Reference number: 202300271

Dear Simon

Information request

Your correspondence was received by Network Rail on 04/11/2023. I can
confirm that your request is being processed under the terms of the
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) / Environmental Information Regulations
(EIR). I will endeavour to respond to you as soon as possible and in any
event by 04/12/2023 23:59:59.

I have understood your request to be for the following information:

Could i make a Freedom Of Information Act 2000 request please.

I have some questions about one of the old automated announcements systems
used at:

• London Blackfriars

• London City Thameslink

• London Kings Cross Thameslink

• London Waterloo East

• Southampton Central

The system i am referring to is one of the old systems voiced by Celia
Drummond and Phil Sayer that was used in the early 2000s.

• It was used at London Blackfriars for a couple years in the early 2000s.
From around 2003/2004 to around 2008/2009 i think. The system used before
this was an older Ditra system with different voices. The system used
after this was the Funkwerk system which only lasted about two years (and
then the Atos Worldline system was installed).

• It was used at London City Thameslink for a couple years in the early
2000s. From around 2003/2004 to around 2006/2007 i think. The system used
before this was an older Ditra system with different voices. The system
used after this was the Funkwerk system which only lasted about four years
(and then the Atos Worldline system was installed).

• It was used at London Kings Cross Thameslink for a couple years in the
early 2000s. From around 2003/2004 to around 2006/2007 i think. The system
used before this was an older Ditra system with different voices. There
was no system used after this as it was used until the station closed(and
was replaced with the St Pancras Thameslink station).

• It was used at London Waterloo East for a couple years in the early
2000s. From around 2004/2005 to around 2007/2008 i think. The system used
before this was an older Ditra system with different voices. The system
used after this was the Atos Worldline system (which is still used now).

• It was used at Southampton Central for a couple years in the early
2000s. From around 2001/2002 to around 2004/2005 i think. The system used
before this was an older Ditra system with different voices. The system
used after this was the Amey system for over a decade (and then the Atos
Worldline system many years later in 2018/2019 or so). The system that i
am referring to at all these stations was the same exact system. So all
the stations that i mention were using the same system. These stations
seemed to be the only UK stations that were using this system. So that is
why my request is regarding all of them. But i am really struggling to
find out which system it is.

My question is what system was this?

I believe this was very likely a Ditra system of some sort. But there was
a lot of CIS providers that ran off of the Ditra system. For example Amey
and Thales were both running off of Ditra systems. So

was this system provided by another CIS provider running off of the Ditra
system?

If so who was this?

Or was it a full in house system run entirely by Ditra themselves?

Do you have any other information and details you could kindly provide on
this system at these stations?

 If you could provide all information you hold regarding this that what be
great. Whatever information and details you hold about this system at
these stations would be hugely appreciated. Thank you in advance for your
help. You have managed most of these stations in the past and you also
have lots of involvement with infrastructure such as this so i have been
told you are the right people to speak to who will hopefully hold this
information.

If I have misunderstood or misinterpreted your request in any way, please
let me know as soon as possible.

On occasion we may need to consult with third parties about requests, in
line with the recommendations in the Code of Practice issued by the
Cabinet Office.

If you are looking for information about yourself or on behalf of someone
else (for example CCTV footage of yourself, details of a complaint you’ve
made, information about a job application you’ve made, etc.) it is very
unlikely that we would be able to provide that information to you under
the FOIA/EIR. You may however be able to obtain it through a Subject
Access Request (SAR) under the Data Protection Act 2018 - details of our
SAR process, the form we ask you to complete and your right to access
information about yourself can be found at:
[1]https://www.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content...

If you have any queries please contact me. We try to make all of our
communications as accessible as possible. If there’s anything specific we
can do to adjust our responses to suit your needs and requirements, please
let us know.

Please remember to quote your reference number in all future
communications.

Yours sincerely

 Danielle Stratton

Network Rail FOI team

References

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1. https://www.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content...

OFFICIAL

Reference number: FOI202300271

Dear Simon Brown,

Please find attached our response to your Freedom of Information request.

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely,

Danielle Stratton | Information Rights Compliance Specialist

Freedom of Information Team | Legal Corporate Services

[1]Network Rail | The Quadrant: MK | Elder Gate | Milton Keynes | MK9 1EN

Email [2][Network Rail request email] |

Web [3]http://www.networkrail.co.uk/foi/

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