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Announcements on First Great Western class 165 and class 166.

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So yesterday i was just taking the train home to Betchworth when i noticed the wording of the announcements have been changed. It used to say "please do not attempt to board or alight from the train when the doors are closing" however it has now been changed to say "please do not attempt to board or leave the train when the doors are closing". What is the point of changing "alight" to "leave"? It seems strange that they would just make a small change like this?
 
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It's to make things easier for those passengers who rely on sharing the collective braincell.
 

PHILIPE

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Were they ones that have been through Wolverton Works for re-furbishing and re-livering
 

Parallel

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The refurbished GWR 150/2s have recently had the switch over too. It sounds even more disjointed as they've just re-recorded over the last part.

"Great Western Railway welcomes you aboard this service to Bristol Parkway. Please DO NOT ATTEMPT TO BOARD OR LEAVE THE TRAIN WHEN THE DOORS ARE CLOSING."

The announcement probably isn't very effective anyway so not sure if it was worth re-recording. Arriva Trains Wales have been using 'alight' on trains and at stations for years.
 
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samuelmorris

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I assume it's in the same vein as the change to station announcements from 'the train at platform w is the x service to y' to 'the train at platform w is the x train to y' - I assumed it was for the benefit of non-english speakers who may know the word 'train' but not the word 'service'.
 
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I would have thought though that anyone who knew the word "leave" would also know the word "alight"?

I do wonder what the point of this announcement is anyway? FGW are the only train company to play these announcements. Do they really do anything to stop people from boarding and alighting when the doors are closing?

The FGW announcements certainly arent the best. Until quite recently Betchworth was incorrectly pronounced as Bletchworth.
 

Sprinter153

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I don't think there was much re-recording done. I seem to think it's text to speech like the male GWR station announcer who is also the disembodied voice of the booking on phone!
 

BanburyBlue

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'Alight' is a very railway/public transport type word.

After all, I don't alight from the house when I go to work in the morning.
 

Deepgreen

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I would have thought though that anyone who knew the word "leave" would also know the word "alight"?

I do wonder what the point of this announcement is anyway? FGW are the only train company to play these announcements. Do they really do anything to stop people from boarding and alighting when the doors are closing?

The FGW announcements certainly arent the best. Until quite recently Betchworth was incorrectly pronounced as Bletchworth.

Indeed, and I wrote to FGW about eight times before they grudgingly agreed it was wrong and would change it (about two years ago)!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
'Alight' is a very railway/public transport type word.

After all, I don't alight from the house when I go to work in the morning.

No, because 'alight' only applies to transport, not fixed objects/places.
 

AM9

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Indeed, and I wrote to FGW about eight times before they grudgingly agreed it was wrong and would change it (about two years ago)!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


No, because 'alight' only applies to transport, not fixed objects/places.

Maybe they should change it to 'disembark'. :)
 

Muzer

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Indeed, and I wrote to FGW about eight times before they grudgingly agreed it was wrong and would change it (about two years ago)!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


No, because 'alight' only applies to transport, not fixed objects/places.
Yes, which is why people with only a basic knowledge of the English language might not know it!
 

3141

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As I was getting off one of SWT's class 159s today I noticed a sign which, among several other things, advised passengers not to board or alight [or maybe it was leave] the train when the doors were closing. Anyone attempting that is likely to be in a hurry and therefore unlikely to stop and read a notice on the side bulkhead.
 
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Indeed, and I wrote to FGW about eight times before they grudgingly agreed it was wrong and would change it (about two years ago)!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


No, because 'alight' only applies to transport, not fixed objects/places.

I cant believe it took them so long just to change a simple error! I dont know why whoever originally programmed the announcements thought that Betchworth had an "L"! The FGW 165/166 still arent the best. Even though most of the stations are pronounced correctly now some of them (like Chilworth) are just pronounced in a very strange tone.

I think there are probably a lot of incorrectly pronounced announcents throughout the UK. The new style announcements at Brighton / Gatwick Airport / East Croydon / London Victoria incorrectly pronouce St Denys as "St Denays" (it should be "St Dennys"). And then you have all those new Google Translate type announcements at most of the small rural ATW stations which pronounce almost every station incorrectly.
 

Deepgreen

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I cant believe it took them so long just to change a simple error! I dont know why whoever originally programmed the announcements thought that Betchworth had an "L"! The FGW 165/166 still arent the best. Even though most of the stations are pronounced correctly now some of them (like Chilworth) are just pronounced in a very strange tone.

I think there are probably a lot of incorrectly pronounced announcents throughout the UK. The new style announcements at Brighton / Gatwick Airport / East Croydon / London Victoria incorrectly pronouce St Denys as "St Denays" (it should be "St Dennys"). And then you have all those new Google Translate type announcements at most of the small rural ATW stations which pronounce almost every station incorrectly.

I can! FGW/GWR, along with most TOCs, are very slow to respond to issues like this, because they "know how important good customer information is"...as they tell me every time I complain about poor, or lack of, information!

The platform indicator on Betchworth's platform 1 has been broken for the last few weeks (again) - it has failed every few weeks for the four years or so that I have been using the station, and remains so until I report it, despite the notices saying that the facilities are inspected "regularly" (whatever that means).

Another example is the Battersea Park announcements that tell us to use the front eight coaches only owing to short platforms - the down platform was extended to ten coaches years ago, but the announcement on leaving Victoria remains unchanged. I have to conclude that railway staff simply ignore all these errors, as they never seem to be fixed unless passengers complain vigorously!
 

Mordac

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I cant believe it took them so long just to change a simple error! I dont know why whoever originally programmed the announcements thought that Betchworth had an "L"! The FGW 165/166 still arent the best. Even though most of the stations are pronounced correctly now some of them (like Chilworth) are just pronounced in a very strange tone.

I think there are probably a lot of incorrectly pronounced announcents throughout the UK. The new style announcements at Brighton / Gatwick Airport / East Croydon / London Victoria incorrectly pronouce St Denys as "St Denays" (it should be "St Dennys"). And then you have all those new Google Translate type announcements at most of the small rural ATW stations which pronounce almost every station incorrectly.

Stow in the Borders line was incorrectly pronounces rhyming with 'flow' rather than 'cow' on the on train announcements, but correctly pronounced at Waverley Station announcements. :roll:
 
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