I have never understood why on Virgin EC we have to have the guard welcome passengers after EVERY station followed again by the head steward in the buffet car give the same welcome.
Surely the guard, after his welcome can simply remind new passengers that the buffet is open? We do not need to be welcomed twice !
No, this really annoys me too. I can understand one announcement to welcome everyone, but announcing the presence location of the buffet (other names available) is all that's really needed, and that can be done by the guard in their main post-departure announcement. Unless something is out of the ordinary, almost every rail traveller knows what a buffet is and does - it's very stereotypical railway stuff - so they only information they need to know is that it is open for business, and where it is.
Can guards override the automated audio announcements to disable some or all of them? Watched a clip on youtube the other day the PIS done an announcement, then the guard repeated a good chunk of the same information
PIS can be overridden on some stock, not others. As an example, on Bombardier stock the driver usually has the fullest extent of control. Sometimes guards are responsible for setting up and controlling the system, at other times it's the driver, and sometimes it's a mix of both.
On Electrostars, for example, the driver sets up the PIS speech and visual destination and calling pattern (also their last step of cab setup, which confirms to all and sundry that they will be ready for dispatch, when appropriate), and said system should then use GPS cues to carry on throughout the whole journey. The destination and calling pattern are entered using a 4-digit route code, which should be printed on the diagram or a reference sheet. The driver can also (unless the thing is really broken) turn off either the screens, audio or both. The guard can send manual and some pre-set automated announcements, but not control whether or not the train displays a calling pattern. Both driver and guard can set placeholder text over frozen information on screens, but only if the pre-set automated message can be selected and broadcast from the database. Etc. etc. etc. for each type of stock!
Why do we get 'Due to today's inclement weather conditions...' announcements when there isn't a drop of rain?
Most likely because CIS staff have forgotten to cancel it (or gone home and then remembered...). It usually does relate to actual weather in the CIS operator's area of control at some point during their shift - but this being Britain, the weather is a bit changeable!
Having all of the stations on the scrolling display at all times for people to look at if they need to, and only having an announcement of what the next station is would be sufficient
I'd be quite happy about that, with the calling pattern perhaps read out during station calls at major interchanges, or during a manual "welcome" type of announcement at set intervals.
Unnecessary calling pattern scripts are one of the biggest complaints from passengers when it comes to opinions of PIS.
I suspect the difference in door open/close tones is a way of differentiating what the door is doing.
It is.
If we could turn off the aircon maintaining 15 second door close on metro services it would be a great help as then the wretched doors wouldn't keep closing one after the other, with resultant tones, when a train is laid over at Victoria.
Please don't, Metro/suburban air con struggles enough as it is! A decent pause at a terminus for 10-20 minutes can really help get it back to normal. Closing the doors definitely helps.
It seams that Southerns new OBSs love their PA system even if that don't have a clue what to say and need to read the script from their fancy tablets they have now.
They don't even really get the information from their tablets (basic calling patterns and that's about it!). There is a special "handbook" which has a load of waffle in it, much of which is generally ignored by the more sensible ones, who you'll barely hear, in comparison.
A few weeks back whilst waiting at a Junction (arrived early as most do and so has to wait for the correct path) to join the mainline. The OBS was straight on to the PA system apologising for the DELAY to this service and that we are waiting for the signal onto the mainline and we will be here for a few minutes as we have arrived EARLY.
Announcing you are waiting because you have arrived early is fine, indeed Southern's management do quite like that, because it saves complaints.
On the other hand, recent OBS recruits would not necessarily know if they were early, so every pause is generally assumed to be a delay. Remember that some of them were never even properly taught how to read a diagram, with all its allowances and symbols and even easy stuff like classes 0-9 of headcodes - let alone any form of route knowledge, or how long it usually takes from A to B.
They announce “delays” because it’s good customer service. It is one of the only good things that has been introduced by the railway in recent years. Some people might travel around with one eye on the WTT and the other on their watch but most don’t so if a train stops anywhere other than a station a short, informative announcement can put people’s mind at rest.
A competent guard will never announce early running as a delay, they should always use it as an opportunity to promote the railway as well as reassurance. It is good customer service, indeed a nice bit of PR.
I was under the impression that it was in light of 7/7 that these guidelines were introduced. If a train stops suddenly in a tunnel where a more inexperienced or anxious passenger wouldn’t expect it to, an announcement may help to reassure them that everything is fine (or that any problem is under control and being dealt with.)
Announcements regarding stopping in tunnels have been known to be specified as being required "immediately" by some TOCs - ie. either driver or (where provided) guard must announce the reason, or best known description, as soon as the train is stationary and it is safe to do so. It's actually the most consistent of all the different types of announcement in my area.
they are normally set automatically to play every x minutes..... pure laziness really that they are not stopped/altered during disruption to avoid passengers getting frustrated.
It's deliberate. The Disruption Mode on CIS in your area is designed to still play security messages at the required frequency.
