Great Western Coffee Shop

Hi!

I'm new here - but I'm not new to the FGW service between Paddington and the West.

I'm a 'quiet carriage' person and not averse to asking people to pipedown but I typically find the worst offenders are FGW themselves - Either the announcement volume is set to eardrum bursting level or the repeated reading out of the menu (worse still if there's a travelling chef).

Anyway, I travelled on the 16:06 from Paddington yesterday and the volume was the loudest I'd ever heard so I asked the ticket inspector if anything could be done about it.  He was rather brusque and told me that the volume could only be set at the depot.

Now, a couple of months back I was chatting with the new station master at Paddington and he told me that the volume could be set per-carriage by the operator.

So?  Which is right?

When I know who is right - then I want to make a better informed complaint.
There's no need for the volume to be that loud and there's no need to rattle off the meenu on a monday morning 'commuter' train.

I've never heard of the volume being able to be adjusted by train crew other than by simply how loudly they talk/whisper/shout in to the handset's microphone! Having said that I don't know much about Mk3s, but if true a new one on me.

Thanks for posting that interesting - and rather topical -question, QuietNow.  :)

And welcome to the Coffee Shop forum, too - in a quiet sort of way ...  ;D

Whilst on the subject of announcements, there was an item on ITV News yesterday regarding FGW's new policy of a reduction in standard announcements, and the fact that the TM's are all getting training.

I have to say, the TM coming home last night was excellent and amusing, reminding people to mind the "gap so large it can swallow a person", referring to Nailsea & Backwell as "nestling in the reens of the North Somerset levels" and apparently on the approach to Swindon "home of the GWR" announcing connections as "Bristol Parkway, Newport, Cardiff and many other unpronounceable places". Great improvisation and lots of smiles from passengers.

Welcome to the forum, QuietNow. 

I find it somewhat ironic that the greatest disturbance in the quiet carriage is often the sound of the announcements telling you about - amongst other things - the quiet carriage.  And I find myself wondering "is your announcement really necessary?" to some of the things said.  In an ideal setup, perhaps there would be three sets of announcements - standard ones in regular carriages, less in the quiet carriages, and an increased quantity in the tourist coach.   Learn about the route that you're on - Hanwell Viaduct, the depot at Southall, Maidenhead Bridge, Sonning Cutting and the river Kennet on your way from London to Reading.  Be updated on the progress at Reading, and be told about connections that are available there - why you should take a trip down to Guildford from there one day ... perhaps the tourist coach should be "First", with monthly standard sesaon tickets and longer entitling the holder to a single ride in there so that (s)he becomes more involved.

Oops - going off topic. I welcome the new announcement regime it terms of the changes; as constructive criticism, I wonder if some of the replacements could have been reductions, and I wonder if some of the replacements are a bit of a sales pitch.   Volume?  Personally, I prefer it to be audible and having an announcement at low level that I have to strain to here is more irritating.  Sometimes, I'll choose "quiet" intenionally, by the way - other days, don't care.  And just occasionally I would love to go tourist and learn a bit more about where I am.

With many trains now making more stops rather than running fast it has become very annoying having to put up with announcements before and after every stop. Are they all really necessary with so much information available on digital displays at stations, not to mention all the automated announcements? To me it's just noise everywhere and all part of the nanny state that we can't think for ourselves having to be constantly bombarded with information most of which we already know. 

Some train crew are excellent with their on train announcements keeping it to a minimum, some literally swallow the microphone and bang on about everything, usually when the PA system is turned up so loud you have to stop your conversation with someone.

I am glad that FGW are addressing this but they also need to look at their PA systems as well as some are too quiet others are TOO LOUD! 

QuietNow, welcome.
The new announcement style is much better. As for the volume, And from my frequent long distance experience, it's more likely to be the speaker.  Especially noticable when there is a TM change mid journey.
As an aside, it's very comforting to board at PAddington and hear a warm westcountry burr......almost home! (OK, Fast forward the next 3.5 hours!)

More irritating still is when I can hear the standard automated anouncments but when an actual useful anouncment as made by the on-board staff it is drowned out. One example was sitting at Shresbury waiting to depart for Aberystwyth, despite having passed the scheduled departure time. A real person attempted to explain the cause of the delay over the tannoy I believe, but I could not decern his words. The manual announcements need to be at least as loud as automated ones, if not louder since they are generally more useful.

'Attention conductor, call for aid activated" is one of the automated announcments that gets annoying since it repeats every few minutes. (I've only heard that announcment on ATW refurbished class 158s though).

ATW = Arriva Trains Wales

See: http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/story/2013-05-09/fgw-to-reduce-announcements/

I think the recent announcement by FGW that there will be fewer announcements will generally be welcome. However with regard to next station arrival announcements there can be hearing disabled travellers who may need the visual announcements and also visually disabled travellers who need the audio announcements.
With regard to volume, I am a little hard of hearing but not deaf. I do sometimes find it difficult to hear announcements but many are unnecessary and sometimes annoying when they contin ue to be repeated. I find the the volume does vary from carriage to carriage and also it depends upon where your seat is in the carriage. Having said that, at home we have a regular argument over the TV sound volume with myself often wanting it to be higher and my family lower so I doubt whether on a train every one will be satisfied.

Just to confirm, there is no "volume" option on any of the rolling stock for train crew to adjust.

You mean This ITV News item? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73tBq2BIJgI)
 ;D

I suspect some of the safety related ones will creep back in, I'm sure someone will claim against the company for not being told to mind the gap, don't eat the soap in the toilets, etc.

Yes, that's the one.

We had a new announcement this morning - something about the train would be running  from Bristol Temple Meads to Swindon via Hullavington non stop in half an hour.  I didn't object to that one, indeed, those on board during the journey would quite like to hear it every day.  ;D

I wondered what was specified for IEP, so had a look at the published specification. This has been criticised for being too prescriptive, but in this respect it certainly isn't.

There are limits placed on the noise and vibration inside the trains, but the section on the PA says nothing whatsoever about the volume - not even in general terms about its audibility, intelligibility or what (human or automatic) might control the volume. There is a reference to "the legislative requirements", but it seems unlikely there are any in this area.

I guess what that means is: don't expect much to change. Still, there's nothing to stop Agility Trains putting some clever adaptive control stuff in there if they want to, is there?

[Originally posted elsewhere in error.]

Thanks for all the replies.
I won't expect the volume to be controlled then - and I'll put up with 'standard' announcements

but surely we do not need a full list of all the food/drink items available from the buffet - especially on a train pulling into Paddington before 09:00.

Hot and cold drinks does not need to be further expanded to "tea, coffee, hot chocolate, lattes cappucinos etc".  In fact 'drinks' pretty much sums it up
Similarly "Hot food" does not need to be expanded to "bacon baguettes, sausage baguettes etc etc"

As to bigging up the "travelling chef" - really?  We're talking bacon baguettes!

So, assuming the infrequent traveller on what is effectively a commuter train, I believe the long winded food announcement need only identify if there actually is a buffet carriage and possibly that they're doing hot food.

So...

"A buffet service is avaiable in coach G providing hot and cold food and drinks"
or on days with no one doing any hot food
"A buffet service is avaiable in coach G providing cold drinks and "

Agree, the catering facilities should be advertised, but not endlessly, and not in great detail.
"the buffet is now open and offers a selection of hot and cold drinks and a range of snacks"
On leaving the terminus, and at roughly half hourly inrtervals, would seem to suffice.

And if there is a lengthy queue for the buffet, do not advertise it at all until most of those waiting have been served.

On Pullman services (if not already full)
"we also offer a Pullman restaurant on this service, offering a selection of full meals silver served at your seat, from ^XX for 3 courses"
Repeat once only.

The main problem for me is that the sound volume of announcements varies from carriage to carriage, sometimes a little high if you are seated directly under a speaker but then hardly audible in another carriage sitting away from a speaker. I cannot think how this could be resolved, economically.

I also think it's the speaker using the PA that is part of the problem. I almost always know which train manager is working a train based on their announcements.

However I also find the PA ironically is always loudest in the Quiet Carriage.

When I've been on the phone to someone in Coach F an announcement is made whilst I was on the phone. I had to stop my conversation on my mobile because I couldn't hear the person on the other end >:(

This in it's own right isn't such a bad thing as someone who is hard of hearing would be very grateful of this. It's the TRANSEC requirements for unattended luggage announcements that wind me up the most. Have you ever tried to take a large-ish holdal, shoulder strap toolbag and yourself all at the same time into a Mk3 toilet* ?? My advice? Don't. It won't work.

A passenger once reported my bags unattended because I left one the seat, the other in luggage rack whilst I went to the Buffet. The Seat I had chosen was in Coach F and I could see both bags from the Buffet. The passenger still reported my bags unattended despite me being on the train for a good hour at least by this point. I recall hearing the words "I don't mean to be an alarmist, but someone has left a bag on the seat" I to which I immediately piped up "They're mine and I can see them so I don't class them as unattended" , "Why have you left them" , "To get a cup of coffee" ,  :-\ <-- Passenger facial expression

Personally, I wouldn't have carried my holdal and toolbag to the buffet to get a cup of coffee because A they are heavy and B dangerous as I could trip over carrying a hot drink.

Completely unnecessary announcement in the nanny state we live in. Probably the only type of sense where initiative and common sense makes you a terror suspect... honestly... >:( :-X :-\ :-[

</end of rant>

* - With the exception of the DDA Compliant Toilet in Coach C!

I do wonder how consistent and effective this concern over unattended luggage is. I once left a case on a train - it was a Reading to Paddington stopper that was late and announced as non-stop from Slough at very short notice. I realised I'd not taken it down from the rack immediately the doors closed, chased after it, and rang up while away, but had given up on it by the time I came back.

Then (about 4 days after losing it) I got a phone call from Reading station to say they had it in the office. It had gone back to Oxford with the train, at least twice, before being spotted much later. I'd left a business card easy to find in a pocket so a TM dropped it off at Reading while passing. All very irregular, but I thought it was first-class customer service. Not, however, very impressive security.

This was December 2006, so over a year after 7/7 but still supposedly in high-vigilance mode (and there were other foiled  plots in the meantime).