Station Announcements at Euston

[MOONY]

I have noted the many and various threads regarding station and on-train automated announcements, and I have but 2 question.

1. Who is the current woman auto announcer at Euston (and many other places) that sounds like a petulant schoolgirl? She sounds like she is ticking you off rather than helping you! And where did she learn diction? She pronounces "Calling at" as "callinat"!

2. I don't know whether this has been discussed before, but why do announcers quote the platform before the train - e.g., "The next departure from platform x is the xx.xx to wherever" Surely passengers want to hear that "The xx.xx to wherever will depart from platform x" - or am I being a pedantic and grumpy old man?

I visit Clapham Junction regularly and I presume from previous threads that the excellent male announcer there is Phil Sayer.

 

[159jim]

The woman your looking for is known as Anne, and yes she is very annoying.

 

[londonmidland]

Her name is Sarah, she does the announcements at Leeds, London Liverpool Street, London Kings Cross, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Nottingham and various stations on the WCML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n89wJL4dUEQ

 

[Jordy]

No she is called Anne, she was referred to as Sarah before we knew her real name. She works for ATOS Origin, apparently.

 

[WestCoast]

She is called Anne.

ATOS Origin is unique in that it nominates a member of its own staff to record the announcements.

This is opposed to Funkwerk and Ditra who use professional voice over artists such as Celia Drummond and Phil Sayer.

Anne was nicknamed Sarcastic Sarah! She is used at many principal Network Rail stations (Euston, Kings Cross, Paddington, Liverpool Street, Fenchurch Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Leeds, Liverpool Lime Street). She is also used at many London Midland and FCC Great Northern stations (among many others).

I don't like her announcements, the don't sound very natural at all. The worst is at Manchester Piccadilly repeatedly "Due to today's weather, please take extra care when on the station platforms, surfaces may be slippery" even when it isn't raining! Really gets on your nerves after a while.

She also says "First Transpennine Express" too slowly with too much stress and "Northern" as if she has a cold. Other than that it is ok, but the voice over artists sound far better to me!

 

[transportphoto]

She is at most NXEA stations too...

I say most as not all have accouterments

 

[ainsworth74]

I think she's pretty good myself, not that I'm particularly expert on station announcements.

 

[Jordy]

LIVERPOOL SOUTH PARKWAY :mad:

Need I say more?

 

[thefab444]

Anne was nicknamed Sarcastic Sarah! She is used at many principal Network Rail stations (Fenchurch Street...).

I don't think she's at Fenchurch Street, at least, she wasn't when I visited a few months ago.

 

[jd]

The worst is at Manchester Piccadilly repeatedly "Due to today's weather, please take extra care when on the station platforms, surfaces may be slippery" even when it isn't raining! Really gets on your nerves after a while.

She does this at LM stations too. The worst bit though is where they replaced 'Central Trains' with 'London Midland' - it doesn't sound very natural at all, the LM recording is in a different tone of voice.

 

[route101]

For me the worst announcements in scotland are Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Queen St ' Use Both exit gates' .

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I don't think she's at Fenchurch Street, at least, she wasn't when I visited a few months ago.

Fenchurch Street is still announced manually by Susan Gibbs MBE - featured on page 75 of Rail 651. She does mornings and a man called Alan does afternoons.

 

[MCR247]

'...please board the train now, as it is ready to leave'

Not fun in the rush hour at Euston.

Annoys me SO much

 

[Lampshade]

I don't like her announcements, the don't sound very natural at all. The worst is at Manchester Piccadilly repeatedly "Due to today's weather, please take extra care when on the station platforms, surfaces may be slippery" even when it isn't raining! Really gets on your nerves after a while.

She also says "First Transpennine Express" too slowly with too much stress and "Northern" as if she has a cold. Other than that it is ok, but the voice over artists sound far better to me!

How about "Please do not leave your luggage unattended; unattended luggage may be removed or destroyed by the security services..." every 10 minutes. It's common sense, who the hell thinks "Actually, I thought I'd put my suitcase smack bang in the middle of the concourse and then go and take an enormous dump" :-x

Liverpool South Parkway was obviously recorded completely independent of the others with 'Anne' having taken masculinity pills.

 

[paulravuslante]

'...please board the train now, as it is ready to leave'

Not fun in the rush hour at Euston.

Annoys me SO much

I often hear this at Paddington too. It must be especially annoying when the train has only just been announced a few minutes before the departure time! It's an accident waiting to happen, when the scrum starts charging across the concourse, due to this announcement (especially in the wet weather).

 

[33056]

'...please board the train now, as it is ready to leave'

Not fun in the rush hour at Euston.

Annoys me SO much

Me too, especially when you are wandering down the platform with two or three minutes to go, often before the signal has even been cleared

 

[87015]

Me too, especially when you are wandering down the platform with two or three minutes to go, often before the signal has even been cleared

More of a winner when they haven't opened the doors yet and/or the stock hasn't even arrived yet which is a regular occurrence at 8-11...

 

[EM2]

How about "Please do not leave your luggage unattended; unattended luggage may be removed or destroyed by the security services..." every 10 minutes. It's common sense, who the hell thinks "Actually, I thought I'd put my suitcase smack bang in the middle of the concourse and then go and take an enormous dump" :-x

Quite a lot of people! Like the ones who chain their bike up to railings or balustrades and then bugger off for their lunch :-x

 

[jon0844]

'...please board the train now, as it is ready to leave'

Not fun in the rush hour at Euston.

Annoys me SO much

Which it says up to 5 minutes beforehand! I suppose the idea is to get people to hurry up, while giving a bit of a safety margin.

She is damn annoying though, and it's absolutely right about the way the message is formed - it doesn't make sense and it isn't pedantic (well, maybe a little!).

Only a trainspotter would care about knowing where a train is going by its platform, as against the train they want and THEN the platform it will be on!

Mind you, even the old systems do something similar, such as the old system First Capital Connect had at Hatfield with Phil;

'Platform 1 for the 0924 First Capital Connect service to London Kings Cross. Calling at Potters Bar, Finsbury Park and London Kings Cross. This service is formed of four coaches.'

now changed with the new system to get Anne to say;

''

As in, sod all, because FCC has decided to do away with the announcements except for when the train is approaching the platform. What a great improvement.

Isn't Anne now operating at Liverpool Street too? She's no doubt everywhere and must be the system of choice for Network Rail controlled stations. The only plus point is that, by and large, they've got it working pretty well at the terminus stations.

 

[thefab444]

Anne has been at Liverpool Street for a good few years.

With regards to the original post, Phil Sayer does indeed voice the announcements at Clapham Junction, on platforms 3/4, 7/8, 11/12 and 15/16 only (as well as the "Do not leave cases or parcels..." announcements).

 

[dan_atki]

2. I don't know whether this has been discussed before, but why do announcers quote the platform before the train - e.g., "The next departure from platform x is the xx.xx to wherever" Surely passengers want to hear that "The xx.xx to wherever will depart from platform x" - or am I being a pedantic and grumpy old man?

There are two principle reasons:

1) The system is designed to announce only on the platform you can hear it or, at the very most, also on the adjacent platform. Therefore that part of the announcement is irrelevant!

The announcement that plays on Ditra prior to the service approaching begins and ends with 'Platform x for the yyyy zzz service to.' for people to regather the main info about the train if they miss it at the start. Indeed, the question could be asked why not do the calling pattern first?

2) People aren't listening to the very start of the announcement anyways so it's something they're going to miss, regardless of what it is. As I said, it's the repetition at the end which is the most useful part.

I think Ditra know this because of the wording of the platform alterations: 'Attention please, this is a platform alteration. The yyyy zzz service to aaa will now depart from platform x.' - most people will be switched off until the end of 'yyyy' when they hear the time of the their train mentioned.


I have to say, I'm most surprised that on the GN side it is now just 'King's Cross' and 'Letchworth' (i.e. not 'London King's Cross' or 'Letchworth Garden City') - they sound very odd incomplete like that.

And yes, it would seem NR are very much pro Anne/Sarah/whatever we want to call her. She also seems to be standard in new stations, unless the operator says differently for completeness (e.g. Mitcham Eastfields). I wonder how safe the Ditra systems are at the NR managed stations that use them...

 

[thefab444]

I wonder how safe the Ditra systems are at the NR managed stations that use them...

Should think Waterloo is safe as it is merely an extension of the SWT Ditra system. Suprised she hasn't invaded Victoria though.

I can just imagine the farce that would occur if they put FCC-style Anne in at New Street. Sort of thing NR love.

 

[jon0844]

The new system is not yet set (by FCC) to announce only on the correct platform and I have no idea if/when they'll get that working. That and the lack of announcements before a train arrives is why I think it's a disaster having switched.

On a Sunday, there can be around 30 minutes between trains. The old system would periodically announce the next service. The new one will remain totally silent for the whole time, until the train is approx 20-30 seconds from the platform. It won't then say anything when the train has arrived either. So that's the visually impaired with no info for 30 minutes, and no info if they arrive late or fail to hear the single announcement with no post-clarification (i.e. the repeat of the key info; platform, time, operator, destination).

 

[Blindtraveler]

as my name would sugest, I am visuajy impaired. Anne is to me about as much use as a choclate teapot. Ditra is good as although relying on station staff or Jo public for help, it makes a big difference when phil has informed me where my train is so the station staff member I get can get me to my train quicker. Had an issue once at man pic where a platform assistant spent so long finding out where last train back to edb was that i missed it and it cost what was then virgin a taxi from carlisle after getting me there via Preston

The new system is not yet set (by FCC) to announce only on the correct platform and I have no idea if/when they'll get that working. That and the lack of announcements before a train arrives is why I think it's a disaster having switched.

On a Sunday, there can be around 30 minutes between trains. The old system would periodically announce the next service. The new one will remain totally silent for the whole time, until the train is approx 20-30 seconds from the platform. It won't then say anything when the train has arrived either. So that's the visually impaired with no info for 30 minutes, and no info if they arrive late or fail to hear the single announcement with no post-clarification (i.e. the repeat of the key info; platform, time, operator, destination).

 

[deltic]

Was at Leeds recently and was bombarded with pointless messages including "keep off the tracks" - there were 3 security type announcements during the time it took to alight from the train to leaving the station.

Another odd announcement was on the line from Leeds to Ilkley where the next station is x was announced every few minutes. So on the run into Leeds the announcements "the next station is Leeds where this train terminates - please remember to take all your belongs with you" was played 4 or 5 times. If you didnt know the route and got up to move to the doors when the announcement was first played you would be standing up for 10 minutes at lease

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

There are two principle reasons:
I have to say, I'm most surprised that on the GN side it is now just 'King's Cross' and 'Letchworth' (i.e. not 'London King's Cross' or 'Letchworth Garden City') - they sound very odd incomplete like that.

I remember a big cultural battle in the 60s to get the Western Region to use "London Paddington" rather than just "Paddington" in its announcements (and departure boards, timetables etc). The London Midland was always particular to use "London X" for its three London termini (London, St Pancras and Marylebone) and everybody gradually fell into line.

Now we find that Virgin's Voyagers can't (or won't) display "London Euston" but just "Euston" on the front destination indicator, so we are back in the bad old days. I noticed recently that the linked station PA announcements at Chester (not by "Anne") now also use "Euston" only. This grates badly.

Anybody know why they use this style? Is it policy or are they just being careless?

 

[ChrisCooper]

When it comes to the order of the announcements, platform then destination goes back to manual announcments. Fairly standard ones would are "the next train at/now standing at platform x is the/will be the xx:xx service to x".

I think most automatic announcements have something of an irritation about them that isn't there with manual ones. I think it's the un-natural rhythm of them, and the worse the voice actors are the more noticable it is. Even with good ones though it still comes through, un-natural stresses and pauses due to the way it's all chopped and changed, especially when new things get added in. The design of the systems is a factor too, the longer chunks the better. Old systems tended to be worse for that, when memory considerations meant they wanted as little repeat as possible, but these days it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Aictos]

Fenchurch Street is still announced manually by Susan Gibbs MBE - featured on page 75 of Rail 651. She does mornings and a man called Alan does afternoons.

That's what I thought too however when I went down to Fenchurch Street on Tuesday evening between 7pm and 8pm it was certainly a woman's voice making me wonder if they're had toed the line and gone for Anne.

 

[WestCoast]

Now we find that Virgin's Voyagers can't (or won't) display "London Euston" but just "Euston" on the front destination indicator, so we are back in the bad old days. I noticed recently that the linked station PA announcements at Chester (not by "Anne") now also use "Euston" only. This grates badly.

The automated annoucment system voiced by Ruth, used at Arriva Trains Wales stations and others on the FGW network always just says the name of the London terminal. Indeed at Wrexham the Wrexham & Shropshire services were announced as heading just to MARYLEBONE.

 

[philjo]

There are two principle reasons:

I have to say, I'm most surprised that on the GN side it is now just 'King's Cross' and 'Letchworth' (i.e. not 'London King's Cross' or 'Letchworth Garden City') - they sound very odd incomplete like that.

At most GN stations it is announced as Letchworth........Garden City (with the pause in between - though the screens say Letchworth Gdn City)
At Kings Cross & Cambridge it is just announced as Letchworth & says Letchworth on the screens/departure boards. I assume this is because FCC look after the GN stations, it is NXEC at Cambridge & NR at KX. So inconsistency in the screens/announcements at different stations - the first time/occasional traveller can get confused by this. Some of the stations get abbreviated differently as well. To avoid confusion, I think it should always be written in full on the screens (with the possible exception of some of the longer welsh station names!)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Another odd announcement was on the line from Leeds to Ilkley where the next station is x was announced every few minutes. So on the run into Leeds the announcements "the next station is Leeds where this train terminates - please remember to take all your belongs with you" was played 4 or 5 times. If you didnt know the route and got up to move to the doors when the announcement was first played you would be standing up for 10 minutes at lease

Yes, I like the one played at Guiseley : "The next station is Leeds. This train terminates here." (the doors are often still open at Guiseley at the time!)