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

[whole diary]

[moonrakerz]

For once, I must side with the Daily Wail !

Last week I went to Plymouth, I sat in the "quiet" coach for a bit of "peace and *****" - what did I get - non-stop verbal diarrhoea, all the way.

"Read the safety leaflet", "mind the gap", "don't forget your luggage or kids", "the buffet will close in 2 hours", "the buffet sells food and drink", "shut the door behind you when you get off ", "If you are going on to Barnstaple, your train will leave from platform 99 at 2105!" - and of course " don't use your phone or iPod in the quiet coaches, which are located .................... "
Arrrgghhhh !!

Mind you, I don't think FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are quite as bad as SWT^▸ (South West Trains) - yet - but they are working on it.

[Tim]

Its not so much the number of anouncements that annoys me it is the length of each one.  In Munich their are automatic anouncements on the frequently stopping S-Bahn and even on the trams.  However each anoucemnt is short "This train is for X" shortly after leaving a station/tram stop , and "next stop Y" just before each arrival so they never become annoying.  The only long anouncemnt an the entire network is a bilinugualone at the airport explaining which terminal to use)

The problem with Uk annoucemnets is that they are too long.  This is partically true when they are automatic (why say "buffet" when you can say "Refreshca Cafe-bar").  You can excuse an imperfect human anouncement up to a point after all staff are only human but if it is recorded it really ought to be as good as it can be. 

Safety anoucements are stupid.  Rail is now safer than any other form of transport and twice as safe as it was a decade or two ago.  More people due every year on the roads than have been killed on the railway ever.  The railway kills far more people by driving folk into dangerous cars due to expensive fares and distrubing peoples sleep with unneccesary anouncements than it does by failing to point out the "safety information provided adjacent to your seat" (augh! "adjacent", what is wrong with "next")

Anoucements of anything that can be provided in a sign (no-smoking, quiet carriage, buffet this way) ought to be abandoned.

[Mookiemoo]

Its not so much the number of anouncements that annoys me it is the length of each one.  In Munich their are automatic anouncements on the frequently stopping S-Bahn and even on the trams.  However each anoucemnt is short "This train is for X" shortly after leaving a station/tram stop , and "next stop Y" just before each arrival so they never become annoying.  The only long anouncemnt an the entire network is a bilinugualone at the airport explaining which terminal to use)

Now Munich is not perfect - on the u-bahn you are also helpfully told which side of the train to get off!

[caliwag]

Yup...and station announcements which you cannot here with any clarity anyway. At York, if there is a change of platform, a member of staff warns the assembled throng that it is now on 5 etc etc.
I know the systems need to be there in case of fire or terrorist attack, but it has just got silly and damned irritating...airports just announce when the last drunken fools haven't bothered to check the monitors...so?

[XPT]

Anoucements of anything that can be provided in a sign (no-smoking, quiet carriage, buffet this way) ought to be abandoned.

There should allways be audio announcements about the Quiet Carriages.  Since some people take no notice of the Quiet Zone signs, and use their mobiles!

[moonrakerz]

The serious point behind announcements is they are there for the non-regular travelers, to assume everybody on the train knows exactly what's going on is very foolish. 

The PA^▸ (Public Address (broadcast loudspeaker announcements) or Passenger Assist (railway staff providing physical assistance to passengers with mobility issues), depending on context) is a safety system,

I seem to remember not that many years ago trains didn't have a PA system. The railway network didn't appear to be clogged up with people looking for the buffet car, falling down the gap, etc, etc.................. In fact, I used to travel on my own at the age of about 13 from Salisbury to Waterloo, then out to my Aunt's at Northolt. I never got lost or highjacked.

The PA is not a safety system - it has become (in Naval parlance) a "yardarm clearing" tool ! plus,I am sorry to say, SOME train staff seem to like the sound of their own voice !
 

[willc]

Since you're all so busy whingeing - how come none of you have whinged about when there are no announcements of any kind, even when the train is late, or standing at a signal in the middle of nowhere, because I find that pretty annoying.

The issue here is striking a balance - yes, some crew are over the top, but others don't say enough, not even bothering to announce stations. And just saying if there's a sign then you don't need to bother is plain silly. As FGW^▸ (First Great Western) quiet coaches prove over and over again, signs often don't work.

As Flamingo says, not everyone uses trains that often, so to say "Safety anoucements are stupid" is er, stupid. Have you forgotten Southall, Ufton Nervett and the fire at Maidenhead in 1995? The GW^» (Great Western - used as an abbreviation for the area / lines under the Great Western franchise, as opposed to FGW which includes "First", the company operating them too. For tickets - about) area has probably had more than its share of such incidents, so better safe than sorry. It's a good job some of you don't live in Canada - the Via Rail onboard crews do a full airliner-style safety routine.

And how many of us can actually put our hands up and say we know exactly where the emergency alarm, window hammers, etc are in each coach on an HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) or a dmu?

[Mookiemoo]

And how many of us can actually put our hands up and say we know exactly where the emergency alarm, window hammers, etc are in each coach on an HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) or a dmu?

And how many of these announcements have made us regulars kow exactly where they are?  And on a long journey how many passengers are going to remember two hours into it?  Or are they expected the read the safety leaflet every stop.

I posted on another thread the sufficient and necessary conditions woud require:

1. We are now stopping at XYZ
2. There is a safety leaflet
3. G and A are quiet |(debatable whethere this is necessary)
4. Get off out of carriages ABCD etc
5. This is the X train to Y

ENd of.......- I think I included the existence of a buffet before - I've removed it in favour of a different one.  The new signs at platforms - the LED scrolly things - now indicate if there is a buffet or not (and the visually impared to the extent they cant read them usually have assistance so that not an argument).

The one that gets me is - do not leave you items of luggage unattended at any time. 

YES - we know that - if you've had to wait more than a couple of minutes on a platform - you've been told several times.  but as I once asked a TM^▸ (Train Manager, or possibly Ticket Machine, depending on context) - how can I not leave my luggage uattended - every time I go to the loo or the buffet on a 3.5 hour journey - do I have to pack everything up and drag it to the loo?

Announcing t every station, for example, there is a buffet, where it is, a detailed list of its offerings and (especially at 630 in the morning) that it has a fuly licenced bar is ridicuous

[Btline]

Don't get me started on - don't leave your bags unattended!

As if anyone - esp in the C21 - is going to think: "Oh I'll nip to Smiths, but I'll leave my bag with my important documents/ money in it on the platform."

For God's sake can someone stop them!!!!!!

*Smoking - not needed, it's the law. If you don't realise it's the law, you deserve to be arrested. If you're foreign, you won't understand the English anyway, and you should have read a guidebook. Or - shock horror - seen at the signs! They have a nice clear picture of a fag with a red line over it!

*Wet weather - not needed, if you don't realise it's wet, you deserve to slip over.

*Mind the gap - not needed, if you don't check, you deserve to fall down the gap; if you are disabled, you should have assistance.

*Safety cards - not needed, they're in front of you. And as Fallen Angel says, people just won't read them whatever.

Sorry, this nanny state needs to stop. Gosh - how has Great Britain coped over the last few millenia?

[Mookiemoo]

Don't get me started on - don't leave your bags unattended!

As if anyone - esp in the C21 - is going to think: "Oh I'll nip to Smiths, but I'll leave my bag with my important documents/ money in it on the platform."

For God's sake can someone stop them!!!!!!

*Smoking - not needed, it's the law. If you don't realise it's the law, you deserve to be arrested. If you're foreign, you won't understand the English anyway, and you should have read a guidebook. Or - shock horror - seen at the signs! They have a nice clear picture of a fag with a red line over it!

*Wet weather - not needed, if you don't realise it's wet, you deserve to slip over.

*Mind the gap - not needed, if you don't check, you deserve to fall down the gap; if you are disabled, you should have assistance.

*Safety cards - not needed, they're in front of you. And as Fallen Angel says, people just won't read them whatever.

Sorry, this nanny state needs to stop. Gosh - how has Great Britain coped over the last few millenia?

BT?  you sure you havent been remotely possessed by me?  All of that could have come from my fingers

I salute you!

[IndustryInsider]

In so many ways I agree with you both. However you won't be the ones paying out hefty sums after ridiculous law suits. That's the way the world has been heading over the last couple of decades. It'll get worse and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are powerless to prevent it.

[moonrakerz]

*Safety cards - not needed, they're in front of you. And as Fallen Angel says, people just won't read them whatever.

Actually -  On an FGW^▸ (First Great Western) HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) with airline seats, the safety leaflets are fitted into a purpose built holder on the back of the seat in front.

On the cover of the leaflet it says quite clearly "Do Not Remove" - how am I meant to read it ?   

[Tim]

The PA^▸ (Public Address (broadcast loudspeaker announcements) or Passenger Assist (railway staff providing physical assistance to passengers with mobility issues), depending on context) is a safety system, we have to inform control and signaler if it's not working.  A lot of the announcements are TRANSEC, or Disability Act required.  If they are skipped, both the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) and the individual guard will be in a lot of doggie-doo.

I wasn't criticising the Guards who make the anouncements, you can only do what you are told.  It TRANSEC or DDA^» (Disability Discrimination Act - about) requires anouncements then those rules and laws are stupid and need to be scrapped. 

[FarWestJohn]

How I agree with all these comments about the never ending on board announcements. There are so many that they are self defeating. My brain switches off and I just do not take any notice of them any more. If they announced a real emergency I would most likely ignore it as yet another bit of trivia. On some trains they are still droning on after leaving Penzance half way to St.Erth.

The same goes for warning signs. How many are on or around a FGW^▸ (First Great Western) MK^▸ (Milton Keynes) 3 door?

The only train I have been on recently that impressed me was a Southern unit from Crawley to Arundel where the announcement was identical to the display and just before the stop. Nothing more nothing less and very sensible.

If we have large scale cuts coming up then there must be a lot of Government staff that can be removed making all these crazy so called H&S^▸ (Health and Safety) decisions. We should all be responsible for our own actions and not need all this nonsense.

[moonrakerz]

If we have large scale cuts coming up then there must be a lot of Government staff that can be removed making all these crazy so called H&S^▸ (Health and Safety) decisions. We should all be responsible for our own actions and not need all this nonsense.

Whilst agreeing with your sentiments about "our own actions" I must defend (to a certain degree) H & S. In general, applied properly this is a fairly sensible, and not particularly onerous, regime, where it goes wrong is when people are appointed by their Company as "the H & S man" (sorry, Harriet - person !) without FULL training. Usually they have absolutely no concept of risk assessment, as a result every single thing is deemed to be an unacceptable risk, so must be warned against or, if possible, banned altogether. How many people actually fall down the "gap" - or was the slip actually caused by those b****y stupid six inch high heels ?

After complaining about the pounding my ears took last week, today's trip was a pleasure. Warminster to Soton, and back. Only announcments were like this: "Next stop will be Salisbury. Salisbury next stop". Are 158s that much safer than HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) ?, are their passengers much more sensible ?  Somebody must think so, judging by the lack of ear bashing you get on them. OR, perhaps the guard has better things to do ?

I am going to Penzance next week; now, if I get really bored with the scenery...................!  Perhaps we should run a sweep stake - how many announcements between Westbury & Penzance ?

On a different (catering) tack, my return train today from Soton (Brighton to Worcs), did have a trolley - which according to the timetable it shouldn't have had.