TGV Driver Announcement

[D6130]

My wife and I are currently travelling on board TGV 6173, 09 09 Paris Lyon-Nice en route to Italy. About 20 minutes after leaving Paris, the driver suddenly and unexpectedly made a lengthy and rather jolly passenger announcement....in French only of course. He welcomed us on board TGV no. 6173, travelling non-stop to Marseille St Charles; informed us that we were passing Montereau on the high speed line, travelling at approximately 280 km/h and while bemoaning that fact that it was pouring with rain in Paris, he was confident that he Sun would be shining in Marseille.

Has anyone else experienced driver announcements on TGV services, as opposed to the more usual ones from the train manager? Is this now a regular occurrence....or just a one-off initiative from this particular driver?

 

[k-c-p]

When the LGV Est towards Metz/Strasbourg went into service, announcements were made for a while when the train had reached "son vitesse commerciale de 320 km/h". Apart from that, I cannot recall anything simular.

 

[D6130]

My wife and I are currently travelling on board TGV 6173, 09 09 Paris Lyon-Nice en route to Italy. About 20 minutes after leaving Paris, the driver suddenly and unexpectedly made a lengthy and rather jolly passenger announcement....in French only of course. He welcomed us on board TGV no. 6173, travelling non-stop to Marseille St Charles; informed us that we were passing Montereau on the high speed line, travelling at approximately 280 km/h and while bemoaning that fact that it was pouring with rain in Paris, he was confident that he Sun would be shining in Marseille.

Has anyone else experienced driver announcements on TGV services, as opposed to the more usual ones from the train manager? Is this now a regular occurrence....or just a one-off initiative from this particular driver?

Slightly off-topic, but when travelling on Eurostar 9036, 15 31 London-Paris the day before yesterday, the Train Manager announced at Dollands Moor that we were approaching the Channel Tunnel and that transit time would be about twenty minutes. It was the first time that I had heard that announcement for many years.

 

[rf_ioliver]

My wife and I are currently travelling on board TGV 6173, 09 09 Paris Lyon-Nice en route to Italy. About 20 minutes after leaving Paris, the driver suddenly and unexpectedly made a lengthy and rather jolly passenger announcement....in French only of course. He welcomed us on board TGV no. 6173, travelling non-stop to Marseille St Charles; informed us that we were passing Montereau on the high speed line, travelling at approximately 280 km/h and while bemoaning that fact that it was pouring with rain in Paris, he was confident that he Sun would be shining in Marseille.

Has anyone else experienced driver announcements on TGV services, as opposed to the more usual ones from the train manager? Is this now a regular occurrence....or just a one-off initiative from this particular driver?

I am surprised he didn't refer to everywhere north of Lyon as "Le Nord" where it is perpetually raining .... if you know the film, you'll understand

But it is nice to get such announcements as these

 

[D6130]

But it is nice to get such announcements as these

In the UK the driver would be hauled in for a no tea, no biscuits interview for potential distraction. We were only allowed to make announcements in case of emergency.

 

[nwales58]

Could you hear whether the announcement was from the chef du train (senior conductor in current UK) or conducteur (driver)? Or is some other terminology being used?

 

[rf_ioliver]

In the UK the driver would be hauled in for a no tea, no biscuits interview for potential distraction. We were only allowed to make announcements in case of emergency.

Psychologically these moments of humour are actually beneficial for safety. Captain Eric Moody who recently passed away, famous for the BA 009 flight and the understatement of the century announcement, I believe stated that humour was a part of the interactions between the crew in the cockpit - it helped to alleviate the stress and therefore actually allowed the crew to communicate and work better together. There are similar cases in other aviation incidents of crews "going off-script".

IIRC, a few years ago there was a Helsinki Metro driver who was famous for his announcements - was interviewed on TV a few times.

 

[D6130]

Could you hear whether the announcement was from the chef du train (senior conductor in current UK) or conducteur (driver)? Or is some other terminology being used?

It was definitely from the driver:

'Mesdames, messieurs, bonjour! Je suis votre conducteur....'

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

In the UK the driver would be hauled in for a no tea, no biscuits interview for potential distraction. We were only allowed to make announcements in case of emergency.

DOO services can and do make announcements about delays, stops at red signals etc.
I've heard them on Thameslink and Elizabeth Line services: "This is the driver speaking".
Always breaks the tension over unexpected delays.

 

[Austriantrain]

Psychologically these moments of humour are actually beneficial for safety. Captain Eric Moody who recently passed away, famous for the BA 009 flight and the understatement of the century announcement, I believe stated that humour was a part of the interactions between the crew in the cockpit - it helped to alleviate the stress and therefore actually allowed the crew to communicate and work better together. There are similar cases in other aviation incidents of crews "going off-script".

IIRC, a few years ago there was a Helsinki Metro driver who was famous for his announcements - was interviewed on TV a few times.

There is someone similar on the Viennese U-Bahn, with a cynical touch and typical Viennese humor. His best saying when passengers block doors: „I don‘t mind - it‘s you who want to get to work on time; I am already working“.

 

[D6130]

DOO services can and do make announcements about delays, stops at red signals etc.
I've heard them on Thameslink and Elizabeth Line services: "This is the driver speaking".
Always breaks the tension over unexpected delays.

True....but we're talking about services which have a guard/conductor/train manager to keep the passengers informed.

 

[Halish Railway]

An example of the driver making an announcement for the beginning of 320 kph running can be seen here.

 

[Strathclyder]

Psychologically these moments of humour are actually beneficial for safety. Captain Eric Moody who recently passed away, famous for the BA 009 flight and the understatement of the century announcement, I believe stated that humour was a part of the interactions between the crew in the cockpit - it helped to alleviate the stress and therefore actually allowed the crew to communicate and work better together. There are similar cases in other aviation incidents of crews "going off-script".

Yes indeed. There are other examples like it, but it just stands out above the rest for me. For those wondering what he said:

Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress - Captain Eric Moody

 

[CarrotPie]

IIRC, a few years ago there was a Helsinki Metro driver who was famous for his announcements - was interviewed on TV a few times.

There's a new one been on the news recently too - Tom Rask (link to the article in Finnish).

 

[WessexEclectic]

It was definitely from the driver:

'Mesdames, messieurs, bonjour! Je suis votre conducteur....'

You forgot to include the obligatory Jingle...

DOO services can and do make announcements about delays, stops at red signals etc.
I've heard them on Thameslink and Elizabeth Line services: "This is the driver speaking".
Always breaks the tension over unexpected delays.

There used to be a Disco line driver that would announce at Wimbledon, "Woof! Woof! Ladies and gents, this is a Barking train....."

 

[riceuten]

"In French only"

On a French train, in France - who'd've thunk it ?

 

[StephenHunter]

Slightly off-topic, but when travelling on Eurostar 9036, 15 31 London-Paris the day before yesterday, the Train Manager announced at Dollands Moor that we were approaching the Channel Tunnel and that transit time would be about twenty minutes. It was the first time that I had heard that announcement for many years.

When I was travelling on an ICE from Stuttgart to Strasbourg in 2022, the manager there gave a cheery little countdown in German as we crossed the Rhine into France and we could take our masks off.

 

[HarryF]

When I was travelling on an ICE from Stuttgart to Strasbourg in 2022, the manager there gave a cheery little countdown in German as we crossed the Rhine into France and we could take our masks off.

Interesting, I had the same mask takeoff countdown between Oberhausen and Arnhem when we crossed the Germany-Netherlands border in 2022. Clearly a bit more widespread than I thought at the time!

 

[D6130]

"In French only"

On a French train, in France - who'd've thunk it ?

Indeed....although the train manager made her announcements in both French and English.

 

[Lxd2]

I have once heard an announcement from the driver on a TGV. It was on the LGV Rhin-Rhone, telling us that the conditions were good and that we would be travelling at a maximum speed of 320 km/h.

 

[rvdborgt]

Indeed....although the train manager made her announcements in both French and English.

Was it understandable without knowledge of French?
The announcements made by the French (at the time: SNCF) staff on the Eurostar I remember were... interesting. The English was usually just about understandable, but the German and Dutch produced by the French staff more than once made fellow passengers burst out in laughter and these announcement were not really understandable. In contrast, the French-speaking staff from Brussels did have an accent, but could produce perfectly understandable announcements in 4 languages.
My impression was that SNCF didn't find language training important...

 

[WessexEclectic]

My impression was that SNCF didn't find language training important...

Naturellement, bien sûr...

 

[D6130]

Was it understandable without knowledge of French?
The announcements made by the French (at the time: SNCF) staff on the Eurostar I remember were... interesting. The English was usually just about understandable, but the German and Dutch produced by the French staff more than once made fellow passengers burst out in laughter and these announcement were not really understandable. In contrast, the French-speaking staff from Brussels did have an accent, but could produce perfectly understandable announcements in 4 languages.
My impression was that SNCF didn't find language training important...

Yes, I could understand her English announcements perfectly. As you say, that's not always the case though!

 

[SHD]

TGV drivers indeed sometimes indulge in gay banter, obviously in lower workload situations such as cruising along Montereau. These are individual initiatives but they are sometimes encouraged by local management teams.

 

[riceuten]

Was it understandable without knowledge of French?
The announcements made by the French (at the time: SNCF) staff on the Eurostar I remember were... interesting. The English was usually just about understandable, but the German and Dutch produced by the French staff more than once made fellow passengers burst out in laughter and these announcement were not really understandable. In contrast, the French-speaking staff from Brussels did have an accent, but could produce perfectly understandable announcements in 4 languages.
My impression was that SNCF didn't find language training important...

I'm not sure why French staff should be learning foreign languages for domestic routes, to be honest. How many domestic trains in the UK have announcements in languages other than English, Welsh and Scottish Gaelic? That will be zero. That said, perhaps announcements should be made in Alsatian, Breton, Catalan, Basque, Dutch, Occitan, and Corsican ?

 

[peterblue]

I'm not sure why French staff should be learning foreign languages for domestic routes, to be honest. How many domestic trains in the UK have announcements in languages other than English, Welsh and Scottish Gaelic? That will be zero. That said, perhaps announcements should be made in Alsatian, Breton, Catalan, Basque, Dutch, Occitan, and Corsican ?

I think it's reasonable to expect staff in a customer-facing role (especially on InterCity services) to have a rudimentary understanding of English. Other languages e.g
German less important unless it is an international train. I'm not expecting fluency. It's the defacto world language used by most tourists. Asking the millions of tourists per year to get our Google Translate for a basic enquiry isn't good customer service.

 

[Krokodil]

I'm not sure why French staff should be learning foreign languages for domestic routes, to be honest. How many domestic trains in the UK have announcements in languages other than English, Welsh and Scottish Gaelic? That will be zero. That said, perhaps announcements should be made in Alsatian, Breton, Catalan, Basque, Dutch, Occitan, and Corsican ?

When travelling on the Amsterdam-Vienna Nightjet, the steward neither spoke English, nor Dutch. On a train that originated in the Netherlands!

 

[rvdborgt]

When travelling on the Amsterdam-Vienna Nightjet, the steward neither spoke English, nor Dutch. On a train that originated in the Netherlands!

Hm, yes, interesting...
Although I normally speak German with the Newrest staff, they do regularly speak English with some other passengers. Not being able to do so will also be challenging for them I guess...

 

[SHD]

I think it's reasonable to expect staff in a customer-facing role (especially on InterCity services) to have a rudimentary understanding of English. Other languages e.g
German less important unless it is an international train. I'm not expecting fluency. It's the defacto world language used by most tourists. Asking the millions of tourists per year to get our Google Translate for a basic enquiry isn't good customer service.

Yes, but remember that the initial reference to languages in this thread was made by the OP, referring to the driver’s announcement: “in French only, of course”.

Well yes, of course. The driver’s announcement is an agreeable bit of information for railway buff customers but it has no actual relevance for their journey. It does not really matter that non-Francophone passengers could not understand it.

There is no particular reason for SNCF drivers to use English as part of their duties (apart from those seconded to Eurostar, if that is still a thing) and as such no particular reason to deplore they do not use English when they occasionally pick up the handset.

 

[peterblue]

Yes, but remember that the initial reference to languages in this thread was made by the OP, referring to the driver’s announcement: “in French only, of course”.

Well yes, of course. The driver’s announcement is an agreeable bit of information for railway buff customers but it has no actual relevance for their journey. It does not really matter that non-Francophone passengers could not understand it.

There is no particular reason for SNCF drivers to use English as part of their duties (apart from those seconded to Eurostar, if that is still a thing) and as such no particular reason to deplore they do not use English when they occasionally pick up the handset.

Of course, yes. Not every driver announcement needs to be translated. I would agree drivers don't need to know English to fulfill their role, but it is becoming increasing more desirable for customer-facing roles (e.g. guards, 'chef de train' in France) to be able to speak at least basic English.