"[Train Company] Apologizes for the Delay/Cancellation"

[wnr1990]

Does this make anybody else laugh? I wonder if anyone has ever felt better about having a robot text-to-speech voice apologizing for a delay.

"Well the next 5 trains are cancelled and now I have to get a bus, but at the least the robot voice said sorry"

Why can't these announcers inform people on how to get delay repayments instead...

 

[Snow1964]

Another question is why is a cancellation so common, that it has been programmed to give a bland empty apology, rather than a message suggesting will try and do better etc.

 

[Mal75756]

The one that made me laugh was at Stockport yesterday when trying to get to Doncaster, train after train was cancelled and then they announced one delayed due to congestion, I was amazed there were enough trains running to cause congestion.

 

[DanNCL]

The automated announcements have just about every conceivable thing that would need to be announced programmed into them, as well as a lot of stuff that doesn’t.

There’s also a number of recorded but so far unused announcements that would be used should the terror threat level be raised to its highest possible level, or if the British Isles ever came under attack by a hostile nation again. Let’s hope we never end up in a situation where those announcements are used!

 

[uww11x]

I remember when humans provided announcements

 

[185143]

Does this make anybody else laugh? I wonder if anyone has ever felt better about having a robot text-to-speech voice apologizing for a delay.

"Well the next 5 trains are cancelled and now I have to get a bus, but at the least the robot voice said sorry"

Why can't these announcers inform people on how to get delay repayments instead...

Northern do, in fairness, certainly at Manchester Oxford Road.

 

[Master29]

The one that made me laugh was at Stockport yesterday when trying to get to Doncaster, train after train was cancelled and then they announced one delayed due to congestion, I was amazed there were enough trains running to cause congestion.

They were probably talking about passenger congestion rather than trains themselves.

 

[The exile]

I remember when humans provided announcements

… locally, they actually made sense, as someone was actually interpreting what was going on. The number of times I’ve heard “the 07.30 to xyz is delayed by 30 minutes. Your next fastest direct service to xyz is the 07.45 to abc”. Fair enough, but it’s 07.20 at the time and the slightly delayed 07.15 to Fgh (via xyz) is just about to pull into the same platform. Every clearly incorrect or impossible auto-announcement reduces the credibility of all the others.

 

[frediculous]

The automated announcements have just about every conceivable thing that would need to be announced programmed into them, as well as a lot of stuff that doesn’t.

There’s also a number of recorded but so far unused announcements that would be used should the terror threat level be raised to its highest possible level, or if the British Isles ever came under attack by a hostile nation again. Let’s hope we never end up in a situation where those announcements are used!

I'd love to hear what those messages are (or even what the text of them says!)

 

[Skiddaw]

I once heard an 'Inspector Sands' announcement (at Waterloo a few years back when Mr S and I were on our way home from a visit to Tate Modern). It was most exciting (though I have no idea what the issue was- possibly just a practise or something).

 

[william.martin]

The announcements seem to want you to do anything but! Many times I have had them tell me where the nearest bus stop is!!!

Why can't these announcers inform people on how to get delay repayments instead...

 

[450.emu]

Another question is why is a cancellation so common, that it has been programmed to give a bland empty apology, rather than a message suggesting will try and do better etc.

If the robotic voice told me "lessons will be learnt" regarding a delay / points failure etc., it may sound even more insincere

 

[johnnychips]

It is notable that, when I was trying to commute between Sheffield and Doncaster in a period of flooding, the automatic voice at Sheffield was consistently less informative (and indeed unhelpful sometimes) than the human at Doncaster.

In the last few weeks, regrettably, an automatic voice seems to have taken over most of the announcements at Doncaster.

 

[snakeydave24]

I once heard an 'Inspector Sands' announcement (at Waterloo a few years back when Mr S and I were on our way home from a visit to Tate Modern). It was most exciting (though I have no idea what the issue was- possibly just a practise or something).

"Inspector Sands" is a code phrase used by public transport authorities in the United Kingdom, including Network Rail and London Underground, to alert staff to a fire alarm without needing to evacuate the station.The exact wording depends on the station and the nature of the incident. For example: "Would Inspector Sands, please report to the operations room immediately." or "Would Inspector Sands, please report to Platform 2.”

Source

 

[SteveyBee131]

"Inspector Sands" is a code phrase used by public transport authorities in the United Kingdom, including Network Rail and London Underground, to alert staff to a fire alarm without needing to evacuate the station.The exact wording depends on the station and the nature of the incident. For example: "Would Inspector Sands, please report to the operations room immediately." or "Would Inspector Sands, please report to Platform 2.”

Source

Well as they say, every day is a school day!

It is notable that, when I was trying to commute between Sheffield and Doncaster in a period of flooding, the automatic voice at Sheffield was consistently less informative (and indeed unhelpful sometimes) than the human at Doncaster.

In the last few weeks, regrettably, an automatic voice seems to have taken over most of the announcements at Doncaster.

One of the many things I loved about Doncaster was human announcements! This is sad news

 

[Lockwood]

Bing bong. First Somewhereshire Trains would like to apologise for the delay to this service. The estimated delay is... Forty... Three... Minutes. Passengers are reminded that they may be eligible to claim Delay Repay for their journey today. Please visit double you double you double you dot first somewhereshire trains dot co dot you kay forward slash delay hyphen repay - that is double you double you double you dot first somewhereshire trains dot co dot you kay forward slash delay hyphen repay for more information.


Where does this sit on the "give us information" vs "too much announcement information" spectrum?

 

[swaldman]

It is notable that, when I was trying to commute between Sheffield and Doncaster in a period of flooding, the automatic voice at Sheffield was consistently less informative (and indeed unhelpful sometimes) than the human at Doncaster.

In the last few weeks, regrettably, an automatic voice seems to have taken over most of the announcements at Doncaster.

While waiting at Doncaster a few days ago I noticed that it is no longer "[TOC] apologies for the delay". Now it's "We're sorry that your journey will take longer than planned".

It sounds less like apology from somebody who has (maybe partly) caused the problem, and more like sympathy from a bystander.

 

[johnnychips]

While waiting at Doncaster a few days ago I noticed that it is no longer "[TOC] apologies for the delay". Now it's "We're sorry that your journey will take longer than planned".

It sounds less like apology from somebody who has (maybe partly) caused the problem, and more like sympathy from a bystander.

Was that a human or a machine? If a human is apologising for a problem, it can really sound genuine.

The apology I hear most often is that while I am waiting at Sheffield for the train to Doncaster at about 0650, the TPE train to Manchester at c.0707 has been cancelled. @Killingworth will know better than me. Unfortunately a mechanical voice message just seems totally insincere.

 

[Parallel]

FGW used to have ‘[Insert operator] apologises for this late running, and the disruption to your journey today’ but this was ditched a few years ago.

They now occasionally add on ‘We may be able to compensate you. Visit our website, GWR.com, to find out how’ for GWR trains, but I think it has to be manually added because it’s rarely heard.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

"Inspector Sands" is a code phrase used by public transport authorities in the United Kingdom, including Network Rail and London Underground, to alert staff to a fire alarm without needing to evacuate the station.The exact wording depends on the station and the nature of the incident. For example: "Would Inspector Sands, please report to the operations room immediately." or "Would Inspector Sands, please report to Platform 2.”

Source

They need to change the dramatic "70s BBC vibes" voice, which makes it somewhat obvious that something serious is happening.

 

[busestrains]

"Inspector Sands" is a code phrase used by public transport authorities in the United Kingdom, including Network Rail and London Underground, to alert staff to a fire alarm without needing to evacuate the station.The exact wording depends on the station and the nature of the incident. For example: "Would Inspector Sands, please report to the operations room immediately." or "Would Inspector Sands, please report to Platform 2.”

Source

There are a couple of others too as well as the well known Inspector Sands message that is used at most stations.

On the Amey system they had some different coded announcements instead of the Inspector Sands one:

• "Would the Superintendent of the line please go to the Carriage Depot." - This was used for as a coded fire evacuation message.

• "Would Mr Neptune please go to the Town Centre immediately." - This was used as a coded bomb threat evacuation message.

I imagine there were probably other ones too on other systems.

FGW used to have ‘[Insert operator] apologises for this late running, and the disruption to your journey today’ but this was ditched a few years ago.

They now occasionally add on ‘We may be able to compensate you. Visit our website, GWR.com, to find out how’ for GWR trains, but I think it has to be manually added because it’s rarely heard.

On the Southern Rail network we used to have "TOC are sorry to announce" back in the days of the Amey system.

For an example:

"Southern are sorry to announce that the 12:34 Southern service from this station to London Victoria has been cancelled due to a temporary shortage of available train crew. Customers for intermediate stations, please check timetable display information, and listen for further announcements. Southern are very sorry for the delay that this will cause to your journey."

This brings back memories of the 2016/2017/2018 industrial dispute when i would hear this announcement all day every day on the railways.

They need to change the dramatic "70s BBC vibes" voice, which makes it somewhat obvious that something serious is happening.

There is at least six different "Inspector Sands" voices used on the London Underground network. Phil Sayer is the voice of the "Inspector Sands" message at most of the stations these days. Most have his voice installed. Then there Mark Stutter (who was used on Southeastern too) who is still at a few stations. Then there are four other versions but i am not sure of their names. There is one in particular who sounds like a very old school BBC news reader who i believe is the one you are referring to.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Mark Stutter sounds awful in my view

 

[busestrains]

Mark Stutter sounds awful in my view

I actually really liked his voice! He was always one of my favourite male voices. I thought he had a very nice posh old school sounding voice. Sort of like the male Celia Drummond equivalent. But each to their own!

 

[pokemonsuper9]

From an information perspective I like automated messages
Always the same script, so it's really good for me personally to:

hear annoucement start (which is almost always "We are sorry to announce that the...")
focus on audio
hear time "xx:yy"
if time==plannedTime:
pay attention for TOC "TOC name"
if toc=plannedToc:
pay attention for destination "service to ()"
if destination==plannedDest:
ut oh "has been (delayed {by aprox x minutes}/cancelled)"

Humans might be more likely to deviate and the "we are sorry to.." bit lets me narrow in on where the sound is coming from to hear it better.

 

[Killingworth]

Was that a human or a machine? If a human is apologising for a problem, it can really sound genuine.

The apology I hear most often is that while I am waiting at Sheffield for the train to Doncaster at about 0650, the TPE train to Manchester at c.0707 has been cancelled. @Killingworth will know better than me. Unfortunately a mechanical voice message just seems totally insincere.

I can speak from Dore to confirm that the 7.07 from Sheffield used to be our busiest train of every week day, picking up 100+ pre-Covid. It now runs, usually late, at best 2 or 3 times a week. Most of that market has now been lost for ever and it wasn't all down to Covid. About 30 still try to catch it. If reliability is restored it might creep back up to 50-60. The voice makes little difference. The regulars have already spotted it on their apps and stayed away!

 

[antharro]

I honestly couldn't care less about an apology. If it comes from a machine, it's insincere. If it comes from some stressed out rail worker then they're likely reading from a script, so equally insincere. What I want to hear is that:

1) The service isn't running.
2) What they're doing about it (i.e., wait for the next one in x minutes, rail replacement bus, arranging taxis, etc)
3) If advance tickets will be valid on the next/replacement service (if appropriate).
4) If any refund / delay repay is due and how to claim it.

That's it. Keep it short and informative, I don't care about and don't want to hear the rest of the BS, and I don't want to be deafened by the PA system broadcasting said BS while I'm trying to figure out how to get home/to work/etc.

 

[185]

It think that train company "Transpennine Express Has Been Cancelled" should change it's name. I hear it in many stations.

 

[Frontera2]

On Southeastern we removed the second apology years ago so the cancellation announcements are "We're sorry that the hh:mm [TOC NAME} service to [Destination] has been cancelled, this is due to [reason]"

If the cancellation means that the service gap counts for Delay Repay then that is added to the end, together with details of the next fastest train (where available)

 

[swaldman]

Was that a human or a machine? If a human is apologising for a problem, it can really sound genuine.

The apology I hear most often is that while I am waiting at Sheffield for the train to Doncaster at about 0650, the TPE train to Manchester at c.0707 has been cancelled. @Killingworth will know better than me. Unfortunately a mechanical voice message just seems totally insincere.

A machine. At least, I think so.

 

[al78]

Another question is why is a cancellation so common, that it has been programmed to give a bland empty apology, rather than a message suggesting will try and do better etc.

A frequent cause of delays in my experience is signalling problems. I don't see how any rail company can do anything about flaky infrastructure which they have no control over.

Another frequent cause of delays/cancellations is staff shortages. This has been going on for a long time so has anything been done over the years to recruit more staff, or is this the classic case of running something on the bare minimum necessary, relying on voluntary overtime, no slack ensuring the system is always in a delicate balance vulnerable to even a minor perturbation?

Northern do, in fairness, certainly at Manchester Oxford Road.

They've had plenty of practice:

Over half of every train service was late or cancelled this year, data reveal

More than half of all train services departing from the UK’s busiest stations have been delayed or disrupted this year, analysis has found.

uk.yahoo.com

"More than half of all train services departing from the UK’s busiest stations have been delayed or disrupted this year, analysis has found.

Rail delay and cancellation data from the performance tracking site OnTimeTrains showed that Manchester Oxford Road was the station where passengers had suffered the most severe delays"