Station and on board train announcements - merged topic, ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[SandTEngineer]

If you look here http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/advanced and select any FGW^▸ (First Great Western) station and then any train schedule you will often see a 30 second (in some cases more) difference between the Public departure time and the Working Timetable departure time so there is plenty of slack in the timetable for dispatching most trains (Note: this time is not recovery time which is separately recorded in another column).

[trainer]

Most interesting, SandT, and it seems to support Terminal Junkie's point.

[Kim]

On board the 18:00 from Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington:

"First stop Bristol Spa" If only FGW^▸ (First Great Western) could invent carriages in the same way, maybe Melksham would have a better service and passengers boarding at Keynsham wouldn't be paying to stand for 99 days out of 100.

[JayMac]

I was on a CrossCountry Class 170 from Gloucester to Cardiff today (13/05/2013)

The noise in the carriage was almost unbearable. That was down to various loose panels rattling and squeaking at a frequency that was impossible to tune out of.

However, the only interruptions from the PA^▸ (Public Address) were the following Train Manager announcements:

"Approaching Chepstow"
"Arriving at Newport"
"Cardiff. All change"

I kid you not. That is all he said. And there were no automated announcements whatsoever. Nobody fell into a gap. The security services didn't destroy any baggage. Nobody was warned of dire consequences if they failed to retain their tickets or travel documents. Suspicious persons had free rein as we weren't told to look out for them and report them to member of staff or the British Transport Police. Nobody was told not to smoke.

Equally though, nobody was thanked for travelling with CrossCountry...

It it wasn't for the fact that the unit I was on appeared to be shaking itself to bits, the journey may have been almost enjoyable due to the lack of verbal diarrhoea over the PA.


As an aside. Was watching a British film from the mid 80s the other night (The Whistle Blower) and there's a scene filmed at Cheltenham Spa station. The broad Westcountry accent over the PA made I laff. "This is Cheltenham Spar, Cheltenham Spar."

Got me thinking. No it's not. The Spar is over the road. Although it's now a Co-op. 

[chuffed]

For true Wess Vinglun announcements you need sumwun loike  Dirk Robson of 'ow ter speak brizzle' fame, me luvver. Then we can all hear such delights as in are aerial  are Barf Sparrrr, Chipnum and Cheltnum, Xsturrr, Brigwough'er, wessun soooper mehr.

My favourite was the poster outside the Bristol Hippodrome some years ago. which said that 'Eva Turner, prima donna of the Carl Rosa Opera Company would be starring in Cavalliera Rusticana'. Then the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) found some true Bristolians to read it aloud........

[Red Squirrel]

I rather miss the days when a real person would announce 'Bresta Tempa Meaze, thes es Bresta Tempa Meaze'. Gave the lie to them as thinks we call the place 'Bristle'; blow-ins every one of them.

Does every TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) have its own announcement system, by the way? I always find myself rather irritated at Worcester when they announce trains calling at 'Keensham'; from it's location between Bristol and Bath I can only assume they mean 'Keynsham'...

[JayMac]

One that I often hears mispronounced is the stayshun between Doorlish and Newt'n Abbert.

Variously, Tayn-mouth, Tin-Mouth, Tayn-muth. My understanding is that it is, Tin-moof (rhymes with 'woof').

[bobm]

I was told by locals it is Tin-Muth but then again I have heard various different versions too.

[devon_metro]

I say "Tin-Muth"

[CLPGMS]

Oh for a return of the days when the announcer at Reading used to say "Red Ink, Red Ink".

[stuving]

I'm not sure right and wrong apply here: it's often more a case of what's appropriate for you given where you come from and your normal speaking accent. Imitating the local's version can be resented, as imitating their accent usually is. However, I reckon that some compromise is usually possible.

For example, I worked for many years in Linlithgow. There is a local version of this, "Lithgae" - but it's only used when talking (or versifying) in full dialect. No outsider would ever be expected to use it. I was living in Bo'ness, which is said with a strong stress on the 'e', and the 'o' almost disappearing. Imitating that stress pattern, rather than saying "Bowness", is quite OK, I think.

Likewise, I noticed ages ago I had subconsciously started saying Glasgow and Newcastle with a short (stressed) 'a', I imagine because the full southern English version sounds not only very foreign but rather posh too.

I can think of examples where the rules appear to be a bit different, though. I knew some people from the little village of Glassford, near Linlithgow, who called it "Glassurt". They were adamant that was just for the inhabitants, and even folk from Linlithgow - who might have exactly the same accent - were not expected to call it that.

Then there are places like East Anglia (my Mum came from Suffolk) or Aberdeenshire (where my Dad cam from), where they do far worse things to names. The differences there are bigger than just an accent, so most people end up with the locals' name but not in their accent: names like Happisburgh or Benachie can't really be correct if pronounced as spelled.

Don't most of us adapt our pronunciation (not just of names, either) to whoever listening - especially if they are outsiders or not native speakers of English (or Brizzle)? That involves shifting towards the standard (i.e. educated London) version, or even to be more like the spelling. Can an announcer do that? Arguably they should do, rather than try to sound like a local.

[Red Squirrel]

I know nothing of 'Brizzle' - where might that be?

I take the point that there are places with 'just for locals' names, but Keynsham isn't one of them.

[paul7575]

I say "Tin-Muth"

I think the odd pronunciations are probably done to avoid people accidentally ending up here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/allan5819/4583143173/

Paul

[stuving]

"To return to the question of the volume of announcements..."
Post was meant to go in thread \London to the West \Announcement volumes\ at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=12404.0, so I have moved it.

[chuffed]

I have also heard Teen=muff....thought that's what the local yokels aged between 13 and 19 wore round their neck when the wind whistles in off the English Channel. When it drops a bit ...the muff not the wind....don't they call it a snood ??
Needless to say they NEVER wear any sort of a coat.....