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New Automated Subway Station Announcements

They also had (likely still have) flashing lights in the floor on the platform edges to alert riders to incoming trains, not to mention farecards. All this was probably 20 years ago.
Click to expand...
Wait another 30 years and those stations will be out of date. Upgrades are generally expensive when the systems you originally built still function adequately, so they're done only when it becomes necessary to replace the original.
 
The automated system is being put in for blind people.

The TTC has a very bad track record of annoucing stations. Most drivers don't give a crap about announcing. And last year the TTC was sued for this by a group of blind people.

Thats why the automated system is being put in, because the TTC workers are not following the rules and providing proper accounments.

Right now there is an auditor going around, and the TTC can get fined if he is on a train that is not making annoucments. Its all part of this court case.
 
New automated announcements from YUS subway

Automated station announcements can now be heard on the Yonge-University-Spadina subway!

I had the opportunity to take the YUS subway this evening, and on my way up from downtown I heard the new automated announcements. I recorded the announcements on my camera, then converted them to these sound clips...

Dundas

College

Bloor

Sheppard

(if the sound links don't work, let me know)

The voice doing these announcements is the same as the one who does the Sheppard Subway announcements. In the train I was on, the announcements were not very loud and clear (the announcements on the Sheppard subway train I transferred to later were more than twice as loud). There are no differences between these announcements and the Sheppard announcements, including no mention of transfer stations.

The main issue I have with these announcements is the naming of the station in the announcements. Bloor station is always announced as Bloor in these announcements, while many drivers call out "Bloor and Yonge". Despite the fact that Sheppard station is now shown in route maps and all station signage as "Sheppard-Yonge", the automated announcement still calls out "Sheppard" station (the Sheppard subway announcements, on the other hand, call out "Sheppard-Yonge"). Perhaps the announcements should be edited to create less confusion... or maybe it's time the TTC create a solid rule on how transfer stations should be named.
 
I also dislike saying "The next station is Leslie, Leslie Station".

Don't need to say "Station" twice! The name is most important, and should be played at either end, in case you miss it.

"Leslie is the next stop, Leslie" is much better.

I like Chicago, but it is a bit repetative as well, but more useful - "The next stop is Library, State and Van Buren. Doors open on the right at Library, State and Van Buren. Transfer to the Blue, Red, Orange and Purple Lines at Library, State and Van Buren". Though the order was mixed up on my Green Line ride to Oak Park - the station announcements were one too soon most of the way.

The station name is the most prominent thing, not the fact that it is a station. Who cares!

New York's isn't bad either, and has similar information as the CTA's announcements.
 
I still hate the absurd redundancy of the TTC announcements. "The next station is Dundas. Dundas station. [5 second delay] Now arriving at Dundas. Dundas station." When train crews first started doing this I seriously wondered if they were doing it just to annoy passengers. How about a simple "Dundas is next. Dundas." or (not and) "This is Dundas. Dundas station"?

Edit: SPM beat me to it.
 
maybe they used "jimmy two times" from goodfellas.
 
Dundas, Dundas, Bo Dundas, Banarama Bo Dundas, Dundas, Dundas, Bo Dundas, Station.

I agree that the announcements are redundant redundant announcements.

"Leslie Station is next. Leslie." works better for me.
 
I heard it today for the first time on the YUS this morning.

I don't mind the voice. It could be the othe woman who does the "kinder way" and the "buy your Metropass and avoid the lineups" nags. I found it a bit too loud as well.

The announcements are perfect on the buses - they just say the next stop, nothing else.

If the TTC had flag stops, sign posts, terminals and depots, then saying station would make sense.

Could I develop a more redundant announcement?

"The next station that this subway train on the Union Station Bound Yonge-University-Spadina Line is Dundas. Dundas Station is the next station. The station we are now arriving at is Dundas Station. Again this is Dundas Station. Doors are closing at Dundas Station. Please do not charge the doors at Dundas Station. The station we just pulled out of is Dundas, Dundas Station."
 
My personal favourite from yesterday morning: "Next stop, Christie subway station.... Now arriving at Christie subway station."
 
I remember one from a rookie driver: "The next stop is...let me see here, ah, Summerhill. Summerhill is next".

There were also drivers who let kids standing at the railfan seat with their parents call the stop. That was kinda cute.
 
I hate the stupid relatively new chime that prefaces any announcement inside the station
 
I submitted a comment to the TTC through the web, saying I like automated announcements, but they should be shorter and less redundant. I suggest others do so as well.
 
For a person who may not use the system often there may be confusion between a name and the name of the station - even if they are similar. The repetition is consistent and should be maintained. Two announcements are better than one - particularly at rush hour when you may not be able to see any visual indicators, or when there is more ambient noise on the trains.
 
Last week, in the evening rush hour going north on Yonge, we had a subway announcer who kept telling everyone - as the doors opened at each station - that the train behind was "empty" and to take it instead.

Last night, heading home to the Winter Palace on the 504, I was serenaded all the way by the show tune driver who sings out the stops. Far nicer than the idiotic one with the eastern European accent who cracks jokes and sings stupid ditties; getting him first thing in the morning ain't pleasant.
 
...

I noticed them a few weeks ago on one train, but i just dismissed it as an operator... today I heard them twice so I kind of figured maybe not and this thread confirmed it. I like the announcements, they are pretty clear, but im going to miss some of the comments the operators would throw in sometimes.
 
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