Updating the Announcements on a Northern Train!

I was invited to go to ‪@NorthernRailwayOfficial‬'s Newton Heath Depot in Manchester to showcase how the on-board announcements are being updated on the Northern fleet!
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[@davidcurtis6698]

Thanks for coming Nick! Hope you enjoyed it!

[@NickBadley]

I did, indeed! Thank you!

[@LushCrawler]

Legend!

[@AIDANBC]

Wow

[@adamkeam7913]

David is an absolute legend at Northern!

[@davidcurtis6698]

Thanks Adam haha

[@adamkeam7913]

@@davidcurtis6698hope you’re keeping well mate, miss you around Picc!

[@Sim0nTrains]

You learn something new with this video, didn't knew they use SD Cards for their route card database. This is a Fascinating video Nick and thanks for showing us.

[@loco4loco]

I was expecting something more advanced then a SD card

[@bfapple]

@@loco4locowhy would it need to be more advanced?

[@loco4loco]

@@bfapple idk I just expected it to be more advanced

[@AutoUnder]

Oh wow that is a really cool video!! It's interesting how easily the announcements can be swapped out and it makes sense since the announcements are all different for each TOC and are changed when units are on lease, such as the some of the Northern Sprinters being used by TfW. For the rail infrastructure nerd I am, this has been amazing to watch

[@IowaTrainGay]

Omg! Nick is this like a prequel to you joining Northern!? 🎉🎉 So fun!

[@ReecesTrains]

You're so lucky to get an invitation to see the announcements being changed! I'll definitely miss the older ones bit it seems the new ones are now getting rolled out on all of Northern's trains.

[@loco4loco]

The new ones sound kinda like a Yorkshire accent but am probably wrong

[@lewiss626]

​@loco4loco they are the guy who recorded then is a conductor for Northern at York

[@loco4loco]

@@lewiss626 cool

[@LokiAvivson]

same @reecestrains especially the ones on the iconic fishbowls

[@ReecesTrains]

@LokiAvivson They haven't done the 333's yet, but they probably will soon though when they figure out some technical issues.

[@jacobporrett]

Thank you for the interesting insight Nick. I think all trains should have"Nick loves 150/1s" haha

[@carldiff]

I was going to watch this video in one go but I needed APIS

[@WhatALoadOfTosca]

... Now there's no need to be such a Spad ;) (couldn't resist) lol

[@hamshackleton]

I thought they were going to record YOU making the announcements!

[@tiepup]

Announcement boards never lie, so you really do love 150/1's! A surprisingly manual job for updating them, but I suppose it's quite infrequent that they have to do it.

[@MattBasch]

Always wondered how that system works! Thanks for sharing!

[@Stevenspielburger]

Really interesting video. The two railway guys looked like the Pet Shop Boys in the final shot!

[@ap_red]

Here's hoping they're correcting "Briglington" as part of this

[@Andrewjg_89]

Bit like Geoff Marshall who had his very own voice on the Thameslink Class 700. Nice to hear your voice on the Northern trains Nick.

[@TB76Returns]

Nick got trolled on a 150/1!

[@LokiAvivson]

The best Northern announcements are onboard 150269 and 150270 and its a lady who says "Welcome aboard, we will be calling at the following principal stations: Grangetown, Cogan, Eastbrook, Dinas Powys, Cadoxton, Barry Docks, Barry and Barry Island. Thank you" for example

[@danieldabloxgamer9205]

Remember the old contronics stuff

[@nope.0.]

Best Northern announcement came from the conductor on a day the train was stuffed with three times the usual passengers due to cancellations. "The next station is Bingley. It's a lovely place, is Bingley."

[@danieldabloxgamer9205]

Wait until we have a Northern 150 doing Julie Berry on the marston vale in LNWR livrey

[@LokiAvivson]

@@danieldabloxgamer9205 lol

[@LokiAvivson]

@ChilternTransportProductions thankfully they're reusing Ruth on the 230s because the PIS is trainfx which is the exact same as on the Sprinters and now withdrawn 769s. also the 230s were meant to enter service before tfw hired Elin Llwyd, the new voice over artist for the 197s, 231s, 398s, 756s and 67 + Mk4 sets. a few 153s will be kept for the Heart of Wales line services until a suitable replacement for them can be found. but do you think that Ruth will stay on this small fleet of 153s? or will they switch to Elin Llwyd on them?

[@junglejack6068]

The old announcements sound better

[@Billy-oh8rp]

I agree

[@PK345Transport]

Actually I think the new ones are better

[@jakewynn]

nope new ones are less monotonous

[@Benthetrainspotter]

New ones are better

[@PamelaBane]

Thanks Nick that ws interesting, it must take a bit of time to do the whole fleet, you never give it a thought about how the announcements are programmed.

[@CM_Railways]

I hate the new announcements. He sounds depressed lol

[@seemonthegac6283]

yeah can’t lie

[@WhatALoadOfTosca]

Doesn't he?!

[@davidt-rex2062]

Bet you had a blast.

[@MrTransportAddict]

5:21 so true. 😂

[@OmerLovesLife]

lovely video!

[@kevinfarrell8074]

Hi Nick, If you fancy chatting about the channel, Radio Warrington at the Market would be happy to discuss.

[@NickBadley]

Hello! I'd certainly be interested! If you'd like to discuss, I'd happily do so! I'd recommend using my business E-mail [e-mail] Thanks!

[@TheSugarDaddy1]

Nick you are getting big time now well done

[@GooseWaffe]

Hope you had a great time, nice to see you get some recognition! Did you have to do a PTS course or anything to do this?

[@YourLeicesterspotter]

5:22 They trolled you lol

[@cummins158]

This is a really well put together video, well done! As someone who has to use it daily I was disappointed they didn't show you the secret settings page that causes it to take 10 seconds from pressing the PA button to going into PA mode, or the one where the GPS is invalid and then suddenly starts working half way through the journey. It looks like you also missed out on a free wet ear from the handset where someone left the cab window open in the rain. Those trainFX units on the 150s and 156s, being where they are now, get far more water ingress than I'd consider healthy for most electricals!

[@Transportationgames]

Can you do Blackpool North to Blackpool South? So North to Warrington BQ Avanti, Avanti to Crewe, Avanti Express to Preston, then to St. Anne's on the Sea Northern, then to South Northern Electric (331,319)

[@bus3s]

or just do Blackpool North to preston, preston to blackpool south

[@westmidskitlad]

You'd have a job getting a 331 or a 319 anywhere along the PRE-BPS branch...

[@bus3s]

@@Transportationgames that’s not what pointless journeys mean

[@Transportationgames]

That is what I ment

[@Transportationgames]

bus3s he said on one of them And that would not be pointless

[@Northerner_Transport_Hub]

This is the northern service tuh Bring the lady one back I preferred that

[@faberoony90]

Sort of doing that, the new female figure is taking over the "welcome onboard.." on cafs at the moment

[@yorkshiremaninchina]

TUHHHHH

[@metro_ken]

the new announcements sound so fed up

[@CharlieFlemingOriginal]

Take a shot for every "so" but after a minute prepare to call an ambulance 🤢

[@AaronD_]

really good video nick! always wanted to see something similar to this on youtube!

[@Neilhms]

nice one mate

[@ReubenAshwell]

Brilliant video Nick, it's very interesting to see how they update the announcements on the trains. :)

[@paultidd9332]

Great video. I’ve often wondered how it was all done. Is that standard across all units and could you actually have different announcements going on in each of the carriages if the card hadn’t been replaced in one of the carriages?

[@RailwayWorld_2023]

Wow, thats cool! Wish i could have been there... glad you had fun mate, cheers for sharing with us :)

[@southwesterntrainspotter1889]

Hi nick, it was good meeting you at Crewe earlier today, I was the person in the BR hoodie. Hope the rest of your journey went well!!

[@tin_55]

I think you are better than Geoff Marshall.

[@torspedia]

Was half expecting you to be the new voice... 😉

[@landfill_6969]

I've always wanted to know how this works!!

[@ChineseTrainGuy]

Epic

[@nightowlmusicpromotions]

Absolutely brilliant! Very interesting!!

[@missm10]

this is awesome! pretty cool you got invited on for this.

[@baseballfan99]

If they keep going for another 9 to 10 years they will be older then the class 101’s when they were retired in 2003. I was lucky to ride on their final journey from Manchester Piccadilly to Rose Hill and back.

[@MrTransportAddict]

Hi Nick! I saw you have Minecraft, me and my friends are working on a city and we’d love you to help! Just let me know if you need anything whilst building.

[@motormouthalmighty]

the Yorkshire voice seems different than our train announcement voice.it's not as bad as ours but it's completely flat and lifeless.if you've got an ordinary voice,never go into radio or voiceover work.if you have a regional voice,then have mountains of sparkle,presence and energy like Paul o grady.or be like ken Bruce,Captain Picard,,Moira Stuart,richard Burton,oj Borg,prince,Jimi Hendrix or Angela scanlon.have a talking voice to die for!a voice like mine is for ordering a meal from Macdonald's as she tries to hurry the whole experience along as quickly as possible while she looks down and blocks her ears immediately!.radio work is a no no!it's just common sense!what is wrong with you people?

[@motormouthalmighty]

that new male voice on the northern trains,Blackpool Preston line, is absolutely horrific.his voice goes straight through you.the previous one with the woman's voice and the man's voice which said"mind the gap.." was superb just another absolutely pointless mindless change,forced on everybody else,with no consultation as usual now all day long,everybody on board is putting up with that voice,all because of one person's mindless selfish decision one trial run and feedback forum and customers would have rejected it instantly.it's radio 2 ,all over again!it's 1986 ,all over again!

[@thetrainhornmaster9439]

There doing the same thing on SouthWestern except it’s not Peter Corley and will be Elinor Hamilton

[@Class57finnian-gl4dm]

150125 runs in my local line

[@annabelholland]

I assume the announcements play automatically and not manually. Does it go off 5 seconds after the train moves? How about when approaching a station? Depending on the operator, they give a 60 second notice saying something like 'we are now approaching: Cambridge' so how does it know when to play?

[@aethlingbeats]

i assume it’s triggered by aws

[@annabelholland]

@@aethlingbeats so when passing signals? I assume that triggers the AWS

[@bus3s]

@@annabelholland passing AWS magnets id assume

[@davidcurtis6698]

It's triggered on GPS and passenger door open cycles

[@nigelsmith6413]

You do need to get a job working on the trains. It had to be your vocation. Great to see your channel is going well. Hello from all the Smith (including Hollie) 👋🏻

[@NickBadley]

Thanks, Nigel 😊

[@smallsleepyrascalcat]

Interesting, very interesting.

[@cycklist]

All thumbnails must by law have a useless red arrow in them.

[@mrbing7310]

You should travel from Wigan north western to Wigan Wallgate

[@mudchute4dlr]

Nick, when did you love 150/1s?

[@ethans2ndchannel272]

"Nick Loves 150/1's"

[@ElijahsTransport]

Great video Nick!

[@TFW-507]

Nice video nick

[@andreeacoman3622]

FUNNY JOKE at end nick does not like 150,s

[@Sayoriwastaken]

Hello members and Nick

[@scrsucks1470]

downgrading one of their trains to the new announcements*

[@Mystix07]

I was a subscriber at 4k i love your now at 17k

[@ArmanHashtroudi]

I literally passed you on a tram and looked at the depot and then I was like when I just watched it: oh it’s 150 125, I passed that sprinter… ON A TRAM!

[@UnbelievableEricthegiraffe]

You visited Newton Heath Train depot(Newton Heath Manchester where lovely geniuses are schooled from 11 to 15,) Without mentioning that factoid about that football team that was formed around that area in 1878.

[@chile_wastaken]

Hey Nick, when you were doing the " shortest merseyrail journey " a while back, I was thinking that maybe Wallasey Village - Wallasey Grove Road could be pretty short. When I've took the train from village to grove road, it's always took around 40 seconds.

[@michaeljohndennis2231]

This must be much more complicated for Irish Rail and for the LUAS trams in Dublin, as they have to do the announcements in my native Irish Gaelic language as well as in English - Transport for Wales might have the same problems in exclusively Welsh speaking areas as well

[@joshtrains-qr8ie]

who noticed the metrolink tram?

[@SunFlaws1]

do the 375

[@steeviebops]

I once got the opportunity to get inside the cab of an Irish Rail 22000 class unit and hear some emergency announcements that I hope I'd never hear in service!

[@mikedurkin3654]

Hi nick can I you something I know it's nothing to do with this video but,why does the class 313 sound the same as the 507/508 trains its buggin me mate

[@Rylee.Barnard]

my uncle is a TPS there

[@WhatALoadOfTosca]

That was really cool. Thanks for sharing. Can't say i see the point of the new voice. Preferred the older one.

[@ImWheelspin]

I like the new announcements. No longer will the voice shout Worksop at max volume when I’m travelling back to Lincoln

[@nigelkthomas9501]

I find some announcements on Northern units too loud especially early morning. I’ve complained about them more than once, but nothing changed.

[@katrinabryce]

The Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations require them to be 10db louder than background noise. But it seems they can only set a single volume level which is presumably 10db louder than the maximum background noise they expect.

[@nigelkthomas9501]

@@katrinabryce So, that means those with sensitive ears/hearing are openly discriminated against in favour of those wearing headphones or who are ‘mutton geoff’. Disgusting! 😡

[@uncleraul9144]

And yet when you shout FFS do we have to have 10 announcements at every stop even louder, you get into trouble.

[@nigelkthomas9501]

@@uncleraul9144 Eh? What the hell talking about?

[@carolineyoung5487]

Rip original voice

[@danieldabloxgamer9205]

Brilliant video. Now we need to see if EMR can do the same with adding the new Julie Berry announcements on the 158s and 170s

[@WhatALoadOfTosca]

Sweeeet!

[@katied6130]

Hahaha Nick! Loved this episode. Even your name on the ticker.

[@VascoRoblox-yp5rw]

5:21 😂😂😂😂😂

[@mikemainer3009]

You would think there would be a better and faster way to update announcements, like doing away with the cumbersome need to break into boxes, change, then manually flash sd cards and, instead, just simply flash the updates via wi-fi. Wonder if this ever occurred to people in Network Rail.

[@LemoncloudGT]

Don’t forget, that the 150s are old trains

[@ETNW17]

When are u going to Headbolt lane nick?

[@Fr.FintanStack]

Rob's got the same screw driver as me 👌

[@frongus47]

the class 323 is the goat of all trains

[@morgaineofevil]

Check you out amazing

[@williamwildcat]

Congratulations nick!

[@billygeorgepricespackland]

This was such a cool video!.

[@Jack-ii8vi]

Really interesting video Nick! Did you find out why most Class 195's have a random bug where the announcement is really quiet until they announce the station? 😂

[@dank9561]

I thought that was just because some of the announcements have been re-recorded at different times and volume level hasn't been normalised. I noticed on the Trisha Jarman version some of the stations are louder than others.

[@BradleyDuffy-v5n]

​​@@dank9561 The stations that are louder are the ones that begin with W. For example, Warrington Bank Quay or Worksop.

[@alanr585]

haha, love that!

[@QALibrary]

what a great thing to happen

[@MobilAvenue_]

This is a great video

[@SamsVlogstrainsmore]

Very interesting to see how they update the announcements. Thanks for sharing Nick!

[@dannysairandtransportstock]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@cj-br9mq]

Good video nick

[@jakewynn]

I think the new announcements are really good

[@Freddie.minton3256]

It depends where you're from! He sent pronounce any stations local to me.

[@comdam]

5:07 LOL

[@crownjulesgaming542]

I prefer the old announcements

[@comdam]

i love trains but hardly ever go on them because of the cost. we go by car

[@leighton-jameswilson-edge1817]

i prefer the lady announcer

[@hanwellianben]

Dull, waste of your time

[@RWL2012]

It was really interesting to see something I had never seen before but had wanted to see!