ATOS Anne Announcements - Publicly Available?

[MrJeeves]

Being a Text To Speech thing it's only as good as what bozo-brain types into it.

I've been told on good authority that it has happily announced "service to Whitlocks End via Whitlocks End"

 

[stadler]

Ivona Amy? Is that who's replaced Anne on the Snow Hill Lines? Being a Text To Speech thing it's only as good as what bozo-brain types into it. For a time, Birmingham Snow Hill was blessed with: "... the xx:xx West Midlands Railway service to Worcester Foregate Street via Stourbridge jay . . . And Kidderminster calling at ..." with Stourbridge Junction said correctly in the list of calling points. And more recently at Kidderminster I've heard the inevitable mis-pronounced Cradley Heath and Rowley Regis - presumably it's necessary to use special spellings in order to get the pronunciation of certain station names correct?

You can count me in as an ATOS Anne fanboy. She has always sounded very clear and natural to my ears (although the bit about request stops on the North Warwickshire Line was a bit clunky, possibly owing to the way it was recorded) and not being a 'professional voiceover artist' must have offered good value for money to the rail industry. I've always thought that 'voiceover artist' is a 'money for old rope' occupation. I was told that I had a clear voice when I did hospital radio - it's not exactly a rare talent.

Yes indeed that is Ivona Amy on the Snow Hill lines. She is at all AGA and LNWR and WMR stations now. She does have a few pronunciation errors but so do real voice over artists. Neither are perfect but i found Ivona Amy pronounces the Welsh stations better than Anne does.

Yes the issue with Text To Speech is that it just says whatever you type in. So you have to be careful not to type abbreviations or make any errors. Ivona Amy at Shenfield says "Heathrow Tee One Hundred And Twenty Three" on her announcements. So that can be an issue.

Personally i think there is a big difference between someone who is a professional voice over artist and someone who is not. People who are voiceover artists have been practicing and doing voiceovers as part of their work every day. Where as a staff member is not going to have the same amount of experience. It is not just about having a clear voice. There is a lot that goes in to it. Anne is not bad but if you compare her voice to people like Celia Drummond and Phil Sayer and "Only Woman" and Emma Hignett etc she is not as good. In my opinion you can definitely notice a difference. But yes i suppose one advantage is that using a staff member saves a lot of money as these voiceover artists are very expensive (typically £300 per hour at the lower end to £1000 per hour at the higher end) so it saves money.

 

[800301]

Yes the issue with Text To Speech is that it just says whatever you type in. So you have to be careful not to type abbreviations or make any errors. Ivona Amy at Shenfield says "Heathrow Tee One Hundred And Twenty Three" on her announcements. So that can be an issue.

This has finally been amended, personally not a fan of the new voice but oh well, it does the job

 

[satisnek]

I've been told on good authority that it has happily announced "service to Whitlocks End via Whitlocks End"

Yes I think I've heard that one!

Presumably we've lost Anne because the contract expired or something?

 

[Peter0124]

I've been told on good authority that it has happily announced "service to Whitlocks End via Whitlocks End"

I have heard Anne say at Manchester Piccadilly "Change at Crewe for services to Crewe..."

 

[londonmidland]

Am I allowed to say that I cant stand Anne's voice.
In fact I've stopped using trains as she is all pervasive at my local station, Milton Keynes!
Am I the only one???

Anne is no longer at any WMT/LNR stations. She’s been replaced by a text-to-speech system.

Presumably we've lost Anne because the contract expired or something?

It’s just Abellio/Transport UK Group saving a few pennies honestly. The new system is cheaper to run, and it certainly shows.

 

[Purple Train]

Text-to-speech is useless, especially in the Heathrow example. "Heathrow Tee 123" is ripe tourist confusion material. My friend's dog could do a better job if GA want a local announcer...

I really like Anne's voice. It is clear without seeming forced and robotic with just the right hint of an accent.

 

[BAFRA77]

The one thing that does get me is the fact GWR still haven’t got a proper recording for Worcestershire Parkway as a calling point on-board services - they’re still using the bloke who sounds like he’s underwater 50 yards away from the microphone

 

[louis97]

The one thing that does get me is the fact GWR still haven’t got a proper recording for Worcestershire Parkway as a calling point on-board services - they’re still using the bloke who sounds like he’s underwater 50 yards away from the microphone

That is a member of Hitachi staff, they need to update the PIS system, as to when that will be - who knows.

 

[Aventra701]

Atos Worldline got my Media Fire link taken down a couple weeks ago. It is a bit ridiculous as plenty of other sound files have been released and none of the other CIS providers have had any issue. The files are specific to the railway so it is not exactly like any other company would be able to get any commercial gain from these sound files. Plus hundreds of people have downloaded copies now so it seems a bit ridiculous for them to take it down. My old Media Fire link got over 300 downloads in one month. Atos Worldline are just being jobsworths.

I have uploaded them to another file upload site here:

Easyupload.io - Upload Files and Share Them Easily

Uplaod files easily and share them with your friends and colleagues. File upload solution for everyone. Upload big files and get a link to share effortlesly.

easyupload.io

This will probably get taken down soon so i recommend you download it now and save it to your computer.

If it gets taken down and anyone needs the sound files download again then feel free to message me.

The sound files have definitely not come from an FOIA request. Nobody seems to know exactly who the original person that got hold of them was. But somebody got hold of them and has been sharing them. They seem to have been going around for at least a year now.

Can I get the new link to ATOS Anne announcements? The link was down.

 

[stadler]

Can I get the new link to ATOS Anne announcements? The link was down.

Here is a new download link to use:

*link removed*

This one should last for a few days at least.

 

[Sebrh11]

Stadler, Can you upload the atos anne announcements to media fire or some other site as I would be interested in them.

If so it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Huntergreed]

Have to admit, for entirely unrelated reasons, it would be useful to have access to these audio files so if anyone does have access, please to feel free to send a private message.

Thanks

 

[stadler]

Stadler, Can you upload the atos anne announcements to media fire or some other site as I would be interested in them.

If so it would be greatly appreciated.

Here is another new download link for the Atos Anne sound files including the .mp3 and .wav files versions:

* link removed *

Media Fire links get taken down and stop working too quickly so this Easy Upload ones seems to last a little bit longer.

 

[Sebrh11]

Cheers!

 

[DJ_K666]

Yes i am not much of a fan of her. She is not the worst voice. I can think of lots of other railway voices which are much worse than her. But she is certainly not the best either. She is not a professional voice over artist so i suppose she is not going to sound as good as some of the others.

You will be very glad to know that Anne is gone from Milton Keynes Central now. The new Ivona Amy (Text To Speech) voice has replaced her. She got replaced just a few weeks ago.

I actually really like this new Ivona Amy voice. I think that considering she is a Text To Speech voice she sounds very good. AGA and LNWR and WMR have all used her to replace Anne at their stations.

I remember the previous one at MKC which sounded a lot like Boycie from Only Fools and Horses

It appears that the Atos Anne files are now subject of a cease and desist on their use. The company that owns them obviously got wind of this site

UK Rail Announcement Generator

Generate various station and on-train announcements for the UK rail network using raw audio recordings.

railannouncements.co.uk

When using Text to Speech you need to write the whole word to be spoken as its pronounced. I do think it's come on a lot lately though. Add a bit of reverb and things it'd sound like an announcement that echoes around a large space like a station concourse

 

[Bletchleyite]

I remember the previous one at MKC which sounded a lot like Boycie from Only Fools and Horses

I don't recall MKC having an autoannouncer before Anne - it was all done manually, wasn't it? I believe the usual guy was a bit of a "Cockney geezer" though.

 

[MrJeeves]

It appears that the Atos Anne files are now subject of a cease and desist on their use. The company that owns them obviously got wind of this site

UK Rail Announcement Generator

Generate various station and on-train announcements for the UK rail network using raw audio recordings.

railannouncements.co.uk

Indeed, I did get an email from Worldline demanding that I remove copies of their files from the website.

 

[stadler]

I remember the previous one at MKC which sounded a lot like Boycie from Only Fools and Horses

It appears that the Atos Anne files are now subject of a cease and desist on their use. The company that owns them obviously got wind of this site

UK Rail Announcement Generator

Generate various station and on-train announcements for the UK rail network using raw audio recordings.

railannouncements.co.uk

When using Text to Speech you need to write the whole word to be spoken as its pronounced. I do think it's come on a lot lately though. Add a bit of reverb and things it'd sound like an announcement that echoes around a large space like a station concourse

The man in these videos may be the one you are talking about as he used to be the Milton Keynes Central voice:

https://youtu.be/TrPp9b2NPyw

He was at all of the WCML stations. I seem to remember that, Watford Junction, Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamstead, Leighton Buzzard, Bletchley, Milton Keynes Central, Northampton, all used his voice. He was removed in the early 2000s though. I think Bletchley lasted the longest until around 2008 when he was finally replaced.

I don't recall MKC having an autoannouncer before Anne - it was all done manually, wasn't it? I believe the usual guy was a bit of a "Cockney geezer" though.

I am pretty sure Milton Keynes Central did have an automated announcement voice. It was the same one as Bletchley and all of the other WCML stations. But i only remember it from the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the late 1990s and early 2000s the announcements at Milton Keynes Central always seemed to be manual. So maybe it was removed earlier than the other stations.

 

[DJ_K666]

The man in these videos may be the one you are talking about as he used to be the Milton Keynes Central voice:

https://youtu.be/TrPp9b2NPyw

He was at all of the WCML stations. I seem to remember that, Watford Junction, Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamstead, Leighton Buzzard, Bletchley, Milton Keynes Central, Northampton, all used his voice. He was removed in the early 2000s though. I think Bletchley lasted the longest until around 2008 when he was finally replaced.


I am pretty sure Milton Keynes Central did have an automated announcement voice. It was the same one as Bletchley and all of the other WCML stations. But i only remember it from the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the late 1990s and early 2000s the announcements at Milton Keynes Central always seemed to be manual. So maybe it was removed earlier than the other stations.

No it wasn't him. He was a classic one though. I got a lift to MK once in 2004 and was convinced they had John Challis chained to a desk in there.

The-ah next-ah train-ah......

I was seriously expecting to hear 'Marlene!!!!!' as the accent was so identical.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Yes, I remember him at Bletchley, the system was destroyed by a lightning strike if I recall.

 

[DJ_K666]

Indeed, I did get an email from Worldline demanding that I remove copies of their files from the website.

That's a shame. I'd probably have chucked them onto a flash drive and stuck it in a cupboard before showing their lawyers the deletion from the site and going "Look at this, I deleted them"

That said they're about 30 years out of my era for modelling, however.

 

[stadler]

No it wasn't him. He was a classic one though. I got a lift to MK once in 2004 and was convinced they had John Challis chained to a desk in there.

The-ah next-ah train-ah......

I was seriously expecting to hear 'Marlene!!!!!' as the accent was so identical.

Are you talking about automated announcements? Or manual announcements made by a staff member? It sounds like the announcements you are referring to may have just been a station staff member sitting behind the microphone and announcing?

Yes, I remember him at Bletchley, the system was destroyed by a lightning strike if I recall.

Yes i remember Bletchley having him. I used to use the station a lot and really liked hearing him. I think that was the last station on the WCML to keep him. Most of the other stations switched to Anne a few years earlier. I think 2008 was when the lightning strike happened and Anne then replaced him. I do wonder how much longer he would have lasted if the lightning strike had not happened. Bishops Stortford and Seven Sisters kept their old 1980s Ditra system until 2012 so perhaps Bletchley would have lasted in to the early or mid 2010s too.

That's a shame. I'd probably have chucked them onto a flash drive and stuck it in a cupboard before showing their lawyers the deletion from the site and going "Look at this, I deleted them"

That said they're about 30 years out of my era for modelling, however.

There is still a huge amount of copies going around so anyone can still easily access them. The files have been downloaded and shared by hundreds of people. One of my old links which i put up on Media Fire had just over 1,000 downloads before Worldline got it taken down. So with hundreds and hundreds of copies going around it is impossible for Worldline to take the files out of the public domain. Regardless of if Worldline like it or not the files will always be available somewhere considering so many people having downloaded them.

The fact that Worldline made MrJeeves remove all the files from his site is really ridiculous anyway. As there is absolutely nothing that anyone could do with these files that would affect Worldline commercially. It is not like a competitor such as Ketech is going to suddenly go and download and start using Worldline files. These are railway specific files and it is almost impossible that anyone could do anything with them to put Worldline at a disadvantage.

I think Worldline are just being jobsworths. They are a multi billion pound company and only really care about their profit. I do not think railway enthusiasts are really important to them. It is a shame as these are a very important part of railway history that often gets very overlooked.

 

[route101]

Anyone got the Covid please wear a face mask announcements that were played at big NR stations?

 

[Peter0124]

Anyone got the Covid please wear a face mask announcements that were played at big NR stations?

I heard that in Glasgow Central Low Level

 

[Merle Haggard]

Are you talking about automated announcements? Or manual announcements made by a staff member? It sounds like the announcements you are referring to may have just been a station staff member sitting behind the microphone and announcing?

I'm sure that the voice referred to was still making announcements at Milton Keynes just before lockdown (and may still be doing so for all I know) which were usually for short notice alterations. I took it that it was someone in the power box as the announcements seemed to me to have an 'very official' type construction. I particularly remember that he made a very short notice announcement that the next up Southern service was cancelled, advising customers to instead catch a particular L.M. train - unfortunately about 10 minutes after the latter had left. Perhaps it was intended for Bletchley or Leighton Buzzard.

There's also someone with a very distinctive voice that sometimes makes announcements at Rugby; I've been told that it's when the automated announcements stop working. It's certainly someone in the power box/ROC; there was some publicity on the station a while ago about him because he was looking for sponsorship for some adventure, can't remember the details.

By the way, does anyone know who makes the current Northampton automated station announcements? - an unusual voice that I wouldn't describe as 'authoritative', i.m.o., more 'persuasive'.

 

[stadler]

I'm sure that the voice referred to was still making announcements at Milton Keynes just before lockdown (and may still be doing so for all I know) which were usually for short notice alterations. I took it that it was someone in the power box as the announcements seemed to me to have an 'very official' type construction. I particularly remember that he made a very short notice announcement that the next up Southern service was cancelled, advising customers to instead catch a particular L.M. train - unfortunately about 10 minutes after the latter had left. Perhaps it was intended for Bletchley or Leighton Buzzard.

There's also someone with a very distinctive voice that sometimes makes announcements at Rugby; I've been told that it's when the automated announcements stop working. It's certainly someone in the power box/ROC; there was some publicity on the station a while ago about him because he was looking for sponsorship for some adventure, can't remember the details.

By the way, does anyone know who makes the current Northampton automated station announcements? - an unusual voice that I wouldn't describe as 'authoritative', i.m.o., more 'persuasive'.

Thank you for the information. That is what i suspected. I thought he was probably a staff member making the announcements.

Ivona Amy is the current Northampton voice. She is a Text To Speech voice rather than a real human. All of the AGA and LNWR and WMR stations use her now as she replaced Atos Anne earlier this year.

I have to say that for a Text To Speech voice she sounds quite good.

You can make your own Ivona Amy announcement here on this Text To Speech engine:

NextUp.com - Ivona Text to Speech Voices

Ivona Text to Speech Voices

nextup.com

Just first select "British, English" and then "Amy" as the voice.

 

[Parallel]

By the way, does anyone know who makes the current Northampton automated station announcements? - an unusual voice that I wouldn't describe as 'authoritative', i.m.o., more 'persuasive'.

This will be a text-to-speech voice that goes by the name ‘IVONA Amy’. Now in wide use across the West Midlands Trains and Greater Anglia networks.

 

[Sebrh11]

Got told transpennine express didn't have the rob announcements. On a battle with northern to get Trisha Jarman announcements though. I'll let you know when I hear back.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Thank you for the information. That is what i suspected. I thought he was probably a staff member making the announcements.

Ivona Amy is the current Northampton voice. She is a Text To Speech voice rather than a real human. All of the AGA and LNWR and WMR stations use her now as she replaced Atos Anne earlier this year.

I have to say that for a Text To Speech voice she sounds quite good.

You can make your own Ivona Amy announcement here on this Text To Speech engine:

NextUp.com - Ivona Text to Speech Voices

Ivona Text to Speech Voices

nextup.com

Just first select "British, English" and then "Amy" as the voice.

Thanks for that. I now realise what I found odd about these announcements; the voice tails off downwards towards the end of each sentence making iit sound like the speaker's lost interest. At least it makes a change from the modern idiom of a rise towards the end of the sentence, making each one sound like a question.

This will be a text-to-speech voice that goes by the name ‘IVONA Amy’. Now in wide use across the West Midlands Trains and Greater Anglia networks.

Thanks, also.

As a random but not totally irrelevant aside, if you send a text message to a landline that also does text to speech. Perhaps sadly, I sometimes send 'text spaghetti' to my own landline to see what it sounds like. Simple pleasures