. Passengers Wishing to alight at this station must alert the conductor on the train to allow for the train to stop to allow them to leave". Surely there is a more succinct way to say this?!

AI offers up two options:
• "This is a request stop. Tell the conductor if you wish to get off." (Clear and modern)
• "To get off at this station, please inform the conductor." (Polite and brief)

 

[Cdd89]

Seems to be another example of dumbing everything down to suit the dumbest.
So back in the good old days your average kid could ask their parents “what does alight mean?"

In relation to native English speakers, you are undoubtedly connect. But many non-native speakers use the railway. I bet you'd be very annoyed if a rail system in Spain used a less-common Spanish term that caused you to miss your stop (of course, in other countries, announcements are often provided in English as well – but that just underscores the point!)

There is a separate point that if the words are not used in everyday language they'll die out – but the preservation of the English language is not the concern of the rail industry!