Comments on: Noise pollution on trains

By: David

David — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 15:50:35 +0000

Thanks for the comments, guys.

Very good point Matthew – I suspect those higher up are so wrapped up in their own little corporate world that they don’t realise that the people actually using the trains just want to get from A to B as quickly and as painlessly as possible. They don’t want to buy into the East Midlands Trains experience – they just want to get to bloody London.

By: Matthew Teller

Matthew Teller — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 06:52:27 +0000

It’s the difference between a public-service ethic and a privatised environment where the train companies have to make money. The only reason they prattle about the buffet car is to make you think ‘ooh I’m a bit peckish I’ll go and buy a sandwich’. And also because of a misguided idea that people actually chose their train company and so are enjoying the experience of being in an East Midlands Trains corporate environment, which the train managers are required to make as ‘welcoming’ as possible. Totally wrongheaded management strategy, in other words.

I just got back from Switzerland, where all they say is “Next stop Zurich” – but that’s because the platform announcements are always right, and always audible and clear, and the departure boards always work and are always right, and there are detailed timetables posted everywhere listing departures (yellow posters), arrivals (white posters) and the make-up of every train showing which carriages are available in which order (blue posters). Then, as you approach Zurich (or whatever), the bloke comes on and says “Your next connections at Zurich: for the 7.55 to Basel cross to platform 4, for the 8.01 to Bern go to platform 1, for the 7.56 to Zurich Airport platform 5, for the 8.04 to Geneva platform 8, sorry but the 8.01 to Baden is currently running 46 seconds late but it will shortly arrive on platform 3″ etc etc. But that’s only because there is at least half-hourly service on every major line, every train is on time, and every connection has been planned on a timetable designed to function nationwide so that trains are integrated with each other, and with the bus network too. I could go on…

By: Keith

Keith — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:21:13 +0000

‘Welcome aboard this South-West Trains service to London/Waterloo’ particularly gets my goat. I KNOW where the train’s going, thanks to the destination boards and announcements on the platform. (and, I know who it belongs to … it’s got ‘South West Trains’ painted on the side)

By: Tim Richards

Tim Richards — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:59:42 +0000

When the trams in Melbourne were privatised in 1999, the two new companies took to making constant service announcements over the hitherto hardly ever used speakers within the trams.

You can imagine how pleased bleary-eyed, sardine-packed commuters were at 8am on a frosty morning to be greeted by the overly cheerful tones of a bright young thing played too loudly over defective crackling speakers. The wonderful innovation didn’t last long.