Decided to make a new thread about the absurd announcements made on the trains since they have been getting so much attention in the ‘On the network’ thread.
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I noticed that when the trains play the announcements that include the new busway announcements, the intonation of the ‘Now arriving at..’ sounds a bit sarcastic compared to the announcements when the trains approach other stations.
When the ‘Now arriving at..’ has a sarcastic tone, it most likely indicates that the announcement is temporary. Some previous sarcastically intonated announcements that I heard included “Now arriving at Boggo Road/Park Road station” (for the name change from Park Road to Boggo Road), and “Now arriving at Central. This is a Shorncliffe train, stopping all stations except for Banyo” (during reconstruction of Banyo station).
This must imply that QR intends on making a permanent busway announcements that is more concise than the one we currently have now.
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Does QR have any evidence that suggests these longer announcements are helpful for anyone?
For frequent or regular users they seem full of unnecessary information.
For infrequent or new users they seem unlikely to happen to cover the specifics they might find helpful for their trip. They still assume a lot of knowledge (like what high frequency services along the south East and eastern busways means…). And they have to be listening closely to pick it all up. Surely decent PIDs and maps do this better onboard then audio announcements.
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The overly verbose train announcements are one of the most irritating things about using trains in Brisbane (behind the appalling off-peak frequency).
When I catch the train with my family we often read aloud a book together. We have to pause for each announcement. In the inner network with short stop spacing, there is more time spent waiting than reading.
Why do we need three separate reminders of the next station? Contrast this with buses, which don’t tell you anything and would be far more helpful as it’s hard to know when to press the ‘stop’ button when you’re on a new route.
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Is it really true that when the Cleveland line approaches Buranda station, the announcement goes:
“The next station is Buranda. Change here for the high frequency Buranda busway stations, with connections to the high frequency South, Northern, and Eastern busways. If this is your station, please disembark.”
I don’t travel on the Cleveland line often so I wouldn’t know 
We can assume that. I regularly catch the train to South Bank from the north. The verbose announcement plays for all the stations with a busway stop (Roma St, South BNE CC, South Bank), so it’s safe to assume that they do this for all stations with decent busway stops.
It would be hell but also funny if they did this with transfer points with the BUZ network as well: “Now arriving at Zillmere. Change here for the high-frequency 330 Bracken Ridge BUZ bus service that connects with Bracken Ridge and Chermside along with other northern suburbs, and runs express from Chermside to Brisbane City via the Airport Link Tunnel and Inner Northern Busway”.
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However, I am kind of for announcements that indicate if the train station offers a decent transfer point with a BUZ route something along the lines of: “Now arriving at Zillmere station. Customers for the 330 Bracken Ridge bus, please disembark here”.
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Yes. It does. Not sure about Northern busway specifically as I try to zone out…but the verbose announcement definitely plays for Buranda.
I had the pleasure the other day coming into South Brisbane the other day and getting in immediate succession:
- South brisbane arrival speel.
- South bank next station speel.
- Gaurd garble to add to the fun.
Something short and specific like that would be fine.
But this idea of announcing in lengthy detail the idea you can transfer to some bus at this station using generic terms like “frequent services” and labels that are little used by the travelling public like “eastern busway” is an absolute joke.
If you haven’t planned your journey already, it doesn’t help you enough. If you have planned you journey, it isn’t necessary.
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Almost as if these announcements are more to promote buses over train due to their higher frequency rather than provide decent information about transfers with buses. If they want to announce useful info about bus transfers, they should’ve kept the “Customers for the busway station, please disembark here”.
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