These people are irritating, annoying and loud. They’re a bane for all rail passengers.
However, trains might soon stop sending repetitive, pointless messages to annoy passengers.
A year-long review ordered by ministers will begin today to consider curbs on the bombardment of passengers with announcements such as ‘See it. It’s simple. Sorted’.
Some of the most annoying ‘tannoy spam’ may be hushed within months. Among those first to be culled will be obvious statements such as having your ticket ready and ‘contradictory’ messages that blare out calling for passengers to keep noise down while on board. You can also make announcements at a certain decibel level.
A year-long review ordered by ministers will begin today to consider curbs on the bombardment of passengers with announcements such as ‘See it. Speak it. Sorted’
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: ‘Train passengers are all too often plagued by an endless torrent of repeated and unnecessary announcements.
‘In line with the passenger improvements we are rolling out with our Plan for Rail, we want to see improvements to the railways for those who use them day in, day out.
‘That’s why I’m calling for a bonfire of the banalities to bring down the number of announcements passengers are forced to sit through and make their journey that little bit more peaceful.’
To determine which announcements to be removed, officials will collaborate with the Rail Delivery Group. The Rail Delivery Group will continue to accept messages that have a critical safety role or are essential for ensuring that railways can be reached by all travelers.
As commuter numbers rise, the review follows the Government’s end of its home-work advice due to the pandemic. The peak period of lockdown saw passenger numbers drop to just 4% of pre-Covid levels.
As part of its plans to revamp the railways, the Government pledged that it would eliminate annoying tannoy announcements.
A review promised ‘fewer annoying and repetitious recorded announcements’ on trains, which will also help eradicate ‘sometimes mixed messages’. It also pledged to order train operators to strip out uncomfortable ‘ironing board-like’ seats, starting on long-distance inter-city services.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps (pictured) said: ‘Train passengers are all too often plagued by an endless torrent of repeated and unnecessary announcements’
New design standards will be introduced to ‘make sure all new trains are more comfortable’.
Anthony Smith, chief executive of independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: ‘Passengers will welcome a review intended to cut out unnecessary announcements. Transport Focus looks forward to helping with the review so passengers get the information they want.’
Jacqueline Starr, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, said: ‘We know people want the most relevant and timely messages on their journeys and, to help with this, train operators are continuing their work to improve customer information, including cutting unnecessary on-board announcements.’
But Labour transport spokesman Louise Haigh said: ‘Do they expect the passengers being priced off our railways by a brutal fare hike, or unable to catch a train because of service cuts, to be grateful that the service they can no longer afford or access has fewer announcements?’