London Underground onboard and station announcements
Edward Callow made this Freedom of Information request to Transport for London This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.
Dear Transport for London,
I’d like to request a copy of the digital sound files of:
1. All London Underground onboard announcements, for all lines, held by TfL/LUL.
I understand you are not able to provide these for some lines due to contractual obligations, but are at a minimum able to provide Jubilee, Piccadilly and Northern (both current and historical) line announcements.
2. All pre-recorded station announcements used at LUL-operated stations.
I appreciate that announcements made by station staff are made live and not available as recordings, but any automated information, safety and security announcements made to station platforms and concourses should be available.
I will send my postal address (assuming these files are sent via CD) separately to your FOI email address and can confirm that they will be for my personal use only, with no intention of distributing or using in a commercial manner.
Yours faithfully,
Edward Callow
Dear Edward Callow
Our ref: FOI-1455-1920/GH
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 14
August 2019 asking for London Underground 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 12 September 2019. We have received your
postal address.
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
[1]http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transpar... to see if this helps you.
We will publish anonymised versions of requests and responses on the
[2]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
Graham Hurt
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
References
Visible links
1. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transpar...
2. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/
3. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/
Dear Edward Callow
Our ref: FOI-1455-1920/GH
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 14
August 2019 asking for London Underground 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 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
References
Visible links
1. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/
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