Announcements

Dear Mr Hanson

TfL Ref: 1326-2122

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 19 September 2021. Please accept my apologies for the considerable delay in acknowledging your correspondence.

We will aim to issue a response by 15 October 2021 in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy.

We publish a substantial range of information on our website on subjects including operational performance, contracts, expenditure, journey data, governance and our financial performance. This includes data which is frequently asked for in FOI requests or other public queries. Please check http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transpar... to see if this helps you.

We will publish anonymised versions of requests and responses on the www.tfl.gov.uk website. We will not publish your name and we will send a copy of the response to you before it is published on our website.

In the meantime, if you would like to discuss this matter further, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Jasmine Howard
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
 

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Dear Mr Hanson

TfL Ref: 1326-2122

Thank you for your request received by us on 19 September 2021 asking for
copies of various audio announcements.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of
the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. 

I can confirm that we hold the information you require. Your email account
has now been added to the permissions list to access the audio recordings
and you should now have an email with a link enabling you to access the
folder (please check your spam folder if this is not visible).

Upon opening the link you will be asked to verify your account which will
generate a code to be send to your email address which is only valid for
15 minutes (you may need to check your spam folder). Once that code is
entered you will have access to the relevant files which can then be
downloaded. Should you encounter any difficulty with this please
contact [1][email address]

On train announcements for the TfL Rail, the Elizabeth line, London
Overground, London Underground’s Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly
lines are included in the folder. 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).

With regards to the London Underground station announcements, and the on
train announcements for the other tube 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.

Please note that 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.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable
to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate 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,

Jasmine Howard

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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