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Station Announcements

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westv

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Why is it on some stations that the automated announcements are perfectly clear but ones done "manually" sound garbled and unclear?
 
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Aictos

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Why is it on some stations that the automated announcements are perfectly clear but ones done "manually" sound garbled and unclear?

Depends on the setup of the equipment at that location, for one I know some stations in which manual announcements are preferred as they sound clear and easy to understand vs the automated ones which at some stations can and do sounded garbled and unclear in that you only get static if you're lucky!
 

Antman

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Why is it on some stations that the automated announcements are perfectly clear but ones done "manually" sound garbled and unclear?

That's been my experience too, often staff speak too loudly and their voice is distorted
 
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That's been my experience too, often staff speak too loudly and their voice is distorted

Or too quickly. Or too quietly. Or not clearly. Or with a strong local accent.

I have a particular bugbear with one announcer at Wolverhampton station who has a strange style where he speaks slowly and deliberately, but then reads station names so quickly as to become unintelligible. Birmingham New Street becomes "birnewstree" and Birmingham International becomes "birternatnal".

I think the short answer to the question is "because people are variable, and computers are not".
 

BzRail

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Why is it on some stations that the automated announcements are perfectly clear but ones done "manually" sound garbled and unclear?

I find that timing of manual announcements is too often poor, i.e. just as a train rattles in/out of the station, meaning few can hear them. This is most annoying at times of disruption/alteration when people really need to know, and only one or few announcements is/are made. City Thameslink, being enclosed/under-ground, was especially bad for this, but it can happen anywhere.

There must be cases where the person making the announcement is too remote from the platform to know about ambient noise at the time.

Over a year ago I was on a train stuck at Gatwick during disruption. It was a 319 with many windows open. The driver kept making announcements at exactly the same time as those on the platform, as a result nobody heard either piece of information. Some time later there was another announcement from the driver (alone this time) which showed he was very agitated with the passengers for ignoring everything he had said!.

It is not always the fault of the poor passenger :)
 

talldave

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The PA system at Blackfriars adjusts to ambient noise, so as the train comes in, the PA gets louder. What is amusing is if announcements on Platforms A & B start around the same time with no trains present. This results in a battle between the PAs as each increases volume in reaction to the other!
 

Deepgreen

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I find that timing of manual announcements is too often poor, i.e. just as a train rattles in/out of the station, meaning few can hear them. This is most annoying at times of disruption/alteration when people really need to know, and only one or few announcements is/are made. City Thameslink, being enclosed/under-ground, was especially bad for this, but it can happen anywhere.

There must be cases where the person making the announcement is too remote from the platform to know about ambient noise at the time.

Over a year ago I was on a train stuck at Gatwick during disruption. It was a 319 with many windows open. The driver kept making announcements at exactly the same time as those on the platform, as a result nobody heard either piece of information. Some time later there was another announcement from the driver (alone this time) which showed he was very agitated with the passengers for ignoring everything he had said!.

It is not always the fault of the poor passenger :)

There are also many locations where the automated announcements are mis-timed - for example, with warnings about trains not stopping being broadcast just after they have sped through! Southern also seem to have a knack for using announcers to make recordings who have anything but local accents!
 

BanburyBlue

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Automated announcements here at Banbury are pretty good. Can be an issue occasionally when the engine noise from one train drowns out the announcement for a train on a different platform. And can be a tad annoying when a train is late, where every change in time results in an announcement. This can happen if a train is say 4 mins late, then 5 mins, then back to 4 mins.

And I really don't think the automated announcer is "really sorry for the delay to my journey" :D
 

londonbridge

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I find that timing of manual announcements is too often poor, i.e. just as a train rattles in/out of the station, meaning few can hear them. This is most annoying at times of disruption/alteration when people really need to know, and only one or few announcements is/are made. City Thameslink, being enclosed/under-ground, was especially bad for this, but it can happen anywhere.

There must be cases where the person making the announcement is too remote from the platform to know about ambient noise at the time.

Over a year ago I was on a train stuck at Gatwick during disruption. It was a 319 with many windows open. The driver kept making announcements at exactly the same time as those on the platform, as a result nobody heard either piece of information. Some time later there was another announcement from the driver (alone this time) which showed he was very agitated with the passengers for ignoring everything he had said!.

It is not always the fault of the poor passenger :)

Was at a station recently when a platform alteration announcement was made at the same time as a freight train passed through, meaning no-one could hear which platform the train we were waiting for would now be using.
 

krus_aragon

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And I really don't think the automated announcer is "really sorry for the delay to my journey" :D

On that note, I am happy for an auto-announcer to say "we apologise for the delay...", as they can apologise on behalf of the human staff. If they say "I apologise" that does get my goat.
 

BzRail

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...
And I really don't think the automated announcer is "really sorry for the delay to my journey" :D

The auto-announcer on Southern stations no longer says sorry, or gives any reason, unless the delay is significant. We just get something like "the hh:mm service to xxxx will now arrive/depart at hh:mm". Saves electricity I suppose.
 

PR1Berske

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Or too quickly. Or too quietly. Or not clearly. Or with a strong local accent.

I have a particular bugbear with one announcer at Wolverhampton station who has a strange style where he speaks slowly and deliberately, but then reads station names so quickly as to become unintelligible. Birmingham New Street becomes "birnewstree" and Birmingham International becomes "birternatnal".

I think the short answer to the question is "because people are variable, and computers are not".

Here at Preston, holding out resolutely against computer announcements, there used to be a manual announcer who would say " Dalton, Roose, and Barrow Inverness "

He was replaced, I think, with a bloke who would say "...and Barrow in fairness"

To answer the OP, the reason is mostly physics. The position of speakers and the amount of substances off of which the soundwaves bounce, will all factor into the quality of the sound. Computers have the clipped robotic buzz of programming, reducing the coming together of breathing, words clashing together, hurrying up at the end because you want to sneeze, natural vibrato...
 

40129

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The following really bug me with automated announcements:-

1) Announcements that repeat themselves in short succession
2) Announcements that miss-pronounce almost every station west of Wellington (and somehow emphasize the miss-pronounciation)
3) Announcements that include 'mind the gap' when the platform is straight and the gap minimal
4) Announcements regarding delays when the delay has increased/decreased by less than 5 minutes
5) Announcements regarding 'today's poor weather' when it's dry, warm and sunny
6) Platform alteration announcements that don't include the new platform number
7) any automated announcement on Virgin West Coast

Personally, I prefer manual announcements, providing they are done in a professional manner and by someone without marbles in their mouth
 

alxndr

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There's one guy at Swindon who always amuses me with his excessive cheerfulness, "Platform number twoo°°°°°ooo". Perfectly understandable though.

It's the announcements that include the name of the train that irritate me though, I don't care that it's the Merchant Venturer, I'd rather be able to clearly hear the time of the service being referred to. If I did want to know the name of it I'd have a look as it went past.
 

BurtonM

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Or too quickly. Or too quietly. Or not clearly. Or with a strong local accent.

I have a particular bugbear with one announcer at Wolverhampton station who has a strange style where he speaks slowly and deliberately, but then reads station names so quickly as to become unintelligible. Birmingham New Street becomes "birnewstree" and Birmingham International becomes "birternatnal".

I think the short answer to the question is "because people are variable, and computers are not".

I remember someone on here referring to him as 'Birmi'national man' in a previous discussion. I was puzzled for a while, as I'd never heard him, but when I did, I understood right away. Not really acceptable.
 

Parallel

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The autoannouncements at Newport (South Wales) are completely bizarre, or rather the volume of them. They're okay if you are on platform 2 or 3 but on platform 4, they are so quiet you can barely hear them, even without a train at a platform. When I was last there (waiting for a service to Manchester Piccadilly), it seemed someone was experimenting with the volume. It was reasonable on platform 4 but was horrifically loud in Utterly Crusty. When I changed at Newport again on the way back, it was quieter than it was originally!

The thing that amuses me with autoannouncements, is when you can obviously tell when the TOC has shoe-horned bits in. When waiting in Upper Crust I heard this:

"Platform 3 for the 10:44 First Great WESTern service to Portsmouth Harbourrr calling at Filton Abbey WOOD, Bristol Temple Meads, BathSpa, Bradford On Avon, TROWbridge, WESTbury, Warminster, Salisbury, Romsey, Southampton CENTRAL, Fareham, Cosham, Fratton, PortsmouthandSOUTHsea and Portsmouth Harbourrrrr. Passengers intending to join this service should board now as it is ready to leave. Platform 3 for the 10:44 First Great WESTern service to Portsmouth Harbourrr. WHICH IS READY TO LEAVE."

Anne seems to develop a lisp when a train is delayed due to "electrical supply problems".

FGW don't bother with "First Great Western apologises for this late running, and the inconvenience to your journey today" anymore after announcing how late the train will be. Just as well really, as it would repeat if the expected time changed by two minutes (over a five minute threshold). Every time.
 
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hassaanhc

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Or too quickly. Or too quietly. Or not clearly. Or with a strong local accent.

I have a particular bugbear with one announcer at Wolverhampton station who has a strange style where he speaks slowly and deliberately, but then reads station names so quickly as to become unintelligible. Birmingham New Street becomes "birnewstree" and Birmingham International becomes "birternatnal".

I think the short answer to the question is "because people are variable, and computers are not".
That annoys me at London Waterloo as well. Whenever I'm there, no matter what time of day, the same person is doing the manual announcements. He has a strong accent and speaks too quickly as well, so I really struggle to understand what is being said. A shame when the Phil Sayer auto announcements are very clear.


Over a year ago I was on a train stuck at Gatwick during disruption. It was a 319 with many windows open. The driver kept making announcements at exactly the same time as those on the platform, as a result nobody heard either piece of information. Some time later there was another announcement from the driver (alone this time) which showed he was very agitated with the passengers for ignoring everything he had said!.

It is not always the fault of the poor passenger :)
The same happens on Class 455 units as well, always annoys me :P.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The auto-announcer on Southern stations no longer says sorry, or gives any reason, unless the delay is significant. We just get something like "the hh:mm service to xxxx will now arrive/depart at hh:mm". Saves electricity I suppose.
I first heard that a month ago at East Croydon (it has the new voice also used at Brighton, Gatwick Airport, Victoria etc) and reasons were given. The most amusing thing was them being spoken quickly in one breath :lol: and long-winded too, like "Following signal staff instructions to run at a reduced speed whilst inspecting the line".
 

westv

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To answer the OP, the reason is mostly physics. The position of speakers and the amount of substances off of which the soundwaves bounce, will all factor into the quality of the sound. Computers have the clipped robotic buzz of programming, reducing the coming together of breathing, words clashing together, hurrying up at the end because you want to sneeze, natural vibrato...
So that's why the acoustics change from clear as a bell to a mash of echoing nonsense?
 

Via Bank

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To answer OP's question: quite simply, because computers are very regular in chaining together the sound files, and the sound files have usually been recorded by professional voice artists (or other people considered to have a 'good' speaking voice) and levelled, and the speaker setup configured, by professional acoustic engineers. There are very few people whose job is solely as station announcer any more.

In addition, a computer PA system generally decides what it's going to say before it says it. A personal bugbear of mine is where people doing manual announcements begin an announcement, then pause while they read the departure time/destination off their job card/timetable.
 

pdeaves

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There's one guy at Swindon who always amuses me with his excessive cheerfulness, "Platform number twoo°°°°°ooo". Perfectly understandable though.

Yes, he is rather jolly, isn't he?

It's the announcements that include the name of the train that irritate me though, I don't care that it's the Merchant Venturer, I'd rather be able to clearly hear the time of the service being referred to. If I did want to know the name of it I'd have a look as it went past.

If you happen to know the name then it gives an additional audible trigger that you must pay attention to this announcement. I suppose like many things it's something that some people like and some don't, possibly even the same person on different days!
 

louis97

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The autoannouncements at Newport (South Wales) are completely bizarre, or rather the volume of them. They're okay if you are on platform 2 or 3 but on platform 4, they are so quiet you can barely hear them, even without a train at a platform. When I was last there (waiting for a service to Manchester Piccadilly), it seemed someone was experimenting with the volume. It was reasonable on platform 4 but was horrifically loud in Utterly Crusty. When I changed at Newport again on the way back, it was quieter than it was originally!

You can blame ambient noise sensors for that - even the weather can sometimes have an impact on the volume through it. Also quite often the sensors get rusty and therefore their effectiveness is reduced. You can see them on the end of the canopy at the new bridge end. Small metal rectangle things.
 

Andyh82

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The thing that amuses me with autoannouncements, is when you can obviously tell when the TOC has shoe-horned bits in. When waiting in Upper Crust I heard this:

The most often example of this is when a new station has opened (rare) or the operator has changed (more common) and they've recorded that bit in a different volume or tone of voice.
 

thenorthern

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Virgin Trains seem to favour manual announcements for some reason.

The biggest problem with manual announcements I find is when the announcer's local dialect and accent is used and it contains words most people from outside that area don't know. With manual announcements though I do find the main benefit is that things such as trains being in reverse formation or seat reservations not working can be added to the announcements.

This announcer's accent managed to get on the news.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7458683.stm
 

dave12435

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I remember waiting for a Dover train once at Tonbridge and there was some kind of delay and three trains due after the Dover train arrived in front of it to Hastings, Victoria and Tunbridge Wells before as the train arrived the "manual" announcement was along the lines of the train now approaching Platform 1 is the Southeastern service to Dover Priory!!!
Those exclamation marks aren't exaggerations either they sounded really excited about it for some reason
 

tsr

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The same happens on Class 455 units as well, always annoys me :P.

For some weird reason on Southern 455s I have never had that problem with the PA/PIS control box in Slave mode - only when drivers use it in Master mode (and that's not a dig at drivers)! It can be really clear in Slave mode, so much so that I can use it through the cab window and hear it echoing 2 or 3 coaches away. 319 PAs can be terrible all round, though. They do seem to be getting louder, which solves the main issue.
 
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