When will excessive announcements cease?

[takno]

It's not going to get fewer. The DfT's Service Quality Reporting audits when they must be made, how often and after how much time.
Just on out of course stoppages, on the Elizabeth line, drivers are obliged to say something after 30 seconds of coming to a halt for example, on the mainline it's at 2 minutes and then at 5 minute intervals, even if there is nothing to report.

That isn't even remotely problematic. In fact that's exactly the sort of information that you can't really get at the moment because it's drowning in a sea of seeitsayitsorted

 

[William3000]

Agreed. I think See It Say It Sort It was first introduced in the post 9/11 hysteria era when for a short time there was the perception of a terrorist threat to public safety but now that threat has long since disappeared why is the announcement still required? In all my years of travelling I have never once needed to contact BTP and if I ever did a simple google search would tell me their contact details.

I think it’s actually “see it, say it, sorted”

 

[fandroid]

I am rather tired of announcements on evening trains of "change here for services to ......." when the last connections have already departed.Those could seriously mislead a few unfortunate people

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Dec 2022 ==

I heard a series of marathon announcements on the Victoria Line from Walthamstow yesterday morning. It started with "London Overground services from Blackhorse Road are suspended". Then went on to repeat that message mainly concerning National Rail services, for every relevant station on the line except Tottenham Hale. That was Seven Sisters, Finsbury Park, Highbury and Islington, Kings Cross - St Pancras, Euston, Victoria, Vauxhall and Brixton. An individual announcement for each of the those stations, repeated as we travelled down the line but dropping off those we'd passed. A single list repeated once after each station would have been slightly less painful. Anyway, my family correctly ignored the Kings Cross info and caught the first train to Leeds OK.

 

[AM9]

I think it’s actually “see it, say it, sorted”

Yes it is - as in (it's) "sorted".

 

[Blindtraveler]

Was reminded on a return trip to Glasgow yesterday evening just how much pointless prattle you get on the the 385s

Despite the ruling from on high months ago now, I haven't seen enough evidence of excessive verbal diarrhoea being clean up

 

[Urban Gateline]

Gatwick Express is a new level of excessive in my opinion! The announcements leaving/arriving at both Victoria and Gatwick seem to go on for a good 2mins saying the same message in several languages, a bit overkill for such a simple service!

 

[zwk500]

Gatwick Express is a new level of excessive in my opinion! The announcements leaving/arriving at both Victoria and Gatwick seem to go on for a good 2mins saying the same message in several languages, a bit overkill for such a simple service!

If you think the GatEx is excessive, spend 30 minutes at Brussels south. Every train in Flemish and French, Eurostars and ICE also have English and German, often both.

 

[Christmas]

Was reminded on a return trip to Glasgow yesterday evening just how much pointless prattle you get on the the 385s

Despite the ruling from on high months ago now, I haven't seen enough evidence of excessive verbal diarrhoea being clean up

I agree completely with this. The 385 announcements are ridiculously long with lots of unimportant nonsense that needs to be cut back or removed completely. They announce some stations THREE times on approach, prattle on and on about storing smaller items of luggage here and larger items there, drone on and on about non existent special offers and checking journeys on their app, and, finally they round it off by thanking you for travelling ScotRail, the fast and environmentally friendly way to travel!

Geez peace!

I can sometimes get a look at their internal memo board and can reveal that the guy who is in charge of P.I.S., announcements etc was actually talking about pointless announcements and the campaign. He then went on to boast about how great the TrainFX system was and that it was easy to add new information to announcements, totally missing the point about too many announcements. The 156s now have the announcements regarding large and small luggage storage which was never there before and not particularly relevant for a train headed for Barrhead or Anniesland.

I think excessive announcements are only going to get worse as those nasty little people in charge keep dreaming up more and more rubbish for us to listen to.

 

[gabrielhj07]

Long and boring announcements are often made worse by being read out slowly. SWT Celia used to rattle off the whole WoE line in no time, whereas GWR nowadays take huge pauses.

 

[SirAlf]

Reminded of this thread when I was in Dubai a couple of weeks ago. At my local metro station you got this: “The train to Centrepoint will arrive at platform 1”

It arrives 30 seconds later, so you get: “The train to Centrepoint will leave from platform 1”

And because trains on the Dubai metro run very frequently then 2 minutes later you get: “The train to Centrepoint will arrive at platform 1”

Followed by: “The train to Centrepoint will leave from platform 1”

And so it goes on, and on, and on... It drove me spare. For good measure the announcements were also in Arabic. And there were similar announcements for platform 2

I don't think there was ever more than a minutes silence in the station. And there were displays in both English and Arabic that provided the same info

 

[leytongabriel]

Yesterday's Special Timewarp Announcement on the London Victoria Line

National Rail services from Walthamstow Central have been suspended.

Yes from 2015!

 

[Bikeman78]

If you think the GatEx is excessive, spend 30 minutes at Brussels south. Every train in Flemish and French, Eurostars and ICE also have English and German, often both.

Not much different to waiting at Cardiff Central, but Brussel Zuid doesn't have the relentless health and safety stuff.

 

[Kite159]

Yesterday's Special Timewarp Announcement on the London Victoria Line

National Rail services from Walthamstow Central have been suspended.

Yes from 2015!

Last time I checked London Overground was National Rail (they don't like to admit it)

 

[trainophile]

People won't "hold the handrail" since the pandemic, so they might as well shut up about it.

 

[TUC]

People won't "hold the handrail" since the pandemic, so they might as well shut up about it.

Even though the evidence is that there is low risk of transmission of Covid by surface contact....

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Dec 2022 ==

Yes it is - as in (it's) "sorted".

Although if people are unclear what is being said what is the point of the announcement in the first place? As an advertising campaign that would fall at the first hurdle.

 

[AM9]

Even though the evidence is that there is low risk of transmission of Covid by surface contact....

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Dec 2022 ==


Although if people are unclear what is being said what is the point of the announcement in the first place? As an advertising campaign that would fall at the first hurdle.

Either interpretation would be sufficient, - except to a pedant of course!

 

[leytongabriel]

Last time I checked London Overground was National Rail (they don't like to admit it)

Its not advertised or marked on maps as such and is very much known as the Overground by those of us who use it.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 1 Jan 2023 ==

Recent triumph from Tfl
At a central London District line station (where the trains are not noted for their high speeds) asking customers to remove
scarves and hats due to turbulence. It was a balmy 4C at the time.

 

[Bikeman78]

Recent triumph from Tfl
At a central London District line station (where the trains are not noted for their high speeds) asking customers to remove
scarves and hats due to turbulence. It was a balmy 4C at the time.

Was it April 1st?

 

[Kite159]

Its not advertised or marked on maps as such and is very much known as the Overground by those of us who use it.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 1 Jan 2023 ==

Recent triumph from Tfl
At a central London District line station (where the trains are not noted for their high speeds) asking customers to remove
scarves and hats due to turbulence. It was a balmy 4C at the time.

Although I did have the pleasure of the Victoria Line announcing that "National Rail services from Walthamstow Central are suspended" from Victoria, Seven Sisters only getting a mention after Kings Cross.

"London Overground" is within the sound library (from Blackhorse Road) so who knows why TfL are using National Rail instead of London Overground, especially from the southern end of the line.

 

[YellowBrick]

As I type this, it's 06:17. The (Greater Northern) train left Kings Lynn at 06:10, and it's now just 7 minutes later. I've already heard that super-annoying "See it, Say it, Sort it" announcement 4 times! And it hasn't even reached the first stop yet!

How come I can travel across the entirety of Europe by train and hear almost none of these sorts of messages (well, except the DB ICE train to Amsterdam where they heavily implied there were lots of pickpockets at Utrecht in their on-train announcement; DB throwing some shade on the Dutch there!), yet 7 minutes on a UK train and I'm bombarded by them. Exactly what problem is this Sorting?

(Bonus points: on the occasion a number of years ago I Saw it and Said it (someone smoking on the platform), the staff did nothing. So I tried to complain to the station manager who also did nothing. Hardly Sorted.)

 

[skyhigh]

There's a good 13 pages of discussion on exactly this from a few years ago you may be interested in:

"See it, say it, sorted"

Sorry I am fed up hearing this soundbite seemingly everywhere on the national railway network. Its everywhere on trains and at stations. I know its purpose is commendable, but its just the way I feel.

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[pdeaves]

I have seen a bus company using "see something, say something" (I wonder where they got the idea for that) with text number 81018; at least it's only printed matter and not PA messages!

 

[ARIC]

(Bonus points: on the occasion a number of years ago I Saw it and Said it (someone smoking on the platform), the staff did nothing. So I tried to complain to the station manager who also did nothing. Hardly Sorted.)

"See it, Say it, Sorted" was never really meant to be a "we'll get better at handling customer complaints" - it's about giving people confidence to report things that look suspicious or threatening to the security of the railway. Of course, there is a link between the two...

 

[physics34]

As I type this, it's 06:17. The (Greater Northern) train left Kings Lynn at 06:10, and it's now just 7 minutes later. I've already heard that super-annoying "See it, Say it, Sort it" announcement 4 times! And it hasn't even reached the first stop yet!

How come I can travel across the entirety of Europe by train and hear almost none of these sorts of messages (well, except the DB ICE train to Amsterdam where they heavily implied there were lots of pickpockets at Utrecht in their on-train announcement; DB throwing some shade on the Dutch there!), yet 7 minutes on a UK train and I'm bombarded by them. Exactly what problem is this Sorting?

(Bonus points: on the occasion a number of years ago I Saw it and Said it (someone smoking on the platform), the staff did nothing. So I tried to complain to the station manager who also did nothing. Hardly Sorted.)

I intend to raise this internally with management at my TOC. See it say it sorted gets played 5 times between Vic and east croydon and 7 times between Watford jct and east croydon, for example. Now you get lift avaliability announcements all the time too

 

[CaptainHaddock]

I had that rarest of things on a Cross Country Train yesterday - an announcement that passengers actually needed to hear!

I boarded the 1711 Leeds-Plymouth train, sat down and put my headphones on, but sensed something was wrong as, 5 minutes after our departure time, we hadn't moved and the screen on the patform showed our train as "delayed".

At this point the guard announced that, due to a fatality at Fitzwilliam, the train was heading back North to York and would then divert (presumably via Doncaster) to get to Sheffield. Knowing this would make me significantly late, I got off and headed for the 1738 Northern fast train to Sheffield instead.

And guess what? Hardly anybody on the train heard the announcement because they all had their headphones on! The guard even suggested that, if you had someone wearing headphones sat next to you, to give them a nudge and tell them what was happening. Which kind of proves the point made several times on this thread that, because there's so many pointless and unnecessary announcements on trains, when there's one you actually need to hear, no-one's listening!

 

[Horizon22]

People won't "hold the handrail" since the pandemic, so they might as well shut up about it.

I’ll defend most announcements but this is incredibly annoying and at several GWR stations. It’s probably to prevent slips, trips and falls (a key safety metric) but it’s so grating and it doesn’t seem to make any difference either!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Jan 2023 ==

And guess what? Hardly anybody on the train heard the announcement because they all had their headphones on! The guard even suggested that, if you had someone wearing headphones sat next to you, to give them a nudge and tell them what was happening. Which kind of proves the point made several times on this thread that, because there's so many pointless and unnecessary announcements on trains, when there's one you actually need to hear, no-one's listening!

I don’t think it quite makes that point; you’re mixing causation and correlation.

Many people - myself included - like to have headphones (mine are noise cancelling) as I like to listen to music and not be distracted by others around me. Even then I can normally hear the “bing bong” which emphasises a manual announcement which normally contains some key additional info.

On long journeys people might be watching films / TV as well etc. People want to get on with their own thing (a special hatred for people having loud conversations via their phone speaker), not because of excessive on train announcements. You don’t tend to get that many if you’re between stations anyway unless there is disruption.

 

[Barnsley]

Doncaster has now lost manual announcements, and the auto ones are a complete overload, after every train announcement there is a tactile paving announcement, then in addition to that for LNER trains there is an announcement about generous luggage space underneath your seat, then the automated usuals aswell, the station is now constant announcements

 

[busestrains]

Doncaster has now lost manual announcements, and the auto ones are a complete overload, after every train announcement there is a tactile paving announcement, then in addition to that for LNER trains there is an announcement about generous luggage space underneath your seat, then the automated usuals aswell, the station is now constant announcements

I am not sure why so many TOCs are obsessed with that tactile paving announcement. First it was the See It Say It Sort It announcement that appeared everywhere and now it is the tactile paving one. GWR and SWR and LNER and Southeastern all seem to be using it. Everything that Grant Shapps told us about getting rid of unnecessary excessive announcements seems to have been scrapped.

 

[DC1989]

Announcements need to be the exception not the rule, it's just crazy the prattle they come out with. No smoking allowed? Indoors on a underground tube station? Really?

 

[Runningaround]

Just keep ''The riding of Skateboards and Rollerblades is prohibited on railway premises'' when the Darby & Joan club turn up from their Xmas party, ''Your unattended luggage may be removed or destroyed by the security services'' at Dyfi Junction, this should be changed to '' Lost or Will be destroyed'' at Manchester Airport. Or ''smoking is banned'' at stations like Llanaber where even lighting a cigarette is impossible 95% of the year.