I would like to request all announcements that you are able to Send out

Dear Matt Phillips

Our Ref: FOI-1576-2324

Thank you for your email which we received on 13 August 2023, asking for
audio announcements.

As you are aware in order to grant you access to the announcement files,
we will need your personal email address. We are not able to add “What Do
They Know” email account to access these recordings. You may wish to email
it to me directly, as opposed to on this public site, at FOI ‘at’
tfl.gov.uk.

I will look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Eva Hextall

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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Dear Matt Phillips

Our Ref: FOI-1576-2324

Thank you for providing your email address.

A response will be provided to you by 11 September 2023.

Yours sincerely

Eva Hextall

FOI Case Officer

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Dear Matt Phillips

Our Ref: FOI-1576-2324

Thank you again for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on
13 August 2023, asking for audio announcements.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of
the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy.  I
can confirm we hold the information you require.

Your email account has now been added to the permissions list to access
the audio recordings we are permitted to release 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).

Please note that the audio announcements across the full TfL network that
we are currently able to provide access to, are accessible via this site.
However, please be aware that many of the audio announcements that can be
heard across the network are actually made up of smaller, fragmented
recordings which are then combined for the purposes of public
announcements so there will be some instances where full recordings of
specific stop/station names, numbers or locations are not held.

On train announcements for the 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.

We intend to update these files on a six monthly basis and so any newer
recordings will be uploaded as part of this pre-determined schedule,
rather than in response to specific future FOI requests. This is to ensure
our resources can be managed effectively. Therefore, if you are aware of
newer recordings that have been created that are not yet uploaded, we
would appreciate your patience with this as requests for these recordings
will be refused under section 22 of the FOI Act on the basis that there is
a pre-existing intention to publish these in accordance with our
publication schedule. We would therefore encourage you to wait for this
upload rather than submit requests for recordings in this way. To confirm,
these updates are expected to occur around January and July of each year.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable
to access it for some 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.

Yours sincerely

Eva Hextall

FOI Case Officer

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