Loudspeaker happiness

Do any others "out there" share my irritation with tourist/heritage railways that become loudspeaker happy? A recent visit to one such line revealed they were having problems with a fallen tree which was blocking the line and preventing services running right through. Okay, these things happen. I chanced to overhear a couple of maintenance staff saying to one another that if the tree got removed as expected the train would go right through. No hint as to this in the repeated loudspeaker announcements so I asked and it was confirmed.

It can be argued that loudspeakers have a purpose in situations like this, even though one useful piece of information never got broadcast. However they are not a substitute for human contact. "Will late passengers shut the door behind them" announced "the voice". Sorry but that is what the platform staff (quite numerous on this occasion) are for. Customer care is one reason whilst safety, as many people do not know how to deal with slam doors, is another.

Loudspeakers on rural railways are in no way "heritage". Get your people to talk to rather than at your visitors and be very very sparing in your use of amplified announcements.

PH

 

Yes sir, at once sir!

 

So on a busy day at Kidderminster*, how do you inform the throng that the "the train on platform 3 is the 13:45 to Bridgnorth calling at …………………..?" Walk around and speak to every passenger on the platform?
On smaller stations it would no doubt be viable to use the personal approach but on busy days ay larger station mate not so and a tannoy comes in very useful. Main stations did use tannoys in steam days you know.
*Other stations are available.

 

Not so difficult really.. A few painted notice boards which can be exchanged according to the daily timetable in force. Inevitably some visitors will want reassurance so they just ask a member of the uniformed staff who re-assures them! No heritage/tourist railway resembles rush hour at Liverpool Street although I fear some enthusiasts consider their line does.

Whether it is a myth or not there is a folk memory of the rural branch line as being all rose bushes and kindly staff who took care of the elderly and infirm. I was reminded of this image the other day at another tourist/heritage railway when the train stopped for water. It was packed and the station staff were fully occupied with ticket inspection plus loading and unloading pushchairs and wheelchairs. The guard having a couple of minutes in hand, used them by helping an elderly and very frail man to walk to the ticket barrier. Loudspeakers are pretty rubbish at that sort of thing.

PH

 

where else would it go?

 

They both have a place. Generally - though there are always exceptions - I'm pretty impressed with the way that the announcements are done at Loughborough Central, both providing information and also recreating the sense of a main line station. I'd have equally little problem with similar at Kidderminster.

 

Well it was a main line so they can can "get away with it". However I remain of the opinion that human interaction should come first with the disembodied voice being reserved for things which are genuinely out of course.

PH

 

There seems to be two (maybe more) methods adopted by some on heritage/tourist lines. For some it is running an efficient and pleasurable to ride railway, for others it is simply playing trains.

It is up to the management to encourage what they consider important and dissuade the over zealous.

 

Next time you are at Kidder pray show me platform 3. Also please note SVR tends to use the 12 hour clock so the train is the 1.45 to Bridgnorth. Mind being asked what time the 1.45 leaves is not uncommon

 

I would say that there is a definite place for "tannoy" announcements when/if a change occurs, to alert passengers already waiting on the platform or in the refreshment rooms.

There should be no need to repeatedly announce that change, providing the platform staff are fully briefed and available to answer queries, but that freshly arriving passengers should be spoken to as they arrive, preferably by booking clerks or barrier staff.

 

In your search for pedancy, I think you may have missed the point of my post but never mind.

 

i find them intrusive on platforms and somewhat ludicrous on trains themselves. Maybe the public appreciate, nay, demand them. But they are out of place to me.

(As is the SVR practice of using those white bats instead of green flags)

 

Not familiar with SVR rules and operating procedures. Surely white bats have a totally different function to green flags?

I believe the white bats were introduced on the National Network in order to avoid a casual wave from a passenger on a crowded platform being mistaken for a "right away" from the authorised platform staff, whereas a green flag is the guard's signal to start?

The only situations in which the platform staff would normally need to use a green flag would be either, repeating the guard's signal to the driver where it cannot be seen due to the curvature or, starting a train which is standing beyond the starting signal such that the driver cannot see what aspect is displayed (the latter being I believe not uncommon at Waterloo's old platforms 11 & 12).

 

Having already been thought a pedant I might as well go full bore.

Dispatch Bats are only used at Highley due to the particular circumstances of the layout. The platform is on a curve and too short for most trains. Line of sight between guard and loco is often not possible esp for UP trains as the bridge obscures the guards view.

The dispatch bat does not replace the green flag but is used to relay the RA to the loco. Lets look at a typical up departure. Platform work is complete and this is conveyed to the guard by showing the white side of the bat to the guard. The guard will complete their own checks and if safe give the RA using the GREEN flag. There is no way the driver can see this so the RA is passed on by the station staff by showing the driver the white side of the bat. At other stations the driver can either see the guard or the station staff can pass the RA by hand signal

 

how did they do it in GWR days then?

 

you're going to have to back that up with statistics. Everyone used to travel by train back in the day and there is generally not more than a couple of dozen passengers on the platform as a train departs there.

 

Being a South East Londoner I cant pontificate what hapened on WR but I can on SR. London Bridge platform 1 was probably the worse to get a train away. In the 50s the guard allways rode in the rear brake. With station work complete 3 or 4 station staff would face the guard and give the guard indication by raising one arm palm facing the guard. If satisfied the guard would wave the green flag, Each member of station staff would without dropping their arm turn to face the front and pass the RA up the platform. The RA was passed by each member of staff being physically seen to turn palm forward. As Wenlock said dispatch bats were introduced to avoid confusion with casual waving and to raise the height of hand signals well above the heads of throngs of passengers

 

that's how I recall it being done on the WR too. It's non-prototypical and it jars with me, although I accept it doesn't make a lot of difference in the overall scheme of things.

 

I will ask the question - are there any views re using bells in DMUs No green flag needed