Automated Announcements

[Ibex]

The delay / cancellations that LM's Atos system use are

1 Flooding
2 A Fire
3 A signalling problem
4 A failure of signalling equipment
5 A failure of lineside equipment
6 A train failure
7 Congestion caused by a failed train
8 Late running of connecting trains
9 Severe weather conditions
10 Adverse weather conditions
11 Shortage of available train crew
12 Shortage of available trains
13 An external cause beyond our control
14 Road vehicle striking a bridge
15 Road vehicle damaging a level crossing
16 Animals on the line
17 An obstruction on the line
18 The failure of a level crossing
19 Vandalism affecting the railway
20 A points failure
21 Planned engineering works
22 Staff sickness
23 Industrial action by some staff
24 Industrial action by staff
25 A security alert
26 A problem on property adjacent to the railway
27 Trespassers on the railway
28 Emergency services attending an incident
29 A fatality
30 Lack of suitable carriages
31 Equipment failure
32 Emergency engineering works
33 Electrical fault on the line

Nowhere near as many as South West Trains! Oh and just for luck...

00 No Catering Code
01 First class restaurant, buffet for others
02 Restaurant and buffet
03 Silver standard service and buffet
04 Buffet counter service of hot and cold snacks
05 An at-seat service of light refreshments
06 No catering available

00 No First Class Code
01 At the front
02 Towards the front
03 At the rear
04 Towards the rear
05 In the centre
06 Front on arrival, rear on departure
07 Rear on arrival, front on departure
08 Is available on the train
09 Is not available on the train
10 Is in the gold zone
11 Is in the purple zone
12 Is in the blue zone
13 is in the orange zone

Train pre-announcement
Train arrival announcement
Train standing at platform
Train delay
Train cancellation
Train replatforming
Train replacement service
Services disrupted
Unattended luggage
Platform(s) closed
Stand clear
Approaching train
No smoking
Safety - no cycles etc.
Vehicles may be clamped
24 hour CCTV recording
Ticket checks
Security personnel tour
Safety - wet weather
Engineering for weekend
Engineering today
Some buses - see poster
Some buses - see ticket office
Buses - see poster
Buses - see ticket office

Information overload.

 

[jon0844]

How about

"Screw you guys, I'm going home", promptly followed by the displays turning themselves off.

And I mean actually broadcasting it, not just thinking it as I am sure most rail staff think at the end of every day.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I have a photograph somewhere of a 350/1 displaying "Help I'm lost!" on the external matrix!

 

[37372]

There ought to be a delay reason that says "incompetant signallers"!

I never knew there were so many delay reasons, it's just a shame that they're never really used as often as they should (apart from in SWT land maybe). Trains aren't delayed for no reason.

 

[thefab444]

I believe it was Phil Sayer who mentioned the "99 delay reasons" when he was recording for the Funkwerk system? As James says the Atos system is far less comprehensive, and unlike the Ditra system cannot give you locations.

There is an odd "Additional cleaning duties" reason which thefab444 recorded from Celia at one point!

Indeed, there's some pretty obscure and superfluous ones on the Ditra system that only really get aired by SWT, "a temporary speed restriction because of track repairs", "additional cleaning duties", "being held awaiting a late running connection" etc.

 

[A60K]

The oddest reason I've come across (and there wasn't a pre-recorded announcement for it) was due to hot-air balloons coming dangerously low in Germany some years ago!

 

[thefab444]

When were the Phil Sayer and Cellia Drummond announcements first recorded?

I believe the recordings were first made in 1996, they replaced original recordings made in 1987 provided by actor John Elgar and an unknown female voice-artist (some sources claim it's radio broadcaster Janet Mayo). The Connex systems were installed in around 2000 - 2001, although I don't believe that "Connex South Central" was ever recorded. As you say, various new clips have been recorded and rerecorded as time has gone on, so that now it would take considerable time for a new artist to record the entire repetoire!

You can hear the announcement about the steam special at 1:46 in this video:

Thanks for posting that, shame that's not used more often. Occasionally SWT display charter trains on the CIS and they will be announced by Phil/Celia as a normal service:

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I knew I had it somewhere. Not quite the wording I remembered earlier, but nevertheless..

 

[Death]

I knew I had it somewhere. Not quite the wording I remembered earlier, but nevertheless..
View attachment 2706

And there is conclusive proof that even the Germans have a sense of humour!

I seem to recall hearing of a couple of amusing ones elsewhere on this board a while ago, both concerning VXC Class 221s:

• Apparently, one of the Train not in service options for the destination displays was "Off to bed now!"
• And on a pair of VXC 221s in formation; The destination display on the rear cab of the leading unit (I.E: The one facing the trailer) had apparently been set to read "Stop following me around", or words to that effect! :razz:

Dear Gods...I'd just love to see what kind of havoc could be wrought if anyone ever managed to hack a trains PIS system!

Talking of train displays and going on the PIS: Do Siemens employ experts in "txt spk" to come up with text for the display boards at the front of Dessies? I appreciate that the displays are quite small...But Southern 375s displays are roughly the same size, and Southern simply work around the limitation by making the text scroll...

 

[thefab444]

I don't think Siemens have anything to do with coming up with the text for the front/side destination boards. I believe (please correct me if I'm wrong) that there is a "default" setting which mirrors the PIS code entered, but the guard is able to put anything they want on there.

 

[Ibex]

And there is conclusive proof that even the Germans have a sense of humour!

I seem to recall hearing of a couple of amusing ones elsewhere on this board a while ago, both concerning VXC Class 221s:

• Apparently, one of the Train not in service options for the destination displays was "Off to bed now!"
  

• 
  
  Yep! Photo evidence here...
  
  http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/3127/pad270303jpg.jpg
  
  No idea whos photo it is, I saw it, liked it, saved it

 

[Pumbaa]

I don't think Siemens have anything to do with coming up with the text for the front/side destination boards. I believe (please correct me if I'm wrong) that there is a "default" setting which mirrors the PIS code entered, but the guard is able to put anything they want on there.

Kind of - I think the individual depots can alter the settings for the codes. For example, when Southern had the 350s, Milton Keynes was "MKeynesC". London Midland have it displayed as "MltnKeynes".

 

[ralphchadkirk]

AFAIK the guard can put whatever text he likes on the destination boards. I know a guard who has put the destination (at Waterloo) up as Llandudno!

 

[thefab444]

Indeed, that's what I said.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

I was answering Pumbaa

 

[thefab444]

But it was in the post of mine that he quoted!

Besides, I'm sure Pumbaa already had the knowledge.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Does it really matter? So what if I repeated something earlier in the thread? When posting into a new thread I speed read it, so sometimes I do miss things.

 

[Pumbaa]

Tsk tsk Ralph - don't speed read

I quite like the odd arrangement of 350 PIS setup. On /1, the driver does it. On /2, the guard does it. What happens with the 450s?

 

[thefab444]

The guard I believe, but it requires the driver's key to be in, as I've heard of guards being unable to change a train's PIS from "Not in Service" because the driver hasn't turned up.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Deleted -thefab444 got in a minute before me!

 

[thefab444]

Things don't always go to plan...

Disclaimer: all files remain the copyright of Ditra Systems/Phil Sayer/Celia Drummond.

 

[TheExmoorBeast]

I notice the person holding the camera didn't heed the announcement & stand behind the yellow line. :roll:

 

[thefab444]

If you mean the incident at Thurston, there are no announcements there, nor is there a yellow line.

 

[TheExmoorBeast]

No, I was on about the steam hauled charter passing Winchester. If you look they're yet another lemming well over the yellow line, namely too close.

 

[thefab444]

Ah yes, sorry. Well I'm afraid Kettles usually bring out the worst veg, as the incident at Thurston testifies!

 

[alexdodds]

since Feb this year Leeds station PA has had few more adjustments done. The noise level of the PA on the open air part of the platforms has been reduced and one or 2 areas its been disabled where there are not likely to be trains e.g. the very far north end of platform 8. It still echoes between 2 zones.

All this was done i think because NR was getting complaints from people in the neighbouring estates about the PA been too loud.

 

[jon0844]

At Old Street, where they appear to be running new cables for an all-new PA system on the FCC platforms (and LCD monitors are going up presumably to become summary of departure boards) - there are a number of sensors for ambient noise.

Old Street already has this on the Northern Line platforms, and I think that the Circle Line trains have it too - you'll hear the sound adjusting in volume to the surrounding noise. However, it only seems to set the volume level for the whole announcement. It wouldn't make sense to have it adjust in real time, but you could slowly adjust the volume. Why? Because if a tube train leaves and enters the tunnel, the rest of the announcement about the next service (if the next train is right behind) will become deafening!

 

[asylumxl]

It wouldn't make sense to have it adjust in real time, but you could slowly adjust the volume.

I'm only assuming from experience, but I believe St Pancras Platform A and B adjust volume in real time. The announcements get a lot louder as a 319 grinds along and the sound starts resonating.

 

[jon0844]

I'd have it adjust in real time, but with a gradual fade on volume - not a huge jump because at that very second someone coughed near the sensor! That would make it very erratic and hard to listen to.

At Old Street, the fact is the highest volume is just TOO loud. It would actually be better for them to have software that will delay some announcements until the ambient noise falls. At normal railway stations, this would mean an announcement being paused or re-started if a through train passes at speed. Even on the highest volume, you'll probably struggle to make sense of anything.

 

[KT4YU]

On a slightly different note, how does Ditra know when a train is running a few minutes late? Occasionally, trains run 2/3 mins over and the CIS/PA update, is someone actually manually informing the system of minor train delays (obviously yes, if it's something major, when a reason needs to be chosen), or is it GPS, etc... Or when you get the 'stand well away' announcements... essentially my question is; What is it that allows Ditra to calculate in the Human factors, like these miniscule delays?

When it comes to severe delays and cancellations, I take it someone relays the information to Ditra. How would this be done, would you need to update all effected trains individually, or do you somehow specify a location and a duration of a holdup at that point and the system work itself out??

Lots of questions guys....:roll: