Trains told to get rid of torrent of 'Tannoy spam'

If you're a commuter returning to the office after a long period of working from home, you may soon notice a subtle difference on your morning train.

In the next few months, rail chiefs will be getting rid of unnecessary announcements to make journeys quieter.

Examples of so-called "Tannoy spam" include telling passengers to have their tickets ready and, ironically, to keep the noise down.

But the Department for Transport (DfT) said key safety messages would remain.

That probably means a reprieve for the British Transport Police's "See it. Say it. Sorted" announcement, branded "the most annoying slogan of the century".

The DfT said it would be working closely with the Rail Delivery Group and passenger groups such as Transport Focus, as well as train operators, to identify how the "vast number" of announcements could be cut or reduced.

"The review will take place over the course of this year, with redundant messages identified and starting to be removed in the coming months," it added.

'Bonfire of banalities'

The announcement comes as many office workers are preparing to resume regular journeys to their workplace, after the government scrapped its work-from-home guidance for England with immediate effect.

"As passengers come back to the railways, the DfT will continue to ensure journeys are more comfortable to all users, and that passengers continue to receive the important information that they need about their journey," the department said.

"Officials will work with accessibility groups to ensure that access for all is maintained."

What readers say:

• Hopefully this also means removing the CrossCountry catering announcements - some of whom insist on listing the entire menu of food and drink that's offered on the journey, item by item! We don't need to know every flavour of crisp sold, or special offers on alcohol at 9am!

• For me, the most frustrating thing about tannoy announcements on trains is when the onboard supervisors announce every stop the train will be calling at *after* the generic train tannoy has already announced them all barely moments ago.

• Most of these announcements are imposed on the train companies by the DfT, which is Grant Shapps's department. So he shouldn't blame the train companies for them! Many of them are also essential for blind passengers.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said train passengers were 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," he added.

"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."

The move was welcomed by Transport Focus and the Rail Delivery Group.

But Louise Haigh MP, Labour's shadow transport secretary, accused the government of "falling silent" over the cost of living crisis and increasing ticket prices.

Regulated rail fares in England will rise by 3.8% from March, in the biggest increase for nine years. These regulated prices make up about half of fares and include season tickets on most commuter routes.

"What hard-pressed passengers want to hear more than anything else is a plan to help them," Ms Haigh said.