SWR New announcements

[ollie_hunt1660]

The new announcements have started to appear on the 444s, I heard them this morning, not sure if they’re on other stock yet

 

[fairysdad]

They seem to be on the 455s now - took me by surprise when I heard them the other day!

Find it odd that they've taken the effort to replace them on a stock that (in theory at least!) will be replaced in the next couple of years.

 

[Busman]

I would much rather Elinor Hamilton be the replacement than that god awful, piercing, whingey sounding voice you get at most railway stations these days. I cannot bear her voice.

 

[RealTrains07]

I would much rather Elinor Hamilton be the replacement than that god awful, piercing, whingey sounding voice you get at most railway stations these days. I cannot bear her voice.

The main issue with Anne on SWR stations is the announcements have been pieced together with different voice recordings of anne compared to other TOCs who stick to using the same recordings and usually just swap out the name of the TOC when changes happen

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I’m on 2B12 0452 Southampton Ctrl to Waterloo which is a pair of 450s and playing Elinor. 450083 I am sat in, and 450039 is on the rear.

 

[Towers]

Here are the new Elinor announcements on 159006

https://twitter.com/Callum_Ayres1/status/1675276689826258945

And here is a nice clear recording I took of Celia (outgoing announcements) back in 2019, for somewhat of an unfair comparison:

View attachment 138408

I used to find Celia’s voice rather soothing when sat at Waterloo in the small hours on the last train home of the night after a late shift, usually with a Costa and the full expectation of a hazy snooze… Ah, all things change eh!

 

[nctd2306]

I was on 455732 on Saturday and it had the new announcements, which caught me a bit by surprise!

 

[Recessio]

Elinor's announcements are slower paced and much more natural, Celia's voice, while sounding good always sounded awkward on SWT/SWR, as if all the stations were one word, like WokingWinchesterSouthamptonAirportParkwaySouthamptonCentralBrockenhurst...

I really like the fast Original Celia announcements on the 158/159/444/450/455/456/458 fleet. The way she lists all the stations very quickly makes the announcements nice and short unlike some other TOCs (like GWR for example) that go on and on forever. So personally i think the fact she says everything so quickly actually works very well.

New Celia (used on all the 442/484/701 trains) is the complete opposite. She speaks extremely slowly. I am guessing when they got her to record everything again they asked her to slow down.

I liked these fast announcements as it meant they were over quicker. However, my Spanish friend visiting the UK hated them, as it was too fast for someone who had English as a second language and had never heard of all these weird places before! I think slower announcements are better for legibility/clarity and accessibility.

 

[RealTrains07]

You can really tell SWR is operated by first when they copying all the GWR announcements to SWR

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

You can really tell SWR is operated by first when they copying all the GWR announcements to SWR

They’re not…

 

[RealTrains07]

They’re not…

Roger and Anne are both used on the GWR and now SWR network and isn't Elinor Hamilton voice for train announcements also used by GWR on their trains too?

 

[swr444]

Roger and Anne are both used on the GWR and now SWR network and isn't Elinor Hamilton voice for train announcements also used by GWR on their trains too?

No, it's "Janine Cooper Marshall" on GWR