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

[Parallel]

I am for on train announcements, however some some just go on for too long. If you get a Turbo or a 15x into Temple Meads you get ‘This is x’, a full calling pattern, the three S’, CCTV, don’t leave your luggage unattended, do not board when the doors are closing’ etc. They’ve also taken to a new one that goes on for about 30 seconds and says ‘Please take care when leaving the train to avoid injuring yourself’. At a lot of their stations now you also get an male or female or a child telling you to use the hand rail and to ‘take care’ when walking down the stairs. It really is too much.

 

[Bikeman78]

I am for on train announcements, however some some just go on for too long. If you get a Turbo or a 15x into Temple Meads you get ‘This is x’, a full calling pattern, the three S’, CCTV, don’t leave your luggage unattended, do not board when the doors are closing’ etc. They’ve also taken to a new one that goes on for about 30 seconds and says ‘Please take care when leaving the train to avoid injuring yourself’. At a lot of their stations now you also get an male or female or a child telling you to use the hand rail and to ‘take care’ when walking down the stairs. It really is too much.

Is the hold the handrail announcement a GWR thing? The only place I've heard it so far is Swindon. The waiting room on platform 4 is close to the stairs and it gets really annoying after about two minutes. Last time I was there I walked the streets in the dark for 20 minutes just to avoid listening to it. Wouldn't it have been ironic if I'd got mugged!

 

[CaptainHaddock]

Is the hold the handrail announcement a GWR thing? The only place I've heard it so far is Swindon. The waiting room on platform 4 is close to the stairs and it gets really annoying after about two minutes. Last time I was there I walked the streets in the dark for 20 minutes just to avoid listening to it. Wouldn't it have been ironic if I'd got mugged!

No, it would actually be unlucky. It would only be ironic if you got mugged by Alanis Morrissette.

 

[lammergeier]

Is the hold the handrail announcement a GWR thing? The only place I've heard it so far is Swindon. The waiting room on platform 4 is close to the stairs and it gets really annoying after about two minutes. Last time I was there I walked the streets in the dark for 20 minutes just to avoid listening to it. Wouldn't it have been ironic if I'd got mugged!

The good people of Bristol (Parkway) also need mothering as well apparently. I don't know if any other TOCs feel the need to treat their passengers like toddlers to the same degree as GWR, I certainly haven't heard any 'mind the stairs' announcements at any other stations.

There was one particularly idiotic announcement in Northern land a while back, someone who clearly never had to use the train got some child to tell people to be nice to each other whilst on the station. It honestly sounded like a demon or that voice from Resident Evil, scared the living daylights out of me the first time I heard it.

 

[Tom B]

The most frustrating is if a tfl bus turns into a part route. The announcement starts "The destination of the bus has changed, listen for further details". OK, helpful, what would make sense is for it to then say "This is now a 91 to Hornsey Rise, Favourite" or whatever. It instead prattles on about how if you have a contactless card or oyster pre pay you need to obtain a transfer ticket. That will scroll for a while and eventually you'll get the new destination displayed.

I am firmly of the view that too much information is as damaging as too little. Passengers are exposed to so much pointless crap that it should be no surprise if they don't pick up on the important stuff.

 

[lammergeier]

I am firmly of the view that too much information is as damaging as too little. Passengers are exposed to so much pointless crap that it should be no surprise if they don't pick up on the important stuff.

Fully agree. Headphones are now as an essential part of my travel kit as shoes and wallet.

 

[py_megapixel]

I think the standard request stop message is too long. "[X] is a request stop, and passengers for this station should ask the conductor on the train to arrange for the train to stop to allow them to leave."

That could be shortened to:
"Passengers for [X] will need to ask the conductor to stop the train there, as this station is a request stop"

 

[Parallel]

The good people of Bristol (Parkway) also need mothering as well apparently. I don't know if any other TOCs feel the need to treat their passengers like toddlers to the same degree as GWR, I certainly haven't heard any 'mind the stairs' announcements at any other stations.

They’re definitely also at Bath Spa, Taunton, Exeter St David’s and Westbury, they are being rolled out at more and more.

I think the standard request stop message is too long. "[X] is a request stop, and passengers for this station should ask the conductor on the train to arrange for the train to stop to allow them to leave."

That could be shortened to:
"Passengers for [X] will need to ask the conductor to stop the train there, as this station is a request stop"

Or even ‘x, y and z are request stops, please make the conductor aware if you wish to leave the train here’

 

[adrock1976]

For information, the National Autistic Society will be running an Autism Hour campaign in October.

See https://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/campaign/autism-hour/about.aspx

Could the Train Operating Companies participate in this? It is just for one hour per day during that week.

This would be an excellent initiative for a lot of crap in the automated announcements to be cut out such as the three s's, luggage, etc and just have the departure time, calling points, number of coaches if applicable, and delay/cancelled being announced.

 

[PHILIPE]

The good people of Bristol (Parkway) also need mothering as well apparently. I don't know if any other TOCs feel the need to treat their passengers like toddlers to the same degree as GWR, I certainly haven't heard any 'mind the stairs' announcements at any other stations.

There was one particularly idiotic announcement in Northern land a while back, someone who clearly never had to use the train got some child to tell people to be nice to each other whilst on the station. It honestly sounded like a demon or that voice from Resident Evil, scared the living daylights out of me the first time I heard it.

I've hear the stairs announcement "hold the handrail when using etc" sounding continuously on the stairs leading down to the Low Level platforms at Glasgow Queen St.

 

[172006]

For information, the National Autistic Society will be running an Autism Hour campaign in October.

See https://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/campaign/autism-hour/about.aspx

Could the Train Operating Companies participate in this? It is just for one hour per day during that week.

This would be an excellent initiative for a lot of crap in the automated announcements to be cut out such as the three s's, luggage, etc and just have the departure time, calling points, number of coaches if applicable, and delay/cancelled being announced.

It would be an excellent initiative but why only one hour? Think about the constant loud music in shops etc. and how some trains are announced repeatedly at stations... Turning down the music for one hour isn't enough. Imagine if lifts or ramps would only work for one hour a year.

 

[387star]

Need ear defenders on a 313

5 loud shrill beeps every time the doors open then 5 again as the guard still has his local door open and must confuse the train

 

[L401CJF]

Is the hold the handrail announcement a GWR thing? The only place I've heard it so far is Swindon. The waiting room on platform 4 is close to the stairs and it gets really annoying after about two minutes. Last time I was there I walked the streets in the dark for 20 minutes just to avoid listening to it. Wouldn't it have been ironic if I'd got mugged!

I'm sure Merseyrail installed similar on one of the escalators at Lime Street a while back if I remember rightly 'Please hold the hand rail, stand to right, hold on tight" etc. I've not heard it for a while now so I suspect it's been turned off.

 

[L401CJF]

Need ear defenders on a 313

5 loud shrill beeps every time the doors open

The TfW class 150s have started having this fitted, along with loud closing bleeps, so loud I can hear it from my house over the road traffic, a good few minute walk from the station!

 

[anamyd]

The TfW class 150s have started having this fitted, along with loud closing bleeps, so loud I can hear it from my house over the road traffic, a good few minute walk from the station!

So far 17 of TfW's 150s, 21 of their 158s and 2 153s, both are which are TfW ones, as part of the PRM mods

I went on GWR 158950 and 150002 in early 2018 when not a single ATW unit had been PRM modded, and they both had PRM mods including those same door sounders. GWR had obviously had the work carried out sooner; indeed the spec being used actually dates from 2014 from what I understand.

 

[Bikeman78]

So far 17 of TfW's 150s, 21 of their 158s and 2 153s, both are which are TfW ones, as part of the PRM mods

I went on GWR 158950 and 150002 in early 2018 when not a single ATW unit had been PRM modded, and they both had PRM mods including those same door sounders. GWR had obviously had the work carried out sooner; indeed the spec being used actually dates from 2014 from what I understand.

The painfully loud beeps when doors are unlocked seems to be the standard for most BR era units with PRM mods. There are plenty of compliant units about with a less annoying tone, e.g. 170s or 315s. Are there any blind people on this forum that can comment on how useful the loud beeps are?

 

[High Dyke]

The painfully loud beeps when doors are unlocked seems to be the standard for most BR era units with PRM mods. There are plenty of compliant units about with a less annoying tone, e.g. 170s or 315s. Are there any blind people on this forum that can comment on how useful the loud beeps are?

And don't forget passengers may only experience such loud noise for a brief period of their journey... Spare a thought for traincrew who have to put up with the noise day in, day out many times a day...not that management care about staff welfare!

 

[ta-toget]

If you travel in a designated quiet carriage, then you should be entitled to hear no announcements whatsoever. The passengers respect the wishes of the train operator to keep quiet (well most of them do) so why can't their staff do the same? Just switch off the speakers.

On some trains (in Norway), the automated announcements (possibly just the routine ones) don't play in designated quiet coaches. However, the displays are very clear. Unfortunately, if the guard makes a manual announcement about the next stop, it is still played, and is louder than the automated announcements.

 

[leytongabriel]

New trains on the GNR suburban lines have a horrible shrill double sound for opening doors that sounds like a fire alarm.

 

[farwest]

Fully agree. Headphones are now as an essential part of my travel kit as shoes and wallet.

Great Western have lost the plot with on board announcements. Verbose and too loud and just boringly repetitive especially on IETs. If anything really important was announced I would not notice it. Essential to have head phones to use as ear defenders on their trains.

 

[RichT54]

I was on a turbo last week going to Guildford. As we were approaching Farnborough North the guard made the usual announcement about not using the crossing until the green light is showing. However, the volume was so incredibly loud that the passengers near me were visibly startled, as was I. In contrast, on the return trip I could hardly hear the announcement at all.

 

[Railman10]

They’re definitely also at Bath Spa, Taunton, Exeter St David’s and Westbury, they are being rolled out at more and more.



Or even ‘x, y and z are request stops, please make the conductor aware if you wish to leave the train here’

Or even: 'X is a request stop. Please tell the conductor if you wish to alight there'

 

[Ashley Hill]

On IETs the door closing alarm causes a few problems. As you probably know a door will close by itself after it detects no use after say 30 secs. Late passengers hear the bleeping and think the train is about to leave hurling themselves through the closing door not realising there may be still a few mins before departure.
The handrail announcement at Plymouth has been recorded by children and sounds tinny.
Walking alone from P1 to P5 at Exeter SD you will be warned 7 times to hold the handrail.
The information screens and auto announcements go live on GWR sleepers from 01 Jan. Fortunately only in the day coaches but will still be annoying for those dossing at 3am.

 

[lammergeier]

The handrail announcement at Plymouth has been recorded by children and sounds tinny.
Walking alone from P1 to P5 at Exeter SD you will be warned 7 times to hold the handrail.
.

Who on earth comes up with this garbage? It genuinely worries me that there are outwardly intelligent people who actually think this is a good idea.

 

[py_megapixel]

On IETs the door closing alarm causes a few problems. As you probably know a door will close by itself after it detects no use after say 30 secs. Late passengers hear the bleeping and think the train is about to leave hurling themselves through the closing door not realising there may be still a few mins before departure.

This is a phenomenon I have witnessed (and unfortunately been guilty of) as well. Almost all stock built in the last 15 years or so does this to preserve the air conditioning, but there is no way to tell from a distance whether a train is about to depart or not.

Also, at Paddington, you get an incredibly unsettling "Mexican wave" of beeping: as everyone piles out of the train at once, but not necessarily taking the same length.of time, the same sound is playing at every door but slightly out of sync.

The information screens and auto announcements go live on GWR sleepers from 01 Jan. Fortunately only in the day coaches but will still be annoying for those dossing at 3am.

That doesn't sound well thought out at all. You'd think they'd at least have a "quiet coach" where they are switches off

 

[DJCC]

Was on Grand Central tonight and there was an automated message played between every station asking customers to be careful with hot drinks! Can't you just put a warning on the cups or something? Was very odd and I saw a few passengers smirking

 

[megabusser]

On some trains (in Norway), the automated announcements (possibly just the routine ones) don't play in designated quiet coaches. However, the displays are very clear. Unfortunately, if the guard makes a manual announcement about the next stop, it is still played, and is louder than the automated announcements.

That seems like such an obvious solution. Maybe very minimal announcements (eg “now approaching Glasgow Central”) and live announcements about delays etc, but nothing else. It would make the whole experience so much more relaxing. Surprised no ToC has done it yet.

 

[Tio Terry]

Was on Grand Central tonight and there was an automated message played between every station asking customers to be careful with hot drinks! Can't you just put a warning on the cups or something? Was very odd and I saw a few passengers smirking

A printed warning is of very limited use to those visually challenged.

Such announcements are sometimes made following an incident related to the risk.

 

[Pakenhamtrain]

This is a phenomenon I have witnessed (and unfortunately been guilty of) as well. Almost all stock built in the last 15 years or so does this to preserve the air conditioning, but there is no way to tell from a distance whether a train is about to depart or not.

You could have the hazard light on the outside flash if the the guard pressed the door close button to depart the train.

 

[DJCC]

"A printed warning is of very limited use to those visually challenged.

Such announcements are sometimes made following an incident related to the risk."

But you don't have those messages in cafes or on planes - they seem very excessive to me. I think most people aware that you need to drink a hot drink carefully without the need for a prompt!