Welcome aboard this… service for…

[saismee]

As far as I know, Great Northern services between Kings Cross and Cambridge/Kings Lynn have always had a momentary pause in the opening phrase "Welcome aboard this ... service...". I've heard various suggestions as to what word is missing, the most appropriate being my other half's suggestion: "Welcome aboard this unspeakable service...".

This was the first thing I noticed when boarding a GN service for the first time. The words just don't flow together correctly and theres too much emphasis on the word "service"

 

[dk1]

For the second time in two days I have noticed the announcement say “Welcome aboard this service to [destination]”, rather than “Welcome aboard this [operator name] service to [destination]”.

It happened on a Southern service yesterday, GA today.

Are announcements being de-branded? Or am I reading too much into it? It certainly feels as though there is half a beat missing where the tape has been spliced to remove the operator’s name.

Conductors always announce it as GA but the auto announcers on the Stadler fleet never have.

 

[swing]

As far as I know, Great Northern services between Kings Cross and Cambridge/Kings Lynn have always had a momentary pause in the opening phrase "Welcome aboard this ... service..."

At one of the changes of operator name on the line, they removed the previous operator name, but never inserted their own name. I always assumed it was cheaper to just remove the name than to pay to update the announcements with the new operator name. I've been travelling on the lines for sufficient years to now be unsure which operator change that updated it.

When it did include the operator's name, the words did flow quite nicely.

 

[Silver Cobra]

As far as I remember, the 387s on the GN never had 'Great Northern' mentioned in their on-board announcements. They just had a somewhat unnatural pause in the announcement where 'Great Northern' would have been.

The announcements sound virtually identical to what they had on the 317s/321s in their latter days, so I'm guessing they simply took those audio files and just removed the mention of 'Great Northern' from them?

 

[kacper]

Greater Anglia class 720s sometimes say "This is the Greater Anglia service to xxxx" when the PIS is set up. Only time I've ever heard the trains say their name. At other times the train simply says "New train destination, this train is now for xxxx" without any mention of Greater Anglia

 

[Steddenm]

Here in NI some units say "Welcome aboard the Translink service to ...", whilst other day "Welcome aboard the Northern Ireland Railways service to...".

The ATOS auto announcer at the station says "Translink Northern Ireland Railways" but the CIS says "Operated by Translink".

All a bit confusing.

 

[saismee]

Greater Anglia class 720s sometimes say "This is the Greater Anglia service to xxxx" when the PIS is set up. Only time I've ever heard the trains say their name. At other times the train simply says "New train destination, this train is now for xxxx" without any mention of Greater Anglia

I've noticed the class 720s also have very different recording quality for various stops. It's a little jarring when it suddenly becomes low quality for "Cambridge North"
Are the recordings reused from older stock or did they re-record certain stops? If they recorded new, surely they could've added back the "Greater Anglia" part.

 

[Hadlow Road]

As far as I know, Great Northern services between Kings Cross and Cambridge/Kings Lynn have always had a momentary pause in the opening phrase "Welcome aboard this ... service...". I've heard various suggestions as to what word is missing, the most appropriate being my other half's suggestion: "Welcome aboard this unspeakable service...".

Perhaps they were acknowledging the “ “ around “service“?

 

[jupiter]

I quite like it when you're travelling around, maybe somewhere new, and hear a different operator. When you hear "Welcome to this Southwestern service to ... Weymouth" all the time then "Welcome to this Northern service tuh Sheffield" is quite refreshing. (Actual wording may vary.)

 

[kacper]

I've noticed the class 720s also have very different recording quality for various stops. It's a little jarring when it suddenly becomes low quality for "Cambridge North"
Are the recordings reused from older stock or did they re-record certain stops? If they recorded new, surely they could've added back the "Greater Anglia" part.

It sure seems like half are recordings. Especially when approaching Stratford and the voice changes when it says DLR

 

[3141]

But it means you can actively seek out the train manger/guard which shows you're acting in good faith, and might lead to a better outcome then them finding out while inspecting tickets.

Good advice I'm sure, but if the train is crowded and you'll lose your seat, or you don't know where the guard is, or you know where but it's several coaches away and you'll have to get past people standing in the aisles in each carriage, or you have any kind of mobility limitation, are all reasons why you might not feel able to follow it.

 

[Fiyero]

I find it funny that a Gatwick Express train doesn't know how to say Southern. It also doesn't know how to say all the station names, Southampton Airport Parkway (not sure if Southern even stop there any more) I think was one of the missing ones!

 

[WestCountry]

As far as I remember, the 387s on the GN never had 'Great Northern' mentioned in their on-board announcements. They just had a somewhat unnatural pause in the announcement where 'Great Northern' would have been.

For a few months after Cambridge North opened they didn't have a recording for that either.

"Welcome aboard this <pause> service to Kings Lynn. Calling at Cambridge, <pause>, Waterbeach, Ely, ..."

 

[StewartB]

For a few months after Cambridge North opened they didn't have a recording for that either.

"Welcome aboard this <pause> service to Kings Lynn. Calling at Cambridge, <pause>, Waterbeach, Ely, ..."

Yes, "Welcome about this 'service' to Cambridge and King's Lynn" with the sarcastic sounding pause has been going on for years, but the missing Cambridge North seems to be a more recent thing? It's not even a pause, really, just missing completely. I had wondered if it was some kind of consequence of them fiddling about with it to add Cambridge South to the system in anticipation of the station opening at some point (which has just been pushed back again)

Whilst the sarcastic pause is funny, having a station name completely missing is less so. It's just missing in all contexts ("The next station is." "We are now approaching." "This is the next station is Waterbeach.")

 

[saismee]

Yes, "Welcome about this 'service' to Cambridge and King's Lynn" with the sarcastic sounding pause has been going on for years, but the missing Cambridge North seems to be a more recent thing? It's not even a pause, really, just missing completely. I had wondered if it was some kind of consequence of them fiddling about with it to add Cambridge South to the system in anticipation of the station opening at some point (which has just been pushed back again)

Whilst the sarcastic pause is funny, having a station name completely missing is less so. It's just missing in all contexts ("The next station is." "We are now approaching." "This is the next station is Waterbeach.")

The last two "... services" (GN) I used didn't even have announcements at all... a bit daunting when its my first time on a route!

 

[sigwinch28]

Ah yes, the airily-delivered “LNER Azuma” announcement. Passengers will definitely not notice the suspicious similarity to a GWR IET. Less branding, please. “This is an LNER service to …” is all that’s needed, as others have pointed out, for (IMO unnecessary) ticket restrictions.

Although I think the branding still has its uses. “Welcome aboard this Grand Central Adelante…” Guard! Let me off this train!

 

[londonbridge]

"We are now approaching Whitlock's End, our final destination. Thank you for travelling with London Midland."
changed to
"We are now approaching Whitlock's End, our final destination. Thank you for travelling with us today."

When arriving into Victoria on Southern, the announcement used to be:

“Thank you for travelling with Southern. Please remember to take all your personal belongings with you when you leave the train, and please do not leave unattended items of luggage in the train or on the station”.

At some point the unattended luggage part was dropped, so that it now ends at “when you leave the train”.

 

[generalnerd]

Ah yes, the airily-delivered “LNER Azuma” announcement. Passengers will definitely not notice the suspicious similarity to a GWR IET. Less branding, please. “This is an LNER service to …” is all that’s needed, as others have pointed out, for (IMO unnecessary) ticket restrictions.

Although I think the branding still has its uses. “Welcome aboard this Grand Central Adelante…” Guard! Let me off this train!

I don’t understand why LNER has two ‘sub brands’ between Azuma and Intercity 225. I don’t think the 225 ‘s even have announcements, so the decimation of ‘azuma’ is even more pointless.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

This was the first thing I noticed when boarding a GN service for the first time. The words just don't flow together correctly and theres too much emphasis on the word "service"

And the following word "to" is practically spat out.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Feb 2025 ==

Conductors always announce it as GA but the auto announcers on the Stadler fleet never have.

They do on the Aventras now however.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Feb 2025 ==

Greater Anglia class 720s sometimes say "This is the Greater Anglia service to xxxx" when the PIS is set up. Only time I've ever heard the trains say their name. At other times the train simply says "New train destination, this train is now for xxxx" without any mention of Greater Anglia

At intermediate stations they say This is the Greater Anglia service to and after departing and at the origin, Welcome aboard this service for.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Feb 2025 ==

Here in NI some units say "Welcome aboard the Translink service to ...", whilst other day "Welcome aboard the Northern Ireland Railways service to...".

The ATOS auto announcer at the station says "Translink Northern Ireland Railways" but the CIS says "Operated by Translink".

All a bit confusing.

Is that new? Anne always just used to say Northern Ireland Railways on the platforms, and as for onboard, it was always "Welcome aboard this Translink NI Railways service to"

 

[Steddenm]

And the following word "to" is practically spat out.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Feb 2025 ==


They do on the Aventras now however.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Feb 2025 ==


At intermediate stations they say This is the Greater Anglia service to and after departing and at the origin, Welcome aboard this service for.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Feb 2025 ==


Is that new? Anne always just used to say Northern Ireland Railways on the platforms, and as for onboard, it was always "Welcome aboard this Translink NI Railways service to"

I'm not sure if it was an update when Grand Central opened. Although there is still one sluggish 3 car DMU that announces Great Victoria Street when it approaches.

 

[Frontera2]

At SE stations we removed the Operator name some time ago from the announcements and displays at all stations where SE is the sole operator, as there's no other operator it could be and it freed up valuable real-estate for more useful information.

 

[TimSpencer]

You could also make a case for some disabilities having problems with too much noise. There are so many disabilities it's folly to try and provide for all of them with conflicting needs. The best thing is to keep it simple, like, every single other country that doesn't have excessive announcements on its transport. The biggest announcement that has to go it 'see it say it sorted'. I regularly hear people mimic it in a brainless way. When a phrase is repeated so many times it loses all meaning and effectiveness.

The obvious answer is to provide a quiet coach where those of us for whom too much repetition causes mental distress can escape to. Trouble is..... the TOCs aren't interested.

 

[saismee]

The obvious answer is to provide a quiet coach where those of us for whom too much repetition causes mental distress can escape to. Trouble is..... the TOCs aren't interested.

Quiet coaches exist on GA, not sure how announcements are done though.

 

[dk1]

Quiet coaches exist on GA, not sure how announcements are done though.

Full announcements are given in every coach including the quiet ones. It has to be that way with PA fully working. Many forget that quiet coaches are only for electronic gadgets and phone calls. They are not a library so talking is acceptable.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Feb 2025 ==

Also on short trains it’s not practical to offer such a facility.

 

[Hadders]

The announcements on the much missed Class 365s were about as good as you could get. Short, susccinct and clear

'This train is for bLondon Kings Cross'

Some of the annoucements were rather patronising - I remember ones telling passengers to beware of the hustle alarm, another saying that payphone was provided!

 

[Retorus]

Until they get Penalty Fare'd or reported for prosecution for travelling on one operator, when they had an operator specific ticket for another.

By the time they’re on the train and hearing the announcement it’s too late anyway.

 

[saismee]

Full announcements are given in every coach including the quiet ones. It has to be that way with PA fully working. Many forget that quiet coaches are only for electronic gadgets and phone calls. They are not a library so talking is acceptable.

Is this including the automated ones? The service I am on right now doesn't seem to have functioning automatic PIS with blank screens. Manual announcements are clear though.

As for ticket validity, it was made extremely clear that this is a peak-time train with manual announcements on the platform and in-train while people are boarding. Very good!!

Edit: it was very late and had extra calling points added... good thing the announcements worked still.

 

[WestCountry]

Yes, "Welcome about this 'service' to Cambridge and King's Lynn" with the sarcastic sounding pause has been going on for years, but the missing Cambridge North seems to be a more recent thing?

I meant when the station first opened in 2017. For the first six months or so there was a pause, eventually they added a recording and it started working properly.

I'm no longer in that area so wouldn't know if it's regressed recently.

 

[dk1]

Is this including the automated ones? The service I am on right now doesn't seem to have functioning automatic PIS with blank screens. Manual announcements are clear though.

As for ticket validity, it was made extremely clear that this is a peak-time train with manual announcements on the platform and in-train while people are boarding. Very good!!

Edit: it was very late and had extra calling points added... good thing the announcements worked still.

You must’ve been on 9P19 the same service as me calling additionally at Chelmsford & Ingatestone. Packed to the rafters in my carriage. Looks like the PIS got switched off after Beaulieu Park to save any confusion. The announcements were excellent as always from that particular senior conductor.

 

[saismee]

You must’ve been on 9P19 the same service as me calling additionally at Chelmsford & Ingatestone. Packed to the rafters in my carriage. Looks like the PIS got switched off after Beaulieu Park to save any confusion. The announcements were excellent as always from that particular senior conductor.

That's the one. Quite a bit of chaos after that call at Chelmsford, lots of people hurrying over from platform 2. Had to swim through the sea of people to alight at Stratford .