It seems to depend on whether the station team knows how to zone announcements properly. At Farringdon and Bond Street it’s blissful silence on the EL platforms save for the next train announcements and the occasional “tell staff if you need step free ramps between Stratford and Shenfield.”
-
Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
When will excessive announcements cease?
- Thread starter 387star
- Start date
- Status
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R
RailUK Forums
I think we'll have to agree to diagree about "sensible." At stations like Brentwood, for example, the stand back announcement goes off relentlessly. No one is likely to be on the electric (fast) line platforms. To access the down fast, one has to lean over and unlock the gate from the adjacent platform. Not easy to do by accident. On one occasion, I was on a stuck train, so I legged it over to the other platform once I saw on OTT maps that the following train had diverted. Needless to say, the auto announcer didn't tell the passengers about the platform alteration. Also, I nearly missed the train because I had no idea how to unlock the gate!
That's OK for fixed messaging, but there's no gaurantee that any update or dynamic information will be available.
I alighted a train at Lincoln station yesterday evening, a very busy LNER train I will add so over 350 people alighting this train all trying to file over the very narrow foot bridge along with people trying to cross the foot bridge going the other way! Which prompted an announcement "for passengers arriving at Lincoln Central please use the left hand side of the foot bridge to allow passengers heading the other way to pass, doing this will allow the flow passengers to move much more smoothly" we had this announcement no less than 4 times in a space of just 5 minutes, I appreciate it is a safety announcement but is 4 times in 5 mins needed? Surely it comes to a point where passengers all just switch off and stop listening?
zwk500
Veteran Member
Sounds like a manual announcement by the station staff, so presumably people were not abiding by the request.
In the old days announcements were often inaudible owing to the primitive PA system and/or extraneous noises such as steam locomotives. Now although the sound quality is usually better, and the announcements are more ubiquitous, people frequently continue to talk over them as if they didn't expect them to say anything important. There should be a way of distinguishing routine announcements (which can be important, but are well-known by regular travellers) from one-off special notices warning of disruption or other changes.
That's a manual announcement, and you will keep hearing it since it will be remade as more people get off the train who didn't hear it the first time.
Unfortunately people tend not to show much consideration for each other when trying to get somewhere, so you end up with this kind of repetative annoyance.
Purple Train
Established Member
I recently went away to the south-west for a weekend, and spent an afternoon in the Exeter area. Having spent quite a while on SWR and GWR trains which had very few announcements (in some cases none at all), with the only annoyance being the constant "please hold the handrail and take care" (delivered by around five different automated voices) on the footbridge at St Davids, and having returned to London on a GWR service which also had very few announcements (despite having two SSOs issued and being held outside Paddington for seven minutes), it was a little bit of a shock to descend to the Elizabeth Line platforms to get a train back home, and hear more on-train announcements on that leg than I had done in the day I'd spent travelling - although I can get it as the new timetable does mean that the stopping patterns aren't what people are used to, though I did laugh at the apologetic announcement from the driver when we were waiting at Westbourne Park, which ended with the following words, delivered in a much brighter tone than before: "Hopefully, though, we'll be able to go straight through without stopping here in the next timetable in May 2023."
Not that I found the constant EL announcements annoying - I find human announcements nice to hear. But the enormous change in frequency was staggering.
Not that I found the constant EL announcements annoying - I find human announcements nice to hear. But the enormous change in frequency was staggering.
bramling
Veteran Member
I do get the point that people on here will be disproportionately confident travellers. However, by the same token it’s fair to say that an increasing proportion of users don’t seem to listen to pa announcements at all.
I was on a Northern Line train last week which was terminating at Euston. The driver made numerous announcements advising this, all very clear and understandable. Yet upon arrival at Euston I’d say at least half the train sat there and had to be spoken to.
The big problem with all this is that there are going to be occasions when there is an important announcement which needs action, yet people simply don’t seem to listen to pa announcements now.
As for those who rely on them, despite the technology having existed for 25 years, it’s still not been perfected, and it’s very common for no information or wrong information to be broadcast.
In my view the whole thing needs a rethink. For those with specific needs for routine information, such as which station the train is at, some kind of location-tracking app would seem preferable.
Isn't that the one which is succeeded by the fatuous qualification 'we want you to arrive at your destination safely"?
I give up. How on earth are the intended recipients of this message going to fare, having "safely arrived" in their own homes, fraught with dangers of burning, electrocution or falling out of bed/downstairs, without constant piped reminders from the government?
Exactly.
Whilst at Reading just now the "to ensure a timely departure..." started up and interrupted my conversation. It's really not necessary and just means people ignore the PA completely as it's usually playing something repetitive that they've been heard before.
Keep the information concise and to the point. An endless stream of "safety" messages just devalues the whole system as no one listens when it's actually an important announcement It's the same with emails about security training or phishing. You have to be really targeted, otherwise you do more harm than good.
Merle Haggard
Established Member
You are correct, I'm sorry. Today, I travelled to Four Oaks via New St and it is indeed now the case that the automated announcements take the form you show in italics. (sent to 7 then to 9, the last after departure time so not shown on the screens, the announcement was vital).
Presumably changed in the last three years when I didn't travel so widely.
johnnychips
Established Member
They are trialling announcements in BSL at Doncaster, starting with platforms 1 and 3. They are silent.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
I saw that and wondered what on earth the point of that was when a deaf person can read the text on the displays instead! Which is what most people who aren't blind do anyway - announcements on stations are generally a load of partly audible babble.
Strikes me as a gimmick.
Strikes me as a gimmick.
londonmidland
Established Member
Regarding LNER stations, their new automated announcements are zoned, so you should only hear the announcements relevant to your platform and/or service.
Though generic, safety and platform alteration announcements are played globally.
Though generic, safety and platform alteration announcements are played globally.
Have you considered helping dyslexic deaf persons?
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Is that the sound of the RUK Standard Minority being wheeled out again?
In all seriousness, if normal platform displays are difficult for dyslexic people, then it would make sense to put effort into redesigning the layout and font etc of them so they're not, because that's pretty handy for all dyslexic people rather than just the small subset who can also use sign language.
zwk500
Veteran Member
The 'gimmick' probably cost under £1000, as the sign was being produced anyway so all it needs is the video clips and some coding time to integrate it into the announcements.
Some people prefer BSL over reading, and a moving image is more eye-grabbing than a static message. For less than a grand, what's wrong with putting it in and gauging reaction to it?
Purple Train
Established Member
No, it wasn't - and I don't recall ever hearing an announcement that ended like that.
According to some, disadvantaged minorities don't qualify however small the cost or inconvenience is to 'normals'.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
With detailed PIS displays at even the smallest station these days, with TVM and online ticketing and information meaning you don't need to talk to anyone - even at Altnabreac - I can't quite see how deaf people are particularly disadvantaged on the railway these days.
zwk500
Veteran Member
But to get back to my point, this additional features costs pennies in the scheme of things, has no disadvantage for people who don't use it and may give a small feeling of welcome to people who often feel excluded from society. Why not at least trial it?
busestrains
On Moderation
The old Thales system that was used at the ELL core stations was perfect. It was designed for a frequent metro service. It just simply told you how many minutes until the train and where the train was going. That was it. It did not mention the time of the train or the operator of the train or the stops that it will be calling at. So this old Thales system was perfectly designed for the ELL core stations with a frequent metro service. Unfortunately they have switched to the Atos Worldline system which is not set up for the frequent metro service that the ELL core has. So the announcements these days are too long for these stations with such a frequent service.
londonmidland
Established Member
@busestrains Correct me if I’m wrong but I think @DC1989 is referring to the Elizabeth Line as opposed to the East London Line?
busestrains
On Moderation
Ah right. In that case i am very surprised as i find the Elizabeth Line announcements to be very short and brief. They are probably the most short simple basic announcements on the railway network.
EbbwJunction1
Established Member
One of the problems with announcements (frequent or otherwise) is that on some of the older trains (for example the Class 150s on the Cardiff Valley Lines) they are pretty much inaudible.
I don't know why this should be so, although some of it is down to the noise of the train. Because I normally travel on the same route between the same stations, it doesn't generally affect me. However, if I can, I do tell the conductor that I was aware that he / she had made an announcement but that I'd not been able to hear very much of it. When I do this, it's generally appreciated, but whether or not anything is done, I don't know.
I don't know why this should be so, although some of it is down to the noise of the train. Because I normally travel on the same route between the same stations, it doesn't generally affect me. However, if I can, I do tell the conductor that I was aware that he / she had made an announcement but that I'd not been able to hear very much of it. When I do this, it's generally appreciated, but whether or not anything is done, I don't know.
They need to organise announcements so that people learn to tune in and out appropriately.
- Urgent/emergency announcements: male voice "attention please!"
- Cancellations/platform alterations/service alteration: male voice "may I have your attention please!"
- Facilities announcements (e.g., no catering/reservations/short-formed train): female voice "train announcer calling!"
- All other announcements: female voice, no preceding phrase.
TT-ONR-NRN
Veteran Member
Why on earth would anyone start an announcement with “Train announcer calling!” What a weird way to open an announcement.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
I quite liked the urgent sounding "toot-toot-toot-toooooooot" used on the old Connex system for urgent stuff (e.g. stand back from the yellow line before you're knocked over).
A little retro, but a phrase which is similarly non-urgent but attention grabbing would be fine too.
- Status