New Automated Subway Station Announcements

[wyliepoon]

I was on the Sheppard Subway heading westbound around 6:30pm today, and the train I was on had automated station announcements!

The voices for the announcements are the same as the ones for the "reminders" you hear on TTC station platforms (male and female). I found the female voice to have about the same volume as a manual announcement, but the male announcements came loud and clear.

All the automated messages begin with two piano tones, followed by "The next station is Leslie.. Leslie Station", or "Arriving at Leslie... Leslie Station" upon arrival at the station.

I have a feeling you know what I was doing on the Sheppard Subway... making subway film clips. I think the video files are too big to load onto YouTube, but here's the sound clip of the station announcements...

Link to sound clip

 

[spmarshall]

The same female voice as does those annoying, patronizing announcements? Booooo!

I liked the announcements in the MTA 4/5/6 trains - clear, yet not intrusive and a bit friendly. I also don't mind the announcements for Montreal or London - nice, pleasant (well, except for "Mind the Gap" at Bank), clear and unintrusive.

 

[allabootmatt]

I HATE the 4,5,6 announcements...after about 12 stops that guy's insistent cheeriness gets VERY old.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

Almost every automated Sheppard announcement yesterday was interrupted by "testing, one, two, three, four, five..." and they kept switching from a man's voice to a woman's voice. What's wrong with something shorter like "Bessarion station is next...Bessarion"

 

[SD2]

Why bother with this when the driver can do it for...nothing?!

 

[EnviroTO]

Arriving at Leslie, Leslie Station? A little redundant redundant don't you think? Is he clarifying that Leslie is indeed a station? What about announcing in the top three languages found in the Toronto area for a little more of a cultural experience

Arriving at Leslie Station. Arrivée à la station de Leslie. 到達在Leslie 駐地.

Edit: Looks like this board can't handle unicode.

 

[ganjavih]

Wylie's recordings sound fine... bring on the automation. The live announcements are inconsistent, at times difficult to understand and many of the announcers really sound like they don't want to be doing the job.

 

[SD2]

Wylie's recordings sound fine... bring on the automation. The live announcements are inconsistent, at times difficult to understand and many of the announcers really sound like they don't want to be doing the job.

They are? They've always seemed pretty straightfoward to me...and some of the drivers have fun with it.

 

[cassiusa]

Some do sound like they're having fun with it sometimes but I think for the most part Ganjavih is right about that.

I also wouldn't mind yearing it in the top 2 or 3 languages spoken amongst TTC riders.

 

[boiler2000]

I think automated announcements are a good thing. It can't be easy to sit there all day and utter station names, and I'm not surprised many drivers don't seem into it. The best way might be for the drivers to have the option of switching the automated announcements off, and taking over when they feel like talking or "having fun with it", and switching to automated when they want to.

 

[interchange42]

A driver once announced "Spadeena. Spadeena Station is next." on a train I was travelling in.

I told the guard when I left the train "tell the driver it's Spadina."

The guard told me there are many ways to pronounce things...



...which is true, but not helpful. If the station were named after the house and not the avenue, all would have been right in the world.

42

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

interchange:

Yup! I have heard that one before as well!

AoD

 

[fiendishlibrarian]

So what have they decided on, the male or female voice?

 

[Archivistower]

fiendish, they've chosen transgendered.

Next station ... do you like my dress?

Arriving at "got any pills"? I'll die if I don't get a bump soon.

Next station is do my boobs look real?

 

[fiendishlibrarian]

The Enza Express?