Mind the gap please

[Deleted]

I notice that Tower Hill is now using announcements saying "Mind the gap please", whereas elsewhere on the system it tends just to be "Mind the gap".

Is this new polite form going to make its way elsewhere?

[metman]

They say that at Northwood and on other parts of the Met main line! Then again they should do really!

[happybunny]

At Ealing common used to say mind the gap on the tannoy but since they refurbished the stn it doesn't work any more

[Chris M]

I've heard "Mind the gap please", with the last word sounding slightly disjointed at a couple of places on the Circle. Great Portland Street I think was the first place I heard it, nearly a year ago.

If you really want people to pay attention, the annoucnement should be done by the same woman who did the lifts at Chalk Farm. The tone brokers no arguments - you will do as she says! I'd not be at all surprised if she is/was a headmistress.

[edwin]

"Mind the Gap, please" is at Bow Road, Gloucester Road, Bethnal Green and Great Portland Street... Gloucester Road and Bethnal Green both have straight platforms, the irony is is that Baker Street on the Met has a gigantic gap yet there is a complete absense of an announcement there...

The new "Mind the Gap, please" and female "Mind the Gap" are both utterly dire. The old style one at Embankment (northbound, Northern line) is the best.

And if you think the lifts at Chalk Farm are bad, listen to the ones at Queensway, they should get her to do it! Or possibly Thatcher.

[metman]

The old skool style that sounded like a news reader-made one listen!

[railtechnician]

edwin said:

"Mind the Gap, please" is at Bow Road, Gloucester Road, Bethnal Green and Great Portland Street... Gloucester Road and Bethnal Green both have straight platforms, the irony is is that Baker Street on the Met has a gigantic gap yet there is a complete absense of an announcement there...

The new "Mind the Gap, please" and female "Mind the Gap" are both utterly dire. The old style one at Embankment (northbound, Northern line) is the best.

And if you think the lifts at Chalk Farm are bad, listen to the ones at Queensway, they should get her to do it! Or possibly Thatcher.

Baker Street had a noise abatement order slapped upon it years ago following complaints from local residents. This may be the reason why there is no automated 'Mind The Gap' announcement.

Unfortunately residents are a powerful voice these days but it started years ago with the advent of PA at all stations. I recall not long after installing and commissioning the local PA at Kingsbury, Queensbury and Canon's Park in the 1980s that residents complaints meant that announcements after 8pm at Queensbury were forbidden and indeed a couple of speakers at the end of the southbound platform were also removed which affected the volume of announcements on that platform throughout the day.

[Tomcakes]

The guy who did it at Bank and Waterloo was the best - "MIND THE GAP!" - no ifs, no buts, no "...if it's not too much of a bother, would you mind minding the gap please?".

[Deleted]

metman said:

The old skool style that sounded like a news reader-made one listen!

It did too !! Also at Bank Central Line, two diferent lengths for peak and off peak and some sort of odd chime before hand. Finishing with "Stand clear of the doors, please"

TOTAL authority, no messing about and only at stations where it is needed !

Let's have that recording back ! (It's still used at Embankment, northbound Northern Line, isn't it? I'm sure it was when i was there earlier this year !)

[Phil]

Hmmm.....reminds me of the new directive that 'sorry not in service' is no longer correct. According to TfL political correctness, 'SORRY' has to be removed .....(damn it, work it out for yourselves!! ;D

[Dmitri]

rbruce1314 said:

'sorry not in service' is no longer correct. According to TfL political correctness, 'SORRY' has to be removed

Does not make much difference to me .

[District Dave]

On a similar point when I joined LU we were told not to apologise for delays etc. as this was an admission that we were in the wrong and therefore an admission of liability (?).....

This seems to have been rethought!

[Tomcakes]

I think (Oracle will probably know) that if you apologise for something, it is an admission of liability - and hence you can *theoretically* be held to it. Which, obviously LU don't want to do, they want to blame it on one of their sub-sub-contractors to stop the passenger claiming their refund.

Or perhaps one day we'll hear... "Ladies and gentlemen, this train is currently 57 minutes late, we apologise for this delay, this apology does not construe any admission of liability or impart blame onto London Underground, Transport for London or it's myriad of contractors, and any claims arising will not be altered by the broadcast of this announcement". ;D

[Deleted]

Waterloo on the Bakerloo still has quite aggressive "Mind the gap" announcements. Also with "Stand clear of the doors, please" thrown in. However the timer seems to be a bit knackered as it always tells you to mind the doors long before the train is ready to! I've noticed that announcement is tied in with the station starter as it will never tell you to mind the doors when the stick is on. Nifty eh?

[Oracle]

I would tend to agree with TV...if you apologise you could be held to be accountable. If you say nothing then there is no admission of liability.

[Deleted]

Bit confused over the liability issue.

LU are under no additional liability if they apologise for a mistake or don't. All tickets are issued under TFL's conditions of carriage which limits TFL's liability in the event of a delay.

Also timetables as published have a disclaimer.

Therefore I fail to see what legal comeback a user has, bar the refund of their journey, which is contained within the conditions of carriage.

BTW the booming voice @ Bank was the best ;D

[Tomcakes]

True - I was thinking more generally.

However, *theoretically*, let's say a train is delayed because some contractor has screwed something up further along the line. Under the conditions of carriage, it's "outside of LU's control", thus when you fill in the form after the 45 minute delay they come out with that. What would happen though, if you said "Well, the driver came over the PA and said "We're sorry for the inconvenience to your journey""?

Anyway - as a passenger, something that really bugs me is when a train can be an hour late, and whilst there's a nice long PA about keeping the aisles free so the trolley can get through, there's no apology for the delay.

[Deleted]

Aye - GNER are good at that. Or they will remind you that it is YOUR responsibility to check YOUR ticket after they've just cancelled the last 2 trains

[Deleted]

While waiting at Barking this morning, as many District Line trains do, with a cold wind whistling through the open doors, I was listening to the C2C announcment of a train that was three minutes late. It was full of apologies, and was a big contrast to what I'd been reading on this thread yesterday.

[trc666]

Piccadilly Circus Bakerloo line platforms have the 'Mind the Gap, please' announcement.

[Alight]

aspect said:

metman said:

The old skool style that sounded like a news reader-made one listen!

It did too !! Also at Bank Central Line, two diferent lengths for peak and off peak and some sort of odd chime before hand. Finishing with "Stand clear of the doors, please"

TOTAL authority, no messing about and only at stations where it is needed !

Let's have that recording back ! (It's still used at Embankment, northbound Northern Line, isn't it? I'm sure it was when i was there earlier this year !)

Yes the TOTAL authority were the days! Now they try not to offend so much by being a bit calmer.

Im yet to hear a female voice say it. The stern man is just so funny.

But as many adults say, "Information Overload" comes to mind. I mean the other day waiting 15 mins for a Picc train north bound at Finsbury, it was just constant bloody announcements on a loop about 20 differnet kinds - SOO annoying.

[Tomcakes]

Indeed - I wish that some staff would realise that people DON'T want to be told every 2 minutes whether there's a good service, and that people DON'T care if the "target" is to play the announcement every 2 minutes, they don't want it!

[c5]

tombeevers said:

Indeed - I wish that some staff would realise that people DON'T want to be told every 2 minutes whether there's a good service, and that people DON'T care if the "target" is to play the announcement every 2 minutes, they don't want it!

However these are key targets for management and also part of this nonsense bonus scheme that operational staff are on.

The really useful bits like telling you that the next train is in 20 mins aren't included.

[Tomcakes]

All well and good, but the passenger doesn't really want to be told it so often. It's very annoying to be waiting for a train and to hear PA after PA. Do I care whether it means the staff meet their target? No, I just want a sensible level of information.

[Colin]

I think you'll find the vast majority of LUL staff would totally agree with you Tomcakes, but like JTD's says, our bosses have dictated to the frontline operational staff that X, Y & Z announcements must be made at a set frequency........this dictation is blanket across the network and takes no account of any one specific location (well, except perhaps a distinction between zone 1 & the rest). It is totally ridiculous that a security reminder, for example, has to be put out all day long at the likes of Upminster Bridge or Stamford Brook (to name but two random quiet stations) - but the staff have no choice

[c5]

Indeed some staff I am led to believe are threatened with disciplinary action for failing to adhere to the Service Information Index. Only certain PAs are included in the index but I guess there is confusion and maybe fear that mean more PAs are flung out.

[Deleted]

Has anyone noticed the C Stock lady is now telling people to EXIT at Earl's Court for the Exhibition Centres and EXIT at Southfields for Wimbledon Lawn Tennis? Are you not allowed to ALIGHT anymore? Was that too posh??

[Alight]

spadfree said:

Has anyone noticed the C Stock lady is now telling people to EXIT at Earl's Court for the Exhibition Centres and EXIT at Southfields for Wimbledon Lawn Tennis? Are you not allowed to ALIGHT anymore? Was that too posh??

Yep! (:

All of Emma's (in other words metronet) I believe have changed over to exit, or will be changing over.

The Piccadilly therefore is the ONLY line on the LU which uses "alight" now.

So summary can be seen as follows:

Bakerloo - Exit
Victoria - Exit
C/D stocks - Exit
Central - I havn't ever known this line to announce monuments but will look out tomoz if I use it for Oxford Circus. I guess it will be exit once updated.

Jubilee - Exit
Northern - change (possibility it could of been changed however)
Piccadilly - Alight

[Deleted]

I've never heard the Northern say 'change' or 'alight' etc, for anything...

[superteacher]

sturdjos said:

I've never heard the Northern say 'change' or 'alight' etc, for anything...

It mentions something about Moorfields Eye Hospital at Old Street.