Are too loud and too many PRM alarms and announcements making travellers uptight.....

[TUC]

How on Earth did we all manage before announcements became standard?

Well, if you're visually impaired like ny wife, with great difficulty. It's a minor inconvinience for a minority of others that is well worth it for the independence it enables (and is very helpful to many other passengers too.)

 

[TUC]

Its a funny old forum this at times with posters in other threads saying about other users of the railway who may need the assistance or some such and the railway should provide it then in this thread when the railway is doing something to help those who those who have been just mentioned they get blasted for it - you all need to make up your mind as to what you want because you simply can not have it all.

Absolutely right.

 

[TUC]

If only there were published timetables available showing what time trains were scheduled to arrive at each station......

And if a train is late and you have lost track of where it is, or you are blind?

 

[sheff1]

It is importsnt that stations are announced several minutes before arrival, as well as on arrival.

On some routes, announcing a station "several" minutes before arrival is only going to cause confusion as the stops are so close together. The practice adopted on the Strathclyde electrics, where stops can be 1 or 2 minutes apart, seems fine to me "this is xxxx, the next stop is xxx" - no need to mention subsequent stops.

Obviously on routes where stops are much further apart, several minutes makes more sense but even that can cause problems when people get up 7/8 minutes before arrival and block the gangway when others are trying to get back from the toilet or buffet.

 

[TUC]

Obviously on routes where stops are much further apart, several minutes makes more sense but even that can cause problems when people get up 7/8 minutes before arrival and block the gangway when others are trying to get back from the toilet or buffet.

7/8 minutes is too long. Around three minutes is what is needed.

 

[Bikeman78]

Deleted

 

[trainophile]

It's bad when you start altering your routines just to avoid irritating announcements. On Virgin trains I have taken to using the small toilets, as the big sliding door ones drive me mad with that stupid woman (i.e. "the toilet") telling us how she used to be a public toilet, and this is a step up. I do wonder what her definition of public is!

 

[fowler9]

At West Allerton the announcements don't update if the train is going from 3 instead of 1 or 4 instead of 2. Some of the staff will make announcements saying to ignore the automated ones and tell you where the train is really going from. On the plus side the automated announcements are really quiet, I suspect due to complaints from locals. I could hear them from my house.

 

[hexagon789]

First prize for irritating has to be the automatic system at Swindon that goes off every time someone approaches the stairs telling them to be careful and hold the handrail. Whoever devised that should have the same system installed in their house! I had 45 minutes at Swindon on Thursday. I walked the streets for the first 20 minutes just to avoid listening to it.

The ones for the stairs at I think it was Dundee used to repeat themselves several times for just one person triggering them!

 

[TUC]

At West Allerton the announcements don't update of the train is going from 3 instead of 1 or 4 instead of 2. Some of the staff will make announcements saying to ignore the automated ones and tell you where the train is really going from. On the plus side the automated announcements are really quiet, I suspect due to complaints from locals. I could hear them from my house.

How is it a plus for announcements to be quiet? They need to be loud enough for most passengers to hear them

 

[fowler9]

How is it a plus for announcements to be quiet? They need to be loud enough for most passengers to hear them

Because they are frequently incorrect and the staff then make announcements correcting them as I said. The staff announcements are louder for some reason.

 

[leytongabriel]

I'm at a bit of a loss to understand the crucial health and safety value or how it helps passengers with sensory impairments when you get an announcement giving the name of the TOC after each station. As in 'This is the Tender Loving Train Company Service to South Nowhereville'. Especially on lines where the trains all go to one destination and are operated by only TOC. Granted that leaving a terminus or a station where there is a choice of trains there might be some point but as the announcement is almost invariably played after the doors have shut and the train is moving off, it does kind of nullify the potential for alerting folk before it is too late.

 

[leytongabriel]

Least fav repeated announcement? 'This is coach 4 of a 4 coach train'. Southern special on trains with no reservation. Why thank you, I'd quite forgotten since the last stop!

 

[Bikeman78]

Least fav repeated announcement? 'This is coach 4 of a 4 coach train'. Southern special on trains with no reservation. Why thank you, I'd quite forgotten since the last stop!

At it's peak they announced that twice per stop, once in the platform and once shortly after departure. Sometimes it got confused, this is coach seven of four! They've toned it down a lot now, only trains that split or stop at short platforms have the coach x of y announcement.

 

[sheff1]

EMT stations are quite something. The auto announcer is prattling on for longer than there is silence, even when it's not announcing trains.

At Sheffield today (29th Dec) there were repeated announcements that "No trains will run on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. Please check before you travel".

 

[lammergeier]

At Sheffield today (29th Dec) there were repeated announcements that "No trains will run on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. Please check before you travel".

Well to be fair there's only 361 sleeps until Christmas. People should plan ahead!

 

[superalbs]

Well to be fair there's only 361 sleeps until Christmas. People should plan ahead!

So if no trains will run on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, then what exactly should people check?

This sums it all up really...

 

[Bertie the bus]

Autism is the big thing currently as far as disabilities go. Autistic people can now apply for blue badges and Morrisons turns off Muzak and till bleeps for an hour per week to make shopping more pleasant for them, for example.

As autistic people are more sensitive to sounds than others it seems to me that all these bleeps, squeals, bongs and constant auto-announcements on trains could be considered discriminatory. That could be interesting.

 

[Mikey C]

The "see it say it sort it" announcement does seem especially overused on Thameslink through the core.

Is there a different policy in central London to outer London? For example, Tube platforms in zone 1 seem to have far more announcements than those further out.

 

[anamyd]

Autism is the big thing currently as far as disabilities go. Autistic people can now apply for blue badges and Morrisons turns off Muzak and till bleeps for an hour per week to make shopping more pleasant for them, for example.

As autistic people are more sensitive to sounds than others it seems to me that all these bleeps, squeals, bongs and constant auto-announcements on trains could be considered discriminatory. That could be interesting.

I'm an autistic person and I don't get annoyed by these sounds. I suppose it depends on the person...? What I don't like is this excessively overbright white LED lighting that is increasingly being forced on people.

 

[Clip]

So if no trains will run on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, then what exactly should people check?

This sums it all up really...

Because some trains do run boxing day and some people may be going to a station as part of thier journey that has trains that run so the info is correct if a little silly.

 

[yorkie]

I'm an autistic person and I don't get annoyed by these sounds. I suppose it depends on the person...? What I don't like is this excessively overbright white LED lighting that is increasingly being forced on people.

Yes. It's not just about sensitivity to sounds...
https://www.autism.org.uk/sensory

Here we look at some of the effects of hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity to sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, balance and body awareness, and ways you could help.

Also some people are just sensitive to sudden loud sounds (nothing to do with autism), and for sure the sounds on some trains are far too high for such people to find tolerable.

It is clear to me that the loud noises used in the rail industry are designed with people with certain needs in mind but absolutely not with others in mind.

The problem seems to be that that a particular group may lobby for a particular adjustment, but insufficient safeguards are in place to ensure the adjustment is not detrimental to other groups.

 

[RichT54]

I suffer from tinnitus. Most of the time it is a minor irritant, but loud noises, especially higher pitched ones, can aggravate it to the point where it actually becomes painful - for example the loud squealing of train brakes I hear at Reading station. I find the repetition of announcements annoying but at least they don't normally trigger bad tinnitus, unless they are exceptionally loud, as was the case today in the middle carriage of a 166 on the North Downs line where the loudspeaker was set to a much louder volume than normal. In contrast, the speakers at my local station (Sandhurst) are so quiet I can barely hear them, even when stood directly underneath.

 

[Esker-pades]

I'm an autistic person and I don't get annoyed by these sounds. I suppose it depends on the person...? What I don't like is this excessively overbright white LED lighting that is increasingly being forced on people.

This.

There appears to be an assumption that autistic people act as one homogeneous block. I am affected by some loud sounds and bright lights of the railway, but other people with ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) are not. So much about this disorder is personal and requires individual assistance/accommodations.

 

[VioletEclipse]

This.

There appears to be an assumption that autistic people act as one homogeneous block. I am affected by some loud sounds and bright lights of the railway, but other people with ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) are not. So much about this disorder is personal and requires individual assistance/accommodations.

I completely agree there

 

[anamyd]

I suffer from tinnitus. Most of the time it is a minor irritant, but loud noises, especially higher pitched ones, can aggravate it to the point where it actually becomes painful - for example the loud squealing of train brakes I hear at Reading station. I find the repetition of announcements annoying but at least they don't normally trigger bad tinnitus, unless they are exceptionally loud, as was the case today in the middle carriage of a 166 on the North Downs line where the loudspeaker was set to a much louder volume than normal. In contrast, the speakers at my local station (Sandhurst) are so quiet I can barely hear them, even when stood directly underneath.

I didn't think on-train PA systems could get that loud! Outside of trains one of my main interests is audio and the the one area I'm weak in is on-train PA systems. I'm guessing they use some kind of constant voltage amplification stepped up from the train supply, but that it's lower voltage than the 100V standard used at stations (which, after the Atos or "insert announcement system company here" unit, just use standard mixer amps (small stations - e.g. Carmarthen 240 watts), multi-zone mixer amps (medium stations) and multi-zone mixers with multiple seperate power amps (large stations - according to Penton London St. Pancras International is 55,000 watts!).

The problem with the announcements being quiet at some stations is probably down to the input gain trim pots on the back of the amp being set to way too low a level, meaning that with the front panel controls cranked, max volume is limited by the rear controls.

 

[py_megapixel]

I was at Crewe station waiting for a train to Manchester, and there was some glitch with the announcement system, because it kept announcing the same train over and over again.

The next train at platform 6 will be the 15:09 Virgin Trains service to Glasgow Central. Calling at Wigan North Western, Preston, Penrith, for the north lakes, Carlisle and Glasgow Central. This train is formed of 10 coaches. First class seating is available at the front of the train in zones one to four, with standard seating at the rear in zones five to ten. You can find the shop in coaches D and K for delicious hot and cold refreshments. Stream TV, movies, and more, for free! Download the Virgin Trains BEAM app now to watch on board. Platform 6 for the 15:09 Virgin Trains service to Glasgow Central.

Now, as you may well have read, that's a pretty long announcement. Hearing that repeated about 10 times is annoying, because I don't want to go to Glasgow, and it wasn't giving any information about my train, which was half an hour late.

 

[al78]

It's bad when you start altering your routines just to avoid irritating announcements. On Virgin trains I have taken to using the small toilets, as the big sliding door ones drive me mad with that stupid woman (i.e. "the toilet") telling us how she used to be a public toilet, and this is a step up. I do wonder what her definition of public is!

I find that one irritating, and I don't really want a woman talking at me when I am about to empty my bladder. It is a failed attempt at humour, and should be switched off IMO.

 

[anamyd]

I was at Crewe station waiting for a train to Manchester, and there was some glitch with the announcement system, because it kept announcing the same train over and over again.



Now, as you may well have read, that's a pretty long announcement. Hearing that repeated about 10 times is annoying, because I don't want to go to Glasgow, and it wasn't giving any information about my train, which was half an hour late.

...and because it was Crewe, it was 10 instances of the same clipped/distorted announcement. They need a more powerful amp (and the Atos glitch fixing)

 

[nanstallon]

Definitely. The constant announcements are so annoying that it puts me off travelling by train. Just typical British hysteria. The one about reporting anyone who looks suspicious just winds people up for the sake of it, and telling people to make sure they haven't left anything on the train before they get off is unnecessary. We are not mentally retarded 7 year olds, ffs!