Praise for FGW staff... and a little criticism of FGW stations

[whole diary]

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

OK WITH DORIS  is she the one at exeter st davids or the younger sounding one at central?

[inspector_blakey]

As far as I'm aware there are two Dorises and a Dave...

Doris #1: ex-Wessex on FGW^▸ (First Great Western), also all ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former Train Operating Company)) stations (the English voice of the Welsh announcements). Younger, weirdly sarcastic voice. Agree completely with Donkey Guard, she gets right on my t*ts. Also does the "Welcome aboard, please listen to the following announcement for your safety" on the ex-Wessex units when the guard feels like torturing the passengers.

Doris #2: older voice, slightly posh. Frequently found working in tandem with Dave (aka shouty Phil - "a buffet service............is available........onthistrain) but has some stations to herself. Habitats include Bristol TM^▸ (Train Manager, or possibly Ticket Machine, depending on context), Bath Spa, some platforms at Reading, the down platform at Oxford and many others. There's a clip of her chattering on about the London Stock Exchange at http://www.celiadrummond.com/lse.ram - sure you'll recognize the voice when you hear it.

relex, I'm guessing that #1 is the one at Exeter Central and #2 is the one at EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains).

Now then, I'd better post a link to a clip of Phil Sayer just to stop Btline flaming me after I've posted a clip of Celia Drummond  ...

http://www.sayerhamilton.com/phil/phil_corporate.mp3

...although I really don't understand the obsession Btline. Much prefer Celia, it doesn't feel like I'm having instructions barked at me.

[Super Guard]

As far as I'm aware there are two Dorises and a Dave...

Doris #1: ex-Wessex on FGW^▸ (First Great Western), also all ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former Train Operating Company)) stations (the English voice of the Welsh announcements). Younger, weirdly sarcastic voice. Agree completely with Donkey Guard, she gets right on my t*ts. Also does the "Welcome aboard, please listen to the following announcement for your safety" on the ex-Wessex units when the guard feels like torturing the passengers.

Doris #2: older voice, slightly posh. Frequently found working in tandem with Dave (aka shouty Phil - "a buffet service............is available........onthistrain) but has some stations to herself. Habitats include Bristol TM^▸ (Train Manager, or possibly Ticket Machine, depending on context), Bath Spa, some platforms at Reading, the down platform at Oxford and many others. There's a clip of her chattering on about the London Stock Exchange at http://www.celiadrummond.com/lse.ram - sure you'll recognize the voice when you hear it.

relex, I'm guessing that #1 is the one at Exeter Central and #2 is the one at EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains).

Now then, I'd better post a link to a clip of Phil Sayer just to stop Btline flaming me after I've posted a clip of Celia Drummond  ...

http://www.sayerhamilton.com/phil/phil_corporate.mp3

...although I really don't understand the obsession Btline. Much prefer Celia, it doesn't feel like I'm having instructions barked at me.

You are correct... Celia Drummond resides on platform 1,2,5&6 at EXD and Phil sits in the middle on 3/4.

As for the safety announcment on ex-Wessex, that is preprogrammed, and short of breaking the auto-announcer, you can't shut her up (and yes i've tried  )

[Btline]

The problem I have with Ceila is that she mispronounces most stations. e.g. London Waterloo as Landon Waterloooooooo.

Phil is clear, assertive and mangages a sense of importance whilst staying calm. On busy stations like New Street he is needed.

Just try Celia at New Street - if they put her there, the place would turn to chaos!

Doris #1: ex-Wessex on FGW^▸ (First Great Western), also all ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former Train Operating Company)) stations (the English voice of the Welsh announcements). Younger, weirdly sarcastic voice. Agree completely with Donkey Guard, she gets right on my t*ts. Also does the "Welcome aboard, please listen to the following announcement for your safety" on the ex-Wessex units when the guard feels like torturing the passengers.

I, too, hate this DD!

Apologies to all Phil lovers but when I rule FGW and the World, Celia will be on every platform across the country 

When I rule the word, every platform will be Phil a la Birmingham New Street.

[JayMac]

Apologies to all Phil lovers but when I rule FGW^▸ (First Great Western) and the World, Celia will be on every platform across the country 

Are we to take it from your name DG that when you rule FGW and the world you will replace all existing rolling stock with 142/143s?

[devon_metro]

As for the safety announcment on ex-Wessex, that is preprogrammed, and short of breaking the auto-announcer, you can't shut her up (and yes i've tried  )

But alas, do the residents of the Donkey Sanctuary even have auto announcers?

Upon reflection, do 143s?

[thefab442]

Time to clear up some confusion about the four Dorises...

The older, posher "Doris" is a professional voice over artist called Celia Drummond, who provides the female voice for the Ditra System - which is the same system that Phil Sayer provides the male voice for. These systems are employed on South West Trains stations, and also at the original FGW^▸ (First Great Western) stations such as Plymouth, Exeter St Davids, Swindon, Reading, and more recently Oxford and Slough.

The middle aged, extremely posh "Doris" is an unknown voice over artist who can be heard on the ex-Thames Trains stations (she was recently replaced at OXF^» (Oxford - next trains) and SLO) such as Newbury, Maidenhead and Ealing Broadway. The likelihood is that she will be replaced if and when new CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) screens are installed at the smaller ex-Thames stations. I don't know who manufactures this sytem, but it wasn't particularly successful.

The younger, sarcastic sounding "Doris" is/was an employee of Wessex Trains called Ruth, she provides the voice for the ATOS/SEMA System used at ex-Wessex Trains stations.

The last Doris is the one heard at Paddington, known as "Sarah" although I do not know if that's her real name. She runs on the same system as Ruth; there is a male version also (although only used at London Bridge, Cannon Street and Gatwick Airport).

[Btline]

Both Sarah and Ruth need to go!

Are FGW^▸ (First Great Western) planning a Ditra roll out?

Question: What is the system where Phil is on his own, like at Bham New Street? (and Charing X until "Sarah" invaded)

[IndustryInsider]

I think it would be a little scary to hear just one voice booming out the automated announcements at all stations and on all trains. Otherwise it would be Phil/Celia who ruled the world, and not Btline or Donkey Guard!

[JayMac]

I think it would be a little scary to hear just one voice booming out the automated announcements at all stations and on all trains. Otherwise it would be Phil/Celia who ruled the world, and not Btline or Donkey Guard!

Btline gets my vote....oh, hang on, you don't get a vote in a dictatorship

[JayMac]

As for the safety announcment on ex-Wessex, that is preprogrammed, and short of breaking the auto-announcer, you can't shut her up (and yes i've tried  )

But alas, do the residents of the Donkey Sanctuary even have auto announcers?

Upon reflection, do 143s?

The 143s that ply the Severn Beach Line most certainly do have auto announcements. Safety and security blah blah that, I believe, kicks in after a set number of door open/closing cycles.

[Mookiemoo]

Who does the random voice overs at reading station.

- the escalator warnings (some harridan of a woman)
- the engineerign warnings (some bloke)

[thefab442]

Question: What is the system where Phil is on his own, like at Bham New Street? (and Charing X until "Sarah" invaded)

This is also a Ditra System (just only has one voice enabled). Phil and Celia are now both at Birmingham New Street following some changes to the system there. Charing Cross had, and Victoria has, a very old version of the Ditra System dating back to 1988.

Some clips of the various announcers:
Celia
Ruth
Thames
Sarah

I expect the old Thames systems will be replaced by Ditras soon-ish. I imagine the SEMA systems used on the ex-Wessex stations will be remaining in play for now.

[Btline]

Phil and Celia are now both at Birmingham New Street following some changes to the system there.

WHAT?!!! No no no.

Why? How? In what way?

Is the Victoria system going to be replaced by the new Ditra or the Sarah system? (prays for Ditra)

[thefab442]

Announcements are no longer played across all platforms, but merely to the platform they apply to. "Birmingham New Street, this is Birmingham New Street" has returned. As far as I know no technical changes have been made.

If the systems at Victoria are replaced (there are two, one for each side), they will mostly like be ATOS Sarah, as at Charing Cross. Although, when Waterloo had its system replaced last year, it got a brand new Ditra system.