Put words into Alan Dedicotes mouth!

Don't know, it's hard to tell who you mean without an audio example.

I know that they seem to have actual station announcers at Paddington all the time (and they are definitely proper humans because I had my name called out by one once when I left my Maestro card in the ticket office in Paddington!) but Liverpool Street's announcer seems to be the same woman all the time so must be automated.

Also, for smaller stations I've been to (such as Acton Main Line or Tiverton Parkway) they seem to use the same male or female automated voices.

Phil Sayer
He's not heard at as many places thesedays as many stations seem to be changing to a much less clearer female voice.

Just like TV it seems that having a clear voice is not relevant anymore, see that new BBC1/2 announcer, the new station voice on Radio 1 this week etc

I know this is childish but I selected the cat and said something about a pussy and was told I'm not allowed to use the word pussy.

He's at Exeter St. Davids too where he still announces "Exeter St. Davids, this is, Exeter St. Davids" - a line Birmingham New Street dropped a long time ago presumably because there's not always enough time to annouce all of the trains (it's not uncommon for trains to go unannounced at BNS or for announcements to be interrupted by an actual human, usually to say that the Aberystwyth train will now start from Wolverhampton ).

Well, if we're talking about train voices...

Who's the woman with the gorgeous voice on Merseyrail?! She's certainly not local!

Having found a few samples of him on Youtube it definitely sounds like Phil Sayer is one of the voices at Tiverton Parkway - but I'm not sure about the female one that is someimes used (and I think is also used at Acton Main Line) - might be the one that is referred to as Digital Dorris!

The announcements at Leeds nowadays are a lot less comprehendable from Digital Doris compared to when Phil Sayer used to do them.

Emma Clarke

The one I'm talking about is the voice at Fenchurch Street and Liverpool Street, and I'm pretty sure I've heard her elsewhere (Bristol perhaps?) - I presumed she was a generic voice used at the Network Rail-owned stations, although maybe she's limited to the London ones only? "The next train to depart from Platform 4... is the 19... 44... First Great Eastern service to...". I'll have to venture out with my old tape cassette recorder. She sounds quite young and has an odd way of saying things.

I think I know the one your talking about, pronounces Portsmouth as if it was written Powrtsmoiuth. I'd always assumed that the same male/female voice combo were used at most stations in the country, certainly wherever you go in the South East their voices are in use.

For the last several months at EXD he's always seems to be about 30 seconds ahead of actual happenings too, just to make the automated system seem that little bit less competent.

Phil always barks 'The train now approaching platform 5 is the..." to an empty platform. Then announces 'Exeter St Davids. This is Exeter St Davids. The train now standing at platform 5 is the..." just as the headlights are barely visible.

The one at Durham ("Digital Doris") didn't have a complete database of the local trains in the NE, so the announcements used to have to be supplemented by the station manager in a thick Sunderland accent announcing trains to Middlesbrough, Saltburn etc.

In the end they pulled the system out, and the station manager now does all announcements. You regularly see him running in and out of his office, quite comical.

I always found it ironic that the team who puts these systems together is based in Nottingham and Crewe; but neither of these two (large) stations have an automated system!

I hate the flaming things anyway -- give me a real human being any day of the week. Three of the four announcers at Darlington were there in the 1980s. One of them sounds as if he's holding his nose with a clothes-peg, but at least he has character