Station announcer phraseology no longer used

[Royston Vasey]

And I really miss the four-chime jingle too. If I were boss of GBR, I'd bring that back as a national standard. It might not be as chic as SNCF's jingle but it felt like home. These days you get bing-bongs that sound like they've been bought off a stock audio website. But perhaps that's my nostalgia talking.

Never mind the four chime jingle, I miss the three chime jingle! I always felt the addition of the 6th to the 1st 3rd 5th arpeggio was awkward!

 

[nw1]

"The train at platform (x) terminates here, all change please, all change"

From a similar era on the SR:

"Please stand clear of the train at Platform 4, this train is not for public use".

Common at Guildford in the 80s for terminating trains.

Sometimes when the same message was done manually:

"Please stand WELL AWAY from the train on Platform 4, this train is not in service".

(as if something dire would happen if you even got close to the terminating train!)

Then there was the Woking sequence for the half hourly dividing/attaching Basingstoke and Alton services:

"Woking. This is Woking. Please stand clear of this train and keep all doors closed. This train is about to make a detachment|an attachment. Please stand clear, stand clear, until the detachment|attachment is made".

(Train divides)

"The front 4 coaches are for Basingstoke. Calling at Brookwood, Farnborough, Fleet, Winchfield, Hook and Basingstoke. The rear 4 coaches are for Alton. Calling at Brookwood, Ash Vale, Aldershot, Farnham, Bentley and Alton".

Presumably other stations which had regular attachment/detachment had very similar announcements.

Does the strident "Stand clear of the platform edge, fast train approaching. Stand away there! Stand away!" or similar still prevail?

Oddly I don't remember such an announcement at Woking in the mid-80s, even though the hourly Weymouth would pass through non-stop at great speed in both directions.

Seemed to become more popular in the late 80s and 90s.

 

[GordonT]

"Staff Only" announcements are rarer nowadays with the prevalence of radios and mobile phones.
You used to get things like "This is a staff announcement. Would Leading Railman Dankworth report immediately to the Time Office."

 

[Dai Corner]

Bristol Temple Meads
'Calling Lawrence Hill, Stapleton Road, Montpelier, Redland, Clifton Down, Sea Mills, Shirehampton, Avonmouth Dock, St Andrew's Road and Severn Beach'.

I don't know whether Avonmouth ever had the Dock suffix or whether it just scanned better.

'This train is now ready to leave. Please close all doors and stand clear'

'This is the next train for the West of England' and 'Passengers for the West of England please proceed to Platform 10 as soon as possible'

West of England being anywhere beyond Taunton. Presumably Bristol wasn't in the west of England in those days.

'Platform 12 for the xxxx stopping train to Taunton'

 

[devon_belle]

The standard Wessex Trains 'Welcome aboard' spiel is hardly heard any more (I think only a few units still have the old system).

"Welcome aboard. Please listen to the following announcement for your safety. Please familiarise yourself with the safety information provided on posters displayed in the passenger saloons. Emergency door opening procedures are indicated close to the doors. Please ensure any luggage on the overhead racks if safely stowed. And when you leave the train please mind the gap between the train and the platform and take care as you alight. Thank you."

The language isn't exactly flowery or obsolete but has a certain air of railway terminology that we are moving away from now.

 

[yorksrob]

From a similar era on the SR:

"Please stand clear of the train at Platform 4, this train is not for public use".

Oh yes, I remember that one from the 20th century as well !

 

[Purple Train]

Still regularly used by LNER train managers before departure from Leeds, Kings Cross and other originating stations.

I've heard it on GA.

 

[midland1]

Often heard at Birmingham New Street, Diesel fitters required at platform x, or carriage and wagon examiner required at platform x. It seemed at times there were more of these than train announcements.

 

[Purple Train]

"Staff Only" announcements are rarer nowadays with the prevalence of radios and mobile phones.
You used to get things like "This is a staff announcement. Would Leading Railman Dankworth report immediately to the Time Office."

That reminds me, at Reading this evening there was a, "Staff announcement, would Simon* on the barriers please report to the announcer/announcer's office," which I don't remember having heard before. Was this an Inspector Sands-style announcement, or was it genuine? I can't imagine there still being an announcer or an announcer's office at Reading (whichever it was)!

*other names are available, can't remember the specific name

 

[Bishopstone]

‘London Chairing Crawse’

 

[boiledbeans2]

'Please do not flush the toilets at the station' (not the exact words!)

I heard this and saw it being displayed on the PIS on a GWR 166 recently.

 

[Bletchleyite]

"Station, this is Station".

I wish Anne would be programmed to do that. It's both useful (e.g. if you're blind or just not paying attention) and quainte olde railwaye in style.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I don't know whether Avonmouth ever had the Dock suffix or whether it just scanned better.

The standard Wessex Trains 'Welcome aboard' spiel is hardly heard any more (I think only a few units still have the old system).

The same system will also play the Wales & Borders version too!

 

[devon_belle]

The same system will also play the Wales & Borders version too!

I might have to make a pilgrimage for the nostalgia!

 

[YorksLad12]

I haven't heard Inspector Sands being called recently at Leeds. It was going off all the time a few years back.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I haven't heard Inspector Sands being called recently at Leeds. It was going off all the time a few years back.

It sounds at Paddington once a week with all the other alarms.

 

[AY1975]

I've started a separate thread about on-train announcement phraseology no longer used: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/on-train-announcement-phraseology-no-longer-used.252562/

 

[LowLevel]

The standard Wessex Trains 'Welcome aboard' spiel is hardly heard any more (I think only a few units still have the old system).

"Welcome aboard. Please listen to the following announcement for your safety. Please familiarise yourself with the safety information provided on posters displayed in the passenger saloons. Emergency door opening procedures are indicated close to the doors. Please ensure any luggage on the overhead racks if safely stowed. And when you leave the train please mind the gap between the train and the platform and take care as you alight. Thank you."

The language isn't exactly flowery or obsolete but has a certain air of railway terminology that we are moving away from now.

The EMR 158 units from Wales/Great Western have the kit in the cab but it's isolated. We had 153382 that still had it working though. You could play various things. "Welcome aboard this Alphaline/Wales and Borders/Wessex Trains service" "a trolley will be passing through" "the conductor will shortly be checking tickets" and so on.

The one that does annoy me a little is LNER station announcements, which seem to go out of their way to use a different kind of phrasing for literally everything to the standard, some of which are rather long winded.

 

[YorksLad12]

It sounds at Paddington once a week with all the other alarms.

Well, yes, there's the Wednesday 10am test (which I no longer hear, being miles away at work). But it used to go off with the regularity of a contractor cutting through the wrong cable

 

[D6130]

I haven't heard Inspector Sands being called recently at Leeds. It was going off all the time a few years back.

Until my retirement just over ten years ago, he was required every Wednesday morning at 11 00.

 

[Lewisham2221]

Not a specific phrase as such, but in the days when Central Trains operated Stafford - Birmingham New Street via Cannock the announcers at Stafford used to make it  very clear that the overall journey time was approximately 1 hour and passengers for Birmingham would be better off waiting for a "via Wolverhampton" train

 

[Rescars]

It's been a while since passengers at Purley have heard "Please wait while the train is being detached. The first four cars are for Caterham, the rear two are for Tattenham Corner."

 

[stadler]

"Station, this is Station".

I wish Anne would be programmed to do that. It's both useful (e.g. if you're blind or just not paying attention) and quainte olde railwaye in style.

Yes the old "Station. This is station." announcements are one that i really miss. That format was excellent. I agree it is such a useful and good idea. I know that most of the trains have onboard announcements these days but it is still really useful as a second reminder as to where you are once you pull in to stations. Especially late at night or if the onboard announcements are broken or out of sync like the useless TrainFX system always is.

Southern were the final operator to use the "Station. This is station." format. They used it at all of their stations but finally got rid of it in 2018 when they switched from the excellent Amey system to the Atos Worldline system. So that format was lost five years ago.

 

[Wolfie]

"Staff Only" announcements are rarer nowadays with the prevalence of radios and mobile phones.
You used to get things like "This is a staff announcement. Would Leading Railman Dankworth report immediately to the Time Office."

Actually makes "Inspector Sands" (which incidentally l heard at Tuffnell Park tube station on Wednesday afternoon) more prominent....

 

[nw1]

Yes the old "Station. This is station." announcements are one that i really miss. That format was excellent. I agree it is such a useful and good idea. I know that most of the trains have onboard announcements these days but it is still really useful as a second reminder as to where you are once you pull in to stations. Especially late at night or if the onboard announcements are broken or out of sync like the useless TrainFX system always is.

Southern were the final operator to use the "Station. This is station." format. They used it at all of their stations but finally got rid of it in 2018 when they switched from the excellent Amey system to the Atos Worldline system. So that format was lost five years ago.

When did the format more generally start disappearing?

It's been a long while since I've heard it, I'd guess late 90s was the last time it was widespread but I'm not sure. To me it's very much contemporary with the SR/ex-SR slam-door era.

 

[stadler]

When did the format more generally start disappearing?

It's been a long while since I've heard it, I'd guess late 90s was the last time it was widespread but I'm not sure. To me it's very much contemporary with the SR/ex-SR slam-door era.

This format was used almost everywhere in the 1980s and 1990s under the original BR Ditra and Infomat systems but has been gradually removed since the 2000s and 2010s up until 2018 when the last operator (Southern) was removed. I think around the year 2000 was the last year it was used almost everywhere. From then onward it got used less and less.

Central Trains and Midland Mainline and Silverlink Trains stations got rid of it in the very early 2000s when they switched from BR Ditra and Infomat to Atos Worldline.

Greater Anglia (its various predecessors) stations got rid of it in the very early 2000s when they switched from BR Ditra and Infomat to Racal (which was short lived) and Atos Worldline (although Bishops Stortford and Seven Sisters managed to last until 2012 for some reason).

South West Trains stations got rid of it in the very early 2000s when they switched from BR Ditra and Infomat to Amey (but a different version to other TOCs that did not use the "Station. This is station." format).

First Great Western stations got rid of it in 2009/2010 when they switched from Amey to Atos Worldline.

First Capital Connect (TL Route) stations got rid of it in 2010/2011 when they switched from Funkwerk to Atos Worldline.

First Capital Connect (GN Route) stations got rid of it in 2011/2012 when they switched from Amey to Atos Worldline.

Southeastern stations got rid of it in 2012/2013 when they switched from Thales to Atos Worldline.

Southern stations (the last remaining TOC to use it) got rid of it in 2018 when they switched from Amey to Atos Worldline.

So yes the removal of using the "Station. This is station." format was a very gradual process lasting from the early 2000s up until 2018 when Southern switched.

 

[nw1]

This format was used almost everywhere in the 1980s and 1990s under the original BR Ditra and Infomat systems but has been gradually removed since the 2000s and 2010s up until 2018 when the last operator (Southern) was removed. I think around the year 2000 was the last year it was used almost everywhere. From then onward it got used less and less.

Central Trains and Midland Mainline and Silverlink Trains stations got rid of it in the very early 2000s when they switched from BR Ditra and Infomat to Atos Worldline.

Greater Anglia (its various predecessors) stations got rid of it in the very early 2000s when they switched from BR Ditra and Infomat to Racal (which was short lived) and Atos Worldline (although Bishops Stortford and Seven Sisters managed to last until 2012 for some reason).

South West Trains stations got rid of it in the very early 2000s when they switched from BR Ditra and Infomat to Amey (but a different version to other TOCs that did not use the "Station. This is station." format).

First Great Western stations got rid of it in 2009/2010 when they switched from Amey to Atos Worldline.

First Capital Connect (TL Route) stations got rid of it in 2010/2011 when they switched from Funkwerk to Atos Worldline.

First Capital Connect (GN Route) stations got rid of it in 2011/2012 when they switched from Amey to Atos Worldline.

Southeastern stations got rid of it in 2012/2013 when they switched from Thales to Atos Worldline.

Southern stations (the last remaining TOC to use it) got rid of it in 2018 when they switched from Amey to Atos Worldline.

So yes the removal of using the "Station. This is station." format was a very gradual process lasting from the early 2000s up until 2018 when Southern switched.

OK thanks for all the detail.

I guess the gradual removal means it's something that you don't necessarily notice, but I see that my local TOC (SWT) was one of the earliest to see it go.

 

[Trainguy34]

Southern were the final operator to use the "Station. This is station." format. They used it at all of their stations but finally got rid of it in 2018 when they switched from the excellent Amey system to the Atos Worldline system. So that format was lost five years ago.

Thats where I recognise it from then!

 

[yorksrob]

It would be good if an operator could bring back the proper announcements instead of all the modern crap.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

• "Swindon. This is: Swindon."
  
  I miss these announcements. I know onboard announcements have made them redundant. But they were part of the soundscape of the rail network. It's not really Birmingham New Street unless Phil Sayer tells you it's Birmingham New Street.

And I really miss the four-chime jingle too. If I were boss of GBR, I'd bring that back as a national standard. It might not be as chic as SNCF's jingle but it felt like home. These days you get bing-bongs that sound like they've been bought off a stock audio website. But perhaps that's my nostalgia talking.

Yes I know what you mean, I hear Celia saying "East Croydon. This is East Croydon"

I think the wording of platform announcements have been incredibly simplified since Anne replaced Celia/Phil in 2018 - resulting in the announcements sounding far more clunky than before