Request for train announcements

The request was successful.

Dear Transport for London,

I would be grateful if you could provide copies (I gather these have been provided on CD in response to similar requests) of on-train announcements for as many lines as you are able to provide.

In particular:
Jubilee Line
Northern Line (present and historical)
Piccadilly Line (present, and historical if possible to obtain)
Bakerloo Line
Croydon Tramlink

Many thanks in anticipation. I would be happy to supply a postal address separately by email.

Yours faithfully,

Daniel Hanson

FOI, Transport for London

Dear Daniel Hanson

 

Our ref: FOI-2998-1920/GH

 

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 8
January 2020 asking for announcements.

 

Your request will be processed in accordance with the requirements of the
Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.

 

A response will be sent to you by 5 February 2020. As you are aware we
send our announcements recordings on CD and therefore require your postal
address.

 

Please can you send this to us direct, quoting the above reference, to
[1][email address]  ( FOI @ tfl.gov.uk – no spaces ).

 

Yours sincerely

 

Graham Hurt

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

 

show quoted sections

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/

Dear Mr Hurt,

Regarding your reply to this request, I have sent my postal address by private email to the address provided.

Many thanks for your time,

Yours sincerely,

Daniel Hanson

FOI, Transport for London

1 Attachment

Dear Daniel Hanson

 

Our ref: FOI-2998-1920/GH

 

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 8
January 2020 asking for announcements.

 

Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and our information access policy. I can confirm that
we do hold the information you require.

 

A CD containing Tramlink and some London Underground announcements has
been sent to you in the post.

 

On train announcements for the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines have
been provided. The Northern line audio files contain historical as well as
current announcements. You will note the Piccadilly line announcements are
supplied as PCC files which may need specialist software to play them.
This format is the only version we currently have available.

 

Please also note that while the Jubilee and Piccadilly announcements are
recorded as full statements specifically for each station, Northern line
announcements are recorded as segmented phrases joined into full sentences
by the train management system (TMS).

 

Access to this material will be provided to you under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, you are not granted any rights to any of the
intellectual property that exists in it or granted any permission to make
secondary uses of it.

 

TfL owns all intellectual property (including, without limitation,
copyright) in the material supplied and will defend such rights.

 

If you wish to make any secondary use of the material provided, you must
first obtain the consent of TfL (which may be withheld) and, if consent is
granted, a fee may be charged, in accordance with the terms of the Reuse
of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005.

 

With regards to the London Underground station announcements, and the on
train announcements for other lines, we are not obliged to supply these
audio files as the information is subject to a statutory exemption to the
right of access to information under section 43(2).

 

In this instance section 43(2) has been applied as disclosure of the
information requested would be likely to prejudice the commercial
interests of TfL and/or the company used to provide the recordings. The
recordings in question were provided to London Underground under a signed
contracts which contained explicit conditions concerning disclosure and
distribution.

 

These contracts specify that the recordings are solely to be used for the
purpose for which they were created and for broadcast on the London
Underground network only. If TfL were to disclose these recordings in
response to an FOI request, it would constitute an actionable breach of
contract and would be likely to result in a valid legal claim against
London Underground or the license to use the recordings being withdrawn,
which would impose additional, unnecessary, costs. TfL wishes to protect
its commercial interests and ability to participate in future commercial
activity. The disclosure of this information would be to the detriment of
present and future business activities for both parties.

 

The use of this exemption is subject to an assessment of the public
interest in relation to the disclosure of the information concerned.  TfL
recognises the need for openness and transparency within public
authorities and the degree of public interest concerning London transport
announcements in light of the recent disclosure of iBus announcements.
However, in this instance this is outweighed by the damage that would be
done to TfL’s ability to use these recordings and any future contractual
negotiations that may take place regarding the London Underground
announcements.

 

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable
to access it for some reason, please feel free to contact me.

 

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to
appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would
like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Graham Hurt

 

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear FOI,

Many thanks for your reply, I can confirm this is the information I was looking for. I have marked the request as closed.

Once again many thanks for your time - much appreciated.

Yours sincerely,

Daniel Hanson