Trains told to get rid of torrent of 'Tannoy spam'

[whole diary]

[Trowres]

Trains told to get rid of torrent of 'Tannoy spam

Have we moved to Sodor?

On the mainland, I don't think our trains have voice recognition.

[1st fan]

For public transport in general there needs to be a system that adjusts the volume to the ambient noise; louder when there is more background noise (prime example is losing the announcement as the North Downs line climbs out of Guildford towards North Camp), and quieter when there is less engine noise, points etc. Applies just as much to stations and buses.

While I hesitate to suggest more software in trains ... if you can do that you can also measure not just the sound output level but whether there is any. If the system arrives for maintenance with a list of exactly which bits need checking or replacement, having caught intermittent faults as well as permanent ones, it's much more feasible to get it fixed.

Some cars already have a facility like this, I know some Volkswagens will adjust the volume of the media/navigation output depending on your speed.

[chuffed]

Grant Shapps is not renowned for his pithy soundbites, but I quite enjoyed his reference to the spurious train announcements as the 'bonfire of the banalities'.

[grahame]

Trains told to get rid of torrent of 'Tannoy spam

Have we moved to Sodor?

On the mainland, I don't think our trains have voice recognition.

There seems to be a new personalisation of items which we previously considered inanimate:

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Robot vacuum cleaner escapes from Cambridge Travelodge

A robot vacuum cleaner made a break for freedom after giving staff the slip at a Travelodge hotel.

The automated cleaner failed to stop at the front door of the hotel in Orchard Park in Cambridge on Thursday, and was still on the loose the following day.

Staff said it just kept going and "could be anywhere" while well-wishers on social media hoped the vacuum enjoyed its travels, as "it has no natural predators" in the wild.

[snip]

However, much to everyone's relief, the device was found nestled under a hedge on Friday afternoon by a (human) hotel cleaner sprucing up the front drive.

It was dusted off and "is now back sitting happily on a shelf with the rest of its robot vacuum family", the hotel confirmed.

How do they know it is "happy"??

[eightonedee]

Surely this should be part of a larger debate about the adequacy of all information (aural and visual) for passengers?

I would suggest that priority be given to clear and timely information by both means about the journey being undertaken (in the case of on-board announcements and signs)and about the services serving the relevant station (in the case of information at stations) with connecting services the second priority in each case. And in both cases it should mean up to the minute information about delays and problems too.

I can see some merit in national standards for these.

Any campaign slogans should be left for posters ("Saw it, read it, didn't understand what the slogan meant"?)

[TonyK]

They have these in the public toilets at Slough Queensmere shopping centre. When the lights went off whilst in a cubicle, the sensors couldn't detect me. Perhaps in the wrong place or faulty.

Happened when I worked in an actual office. Most inconvenient as I hadn't finished the crossword.

On the identity of the particular type of spam intended for the bonfire, I saw "See it, say it, sod it" high on the list of early candidates. I can't say I'm sorry. I hope it didn't cost much.

[infoman]

Nice interview with Radio Bristol on Monday morning from the boss.

[patch38]

There was also a piece on Radio 2 on Friday. Tina Daheley (a very refreshing stand-in for Jeremy Vine) interviewed Janine Cooper-Marshall - the current voice of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), she of the familiar 'Lundun Paddington' Welsh lilt.

Starts at 1:37-ish - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0013jsl

The Radio 2 schedule run-down at the end of the item is quite fun.

[Mark A]

Perhaps your motions were insufficient. 

Which reminds me: the station loos at Carlisle circa 2016: the flush fired by a proximity sensor, positioned to flush the toilet when the user sits down on it. Hopefully this has been sorted.

[Electric train]

Since this story broke I have made a conscious effort to see just how many announcement there are on the ToCs I use in my day job.

They are SE Trains, SE Highspeed, Southern, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) (Thames valley), TfL^» (Transport for London - about) (both purple and orange) and the Tube

In my view the number of onboard announcements is far less than it was say 5 years ago, even on stations announcements have reduced in number.   The 'hold the hand rail and take care' do annoy me.

The sceptic in me says this publicity hyped initiative on a purge on train announcements was part of the Government attempt to deflect the media away for the PM's 'problems' 

[stuving]

When I was in Tesco this morning, they put out several of these public service type announcements, including three in a row at one point. And it was stood still in Wokingham all the time!

[TonyK]

The sceptic in me says this publicity hyped initiative on a purge on train announcements was part of the Government attempt to deflect the media away for the PM's 'problems' 

A modern day equivalent of the cones hotline.

[GBM]

BusandTrainUser (Roger French) posted about platform annoucements today -
https://busandtrainuser.com/2022/08/20/useless-platform-announcements/

Southern and Thameslink seem to be going through a bad patch lately with cancellations and delays for a whole variety of announced reasons including “due to more than the usual number of trains needing repair at the moment”; “due to a shortage of train crew”; “due to a problem under investigation” (my favourite); “due to signalling problems in the South Croydon area” and many more....................continues....

Whilst this is not in our area, I found it interesting.

[Witham Bobby]

BusandTrainUser (Roger French) posted about platform annoucements today -
https://busandtrainuser.com/2022/08/20/useless-platform-announcements/

Southern and Thameslink seem to be going through a bad patch lately with cancellations and delays for a whole variety of announced reasons including “due to more than the usual number of trains needing repair at the moment”; “due to a shortage of train crew”; “due to a problem under investigation” (my favourite); “due to signalling problems in the South Croydon area” and many more....................continues....

Whilst this is not in our area, I found it interesting.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks of Reggie Perrin every single time one of these announcements is made

[PhilWakely]

I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks of Reggie Perrin every single time one of these announcements is made

I didn't get where I am today without thinking about Reggie Perrin!