Trivia: Examples of errors or faults or quirks with station automated announcements or departure screens or CIS systems.

[railwaytrack]

I have just remembered another very odd one.

Just a couple of weeks ago i was on a Northern Rail train and after departing from every single stop an announcement came on saying this:

"You are travelling onboard a Wessex Trains Alphaline Train. An at seat trolley service of light refreshments is available on this train selling a selection of hot and cold drinks and snacks. The steward will be passing though the train shortly. The conductor will be checking tickets and handing out information regarding our timetables and connections. Reserved seats are indicated by the labels on the seats and the coach letters situated on the main doors. You will find the toilets and baby changing facilities situated in the centre of this train. Litter bins and luggage space is situated between the seats and luggage space is also located over your head and at the ends of the coaches. Wessex Trains wishes you a safe and pleasant journey."

I was on the train for the full journey of about twenty stops and it just kept repeating itself on departure from every station.

I took a recording of it on my phone but i am not sure how to upload recordings.

It sounded like it was voiced by Ruth Mitchell who does all the Arriva Trains Wales and Transport For Wales onboard announcements and station announcements.

I have no idea why this announcement is being played on a Northern Rail train miles away from where Wessex Trains ever operated and over fifteen years after Wessex Trains ceased to exist.

 

[mde]

Neither Atos Annie at Carlisle, or the on-board Northern voice can pronounce some station names on the Cumbrian Coast correctly. Aspatria is pronounced as it is written - which, much like Slaithwaite, is very much not how it is actually pronounced.

It's a daft thing - but you'd think someone would check these things before preparing the announcement scripts.

 

[Parallel]

I have just remembered another very odd one.

Just a couple of weeks ago i was on a Northern Rail train and after departing from every single stop an announcement came on saying this:

"You are travelling onboard a Wessex Trains Alphaline Train. An at seat trolley service of light refreshments is available on this train selling a selection of hot and cold drinks and snacks. The steward will be passing though the train shortly. The conductor will be checking tickets and handing out information regarding our timetables and connections. Reserved seats are indicated by the labels on the seats and the coach letters situated on the main doors. You will find the toilets and baby changing facilities situated in the centre of this train. Litter bins and luggage space is situated between the seats and luggage space is also located over your head and at the ends of the coaches. Wessex Trains wishes you a safe and pleasant journey."

I was on the train for the full journey of about twenty stops and it just kept repeating itself on departure from every station.

I took a recording of it on my phone but i am not sure how to upload recordings.

It sounded like it was voiced by Ruth Mitchell who does all the Arriva Trains Wales and Transport For Wales onboard announcements and station announcements.

I have no idea why this announcement is being played on a Northern Rail train miles away from where Wessex Trains ever operated and over fifteen years after Wessex Trains ceased to exist.

It is indeed voiced by Ruth Mitchell. She also used to be the voice of Wessex Trains stations and recorded generic messages for on board their stock. She was also the voice of help points throughout the West Midlands before the stations received full CIS.

There are around 6 other messages that are available on Ex-Wessex trains stock that are still fitted with the system (a few TfW, GWR, ScotRail and Northern units still have it).

There’s a safety message, a Wessex welcome, a Wales & Borders welcome, a trolley service, remove bags from seats, ensure luggage in the rack won’t fall, and the conductor will be checking tickets shortly. It’s usually the safety message that automatically plays rather than the Wessex Trains welcome though.

 

[railwaytrack]

It is indeed voiced by Ruth Mitchell. She also used to be the voice of Wessex Trains stations and recorded generic messages for on board their stock. She was also the voice of help points throughout the West Midlands before the stations received full CIS.

There are around 6 other messages that are available on Ex-Wessex trains stock that are still fitted with the system (a few TfW, GWR, ScotRail and Northern units still have it).

There’s a safety message, a Wessex welcome, a Wales & Borders welcome, a trolley service, remove bags from seats, ensure luggage in the rack won’t fall, and the conductor will be checking tickets shortly. It’s usually the safety message that automatically plays rather than the Wessex Trains welcome though.

Many thanks. I thought it was her as it sounded just like the ATW and TFW ones. Ruth Mitchell has been doing announcements for a very long time then if she was the voice of Wessex Trains too. She must have been one of the first voices as not that many trains had automated announcements onboard back then in the very early 2000s.

That is interesting to hear about these announcements. I suppose the unit i was travelling on must have been an ex Wessex Trains unit then. I never realised Northern Rail and Scotrail had some ex Wessex Trains units. I thought GWR and TFW had them all. I would be interested to hear the other Wessex Trains announcements in the system too. This was the first time i have ever heard a Wessex Trains announcement. I never realised Wessex Trains had them.

What i am so surprised about is that these files are still in the system. These units have had completely new automated announcements installed voiced by new voiceover artists so i was very surprised the old Wessex Trains announcements are still in this system. I would have thought they would have deleted the Wessex Trains files when they installed their own announcements on these units.

I also wonder what was causing this Wessex Trains announcement to constantly play on departure from every station. Maybe the Driver or Guard had entered the wrong code in the system. It certainly made the journey interesting although i am sure that it may have confused the passengers.

 

[Parallel]

Many thanks. I thought it was her as it sounded just like the ATW and TFW ones. Ruth Mitchell has been doing announcements for a very long time then if she was the voice of Wessex Trains too. She must have been one of the first voices as not that many trains had automated announcements onboard back then in the very early 2000s.

That is interesting to hear about these announcements. I suppose the unit i was travelling on must have been an ex Wessex Trains unit then. I never realised Northern Rail and Scotrail had some ex Wessex Trains units. I thought GWR and TFW had them all. I would be interested to hear the other Wessex Trains announcements in the system too. This was the first time i have ever heard a Wessex Trains announcement. I never realised Wessex Trains had them.

What i am so surprised about is that these files are still in the system. These units have had completely new automated announcements installed voiced by new voiceover artists so i was very surprised the old Wessex Trains announcements are still in this system. I would have thought they would have deleted the Wessex Trains files when they installed their own announcements on these units.

I also wonder what was causing this Wessex Trains announcement to constantly play on departure from every station. Maybe the Driver or Guard had entered the wrong code in the system. It certainly made the journey interesting although i am sure that it may have confused the passengers.

It’s a separate system to the modern day PIS - I think it’s just a box with with a keypad where you can punch in a code but from what you describe, this sounds like a fault (which I’m not surprised about, it is an old basic system).

Ruth has been announcing on the network for a long time. There’s a video on YouTube filming trains at Westbury in 1999 where you can hear Ruth announcing in the background, but it’s possible her announcements were around a year or two before that.

 

[Fenchurch SP]

A few times recently I have been on Thameslink Class 700s which display the rear coach as Coach 1 and the front as Coach 8 or 12. I saw a passenger miss their stop at Norwood Junction because they rushed to the wrong end of the train to alight onto the short platform.

 

[railwaytrack]

It’s a separate system to the modern day PIS - I think it’s just a box with with a keypad where you can punch in a code but from what you describe, this sounds like a fault (which I’m not surprised about, it is an old basic system).

Ruth has been announcing on the network for a long time. There’s a video on YouTube filming trains at Westbury in 1999 where you can hear Ruth announcing in the background, but it’s possible her announcements were around a year or two before that.

Interesting to hear that her announcements were used in the late 1990s. I had not realised they were that old. So it must be coming up to around 25 years now that her announcements have been used.

I have also remembered that LNER MK4 sets (and i am presuming on the TFW MK4 sets now too) also have a similar thing where some very old announcements will occasionally play on these trains. It is a very old system from British Rail voiced by unknown male voice and an unknown female voice who each announced different announcements. I have only heard it once a couple of years ago. It played various announcements including one saying about telephones being available on the train and that phone cards could be bought in the buffet and another one about the buffet and restaurant service on the train offering hot meals and a few others. I wish that i had recorded it then as i can not find any recording of it online. That must be a very old system.

 

[mde]

I have also remembered that LNER MK4 sets (and i am presuming on the TFW MK4 sets now too) also have a similar thing where some very old announcements will occasionally play on these trains. It is a very old system from British Rail voiced by unknown male voice and an unknown female voice who each announced different announcements. I have only heard it once a couple of years ago. It played various announcements including one saying about telephones being available on the train and that phone cards could be bought in the buffet and another one about the buffet and restaurant service on the train offering hot meals and a few others. I wish that i had recorded it then as i can not find any recording of it online. That must be a very old system.

An example of part of this recently appeared on Twitter (advertising the onboard buffet and 'at seat' dining service).

 

[Trainfan2019]

Noticed today at Stafford that the electronic display on platform 6 still shows the virgin trains website address and platform not in service.

 

[railwaytrack]

I have also remembered this Celia Drummond one which seems to often play on 444s and 450s at random times:

"There is a fault with the door system. This is being attended to. Please do not operate any emergency equipment."

I must have heard this at least ten or fifteen time since these trains entered service. It often plays at random times. But there is clearly no fault as whenever it plays there never seems to be anything wrong and the train is running as normal. So i really have no idea what this announcement is all about.

 

[py_megapixel]

I have also remembered this Celia Drummond one which seems to often play on 444s and 450s at random times:

"There is a fault with the door system. This is being attended to. Please do not operate any emergency equipment."

I must have heard this at least ten or fifteen time since these trains entered service. It often plays at random times. But there is clearly no fault as whenever it plays there never seems to be anything wrong and the train is running as normal. So i really have no idea what this announcement is all about.

I think it's supposed to do that if the ASDO system doesn't "know" how many doors to release, but I'm not certain.

 

[skyhigh]

What i am so surprised about is that these files are still in the system. These units have had completely new automated announcements installed voiced by new voiceover artists so i was very surprised the old Wessex Trains announcements are still in this system. I would have thought they would have deleted the Wessex Trains files when they installed their own announcements on these units.

I also wonder what was causing this Wessex Trains announcement to constantly play on departure from every station. Maybe the Driver or Guard had entered the wrong code in the system. It certainly made the journey interesting although i am sure that it may have confused the passengers.

It's a completely separate system. To my knowledge there are still two 158s that Northern run that still have the Contronics system active. It just starts spouting nonsense at random times - you cannot do anything with the new TrainFX system to get it to play or stop playing those announcements.

You can however press a button on the Contronics unit and get it to play a message. I very much doubt the guard would be doing that deliberately however (you can't reach it from the drivers seat).

 

[FtoE]

At Glasgow QS the announcer seems under the impression that Corrour and Mallaig are pronounced C’rooor and M’laig.

 

[Parallel]

It's a completely separate system. To my knowledge there are still two 158s that Northern run that still have the Contronics system active. It just starts spouting nonsense at random times - you cannot do anything with the new TrainFX system to get it to play or stop playing those announcements.

I believe the Contonics system is supposed to play the safety message after every 3 door releases/closes, though it was completely random on some GWR units before it was (mostly) removed.

 

[lancededcena]

Since Greater Anglia stopped reservations, the FLIRTs reservation screens has been showing in French and German.

 

[AM9]

I was on a down GA Flirt yesterday when on leaving Diss the annoiuncement was:
"Welcome to this Greater Anglia service to Norwich calling at ... Norwich. The next stop is ... Norwich". I was expecting a N-O-R-W-I-C-H clarification a la Horace Batchelor.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Surprised Stadler have built something with incorrect German! (The incorrect capitalisation grates).

I guess that must be the default if it's turned off/broken.

 

[Deepgreen]

Too many to list them all, but my local station, Betchworth, has had its WB screen out of sync. with reality by around 3 minutes for many years. Dorking Deepdene's WB screen shows a train standing at the platform as being the following train because it thinks the actual one has already departed. This has also been the case for years. Shambolic.

 

[Mordac]

Surprised Stadler have built something with incorrect German! (The incorrect capitalisation grates).

I guess that must be the default if it's turned off/broken.

Maybe it's Swiss German?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Maybe it's Swiss German?

It's not. The capitalisation of all nouns (not just proper nouns as in English) is the same throughout German speaking countries. It's either stylistic (in which case it looks awful) or incompetent.

"bitte reserv. Plaetze* freigeben" is what it should be.

* It's valid German to replace A-umlaut with AE (or OE/UE, or SS for the Eszett) if your keyboard lacks it.

 

[TheSeeker]

I always liked the EuroStar departure screens at St P. when they ran specials to a music festival in Belgium. "Tomorrow Land" instead of Brussels or Paris.

 

[Tracked]

Noticed one yesterday when I was catching the 10:24 Adwick to Sheffield train from Doncaster, I arrived on the station a while before it was due and the new display board was showing it as between Bentley and Doncaster from 10:11, despite not being due to arrive in Bentley until 10:28. Just had a look on RTT and that would coincide with the train going over Carcroft Juntion as it pulled back into Adwick.

 

[miklcct]

A train with destination "empty to depot" calls at Clapham Junction platform 13 with normal passenger calls.

 

[satisnek]

It was a right old mess at Birmingham New Street yesterday morning. There was an announcement warning passengers of a computer problem and that they should not trust any app, or words to that effect, and should refer to the station displays. However, the main departures board showed the 0930 to Euston twice, apparently departing simultaneously from Platforms 1 and 11B! The screen at the top of the stairs to Platform 1 informed us that it was an "Avanti West Coast service formed of 15 coaches". This I gotta see, I thought to myself. In fact it was just a 10-car 2 x 221. Maybe the third one really was in Platform 11B and they joined up outside the station?

Travelling to Rugby with a 'generic' ticket and bearing in mind what it was, I jumped on the 0933 LNW leccie standing in Platform 3...

 

[louis97]

It was a right old mess at Birmingham New Street yesterday morning. There was an announcement warning passengers of a computer problem and that they should not trust any app, or words to that effect, and should refer to the station displays. However, the main departures board showed the 0930 to Euston twice, apparently departing simultaneously from Platforms 1 and 11B! The screen at the top of the stairs to Platform 1 informed us that it was an "Avanti West Coast service formed of 15 coaches". This I gotta see, I thought to myself. In fact it was just a 10-car 2 x 221. Maybe the third one really was in Platform 11B and they joined up outside the station?

Sounds all related, New Street seem to have been disconnected from Darwin for a little while. This means all apps which use Darwin data will most likely be showing booking platform information only. This also I suspect resulted in complication in relation to the 1Zxx path related to the booked attachment on the 0930 to London. Yesterday it started Birmingham as a 10 car, suspect that in some way relates to 15 coaches being advertised.

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

Witnessed this one the other evening on a Southern service from Epsom Downs to London Victoria - I did take a video but apparently it's too large to be uploaded so we'll have to make do with a photo instead.

The full announcement was "The 2020 Investec Derby Day at Epsom Downs Racecourse will be held behind closed doors. Please do not travel to the racecourse. Visit www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/epsom for more information." Only two years late!!

 

[Peter0124]

I remember for a while or so around the beginning of 2020, the screen at Cambuslang said 'Welcome to Cambridge'

 

[Mcr Warrior]

A train with destination "empty to depot" calls at Clapham Junction platform 13 with normal passenger calls.

Hopefully no-one boarded or attempted to do so.

 

[miklcct]

Hopefully no-one boarded or attempted to do so.

If I want East Croydon or Gatwick Airport I may board that train as it will call there!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

If I want East Croydon or Gatwick Airport I may board that train as it will call there!

Wouldn't an "empty to depot" train from Platform 13 at Clapham Junction invariably end up at Selhurst?