Why don't the UK TOCs have an "audio brand"?

[py_megapixel]

I wonder if McDonalds would pay to have the jingle be some form of their classic "I'm lovin' it" tune?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Entertainingly Indian Railways seem to use the old Windows 95 chimes!

e.g.:

 

[Mojo]

I worked on a ship that had a lovely deep 'bong' as the start of all of its announcements. It sounds silly, but it matched the dark colour scheme of the carpets, the subdued lighting, and the brushed aluminium signage very nicely, building up a real feel of a quality product. Subtle, clever branding like this really works, and isn't at all intrusive, in fact quite the reverse

I always thought the "bong" on the Tyne & Wear Metro sounded like someone hitting a vase with a wooden spoon.

 

[greaterwest]

It went when they switched to Atos Annie, I think. Don't quite know when that was.

Around the same time as the redevelopment of New Street station I believe.

The old "Bri-tish Rail" one was the first 3 tones of that.

The three tone version was Celia's chime and both versions of these chimes were still used well into 2019 with SWR's CIS, until they replaced it with ATOS Anne.

I believe the KeTech Celia system Northern and Chiltern are using have the option for the 3-tone chimes but they are have been switched off.

 

[och aye]

Slightly off topic, but Paris CDG airport once had a very distinctive chime.

 

[Bletchleyite]

That sounds straight out of the Crystal Maze!

My favourite one of all time is probably "how much is that dog(gie in the window)" at Geneva Airport, though sadly they got rid of it about 7 or 8 years ago in favour of something far less distinctive that I can't even remember.

New one (which does sound fairly classy but is nowhere near as memorable):

Sadly the old one isn't online anywhere I can see.

Then you've got the Aviavox one which used to say "Schiphol" but is now pretty much everywhere! The irritating Dutch accent is probably also part of the "audio brand"

 

[cakefiend]

Entertainingly Indian Railways seem to use the old Windows 95 chimes!

e.g.:

So do Comboios de Portugal.

CP - Comboios de Portugal - Som de Sinalização de Anúncio - YouTube

 

[py_megapixel]

One place which does an excellent job of this is Nuremberg:

Note the nice three-toned bong before announcements, and the fact that the platform announcement at the start is done in the same voice as the on-board announcements. (The same voice and bong is used on the tram and bus networks too!). I happen to really like it, I think it complements the sounds of the trains well, and isn't too instrusive.

Also note some clever techniques which are used to minimise redundant information:

• No safety/security announcements (this information is displayed on permanent signage instead)
  
  
• English translations of the German announcements are only provided where the German announcements wouldn't be understandable to the average English speaker. Announcements which only provide a station name, for example, don't get translated, because you'd just be translating the words "Next station"
  
  
• Where two lines follow each other, only the first opportunity to change is announced.
  Essentially what that means is that if a tram line X and an U-bahn line both stop at stations A, B and C with nothing else in-between, "Change for tram line X" is only announced on the U-bahn at A. This avoids needless repetition of announcements.

 

[Bletchleyite]

• English translations of the German announcements are only provided where the German announcements wouldn't be understandable to the average English speaker. Announcements which only provide a station name, for example, don't get translated, because you'd just be translating the words "Next station"

Part of that would be that repetitive "the next stop is" is quite annoying, but you do need to put something before the announcement so people "tune into" it. Whereas a jingle isn't as annoying.

Practice in Germany and Switzerland tends to be that you have more "waffly" announcements on IR/IC/ICE because there are few stops, whereas you just have a "bong" then the station name on RB/R/RE/S/buses because there are far more stops.

Another thing that works well, though I can't recall where I heard it, is to have a shorter "bong" for a local stop, and a longer one and more waffly announcement for an interchange or main station. I seem to recall the Arriva Trains Wales "jingle" was only used at some stations on that sort of basis. You can use part of a coordinated "audio brand" for the shorter one and the full thing for the longer one.

Another part as you say is having one voice and making sure the accent is "on-brand". Northern do this well, I also like the "Scottish Annie" etc, the standard DB voice is also fairly pleasant.

A bit more on DB's voice - he's very clear and friendly-sounding - a bit like a German Phil Sayer (such a sad loss): https://www.acapela-group.com/about-us/customers/deutsche-bahn/ (not quoted as it's a video)

ATOS Annie is clear, but she just doesn't project the right impression to me - she's like a voice from the computer on a spaceship on some sort of dystopian future sci-fi, not a friendly voice welcoming you to the railway. Phil Sayer did achieve that - surely someone similar could be found to replace Annie.

 

[johntea]

Leeds had a specific ‘jingle’ for manual announcements but it’s been so long since I heard it I’ve forgotten the sound!

Also I’ve always wondered other than sounding posh what the difference is between ‘We will be calling at X Y Z’ vs ‘We will be calling at the following principal stations’

 

[Bletchleyite]

Leeds had a specific ‘jingle’ for manual announcements but it’s been so long since I heard it I’ve forgotten the sound!

Also I’ve always wondered other than sounding posh what the difference is between ‘We will be calling at X Y Z’ vs ‘We will be calling at the following principal stations’

Virgin XC came up with that on Voyagers, then ATW copied it, I think the original intent was that they weren't going to show every single stop, then they realised that would be confusing.

 

[py_megapixel]

Virgin XC came up with that on Voyagers, then ATW copied it, I think the original intent was that they weren't going to show every single stop, then they realised that would be confusing.

They still don't quite announce every single stop; request stops are omitted from the list and then announces them at the last non-request stop beforehand. So at Llandudno Junction, it says, in a rather horrible mashup of voices,

• on a 175: "We will be calling at the following principle stations: Llandudno, only. ... Deganwy!...... stops are only made by request. Please inform the conductor that you wish to alight."
• on a 158: "This train is for Llandudno. The next stop is Llandudno. If you wish to alight at... Deganwy.... please ensure you tell the conductor."

 

[Mojo]

Virgin XC came up with that on Voyagers, then ATW copied it, I think the original intent was that they weren't going to show every single stop, then they realised that would be confusing.

On the Voyagers when I first saw it I'd initially assumed that they were only going to list the principal stations but perhaps wondered if they were using the term to big up their own importance and imply that they only call at principal stations. Still either way it's quite funny when Patchway appears in the station list

 

[43096]

Virgin XC came up with that on Voyagers, then ATW copied it, I think the original intent was that they weren't going to show every single stop, then they realised that would be confusing.

But pointlessly they left the “calling at following principal stations” bit in and then go through every stop, so the various random shacks in Cornwall are all “principal stations”. Just sloppy and lazy.

 

[route101]

I really miss the old BR jingle before announcements, actually I miss the Phil Sayer announcements too.

Is the BR jingle still used anywhere?

York always stood out in the early 2000s, they had their own two-tone jingle, sounded like nothing else, well not the other stations I was using anyhow.

As for the original question, I'd rather stations cut back on the constant announcements. I get why they do them, but too much simply becomes background noise that you tune out and become oblivious to. Thereby negating the whole point of doing it in the first place!

I swear I heard the BR jingle in Barnsley a few years ago.

Are Phil Sayer announcements still used anywhere?

 

[Mat17]

I swear I heard the BR jingle in Barnsley a few years ago.

Barnsley were still using it in the early 2010s for certain. It was the last place I heard it for sure.

 

[py_megapixel]

Are Phil Sayer announcements still used anywhere?

Yes, Chiltern Railways.

 

[route101]

Yes, Chiltern Railways.

Yes, Chiltern Railways.

I thought heard Phil at Southampton Central last year.

 

[py_megapixel]

I thought heard Phil at Southampton Central last year.

He was replaced in 2019.

 

[route101]

He was replaced in 2019.

So there is a different male voice at Southampton, he sounded very much like Phil?

 

[py_megapixel]

So there is a different male voice at Southampton, he sounded very much like Phil?

There's an oddly sped-up version of GWR's male voice, Rodger:

 

[Clip]

SNCF uses the same one everywhere.

So it's not 'branding' then , it's just a jingle that they use nationwide before announcements which is totally different from what you think you are getting at then?

 

[Bletchleyite]

So it's not 'branding' then , it's just a jingle that they use nationwide before announcements which is totally different from what you think you are getting at then?

It is part of an audio brand, intended to convey a certain impression, as part of a co-ordinated overall brand.

You'll also come across it in other promotional stuff, e.g. this TV advertisement:

 

[onlinespotting]

That's the jingle I most recognise as well and remember it well at New Street - did the redevelopment put an end to this or was it already on its way out?

I’m sure when phil and celia announced together Phil has 4 bongs and Celia 3 - not sure if this was the case with new street thought
Just realised it’s been already mentioned further up the thread

 

[vlad]

Virgin XC came up with that on Voyagers, then ATW copied it, I think the original intent was that they weren't going to show every single stop, then they realised that would be confusing.

I've definitely been on a Virgin Voyager that stopped at Chester-le-Street although the on-board display didn't advertise this. It's the only example I can give - but then surely if XC is the intercity train company it claims to be then all stops are principal ones.

 

[londonmidland]

Years ago, I remember Hackbridge station in south London having a sort of trumpet fanfare type announcement of approx 4 notes, can't seem to find a clip of it however?

It can be heard in this video here. Skip to 1:58.

 

[LucyP]

In the UK, I think we associate jingles with the "Smashy & Nicey" style of local radio, and as such they are pretty uncool. Is there anything more naff than the jingle that a Hyundai plays when you turn it on or off? How many people leave it on, or just go to settings and turn it off?

 

[Bletchleyite]

It can be heard in this video here. Skip to 1:58.

I thought that one was particularly clever, because it used a different, rather urgent-sounding tone so you can differentiate between an electronic voice wittering on about seeing, saying and sorting things, not leaving luggage unattended and not riding bicycles and skateboards around and "move away from the platform edge because otherwise you're going to die".

As an example of a fairly rubbish one, MKC got a tone added in the mid to late 2000s which was just a single electronic "bong", and staff just used to talk over it. Annie has long since taken over now.

 

[greaterwest]

"move away from the platform edge because otherwise you're going to die".

This is exactly what the trumpet horns at Norwood Junction described up-thread are for. FGW's, Southern's and SWR's Amey CIS had this too. The screens are sent a special command only Amey is capable of sending, and they play what I'd call a "look at me!" chime completely separate from the main announcement chimes.

 

[Scotty]

I have the SNCF snippet as my text tone... spent quite a bit of time at French stations in summer 2019 so it kind of stuck in my head.