please empty your brain below
Disagree. Its not condascending. It IS nice to know thatthe driver is aliveand he is aware that he's reaponsible for people on his train! I get really annoyed now if they dont do the annoucement.

Also, they only have to do it if inbetween stations. Being held ata red at a station - no annoicement required.

And, tfl employ people to travel on trains and check that annoucements are made, the train op (driver) gets in trouble if they don't.

geofftech | 12.11.10 - 7:21 a.m. | #

They do it at stations too, for example on the District line. Maybe the regulations don't demand it, but several drivers sitting in platforms press the "we are being held..." button after a not very long delay.

I'd suggest TfL should have better things to spend their money on than "mystery shopper" passengers who enforce kneejerk announcements through fear.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 12.11.10 - 7:29 a.m. | #

I enjoyed the driver's announcement on the train from London a few months back: "We're being held by a body on the track at Marks Tey."

And then, much more quietly, "Bloody selfish that, I'm going to be late for my tea..." It made a lot fo people who wouldn't normally talk to each other pass comment - and most of it wasn't of the, "Gosh, I'm sure it's against the rules to say things like that..." type, either.

Blue Witch | Homepage | 12.11.10 - 8:42 a.m. | #

Sorry, I'm with Geoff on this one. It's nice to know that we're not standing still because the driver had a heart attack. What would be *really* nice is if LU actually told the drivers why the light was red. Southern's slightly (ever-so) better at this, even if the reason yesterday was "because the weather's nasty".

Chz | 12.11.10 - 9:11 a.m. | #

Train staff using the 'communications system' does have its uses: on my LM train the night, the guard came on to say that our departure from Euston was delayed due to the train's computer safety systems detecting a fault ("can we go ?, computer says no !") These had all been checked and the fault could not be traced. Half a minute later she came on again to say that for some inexplicable reason, her announcement had cleared the problem and we were clear to go..... much mirth throughout the train !

Paul | 12.11.10 - 9:12 a.m. | #

I don't mind it.

Definitely preferable to the "take your bags", "CCTV" and inane digital tapereel drone of repeated announcements every few minutes that regular travelers learn to tune out, and so are more likely to ignore any message of actual significance being broadcast over the same channels.

What annoys me is the bizarre abuse of language that has slipped into TfL speak (oh sure the tube has always had its own specific vocab - "cars" rather than "carriages", for example), but some of the recent innovations strike me as just plain wrong.

E.g. 1 "Trains are non-stopping Arnos Grove"

No such verb exists. Why not take an extra half a second and use proper English and say "not stopping at"

E.g. 2 (which annoys me far more)

"The District line is part-suspended between Barking and Upminster".

No. It's not.
The District line IS SUSPENDED between Barking and Upminster.

Not part-suspended. There are no services on that bit of line at all.

"The Circle line is part-suspended clockwise" is even worse.
This means there are no Circle line trains running clockwise (in as much as a teacup has a clockwise direction....)

(Erm, I apologise if I have preempted a future post in this series. If so feel free to delete this!)

Dominic | 12.11.10 - 9:14 a.m. | #

I think a lot of this stems from an idea of our own self importance, we complain when we get little/no information, and we complain when we get lots of information.

Michael | 12.11.10 - 9:15 a.m. | #

The strict requirement is for a PA after 30 seconds of stoppage in a tunnel or 60 seconds in a platform - I know this as I'm one of those mystery shoppers you want throwing out of work!

Nicks | 12.11.10 - 9:43 a.m. | #

I too think in this case you are wrong. I believe it was introduced after 7/7 when people started to panic whenever trains came to a halt in tube tunnels. As mentioned it does reassure people that the driver is still alive - assuming that the announcement was not automatically trigged. I would feel the way you do if it was not for the fact that I remember how agitated some people used to get when a tube train stopped in the tunnel and they do now appear to be reassured by this message even if it is rubbish. Sneer if you like but it makes my journey more relaxing because I am less worried that someone is about to have a panic attack.

Pedantic of Purley | 12.11.10 - 9:57 a.m. | #

You write, "'We are being held at a red signal.' Yes, obviously. What else is it going to be? ... Could be a stalled train somewhere..." Well, you just answered your own question. Your train could have stopped not because of a red signal, but because your train (not some other one further along the track) has stalled.

Psychonaut | Homepage | 12.11.10 - 10:56 a.m. | #

Nah, I think the announcement about a stoppage of more than 30 seconds is fine, and welcome. The volume of some of the PA systems, though, is a bit much, especially in the head car. When the tube goes quiet because it's stopped moving, having the volume cranked up (so you can hear it when you're moving) comes as a bit of a shock.

Audrey | 12.11.10 - 11:25 a.m. | #

It's fine, in my opinion. It simply means, "we're not stopped due to a mechanical failure or other emergency, nothing to worry about, we'll be on our way soon."

Chris | 12.11.10 - 12:25 p.m. | #

I think the 30-second announcement is fine. I know it's probably a red signal and that the driver won't know much more, but the announcement tells me that the driver is aware and is at least pretending to be on top of the situation.

A lot of other announcements are crap. Example: When you're at the station waiting for a high-frequency line, like the Central, the only time you get to hear "A good service is operating on all Underground lines" is precisely when there are delays.

K | 12.11.10 - 12:26 p.m. | #

I'm afraid that this is one of the very rare instances when I disagree, DG. It's good to know that something is going on and that someone is looking into it - or at the very least, it is perfectly normal.

The one ridiculous statement that does irritate intensly is "A good service is running on all [other] lines". It is not a good service; it is a normal / adequate service. A good service would be better than can be expected which it is not!

The Collective has spoken.

The Collective | 12.11.10 - 12:26 p.m. | #

Whenever I'm sitting behind the drivers cab and he/she plays the "...held at a red signal..." patronising crap, I always say loudly "Obviously". BTW how can a pre-recorded message reassure any one, for all one knows it might just be generated by the (lack of) wheel revolutions?

Kim | 12.11.10 - 5:04 p.m. | #

"we are being held up by red tape. It should be removed shortly."

I wouldn't count on it!

CornishCockney | 12.11.10 - 5:50 p.m. | #

OK, so lots of you think I'm wrong.

If you're a worrier, I can see why a comfort-blanket announcement might reassure you.

But I still firmly believe that an automated message after 30 seconds is meaningless.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 12.11.10 - 6:47 p.m. | #

Nicks, so who do i complain to then (i have tbe date, time and train number) about a piccadilly train that stopped at Arsenal for 7 minutes with no announcements whatsoever.

Automated annoucements are a bit pointless. Hearing the human voice of the driver is lovely. :)

geofftech | 12.11.10 - 11:25 p.m. | #

The volume of the automated annoucements on tubes is computer adjusted against the level of background noise - but the system does go wrong sometimes! And sometimes the volume in one car can be non existant whilst other cars are fine - unless cars are routinely checked in service this can be quite hard for engineers to spot at depot.

Most of the delay annoucements are actually real ones given by the driver and I think are worthwhile - some lines are better than others for getting these right which is why they are all monitored.

Nicks | 13.11.10 - 8:57 p.m. | #











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