Dear Peter Edwards

TfL Ref: FOI-2487-2223

Thank you for your request which we received on 2 January 2023.

We will aim to issue a response by 30 January 2023 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
[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

Eva Hextall

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

show quoted sections

Dear Peter Edwards

TfL Ref: FOI-2487-2223

Thank you for your request which we received on 2 January 2023, asking for
information about audio announcements on the London Underground and DLR.

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 some of the information you require. You specifically
asked:

• I would like to know about the Docklands Light Railway current onboard
announcements. These are the main onboard announcements that announce
where the train is going and the next stop etc. Could you please tell me
what the name of the female voiceover artist is who voiced these? Also
what company provides this onboard CIS system used onboard? Finally could
i please get the sound files (like mp3 or wav etc) and the scripts of the
automated announcements used on your current Docklands Light Railway
trains?

The voice over artist is Emma Hignett. The company that provides the
system is Televic.

In regard to the DLR sound files, we do not hold this information. The on
train announcements for the DLR are not held in any central repository and
are not ‘recorded’ as such. The voice files are segmented, they are
therefore not complete sentences. These are done digitally as needed by
typing them into a system, combining previously typed announcements where
necessary. It is therefore not possible to provide an audio recording, as
requested. The station announcements are held on a central system but not
in a form that allows them to be distributed

• Onboard your Docklands Light Railway trains you have also added a male
voice for a "Mind The Gap Please" announcement that plays onboard the
train. This was only added a few years ago and never used to be there.
Could you please tell me what the name of the male voiceover artist is who
voiced these? Also do you have a list of all of the stations where this
message plays as it seems it only plays at some stations?

The “Mind the Gap” announcements are recorded by a member of KAD staff not
a voiceover artist.

We believe that the announcements were made at Greenwich, Island Gardens,
All Saints, Poplar, Canary Wharf and Limehouse stations.  These stations
are shown on the step-free Tube map with a ‘B’ gap level.  All other DLR
stations have an ‘A’ rating.  In the past this may also have included
Royal Victoria and Crossharbour stations.

• I understand that there are some new Docklands Light Railway trains
built by CAF on order. I believe many have already been built and are
being tested. I have seen lots of photos of them on the test tracks in
Spain currently. I would like to ask about the automated announcements on
these new trains. Will these trains use the same exact automated
announcements as the current trains? Or will you install new automated
announcements voiced by someone different? If so then could you please
tell me the name of the new voiceover artist that will be used on these
new trains? Also could i please get the sound files (like mp3 or wav etc)
and the scripts of the automated announcements on these new trains?

No, the trains will not use the same automated announcements. The messages
will be synthesised (text to speech) therefore not recorded by a voiceover
artist.  

• I would like to know about the Docklands Light Railway current station
platform announcements that announce the next train to arrive. I know that
unlike most of your announcements this is actually a Text To Speech voice
(not a real human voiceover artist) but i am wondering what the name of
this Text To Speech voice is? So i mean the name of the company that this
Text To Speech voice is from and the name of the voice as most Text To
Speech voices are given names? Also what company provides this CIS system
used on the platforms at Docklands Light Railway stations? Finally do you
have the scripts for these announcements?

The next train announcements are automated. The Thales signalling system
sends a code to the ASL’s Long Line Public Address (LLPA) system which
triggers the announcement from text to speech. ASL use their own
proprietary software. We do not hold any scripts.

• Lastly this relates to the London Underground and is unrelated to the
Docklands Light Railway above. At the London Underground station at Kings
Cross St Pancras you have a Text To Speech voice in use for the various
announcements across the station. This voice is used for the various
safety announcements and information announcements (but this voice is not
used for the next train announcements on the platforms which are the
normal standard Elinor Hamilton ones used at most stations) all across the
London Underground station and corridors and passageways at this station.
It seems that Kings Cross St Pancras is the only London Underground
station to use this Text To Speech voice. Note this is a different Text To
Speech voice than the Docklands Light Railway one. Again i know that
unlike most of your announcements this is actually a Text To Speech voice
(not a real human voiceover artist) but i am wondering what the name of
this Text To Speech voice is? So i mean the name of the company that this
Text To Speech voice is from and the name of the voice as most Text To
Speech voices are given names? Also what company provides this CIS system
used for these Text To Speech announcements at Kings Cross St Pancras
station? Finally do you have the scripts for these announcements?

The digital voice announcement (DVA) system in use at Kings Cross
Underground station is a Siemens system and is the only one of its kind on
the London Underground. Within the next few weeks this system is being
replaced and standardised with the same DVA that is in use at the majority
of London Underground stations.

For detailed explanation of the voice over artists on the London
underground, please see
[1]https://www.mylondon.news/lifestyle/lond...

Voice announcement scripts are publicly available on our transparency
pages, available via this link;

[2]https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparenc...

In accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply
you with a copy of the requested information as it is already accessible
to you elsewhere.

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

Eva Hextall

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

show quoted sections