'We've got rid of all the tosh' . . . First Great Western to cut on board train announcements
Do you get fed up with being reminded to "mind the gap" when leaving a train?
Or does being told you cannot smoke drive you off the rails?
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First Great Western
The train journey for Bath travellers is about to become a whole lot more relaxing after operator First Great Western promised to cut the number of on board announcements.
FGW General Manager West David Crome said they had rid their announcement guide "of all the tosh".
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First admitted at least half of passengers had psychologically trained themselves to tune out all announcements.
The move follows comments by Transport Minister Norman Baker who urged train operators to curb "excessive" announcements.
Mr Crome said: "Some of the things we do not need to say anymore, such as announcements informing people they cannot smoke on a service, or informing customers where Standard and First Class seating is.
"We have been through the announcement guide to rid it of all the tosh - the redundant, the irrelevant and repetitive."
The "mind the gap" announcement will only be made when the the space between the train and the platform is greater than usual.
Others to go include the scheduled the arrival time at the final destination and "change here for connecting services to . . ."
First said they would provide more relevant information on departure times and platform numbers which passengers valued most.
The operator plans to roll out the new guide in January.
"Some of our colleagues have been saying the same thing for 20 years," admitted Mr Crome. "It may take a little while for them to change habits."
6 Comments
by a1rhella1r
Wednesday, March 20 2013, 10:45PM
“Agree about excessive announcements. The only one FGW need to make is:"We are handing over to someone who can run the service...."”
by gbathg
Wednesday, March 20 2013, 2:23PM
“I couldn't agree more with the announcement from the buffet....it is so annoying, particularly when you're on an early train, trying to sleep or work in the quiet carriage and the announcement listing the menu from the buffet and its location keeps being repeated every 15 minutes.....sometimes the volume of the PA is so high as well....so not only it's irritating because it's repeated frequently, but it's very disturbing.
I think we give FGW enough money with the ever increasing season tickets so they should stop trying to make a mint with their catering...or at least advertise it more discretely....it really sounds they're desperate for passengers to buy a breakfast. There's even a welsh Train Manager that keeps reminding customers to get their breakfast before Swindon to avoid queueing....aaargh!!!”
by highspeeder
Wednesday, March 20 2013, 12:23PM
“The operator plans to roll out the new guide in January.
Don't get to comfortable yet as its 9 months away. Or, as I expect, is this another Chronicle mistake?”
by mopsus2
Tuesday, March 19 2013, 9:08PM
“Anyone getting the 0857 to Exeter or beyond is sure to be fed up with the phrase 'Merchant Venturer' by the time they disembark.
A recent trend is to have the same announcement broadcast simultaneously on two platforms, read by a man on one and by a woman on the other. This happens both at Bath and at Bristol.”
by pwharley
Tuesday, March 19 2013, 8:39PM
“Great news!
Perhaps they can now tackle station announcements, where "Please do not leave cases or parcels unattended anywhere on the station" etc. can get extremely irritating when it is repeated every 10-15 minutes?
We just want to know about the next train from each platform!”
by AbandonShip
Tuesday, March 19 2013, 7:00PM
“Please also get rid of annoying announcements from the buffet. On a trip from Bath to Bristol the announcements can take up a third of the journey time.”