Killara

Sydney Trains - Nanny State Announcements: Lindfield to Killara

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• published: 25 Jan 2017
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Welcome to the parochial backwater of Sydney! As an International city not only do we have Prohibition-Era lockout laws but now a raft of bubble wrap legislation to keep us safe and calm. The latest of these affects our train service. Traditionally inefficient, inadequate and expensive, Sydneysiders were, for some obscure reason, mostly fond of and loyal to the ‘Public Transport hand that bit them.’ Until now. These new Nanny State announcements, where a train destination is read out electronically THREE TIMES at an obnoxious volume that prevents conversation, have severely tested our patience and, I would argue, have contributed to recent drop offs in commuter patronage. These clips demonstrates the unnecessary and intrusive announcements as witnessed over a typical journey of 1 stop. If you are having a conversation or, God forbid, attempting to read on a commuter train, expect to be constantly harassed by not only these 3-per stop announcements but also other unnecessary announcements about keeping “one hand on the handrail”, that “smoking is prohibited”, not to touch baggage, that “spitting” is prohibited. Back to the 1950s - and get a haircut while you're at it! Add these to further recorded announcements that warn in detail that at the Airport Stations the “doors will open on the left hand side, in the direction of travel!”, the semi-frequent announcements that list every single upcoming stop all the way along the line (in abbreviated form), you will also likely be treated to the guard punctuating these announcements with his own ‘personalised’ version. The guard treats us to similar lists of stops, interesting information about upcoming stops (lifts available, the myriad of trains that can be caught from a hub station – all a repetition of the recorded announcement we just heard) and will often surprise us by what tone he uses – frequently sarcastic. Put all these stop announcements, Nanny State warnings, guard announcements and recorded announcements of stops together and you might be lucky, on the Airport line for instance, to have a total of 30 seconds of silence (not interrupted, mind you) on a 3 minute journey between stops. Enjoy the clips below. Coming soon – the delights of a City Circle journey, complete with the Nanny State announcements mentioned.