Announcement overload!

[Deleted]

The other day I travelled to work on the Piccadilly Line with a barrage of excessive and sometimes bizarre announcements. So much so that I had to record them on my phone for posterity.

I'm not sure if they're some sort of Olympics policy or just the product of a bored or over enthusiastic train driver. Highlights included:


'Russell! Russell to my left. Emergency stairs. 3 lifts. Lift capacity 50 five-oh 50 persons per lift'
'Russell. Various hotels, Great Ormond Street Hospital'

'Holborn to my left. Central Line both ways. East London Stratford Westfield shopping centre. West London Shepherds Bush Westfield shopping Centre'

'British Museum, Peacock Theatre, Portugal Street, Sainsburys HQ 33 Holborn'

'Next, Leicester for the Northern Line. Archway Whittington Hospital. Archway Mill Hill East High Barnet Branch. Belsize Park, Royal Free Hospital Belsize Park Edgware Branch. Brent Cross for Brent Cross shopping centre Brent Cross Edgware Branch'
'Various art galleries'

'Next circus for Bakerloo, then Green Park'

'GP, change here for BP - Buckingham Palace'


Lots of bemused looks in the carriage I was in. I suspect any tourists ended up even more confused than they might have been beforehand

[londonstuff]

Jul 11, 2012 19:14:38 GMT @scary said:

The other day I travelled to work on the Piccadilly Line with a barrage of excessive and sometimes bizarre announcements. So much so that I had to record them on my phone for posterity.

I'm not sure if they're some sort of Olympics policy or just the product of a bored or over enthusiastic train driver. Highlights included:


'Russell! Russell to my left. Emergency stairs. 3 lifts. Lift capacity 50 five-oh 50 persons per lift'
'Russell. Various hotels, Great Ormond Street Hospital'

'Holborn to my left. Central Line both ways. East London Stratford Westfield shopping centre. West London Shepherds Bush Westfield shopping Centre'

'British Museum, Peacock Theatre, Portugal Street, Sainsburys HQ 33 Holborn'

'Next, Leicester for the Northern Line. Archway Whittington Hospital. Archway Mill Hill East High Barnet Branch. Belsize Park, Royal Free Hospital Belsize Park Edgware Branch. Brent Cross for Brent Cross shopping centre Brent Cross Edgware Branch'
'Various art galleries'

'Next circus for Bakerloo, then Green Park'

'GP, change here for BP - Buckingham Palace'


Lots of bemused looks in the carriage I was in. I suspect any tourists ended up even more confused than they might have been beforehand

I've had this before on a couple of Vic line trains, usually fairly late on at night, where the driver must get bored and play through the whole set of announcements, from beggars on the train to messages about reporting unattended items. I think there must have been about ten unusual ones the last time I came across this though what most of them were, I canna remember. ;D

[rheostar]

I think the T/Op was playing silly buggers!

[Hassaan]

Jul 11, 2012 19:14:38 GMT @scary said:

The other day I travelled to work on the Piccadilly Line with a barrage of excessive and sometimes bizarre announcements. So much so that I had to record them on my phone for posterity.

I'm not sure if they're some sort of Olympics policy or just the product of a bored or over enthusiastic train driver. Highlights included:


'Russell! Russell to my left. Emergency stairs. 3 lifts. Lift capacity 50 five-oh 50 persons per lift'
'Russell. Various hotels, Great Ormond Street Hospital'

'Holborn to my left. Central Line both ways. East London Stratford Westfield shopping centre. West London Shepherds Bush Westfield shopping Centre'

'British Museum, Peacock Theatre, Portugal Street, Sainsburys HQ 33 Holborn'

'Next, Leicester for the Northern Line. Archway Whittington Hospital. Archway Mill Hill East High Barnet Branch. Belsize Park, Royal Free Hospital Belsize Park Edgware Branch. Brent Cross for Brent Cross shopping centre Brent Cross Edgware Branch'
'Various art galleries'

'Next circus for Bakerloo, then Green Park'

'GP, change here for BP - Buckingham Palace'


Lots of bemused looks in the carriage I was in. I suspect any tourists ended up even more confused than they might have been beforehand

I had that exact driver once back in March! Certainly livened up an otherwise boring journey ;D

[Deleted]

On the contrary I will refuse to travel on their train.
Perhaps some letters pointing out the constant PA of not so useful information is disturbing their journey and you feel that the operator's attention could not be focused on their core task - driving including listening for messages via radio and secondary - passing on useful service information or emergency messages.

[Deleted]

Sorry, but lighten up! ^^

[Fahad]

+1

All a bit of fun

[Deleted]

Yeah, I don't see a problem in terms of safety. However it was very annoying especially being in a carriage where the PA system actually works so he was coming over loud and clear.

I forgot to mention that we seemed to hear a couple of radio messages as well... sounded like he was holding the mic up to the cab radio

[trt]

The last train out of Brighton heading east was always packed to the gunwales and we young student types often ended up in the parcel cage of the guard's van, packed in like cattle. The driver could often ease the tension with an announcement along the lines of "Welcome on board the overnight sleepless service to Newhaven..."

I don't think it's too bad to show the human side of the service. And the lady who does sats at Old Street who always says good evening to the driver... I want to marry her - she is the best. Always cheerful and polite.

[Deleted]

I'm 99.99% certain the driver was wearing a hat.

I'd get on the following train at the next station.

[Deleted]

Jul 12, 2012 11:53:06 GMT @scary said:

I forgot to mention that we seemed to hear a couple of radio messages as well... sounded like he was holding the mic up to the cab radio

Blimey!

I do hope not. There are messages broadcast that are not for public broadcast at all and are for staff to use.

[Deleted]

There was at least one.... a woman relaying news of delays on the Northern Line. There might have been another but whatever it was it was garbled.

Jul 12, 2012 12:04:43 GMT trt said:

I don't think it's too bad to show the human side of the service.

Absolutely, it's always nice to have an amusing announcement here and there.... but only when they are amusing and not 3 times for every station.

[Ben]

Vaguely remember reading, (possibly in an old version of the RVAR document?) that such constant announcements were to be avoided and considered inappropriate for a service with many and frequent stops. Something about a 2 minute interval?

[version3point1]

Going by some of the descriptions in this thread – there is only one driver who does this. And yes, he wears the hat. He will hold up the handset to the radio speaker, usually when a service update is broadcast 1) to save him having to make the announcement himself and 2) so that there can be no accusations of foul play with regards to inaccurate information (because sometimes the service updates go on for so long that by the time it ends, you've forgotten half of it).

Unfortunately, the way mediocrity works within London Underground, I was told he received Thanks to You awards with regards to his PAs a few years back, and as such, this has encouraged him to carry on making them.

[Alight]

I'm one of the people against his overload of manual announcements. Sure there are people saying to 'lighten up' and saying it's 'only a bit of fun' but too many announcements can lead to people just switching off completely.

Announcements should be made sparingly otherwise if there is a really important announcement that requires the attention of each and every customer, they're simply not going to listen.

Technically there are enough pre-recorded announcements in the Piccadilly line DVA library for the driver not to even need to make an announcement unless it's an emergency.... just saying

[melikepie]

I do remember at one point there were delays and I was stuck on a train outside Arsenal. The driver lightheartedly, to the amusement of everyone, compared the delays to queuing of an Arsenal game and how he would not want to be there

[version3point1]

Jul 17, 2012 22:47:07 GMT Alight said:

Announcements should be made sparingly otherwise if there is a really important announcement that requires the attention of each and every customer, they're simply not going to listen.

The majority don't anyway, irregardless. Just the way things are now. I often find I have to make an announcement at least twice when there's a problem because you have to account for the wave of people taking out their earphones/taking off headphones for the first part of the message.

Technically there are enough pre-recorded announcements in the Piccadilly line DVA library for the driver not to even need to make an announcement unless it's an emergency.... just saying

The problem with this is that they are not considered "live PAs" and therefore, when it comes to the company's box-ticking target achievements/customer service surveys, they are not marked. They are also unmarked when assessing a driver for their CMS, i.e., if they used just the DVA and made no live announcements whatsoever during the course of an assessment (which the driver will not know about, as it usually entails a manager sitting on the train listening out for PAs), they will be failed on that particular competency.

[compsci]

So what happens if by some miracle absolutely nothing of any significance happens during a journey and no PAs beyond the usual station announcements are needed? Do you have to make a few random ones anyway lest a manager be hiding at the back of your train? And can you be failed the opposite way round if you make all the announcements yourself instead?

[Deleted]

There are set “professional” guidelines issued by LUL as to what we should say in a given circumstance but I don’t think anybody’s actually read them and if they have they’ve been forgotten.

On the Central we are required to make manual announcements at various points. At Leytonstone EB and North Acton WB we have to announce the destination, tell anyone wanting to go on the other branch to change and a “mind the doors”. At Leyton WB we have to say that at Stratford the doors will open on both sides.

As well as those we have to do “mind the doors” wherever we start plus at Woodford, Roding Valley, Grange Hill, Stratford WB, Liverpool Street, Bank, Notting Hill Gate, Shepherds Bush and East Acton. Plus any time we think it’s needed.

In the event of stopping between stations we have to do a PA within 20 seconds and then every two minutes. If we are held on a platform for more than 30 seconds over the normal the same applies. At least that is what my memory is telling me.

I actually got a letter of commendation saying that I’d done a PA while stuck outside Hainault once.

Whoop dee do……..

[Deleted]

Jul 23, 2012 7:23:56 GMT aslefshrugged said:

As well as those we have to do “mind the doors” wherever we start plus at Woodford, Roding Valley, Grange Hill, Stratford WB, Liverpool Street, Bank, Notting Hill Gate, Shepherds Bush and East Acton.

Interesting. What makes these stations special?

[Fahad]

Jul 23, 2012 7:23:56 GMT aslefshrugged said:

On the Central we are required to make manual announcements at various points. At Leytonstone EB and North Acton WB we have to announce the destination, tell anyone wanting to go on the other branch to change and a “mind the doors”.

Reminds me of my favourite of auxsetreq's blog posts

[Alight]

Jul 22, 2012 21:40:52 GMT version3point1 said:

The problem with this is that they are not considered "live PAs" and therefore, when it comes to the company's box-ticking target achievements/customer service surveys, they are not marked. They are also unmarked when assessing a driver for their CMS, i.e., if they used just the DVA and made no live announcements whatsoever during the course of an assessment (which the driver will not know about, as it usually entails a manager sitting on the train listening out for PAs), they will be failed on that particular competency.

Yes I've heard about these targets, although it was slightly contradicted when I visited the S stock mock-up in Euston Square Gardens. The managers there insisted that the automated announcement system aimed to take away the need for the drivers to make announcements unless they really had to.

To me this makes sense. Some drivers, by no fault of there own, can be very difficult to understand. They aren't trained voice-over artists and it is usually compounded by the fact their voice (irrespective of accent) can't always be broadcast very easily due to the PA system microphone/volume.

[Fahad]

I wonder if the train-to-track detrainment message has been accidentally selected, and if so, how the passengers reacted
I've encountered many times drivers scrolling through the announcements looking for a specific one...

[Deleted]

Jul 23, 2012 12:32:38 GMT @creepingbobbism said:

Interesting. What makes these stations special?

Apart from Woodford the curvature of the platform, at Woodford no idea at all.

Jul 23, 2012 20:38:34 GMT Fahad said:

I wonder if the train-to-track detrainment message has been accidentally selected, and if so, how the passengers reacted
I've encountered many times drivers scrolling through the announcements looking for a specific one...

I’m not sure if we have that message on the 92s, never seen it on the list.

[Fahad]

The depot tech on the 'The Tube' documentary played it when he was demonstrating the DVA on an S8 stock. I know not of any earlier stock

[Deleted]

I know not of S stock, just 92s

[version3point1]

Jul 22, 2012 22:52:55 GMT compsci said:

So what happens if by some miracle absolutely nothing of any significance happens during a journey and no PAs beyond the usual station announcements are needed? Do you have to make a few random ones anyway lest a manager be hiding at the back of your train? And can you be failed the opposite way round if you make all the announcements yourself instead?

This is why it frustrates me. You still have to inform the passengers that there is a good service (whenever the service update message is broadcast). I disagree with this – surely it would make sense to only say something if there is a problem? *sigh*

Jul 23, 2012 20:24:59 GMT Alight said:

Yes I've heard about these targets, although it was slightly contradicted when I visited the S stock mock-up in Euston Square Gardens. The managers there insisted that the automated announcement system aimed to take away the need for the drivers to make announcements unless they really had to.

I was told that this is partly something to do with the Disability Discrimination Act – where the PAs are meant to match word-for-word with the information on the dot matrix displays. I'm sure somebody here will know.

[v52gc]

Jul 25, 2012 15:02:35 GMT version3point1 said:

This is why it frustrates me. You still have to inform the passengers that there is a good service (whenever the service update message is broadcast). I disagree with this – surely it would make sense to only say something if there is a problem? *sigh*

As far as I know, it's only stations that need to do the good service announcements and trains only during disruptions when required (ie depending On direction/location...).

But I agree with you and would go further as to say the notion of "advertising" a good service is wrong and not required.

[rdm]

I travelled Eastbound on train 341 today, departing Northfields at approx 11.57am. The T/Op had a severe case of the verbals throughout my journey (I alighted at Russell Square). He never stopped, and some of his messages were unintelligible - using non-standard abbreviations (Gloucester Road was given as "Gloucester", South Kensington as "South Ken" (OK, a known contraction within railway circles), Hyde Park Corner as "HPC", Covent Garden as "Garden", and Russell Square as "Russell"). Personal belongings were referred to variously as "accoutrements", "things" etc., and interchange info went on and on and on. At Acton Town he announced that a District line train approaching alongside was for "Barking, Woof Woof!!" Now, I am all for keeping people advised, especially with the numbers of non-Londoners about for the Olympics, but this really was well over the top. My wife and I had earache on leaving the train. Is there a bonus on offer for the largest number of announcements per trip, perhaps, with a special prize for the number of different ways of saying that there is a good service operating on all lines?

[Hassaan]

Aug 9, 2012 14:53:23 GMT rdm said:

I travelled Eastbound on train 341 today, departing Northfields at approx 11.57am. The T/Op had a severe case of the verbals throughout my journey (I alighted at Russell Square). He never stopped, and some of his messages were unintelligible - using non-standard abbreviations (Gloucester Road was given as "Gloucester", South Kensington as "South Ken" (OK, a known contraction within railway circles), Hyde Park Corner as "HPC", Covent Garden as "Garden", and Russell Square as "Russell"). Personal belongings were referred to variously as "accoutrements", "things" etc., and interchange info went on and on and on. At Acton Town he announced that a District line train approaching alongside was for "Barking, Woof Woof!!" Now, I am all for keeping people advised, especially with the numbers of non-Londoners about for the Olympics, but this really was well over the top. My wife and I had earache on leaving the train. Is there a bonus on offer for the largest number of announcements per trip, perhaps, with a special prize for the number of different ways of saying that there is a good service operating on all lines?

Sounds like the exact same driver mentioned in the original post, and one I got back in March (I remember him saying the exact same things) ;D. Maybe he didn't realise he was speaking so loud? For me it made the otherwise long and boring journey more bearable (Hounslow Central - Holborn).