Unnecessary train announcements to be scrapped within months in England

Quieter train journeys are set to become the norm after the government said it plans to identify and remove repetitive and unnecessary onboard announcements on trains in England.

The changes mean that passengers will no longer hear unnecessary ‘tannoy spam’ that arguably distracts from safety-critical messaging.

The government says that it will work closely with the Rail Delivery Group, passenger groups including Transport Focus, and train operators, the Department for Transport (DfT) to identify how the vast number of announcements can be cut or reduced while maintaining vital obligations to ensure train travel remains accessible for all.

Messages that play a safety critical role, or that ensure the railways are accessible for all, will remain.

The review will take place over the course of this year, and messages found to be redundant will begin to be removed in the coming months.

Announcements set to be culled include instructions such as having your ticket ready when leaving the station and contradictory calls for passengers to keep volume levels low while onboard announcements blare out. There will also be new curbs on the maximum frequency at which remaining announcements will be heard.

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.”