SkyscraperCity Forum banner

MRT/LRT Announcements & Signages in Trains and Stations

165K views 404 replies 69 participants last post by  Excelsi or 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
(splitted off from the MRT/LRT news thread)

In my opinion, train announcements should ideally be in all four languages, but I don't think we need so many different announcements on every single thing - information on train stations, connecting lines, and such should be enough, as well as the occasional security alert announcement.

Here's how I think they could do it (asteriks (*) denote variables, bracketed words (example) are optional):

Station announcements:

"*. Doors on the * will open. *. * 边的车门将会打开.[Malay equivalent]. [Tamil equivalent]"

Example: "Braddell. Doors on the left will open. 布莱德.左边的车门将会打开. [Malay equivalent]. [Tamil equivalent]"

Stations with cross-platform interchange:
"* Interchange. Passengers may alight and transfer for a * Line train service towards * (via *) on the opposite platform. Doors on the * will open. * 转换站.乘客可在本站的对面月台转搭(经*)到*的*线列车服务.* 边的车门将会打开.[Malay equivalent]. [Tamil equivalent]"

Example: "City Hall Interchange. Passengers may alight and transfer for an East-West Line train service towards Pasir Ris via Bugis. Doors on the left will open. 政府大厦转换站.乘客可在本站的对面月台转搭经武吉士到巴西立的东西线列车服务.左边的车门将会打开.[Malay equivalent]. [Tamil equivalent]"

For stations with cross-platform interchanges on both sides of the train (i.e. Jurong East for North-South Line, Tanah Merah for Changi Airport Shuttle):
"* Interchange. This train service terminates at this station. All passengers please alight. Passengers may transfer to a * Line train service towards * (via *) on the opposite platform to the left, and to a * Line train service towards * (via *) on the opposite platform to the right. *转换站.本列车服务将在本站终止服务.所有乘客请在本站下车.乘客可在左边的对面月台转搭(经*)到*的*线列车服务,或在右边的对面月台转搭(经*)到*的*线列车服务.[Malay equivalent]. [Tamil equivalent]"

Example: "Jurong East Interchange. This train service terminates at this station. All passengers please alight. Passengers may transfer to a East-West Line train service towards Pasir Ris via Raffles Place on the opposite platform to the left, and to a East-West Line train service towards Joo Koon on the opposite platform to the right. 裕廊东转换站.本列车服务将在本站终止服务.所有乘客请在本站下车.乘客可在左边的对面月台转搭经莱佛士坊到巴西立的东西线列车服务,或在右边的对面月台转搭到裕群的东西线列车服务.[Malay equivalent]. [Tamil equivalent]"

Interchanges without cross-platform transfers:
"* Interchange. Passengers may transfer to the * Line at this station. Doors on the * will open. *转换站.乘客可在本站转搭*线的列车.* 边的车门将会打开.[Malay equivalent]. [Tamil equivalent]"

Example: "Dhoby Ghaut Interchange. Passengers may transfer to the North-East Line and Circle Line at this station. Doors on the right will open. 多美歌转换站.乘客可在本站转搭东北线或环线的列车服务.右边的车门将会打开.[Malay equivalent]. [Tamil equivalent]"

Terminals: "* (Terminal). This train service terminates at this station. All passengers please alight. (Passengers travelling beyond this station, please wait for the next train.) Doors on the * will open. *(终站).本列车服务将在本站终止服务.所有乘客请在本站下车.(想前往本站之外的乘客,请等下一列列车服务.)* 边的车门将会打开.[Malay equivalent]. [Tamil equivalent]"

Examples: "Marina Bay Terminal. This train service terminates at this station. All passengers please alight. Doors on the right will open. 滨海湾终站.本列车服务将在本站终止服务.所有乘客请在本站下车.右边的车门将会打开.[Malay equivalent]. [Tamil equivalent]"
"Yishun. This train service terminates at this station. All passengers please alight. Passengers travelling beyond this station, please wait for the next train. Doors on the right will open. 义顺.本列车服务将在本站终止服务.所有乘客请在本站下车.想前往本站之外的乘客,请等下一列列车服务.右边的车门将会打开.[Malay equivalent]. [Tamil equivalent]"

For station announcements, rather than just telling passengers to stand behind the yellow line, tell them where the train service is terminating too (got this idea from watching videos of Hong Kong's ex-KCR lines). For example:

"The train towards Yishun is approaching platform A. For your own safety, please stand behind the yellow line. 前往义顺的列车将抵达A号月台.为了您自己的安全,请站在黄线后面.[Malay equivalent]. [Tamil equivalent]"

And for non-stop trains:
"A non-stop train will be passing through platform A. For your own safety, please stand behind the yellow line. 不停站列车将经过A号月台.为了您自己的安全,请站在黄线后面.[Malay equivalent]. [Tamil equivalent]"

For trains that will stop but not pick up passengers (test trains, etc.):
"The train at platform B is not for passenger service. Please wait for the next passenger service train. 在B号月台的列车是不载乘客的. 请等下一趟可载乘客的列车服务. [Malay equivalent]. [Tamil equivalent]"

As for messages asking you to mind the platform gap, the SMRT bus route 950 advertisement, etc., all these should be dropped. The announcements regarding platform gaps are rather superflous on our MRT system, which has very narrow platform gaps and no curved platforms, where gaps could be wider. As well, in the early days of the MRT (when gaps on surface and elevated stations were wider), there weren't any such announcements and things got along well (even more smoothly than today, if you ask me).

The door closing announcement should also be dropped, in favour of just a simple buzzer; 2 seconds before the doors begin to close, the buzzer will begin to sound, after which the doors will begin to close. When the door closes, the buzzer stops. This is a throwback to the early days when there is only a door closing chime to warn of the doors closing (which can still be heard sometimes - I took a refurbished C151 train a few months back, and the train driver used the chime in addition to the door closing announcement). The buzzer is more universal than having to announce a message in multiple languages, and also solves the problem of not having enough time to cycle through all the languages.

As for "emergency" messages (eg. break of service, emergency evacuation, etc.), these should also ideally be pre-recorded in all four languages as well.

To those who argue that announcements in one language is enough, you have to realise that, apart from station names, there are still a significant number of Singaporeans who use the MRT and who doesn't speak English that well (if at all) and hence can't really understand the English announcements - my own mother being one of them. Announcements in all four languages not only for station names, but for other information as well, will go a long way in guiding them how to better use the system.
 
See less See more
#57 ·
Hougang is one unique case.

Technically in Mandarin, the hanyu pinyin is correct and Hou Gang is pronounced as ho-gang (as in "dunk" but without the "k" sound) but it is pronounced as a Hokkien word, hou (as in "how", sometimes with a silent "h") gang... It would appear that Singapore has chosen to adopt the Hokkien pronunciation as the standard one.

For Bras Basah, I would think that the point of contention will be the pronunciation of "Basah" as I've heard both Bras basa and Bras-burSa. Both are correct, one is standard Malay and one is a slightly more polite/poetic one (you hear this in SMRT's Malay announcements)

Dakota... It's pronounced as Der-ko-ta or Der-ko-ter.. Very slight differences. But you ain't supposed to pronounced it as Dah-ko-tah. The name isn't Japanese.

Tan Kah Kee is just Tarhn-Car (with less focus on the "R" sound)-Key
 
#59 ·
Technically in Mandarin, the hanyu pinyin is correct and Hou Gang is pronounced as ho-gang (as in "dunk" but without the "k" sound) but it is pronounced as a Hokkien word, hou (as in "how", sometimes with a silent "h") gang... It would appear that Singapore has chosen to adopt the Hokkien pronunciation as the standard one.

Dakota... It's pronounced as Der-ko-ta or Der-ko-ter.. Very slight differences. But you ain't supposed to pronounced it as Dah-ko-tah. The name isn't Japanese.
Then why was Hougang new town renamed in the Pinyin when it was originally Aogang?

What made you think I thought Dakota was Japanese?
I studied Japanese and it would be hard to make the 'ter' sound.
I just thought the American pronounciation would be so.
 
#60 ·
There is no real native Singapore accent. What Singaporeans speak is vastly affected by which languages they speak more, by the media, and the nature of the tongue they speak. As you might know, east Asian people find it hard to pronounce "r"s and their "l"s so if someone speaks Mandarin and dialects more than English, there is a higher possibility that they will mispronounce words with "r" and/or "l" in them. Some may pronounce MRT as "em-ahrur-tee" instead of em-are-tee, and timetable as "tyme-taber".

Was Hougang ever known as Aogang? I may be wrong, but I think there is a certain auspicious quality about naming it as Hougang (behind/back of the port) because Aogang in Mandarin is something else. Ditto for Sengkang.
 
#61 ·
I think my accent is probably internationalised as I speak English as my first language along with fluent Mandarin and a reasonable capacity of Japanese.

Whenever I return to Singapore there are two extremes, those who say that I am faking a westernised accent and those who say that I speak like a mediacorp newsreader or radio dj.

I'm of Teochew descent but my ancestors were Peranakan so my parents have always been pronouncing it as Aogang... they grew up in the kampung there. (Tone drop in Ao and fourth tone in Gang)
 
#62 ·
(Dead thread revival)

After watching a few more overseas train videos, I could like to revisit this topic for a bit here. I think I could like to refine my earlier ideas: I still believe announcements should be in all four languages, except for station announcements, which need only be in English and Chinese (as their Malay and Tamil names are usually similar to the English names), unless it's also accompanied by other information that may become out-of-context without the station name (available transfers, for example).

As for the different types of announcements:

For terminating trains, the announcements could be like this for trains that terminate at the end of the line: eg.

"Marina Bay Terminal. End of the North-South Line. Thank you for traveling with SMRT."

and if the train will be going off-service after terminating, they could say this: eg.

"Marina Bay Terminal. End of the North-South Line. This train is going off-service soon. All passengers please alight. Thank you for traveling with SMRT."

As for trains that do short-working trips and end at earlier stations (eg. the Yishun peak-hour service), announcements could be like this: eg.

"Yishun. This train service ends here. All passengers please alight. Passengers traveling beyond Yishun, please wait for the next train."

For next-stop announcements (which I didn't touch on earlier, oddly), they could be like this if the next stop is the last stop: eg.

"Next stop, Pasir Ris - the last stop."

and for interchange stations, they could add in transfer information like this: eg.

"Next stop, Bishan - interchange for the Circle Line."

For stations that are both interchanges and terminals, they could be like this: eg.

"Next stop, Habourfront - the last stop, and interchange for the Circle Line."

For cross-platform transfers, such as at City Hall and Raffles Place, the announcement could read like this: eg.

"Next stop, City Hall - interchange for East-West Line train services towards Pasir Ris via Bugis."

And at the interchange itself, to refine my earlier idea a bit: eg.

"City Hall Interchange. Passengers may transfer to an East-West Line train service towards Pasir Ris via Bugis on the opposite platform. Doors on the left will open.

As for announcements for two-sided cross-platform interchanges (such as Jurong East and Tanah Merah): eg.

"Jurong East Terminal. End of the North-South Line and interchange for the East-West Line. Passengers may transfer to a train service for Pasir Ris, via Clementi and Raffles Place, on the left, and to a train service for Joo Koon via Chinese Garden on the right. Thank you for traveling with SMRT."

On station announcements, I noticed I left a few gaps: for underground stations, announcements can also be made for approaching trains, but the reminder will be for the platform gap instead (thus reversing my earlier idea of dropping the announcements for minding the platform gap - but only for in-station announcements). For example:

"The train for Habourfront is approaching platform B. Please mind the gap when boarding the train."

And as for non-passenger service trains, rather than differentiating between stopping and non-stopping trains, they could instead be like this: eg.

"A non-passenger service train is approaching platform A. Please do not board it, and wait for the next passenger service train. For your own safety, please stand behind the yellow line."
 
#63 ·
^^ If you're suggesting that the train announcements adopt all your mentioned set of announcements, I wouldn't agree since there is virtually no standardization. For the "stops", NEL adopted the "next station, ____" first, then SMRT recently changed theirs from "next stop, ____" to "next station, ____" as well, so I think this is mandated by LTA.

For the short-working trips announcement at the terminus stations, SMRT IMHO, still has it better... "Yishun, this train terminates in service at this station. Passengers continuing their journey towards Woodlands and Jurong East, please board the next train".

Lately, I've noticed that SMRT stations have been playing an increasing amount of announcements regarding "giving way to alighting passengers".

Examples besides the standard "Please give way to alighting passengers before boarding" announcement include...

Heard at Bishan; "the train approaching Platform A terminates in service at Yishun (x2), please mind the platform gap and give way to alighting passengers before boarding."

Heard at Bk Batok; "For your safety, please stand behind the yellow line and give way to alighting passengers before boarding".
 
#64 ·
Lately, I've noticed that SMRT stations have been playing an increasing amount of announcements regarding "giving way to alighting passengers".
Maybe they should change it into something like "Give way you f***ers!" with a high pitched, loud voice :lol:. Of all places I have visited, I think Singapore is one of the worst in terms of showing respect to one another in the subway - be it Asia, Europe or the Americas.
 
#66 ·
^^ yeah i think the 'give way to alighting passengers' are increasing which is good.

i don't think the 'mind the gap' may be that essential for underground stations though...

maybe then they should include on the escalators
'please stand to the left and hold the handrail'...

instead of please mind the platform gap, change it to 'mind the gap'

but for interchange stations and because more lines are developing the platform announcements should be:

Passengers for Harborfront, your train is approaching in 2 minutes. please give way to alighting passengers.

and i feel the 'next stop' announcements are unnecessary...

when approaching the station, it should just be the station name alone, and for interchanges include 'transfer to ____ line'... for cross platform it can be 'transfer to ______ line towards ______'. when there is a change in door direction, then this can be announced eg. 'alight on the left/right'. there is no need to include the 'interchange suffic.

for terminal stations:

'all change here. this is a SMRT/SBS service.'

other announcements should be:

'please inform our staff if you see any suspicious person or articles'
'do not eat or drink in the stations or trains'

short and simple to the point.
 
#68 ·
Signages in MRT Stations

Please discuss about signages in MRT Stations here, including directions for passengers here. The CCL thread is getting flooded with discussions about this subject.

Please be considerate and continue the discussions here. PS: This is not a forum where people engage in forum politics, so try not to be passive aggressive in your posts. Thank you.
 
#69 ·
Indeed, how the Yamanote line works is that the signs point you in the direction which takes you to that location the fastest, even though in reality, the line is a complete circle. The minimum number of stops one would take on the line is half a circle or less. However, this does not extend to other lines.

For example, you could take the Yamanote Line from Shinjuku to Akihabara, pretty much a half circle, but you could take a direct route straight on the Chuo Line. There are no big hanging signs at all telling you which is faster. You have to look at the platform guide for more details. Or just use common sense.

It's probably time that passengers realise which is the shorter way for themselves. The resources are all there for them, and eventually, whether it's by research or by word-of-mouth, they're eventually going to find the faster, or their most preferred way there. If they make a mistake taking CCL from DBG to HBF and wondering why in God's name they took an hour to get there, then it's their mistake. Eventually, they'll find out they made a mistake.
Thanks for the explanation sandstorm6299, yes that was exactly what I mean. What is happening now is that there are signages all over the place giving suggestions on which line you should take to get from one place to another. In the case of Yamanote line, the signages are minimal and limited to integrated signages at strategic locations only (i.e platform areas), and they tell the general direction of the line, in actual fact the photos proved my point.

As I've said before, I'm not against having good, useful signages about general direction of train lines, but keep them minimal and simple, too many of them and it will become confusing and ugly.
 
#70 ·
^^ an example of having too many signages will be Buona Vista's EWL-CCL transfer level. they are plastered over the floor, the wall and they even converted certain lighted signage boxes to hold EWL/CCL directional signages. the assault continues even as you cross into BNV's CCL concourse, where no less than 6 colour coded signs with arrows are seen.

I can understand the need to inform commuters of the right route to follow, but to do it to this extend just reinforces the belief that we are a nanny state that has to be told what to do, unable to think for ourselves.
 
#72 ·
I think having the signages are good. It's unfortunate that not more commuters are street smart about simple things like direction. But if they aren't, I suppose the result will be what we have right now.

I'm quite sure it's not their intention, but I enjoy SMRT's constant "uprooting" of its commuters, dumping unsuspecting commuters into seemingly unannounced terminal stations despite numerous announcements and display boards. It forces the commuter to be conscious and mentally invested in their commute, forcing the commuter to think about his/her position instead of "switching off" the entire journey.
 
#73 ·
Supply, Fabrication & Installation of Signage at MRT/LRT Stations & Trains
Calling Entity Land Transport Authority
Tender Ref: 9140
Opened 14/11/2011
Closes 28/11/2011

For CCLe? But the thing that threw me off was the contract number. Typically, 9 has been used for DTL. Then again, MRB was part of the DTL packages...
 
#74 · (Edited)
Proposal: a new announcement system for our MRT

OK, this has been something I have been wanting to post about for a very long time.

The announcement system currently on our MRT and LRT system are too fragmented and, to put it crudely, a piece of shit. There's no common format between not just different companies, but different lines as well. It's like everyone decided to just use their own system and ignore everything else.

:eek:hno:

This has to stop, and I propose throwing everything out and starting afresh with a new unified standard for both our MRT and LRT lines.

My goal with the new announcement standard is to create announcements that are not overly wordly or uses too many syllables, and will also extend to what the LED/vacuum fluorescent displays show.

Firstly, let's get real: the LED displays need not repeat or parrot the audio announcements. The displays are visual by their nature, while the announcements are auditory. Each should have announcements best optimized for their medium; visual announcements do not need to be shoehorned with adapted audio announcements.

Secondly, the door closing announcements. There's no common standard to both length of the buzzer and when the buzzer plays in relation to when the doors close; the Bukit Panjang LRT doesn't even use the buzzer.
My suggestion: throw out the buzzer, and bring back the chime, which plays only before when the doors are closing. A short "doors closing" announcement will still be played before the chimes, but afterward no more spoken announcements will be played. This will eliminate the need for repeated spoken announcements when doors cycle open and close (which happens all the time on the North-South and East-West Lines), and the system can just play the chimes to indicate the doors are about to close again, saving time and reducing the repetitive nature of the announcements (which are repetitive enough, thank you).

Third, the interchange announcements. Only the interchange announcements on the North-South and East-West Lines make any sense, and even there I detect bias in favour of SMRT's own lines. Example: when at Dhoby Ghaut station, North-South and Circle Line trains will announcement available transfers to each other's line first before announcing availability to the North East Line. It ignores both chronological order in which the lines are built or the number order of their end-terminal numbers (North-East Line came before the Circle Line, but Circle Line gets mentioned before the North-East Line), and alphabetical order as well (e comes before s, but North-South Line gets mentioned before North-East Line).
My suggestion? Throw out all the interchange announcements on all but the North-South and East-West Lines, which will be kept but be slightly modified.

Fourth, terminal announcements. With our rapidly-growing and soon-more complex MRT system, terminal announcements will be more and more needed not just near the train's terminating points but at every station as well. This is already an issue for Circle Line trains (Dhoby Ghaut or Marina Bay?) and, to a lesser degree, on the North-South Line as well (Jurong East platform A or D?). To a much lesser degree, this happens for short-trip trains as well, on the North-South and East-West Lines. Terminating points of trains should be announced in such a way where someone will be alerted to that fact before he/she boards the train, and/or before the train leaves a station, without the person needing to keep track of displays on the platform. This will reduce the chances someone will get on the wrong train, especially in the case for Circle Line trains.

Fifth, next stop announcements. Currently, the phrase used is "next station". But "next stop" means more or less the same thing, and is less of a mouthful by virtue of having one less syllable. Besides, "next station" may not make sense if there are skipped stops, which is an issue on the west loop of the Sengkang LRT and (if you consider Bukit Brown unopened rather than simply unbuilt) on the Circle Line. Also, wouldn't it be better if I know what my next stop's going to be before the train leaves the station? It will definitely help reduce instances of getting onto the wrong train.

Sixth, and finally: no audio indication of which side the train doors open. This was brought up in a recent Channel NewsAsia talk show about improving accessibility for the disabled in Singapore; with more variety in platform configurations coming into our MRT system soon (the recently-opened Downtown Line has already started it), this will be very much needed not only for those with disabilities, but for those who are unfamiliar with the system (tourists, first-time users, infrequent users, etc.).

Now that I have laid out the problems, I will slowly post up solutions to the problems I mentioned above.
 
#75 ·
1. New terminology for LRT services and platforms

For LRT systems, services will be re-termed routes, the platforms will be now given letters instead of numbers (bringing it in line with the MRT), and routes will be given numbers instead. The route numbers will be ordered first by the chronological order in which the routes were introduced, then by clockwise and anti-clockwise loops.
For the Bukit Panjang LRT, the routes could be numbered as such:
1: Choa Chu Kang - loop via Senja
2: Choa Chu Kang - loop via Petir
3: Ten Mile Junction - loop via Senja

While for the Sengkang LRT:
1: East loop via Compassvale
2: East loop via Ranggung
3: West loop via Renjong
4: West loop via Cheng Lim

I think you can figure out how the system will work for the Punggol LRT.
 
#76 · (Edited)
2. Next stop, station, interchange, and terminus announcements

Station announcements are to be played when the train enters a station, along with which side the doors open, preceded by a single-tone chime. Examples:

"Downtown. Doors open on the left."
"Yishun. Doors open on the right."

Should the station be an interchange station, announcements will include the lines available, listed in chronological order (i.e. when they were build), before indicating which side the doors open. Examples:

"Dhoby Ghaut. Change here for the North-East Line, or the Circle Line. Doors open on the right."
"Promenade. Change here for the Circle Line. Doors open on the left."

Interchange for LRT lines will simply mention the LRT line's name, ommiting mention of any services on the LRT line. Examples:
"Choa Chu Kang. Change here for the Bukit Panjang LRT."
"Sengkang. Change here for the Sengkang LRT."

If cross-platform transfers are available, the announcements will be more concise, as such:

"City Hall. Change here for the East-West Line. Cross over to platform B for East-West Line trains to Joo Koon via Raffles Place and Tanjong Pagar. Doors open on the right."
"Bayfront. Change here for the Downtown Line. Cross over to platform A for Downtown Line trains to Chinatown via Downtown. Doors open on the right."

In cases where there are cross-platform transfers on both sides of the train, the transfer on the left is mentioned first:

"Jurong East. Change here for the North-South Line. Cross over to platform A on the left or platform D on the right for North-South Line trains to Marina Bay via Bukit Batok and Woodlands. Doors open on both sides of the train."

In any case, if the transfer is to a branch line service, the announcement will not need to mention the line's name, only the branch line's terminal:

"Tanah Merah. End of the East-West Line Changi Airport branch; all passengers please alight. Change here for trains to the city and Joo Koon via Bedok by crossing over to platform B on the left, or for trains to Pasir Ris via Simei by crossing over to platform A on the right. Thank you for traveling with SMRT. Doors open on both sides of the train."
"Tanah Merah. Change here for trains to Changi Airport by crossing over to platform C. Doors open on the right."

In instances like Circle Line's Promenade, where branch line services are offered on the same platform as mainline trains, announcements will make note of the platform, as well as the need to check destination of trains first, before boarding. Examples:
"Promenade. Change here for trains to Marina Bay or for the Downtown Line. Proceed to platform B and wait for the next train to Marina Bay. Doors open on the left."
"Promenade. Change here for trains to Dhoby Ghaut or for the Downtown Line. Proceed to platform B and wait for the next train to Dhoby Ghaut. Doors open on the left."
"Promenade. Change here for trains to Dhoby Ghaut by waiting for the next Dhoby Ghaut train at the same platform, or for the Downtown Line. Doors open on the right."
"Promenade. Change here for trains to Marina Bay by waiting for the next Marina Bay train at the same platform, or for the Downtown Line. Doors open on the right."

For terminal stations, the platform letter the train is terminating at will be mentioned as well if the train can take either of the two available platforms. This is very important for Jurong East, but is useful for knowing which side the doors will open for other terminal stations as well. Additionally, the announcements will clearly indicate that the station is the last station on the line. Examples:

"Jurong East, at platforms D and E. End of the North-South Line; all passengers please alight. Change here for the East-West Line. Cross over to platform C on the left for East-West Line trains to the city and Pasir Ris via Clementi. Cross over to platform F on the right for East-West Line trains to Joo Koon via Chinese Garden. Thank you for traveling with SMRT. Doors open on both sides of the train."
"Pasir Ris, at platform A. End of the East-West Line; all passengers please alight. Thank you for traveling with SMRT. Doors open on the left."
"Marina Bay, at platform B. End of the Circle Line Marina Bay branch; all passengers please alight. Change here for the North-South Line. Thank you for traveling with SMRT. Doors open on the right."

For short-trip train services terminating before the end of the line, the announcements will let passengers intending to travel beyond the station on how to continue their journey. Examples:

"Outram Park. Train service ends here; all passengers please alight. Passengers traveling beyond this station towards Joo Koon on the East-West Line, please wait for the next train at the same platform. Change here for the North-East Line. Doors open on the right."
"Yishun. Train service ends here; all passengers please alight. Passengers traveling beyond this station, please wait for the next train. Doors open on the right."

Notice I added extra wording for Outram Park; should trains end service at an interchange station that is not a terminal, even if there are no cross-platform transfers ambiguity should be resolved by stating that passengers should wait for the next train on the same platform if they are continuing beyond the station on the same line. Helps reduce confusion for tourists and people unfamiliar with the system.

Since trains terminating at Ang Mo Kio can take advantage of the middle track, announcements there will be slightly different. Examples:
"Ang Mo Kio. Train service will end here at platform C; all passengers please alight. Passengers traveling beyond this station, please cross over to platform A and board the next train. Doors open on the left."
"Ang Mo Kio. Train service will end here at platform D; all passengers please alight. Passengers traveling beyond this station, please cross over to platform B and board the next train. Doors open on the left."

Should the train terminate at platforms A or B and the next train is at the middle track (happens on weekday afternoons for Marina Bay-bound trains):
"Ang Mo Kio. Train service will end here at platform B; all passengers please alight. Passengers traveling beyond this station, please cross over to platform D and board the next train. Doors open on the right."
"Ang Mo Kio. Train service will end here at platform A; all passengers please alight. Passengers traveling beyond this station, please cross over to platform C and board the next train. Doors open on the right."

For LRT trains, announcements will be made at stations where transfers between the different routes are possible and logical, which platform to proceed to, along with any transfer to an MRT line. Examples:

"Bukit Panjang. Change here for route 3 trains to Ten Mile Junction, or for the Downtown Line MRT. Proceed to platform A and wait for the next route 3 train to Ten Mile Junction. Doors open on the left."
"Sengkang. Change here for east loop trains or for the North-East Line MRT. Wait at the same platform for the next route 2 train via Ranggung. Cross over to platform B and wait for the next route 1 train via Compassvale. Doors open on the right."

After any interchange or terminating announcements are made, the station name is announced again when the train comes to a stop but just before the doors open, along with a simple "mind the gap" reminder, which will always play whether the station is elevated or underground, for both MRT and LRT. Examples:

"Sembawang. Mind the gap."
"Bakau. Mind the gap."
"Downtown. Mind the gap."
"Senja. Mind the gap."

After the doors fully open, the terminus and next stop is announced, while the train is at the station, instead of announcing it when the train is leaving the station. Examples:

"This train is bound for Marina Bay. Next stop, Somerset."
"This train is bound for Pasir Ris. Next stop, Kembangan."
"This train is bound for Dhoby Ghaut. Next stop, Bras Basah."

At interchange stations, the line's name will also be announced as well. Examples:
"This North-South Line train is bound for Marina Bay. Next stop, Raffles Place."
"This North-East Line train is bound for Harbourfront. Next stop, Outram Park."
"This Circle Line train is bound for Marina Bay. Next stop, Bayfront."

For short-trip trains, the format is changed slightly for announcing the last station:
"This train terminates at Ang Mo Kio. Next stop, Khatib."
"This East-West Line train terminates at Outram Park. Next stop, Tanjong Pagar."

When the next stop is the last, the announcements will change:
"This North-South Line train will terminate at the next stop, Marina Bay."
"This train will terminate at the next stop, Pasir Ris."
"This train will terminate at the next stop, Ang Mo Kio."

For LRT trains, the route number is always announced, before either the terminus for the route, or the looping point, whichever is more logical:
"This route 1 train is via Senja. Next stop, Phoenix."
"This route 2 train is bound for Choa Chu Kang. Next stop, Petir."
"This route 3 train is bound for Ten Mile Junction. Next stop, Bukit Panjang."
"This route 1 train is for Sengkang via Ranggung. Next stop, Bakau."

At terminal stations, if a train is not going off-service then the next stop and terminal announcements are announced immediately before the door closing announcements, instead of immediately after the doors open.

Note that I use the term "stop" instead of "station", which is less of a mouthful and is more concise. Makes more sense as well when the next station is closed, implying that the train will make a stop at the station after the next.

I will post up the rest of my proposal tomorrow.
 
#77 · (Edited)
3. Door closing announcements

Door closing announcements should be standardized and consistent across the different lines, down to the timing between the parts of the announcement and when the doors close. This will reduce confusion for commuters traveling between different lines and enhance safety by letting commuters know consistently when it's too late to try and rush for a about-to-depart train.

No chime will precede any spoken door closing announcements; a slow two-tone chime will sound twice at a one-second interval thereafter. Doors begin to close only after one second from the second chime.

The sequence of events thus would be like this:

1. A spoken door closing announcement: "Doors closing."
2. One second later, a two-toned chime plays twice, one second apart each chime.
3. One second after the second chime, doors begin to close.

Should the doors cycle open again after closing due to an obstruction, the chime will play again, but without any spoken announcements. The chime will play up to four times, again at one-second intervals. For automated lines, the first cycle will play two chimes, increasing to four chimes for the second cycle onwards. Train drivers on non-automated lines can vary the number of chimes between each cycle at their discretion, but the number of chimes played must always increase between each cycle.

Immediately after the doors are fully closed, the following safety announcement plays:

"Please do not lean on the train doors. Thank you."

For terminating trains going off-service, door closing announcements will be slightly different. Immediately after the doors open, an announcement will be made asking all passengers to leave the train immediately. The chime will be changed to a buzzer that will sound as long as it's needed for the dwell time of the train, until the doors close. It will thus be like this:

1. Spoken announcement: "This train is not for passenger service. All passengers please alight now."
2. Buzzer plays.
3. When dwell time for the train is up, doors close.
 
#79 ·
^^ I'm sure it might work for you, but for me, whatever does the job is fine by me.

In Japan, there are virtually no doors closing announcements aboard. Instead, the announcements are made at/from the station, and the doors close momentarily after the final automated announcement ends. China's similar as well, except that aboard, there's a 5 beep indication where at the 3rd, the doors close.

In Hong Kong, because they make doors closing announcements in Mandarin, Cantonese and English, the recording needs to start early, and hence, the advisory is mostly ignored completely. Therefore, necessitating platform staff to make additional manual announcements to reignite that sense of urgency among boarding and alighting commuters.

In Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, no doors closing announcements except for a long beep.

Personally, I do enjoy that the announcements are not exactly the same. I've been studying about consumer behavior recently, and people tend to ignore signs and announcements if they are the same - no matter how loud you blast them. And with Singapore increasingly moving into a more underground rail network, the difference in announcements from line to line helps dissipate the feeling of disorientation.
 
#80 ·
I am not that bothered about the nuance and exact arrangement of the announcements. I am happy as long as they manage to do a good job of hiding the jaggedness resulting from their cutting and pasting and the obvious differences in pitching and pronunciation from different rounds of recordings.

for instance, whenever they decide Chan Hui Yuh should alter the speed and tonal inflexions of her speech (as with the recent "change at the next station for the xx line"), they should make sure all announcements follow the same template. future updates can then adopt the same speech pattern until their next revamp.
 
#81 ·
I am actually not so much bothered by those announcements except for the most recent updates done by both operators.

For SMRT:
It's most recent announcement updates done on CCL, is another cut-and-paste attempt, and by far, the worse and poorly done job. True enough, I understand SMRT wants to standardise its announcement systems on its lines. However, if you listen to the announcements across its trains, you can tell a lot of differences.

NSEWL (eg. "Next station Expo") is smooth and there is certainly no pause in between "station" and the station name.
CCL (eg. "Next station <pause one second> Esplanade") however, paused for a short one second before announcing station name, making it sound jagged and abrupt instead of smooth flowing consistent announcements.

On top of that, one of the most distasteful thing about the update is certainly "Bras Basah". Before the update, it was still ok. After the update, it spoils the whole announcement and now "Bras Basah" becomes "BrasBasa". I literally laughed at the pronunciation.

Also, I hope SMRT can update its CCL visual scroll texts, such that it is following closely to its older counterparts.

Overall, for SMRT, I was expecting the CCL's announcements to follow the tone, pace, pitch and pronunciation of the words but it did not and what's more, spoils the announcements.

============================================================

For SBS Transit:
Many inconsistencies and uncertainties across its NEL and DTL announcements, especially regarding the station names. Should SBST continue with Mandarin station names or should it not. NEL is still using it, for all stations, DTL however, uses Mandarin for only Chinatown, Downtown and Bayfront, with some citing it as these names are not direct transliteration. If going by this logic, then NEL should use Mandarin only for HarbourFront, Chinatown, Clarke Quay, Little India, Farrer Park, Boon Keng, Hougang, Buangkok and Sengkang since these names are not direct transliterations.

Next. DTL's announcements is the model of what SBST should be using for its train services. You can simply tell the difference when travelling on NEL and DTL especially nearing terminal stations.

NEL Example "Next station, Punggol Terminal. This train service terminates at the next station. All passengers please alight at the next station. Passengers may alight and change to the Punggol LRT Line. Thank you for travelling with SBS Transit.... (approaches station) Punggol Terminal."

DTL Example "Next station, Bugis Terminal. This train terminates at the next station. Passengers may alight and change to the East West Line..... (approaches station) Bugis Terminal. This train terminates at this station. Thank you for travelling with SBS Transit."

See the inconsistencies? DTL is better in a sense that "This train terminates at the next/this station." is being repeated and reinforced that the station is a terminal station and passengers should alight. May not seem like any big difference but to me, this is as important especially last train services.

Next, I think, both NEL's and DTL's interchange transfer announcements should be repeated when arriving at stations interchanging with other lines, so as to remind passengers again what are the available lines to get to other places. SMRT does that.

Third, I hope that SBS Transit can display whatever that the audio played, for the benefit of hearing-impaired passengers and on top of that, indicate where train doors are opening too, on the scroll texts display, similar to SMRT's " >>> DOORS OPEN >>> ".

=================================================================

So overall, I would rather see consistencies in the announcements across the lines each operator operates and not bits and pieces everywhere.

For SMRT, it is possible to ensure complete consistency across NSEWL and CCL and any future line it operates since it has already decided on a no-Mandarin station name, short and detailed (for short trips and interchanges) announcement system, and that a single template should be used for its lines.

For SBS Transit, I hope it can quickly decide upon whether or not should Mandarin continued to be used for ALL its stations or remove completely and just use English. I hope that SBS Transit consider adding more details to its audio and visual announcements.
 
#82 ·
I'm a sucker for consistency; consistent design makes things predictable, leads to better understanding, and reduces cognitive load. Inconsistency can be quite jarring for commuters new to the MRT network, for those who are unfamiliar and may need them, or those who may be used to one line's announcements and suddenly finding themselves needing to learn the idiosyncrasies of a new system when on a new line for the first time. Also, the inconsistency in the way door closing announcements are made form line to line has caught me off-guard at least once; a consistent system would be more predictable.

leonardot, you do have a point with how the announcements should flow as well. Pauses in between words in announcements should neither be too long nor short, and pronunciation is also key.

I think the spoken speed of the announcement also needs to be paid attention to - the new transfer announcements seem almost deliberately slow just to keep pace with the visual announcements (which isn't necessary as they are different mediums). Instead, the announcements should be spoken in a natural way, not deliberately slowed-down or too fast.

I will tackle in-station announcements next.
 
#83 ·
Addendum to number 2. Next stop, station, interchange, and terminus announcements

Context stations: In situations for cross-platform transfers where mentioning just the terminating station may cause ambiguity or result in longer journeys, a "context station" is added where necessary. Currently, two lines need to do this: the North-South Line, and the Circle Line. In addition, the first stop on the other train's journey, or the first two stops should the next stop be also an interchange with the same line, will always be mentioned as well.

For the North-South Line, Woodlands - which has served has the "context station" since the construction of the Woodlands Extension in 1996 - will remain as such. For the Circle Line, Bishan will serve as the context station, which is already in limited use in some signages at Dhoby Ghaut.

Examples:
"City Hall. Change here for the North-South Line. Cross over to platform A for North-South Line trains to Jurong East via Dhoby Ghaut and Woodlands. Doors open on the right."
"Bayfront. Change here for the Circle Line. Cross over to platform D for Circle Line trains to HarbourFront via Promenade, Nicoll Highway, and Bishan. Doors open on the right."

2a: terminology for Circle Line when stage 6 is built:

When stage 6 of the Circle Line is built, the Circle Line will become a complete loop with a branch towards Dhoby Ghaut. Trains operating the full length of the loop will have no discernible terminal stations, so a new way to refer to the routes will be needed.

For the purposes of convenience, Marina Bay will be marked with the end-station numbers 9 and 10, and that station will be nominally considered the start and end point for the loop routes. The number 8 will remain for branch services to Dhoby Ghaut.

Number 9 - currently used for Circle Line trains to HarbourFront - will denote the full anti-clockwise loop, while number 10 - currently used for trains to Marina Bay - will denote the full clockwise loop.

Future cross-platform transfer announcements for the Circle Line will not need to mention the names of any stations, only needing to mention the directionality of the route. For example:

"Bayfront. Change here for the Circle Line. Cross over to platform B for clockwise-loop Circle Line trains."
""Promenade. Change here for clockwise-loop trains by waiting for the next such train at the same platform, or for the Downtown Line. Doors open on the right."
 
Top