Automated Announcements

[thefab444]

I know there's a couple of you out there with a passing interest in automated station announcements, I've recently set up a blog/site which will hopefully contain lots of information and samples about the automated announcement systems, as well as acting as a "directory" for other recordings which are available on sites like Freesound and YouTube but are not particularly easy to find.

http://announcements.jsphotography.swlines.co.uk

Comments on the theory, design (although most of is a template I did make the logo!) and requests etc. are all welcome.

 

[Aictos]

Some of the automated announcements are quite interesting however the most interesting ones rarely get played!

Especially the one which gives information about Steam Specials, would have been very popular when Tornado first came to Kings Cross!

 

[Vulcan]

Wow, thats quite a specialist subject!

Although many will find the concept of a website full of recordings of automatic anouncements quite anorak-ish, Having a website full of these sounds is very useful for anyone making a film or CAD animation of a railway station, or even adding a touch of extra realism to a model railway.

 

[thefab444]

Some of the automated announcements are quite interesting however the most interesting ones rarely get played!

Indeed... maybe time to bribe someone in SWT control!

Anyway, some of the information on that site will mainly be of interest to people recording the announcements (so, about 5 or 6 people in the entire country!), but I'll endeavour to put up some more recordings for general use, although they usually end up on YouTube! :-x

 

[Aictos]

Indeed... maybe time to bribe someone in SWT control!

There is one of my colleagues who does pretty decent announcements to such a extend that if FCC had a individual station announcer for specific major stations such as Stevenage, Bedford, Blackfriars, he would be ideal for the role.

Indeed, I rather he do the local announcements then me, although I do some good ones as well such as pronouncing Stevenage as Stevenaage.

Anyway, some of the information on that site will mainly be of interest to people recording the announcements (so, about 5 or 6 people in the entire country!), but I'll endeavour to put up some more recordings for general use, although they usually end up on YouTube! :-x

I don't have any specific recording equipment so would the odd recording from a Blackberry do?

Still thank you and well done on the website.

 

[Geezertronic]

Although many will find the concept of a website full of recordings of automatic anouncements quite anorak-ish, Having a website full of these sounds is very useful for anyone making a film or CAD animation of a railway station, or even adding a touch of extra realism to a model railway.

Presumably you'd still need to get permission to use the clip

 

[thefab444]

I don't mind people using the recordings I've taken on my website for any purpose at all providing they don't reupload them to another website/pass them off as their own recordings.

That said, I imagine the system companies might get a big angry if money is being made out of their product.

 

[thefab444]

More stations are being added to the site, and more information has been added to the introduction.

I don't have any specific recording equipment so would the odd recording from a Blackberry do?

Sorry, missed this before. That sounds fine, if you want to email me any recordings then autoannouncements [at] gmail [dot] com is the address.

 

[Aictos]

More stations are being added to the site, and more information has been added to the introduction.



Sorry, missed this before. That sounds fine, if you want to email me any recordings then autoannouncements [at] gmail [dot] com is the address.

Well I got a recording last night from the local PA system, it's not me but a fellow colleague.

His announcements are slightly more clearer then mine, no thanks to my accent which people have commented on.

Will email it across later, okay?

 

[KT4YU]

I have some of Celia which I recorded at East Croydon the other day... will send that... I plan to record a few more, which I am too, happy to send across!

 

[thefab444]

Thanks for those, no FC.

Just out of interest did you edit the chimes in yourself? It seems to be using Phil's chime? You can hear the difference in this clip; Celia's is 3 notes, Phil's is 4 notes. Don't ask me why I know this stuff!

 

[KT4YU]

LOL!!! Haha, yes I did a while ago though (might have the clear recording somewhere, will try and find that too)- I think the announcements are somewhat abrupt without the chimes... are you 100% sure though, I can swear I've heard Celia with four before, specifically on Clapham Junction (will double check tho) when trains pass through the station and we get a generic warning! BTW does anyone have a clear recording of the chimes?

 

[466.networkers]

I know there's a couple of you out there with a passing interest in automated station announcements, I've recently set up a blog/site which will hopefully contain lots of information and samples about the automated announcement systems, as well as acting as a "directory" for other recordings which are available on sites like Freesound and YouTube but are not particularly easy to find.

http://announcements.jsphotography.swlines.co.uk

Comments on the theory, design (although most of is a template I did make the logo!) and requests etc. are all welcome.

The link isn't working for me ....

 

[thefab444]

are you 100% sure though, I can swear I've heard Celia with four before, specifically on Clapham Junction (will double check tho) when trains pass through the station and we get a generic warning!

I am pretty sure yeh, the chimes at Clapham Junction are 3 notes for Celia, and 4 notes for Phil/any other recorded information messages. I think the choice of chime is hardcoded into the system.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Link should be working again now BTW.

 

[KT4YU]

Ahhh....I always thought the chime variation was based on how busy a station was, say for instance, a small rural station with only a few trains an hour might use the 4 note chime, whilst at slightly busier stations, the 3 note, and stations such as Clapham Junction, where Phil and Celia literally do not stop no chime at all.

But I think it's quite 'funny' that Celia and Phil have different chimes, perhaps Ditra are trying to tell us something?

 

[Aictos]

Did you get that clip that I emailed across to you, taken at Hertford North?

 

[KT4YU]

I heard a new Ditra one today at Moulsecoomb; Phil saying something about the timetable changes... I will try and capture it tmor...

 

[thefab444]

Ah yes, does that go something along the lines of this:

"We would like to inform customers that the new Summer timetable commences on Sunday 23rd of May. New copies of the timetable are available at the ticket sales points at all manned stations."

SWT used to use that announcement but more recently they use some awful recorded message from the Customer Information Centre.

Did you get that clip that I emailed across to you, taken at Hertford North?

Not yet, which address did you send it to?

 

[KT4YU]

Yes it was... but it was in 1st person (something I notice fluctuates, station-from-station); can someone explain the variation?

Another thing, I was at Gatwick the other day... and I noticed the Atos; Why don't they pay proper voice over artists? Mike and Sarah... are terrible. If they wanted announcements to sound like that, why even bother installing an automated system, use the station staff, myself or cast members off Eastenders! (No offence intended BTW) lol

 

[Aictos]

Not yet, which address did you send it to?

I did sent it to the address you gave on the website which got sent last Wednesday I believe!

Never mind though as I've just resend it again, could it have got classed as spam in your email?

It's basically a local announcement made by station staff at my station rather then a auto announcement but it serves to show the differences between the two.

Hope you find it useful, it's currently in a AMR format so will leave it to you to do the magic,

 

[thefab444]

I've received it now, thanks for that.

Yes it was... but it was in 1st person (something I notice fluctuates, station-from-station); can someone explain the variation?

There was an article in the press about the computer refering to itself as "I am sorry..." on SWT stations, which prompted them to get Ditra to record a lot of new "We are sorry..." clips. However, they didn't rerecord everything as we still get things like "I'm sorry to inform you that this train has been reported as full and standing" and "I'm sorry - there will be no catering on this train today".

And yes, the Atos system is a bit rubbish compared to the Ditra system.

Here's quite an interesting French website I found the other day. Judging by the abundance of clips of the SNCF automated announcement system on YouTube there's quite a following over there.

 

[Jordy]

Worth noting that only SWT use the "We are sorry..." style clips, with FGW, Northern and Southern still using the "I am sorry..." ones

 

[thefab444]

Indeed, I think the FCC Ditra systems also use "I".

I'm going to start adding some clips to the site shortly, there's already one from East Croydon courtesy of Jordy.

 

[Aictos]

Indeed, I think the FCC Ditra systems also use "I".

I'm going to start adding some clips to the site shortly, there's already one from East Croydon courtesy of Jordy.

Indeed both Thameslink and Great Northern staff are encouraged to drop the "We" and use "I" in the announcers handbook instead so "This is information for passengers on Platform 1 waiting for the 1139 service to Letchworth Garden City, I am very sorry to announce that this service is running approximately 30 minutes late, this is due a train fault in the Hornsey area. I am very sorry for the disruption to your service this morning.

I believe National Express East Anglia and First Scot Rail also encourages the use of the "I" rather then "We".

The systems available can be quite interesting especially when you see what they can do!!!

 

[jon0844]

Tricky. When it's an automated system speaking for the TOC, I'd probably go with 'we'. When it's a real person giving an announcement, I'd go with 'I'.

Actually, I'd probably prefer to hear the name of the TOC - 'First Capital Connect would like to apologise' if it was automated.. or, wait, actually - what a load of rubbish; Just say the delay and skip any niceties. It's a computer, so apologies are pointless and meaningless!!

Stick with the pleasantries when using a real person only!

 

[SussexSpotter]

When were the Phil Sayer and Cellia Drummond announcements first recorded? I remember hearing back in the 'Connex South Central' days with the slammers, only thing that's changed is they say 'Southern' now instead of 'South Central'. My guess would be that most recordings are at least 11 or 10 years old, with a few recent recordings of newer TOC's names e.g First Capital Connect or Cross Country.

Also here's a list of the of all the known excuses for a train delay that im aware of, they are ranked in order of rareness, 1. being the rarest:

1.Due to a late night proceeding service at ******
2.Due to reports of livestock on the line at ******
3.Due to a road vehicle having struck a bridge at ******
4.Due to a broken rail at ******
5.Due to a security alert at ******
6.Due to a fallen tree on the line at ******
7.Due to a customer/member of train crew having been taken ill onboard this train
8.Due to overunning engineering works at ******
9.Due to a lineside fire at ******
10.Due to Disruptive passengers onboard this train
11.Due to poor rail conditions
12.Due to a fatality on the line at ******
13.Due to vandalism
14.Due to reports of tresspass on the line line at ******
15.Due to an awaiting member of train crew at ******
16.Due to a broken down train at ******
17.Due to congestion at ******
18.Due to a fault on a proceeding train (if you hear this it usually develops into a broken down train announcement)
19.Due to an awaiting platform at ******
20.Due to emergency engineering works
21.Due to a temporary fault with the signalling equipment at ******
22.Due to an awaiting signal clearence at ******

If anyone knows of anymore please don't hesitate to add them in!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Some of the automated announcements are quite interesting however the most interesting ones rarely get played!

Especially the one which gives information about Steam Specials, would have been very popular when Tornado first came to Kings Cross!

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoNepgAGXdQ

 

[Jordy]

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

 

[A60K]

I'm sure I remember reading that there are 99 recorded excuses!

 

[Jordy]

Yes i've heard that too.

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoNepgAGXdQ

Interesting, thanks for that.

 

[jopsuk]

I'm sure I remember reading that there are 99 recorded excuses!

can we assume that a female dog is not amongest them?

/rap reference