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I'm not sure if other Londoners have noticed the odd phrasing and announcements you get on the tube. An old favourite was "Delays are occurring to all District Line destinations. Because delays are occurring to all District Line destinations, customers should expect delays to all District Line destinations."

A couple of weeks ago I heard "Customers travelling on the Circle Line service should be aware that there is no Circle Line service". Last week I heard "Due to a security alert, this train will not be stopping at Whitechapel. This train is now a non-stopping-Whitechapel train." (My hyphens, but lord knows how to punctuate that so it means the same as the previous sentence.)

This was prompted by an announcement today that due to something I didn't catch "intervals are possible". I can hardly argue with the truth of this, but it is a bizarre way of saying that trains are delayed. I've heard that "intervals are occurring to all destinations" quite a lot, but this is an even odder way of saying it.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 26 November 2002 22:21 (twenty-three years ago)

I quite like the "intervals are occurring to all destinations" idea. To me, it suggests that if there weren't intervals then the tube network would consist of one big station.

I'm always amused by the mock-sincerity of announcements played at mainline stations. If the delay is less than, say, 15 minutes, you get a "I am sorry for the delay to this service". Upwards from that you get a "I am very sorry for the severe delay to this sevice". I wonder if the delay was over the an hour whether they would start grovelling. The concept of a pre-recorded voice apologising for the train service is lost on me.

― Alfie (Alfie), Tuesday, 26 November 2002 23:01 (twenty-three years ago)

I went to Finsbury Park tube with some mates to find it closed due to 'passenger action'. I later found out some poor bastard had fallen in front of the train (and miraculously survived, but that's another story. He might even have been pushed.)
Later that month, I was on the tube with my flatmate when an eerie metal voice announced 'We apologise for the delay... but there has been passenger action.' The train stopped for something like half an hour and then rolled on again without comment. I felt funny in my stomach.

― Al Ewing, Tuesday, 26 November 2002 23:38 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah, 'passenger action' seems to be replacing their old term (my mind's gone blank now - it was '[something] incident')

― michael (michael), Tuesday, 26 November 2002 23:47 (twenty-three years ago)

seems to happen quite a bit at the moment - assuming they're just using to refer to falling/jumping under trains. i'm seem to always be hearing 'passenger action'

― michael (michael), Tuesday, 26 November 2002 23:49 (twenty-three years ago)

It might mean other unpleasant things, like a full attack by Al-Qaeda, or a nuclear exchange.

"Passengers note, you have four minutes until passenger action."

― Al Ewing (Al Ewing), Tuesday, 26 November 2002 23:54 (twenty-three years ago)

I was looking at a London Underground poster tonight on a tube train:
picture of a stressed-out/fearful looking LUL employee with text claiming that 99% (I think it said) of their staff have suffered verbal or physical abuse at the hands of passengers/customers. The message - that the travelling public should be considerate towards staff because it's 'not their fault'. This strikes me as weird because it seems to admit that the tube service is dreadful. Wouldn't it make more sense to concentrate on the upbeat in publicity material rather than cementing negative ideas in people's minds. Or is there some hidden agenda?

― David (David), Tuesday, 26 November 2002 23:56 (twenty-three years ago)

Re 'passenger action' replacing an older phrase. I'm hearing the words 'due to a person under a train at ----'. Is that old-tube-speak
or am I confusing it with something that was/is said on BR?

― David (David), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 00:02 (twenty-three years ago)

It might be BR... might have replaced 'passenger action', which would mean 'passenger action' now = terrorism.

― Al Ewing (Al Ewing), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 00:10 (twenty-three years ago)

No, I hear the 'person under a train' thing regularly. I had the impression that passenger action meant other things, such as trouble where the police had to be called, i.e. that is what happened the one time I was there to see what they meant by 'passenger action' - two very drunk young men abusing people and pushing them around, and the police came and took them away before the train moved on. Obviously I don't know what they mean by it in other cases.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 00:10 (twenty-three years ago)

passenger action sounds hot!

― chaki (chaki), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 00:19 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm looking forward to getting some passenger action this New Year's.

― Al Ewing (Al Ewing), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 00:32 (twenty-three years ago)

I was heard an announcement asking people to "de-train" (ie the train's screwed, please get off and wait for the next one)

― jamesmichaelward (jamesmichaelward), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 01:06 (twenty-three years ago)

it was 'person under train'

― gareth (gareth), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 01:11 (twenty-three years ago)

Overground only I think, but IMHO the best ever announcement is "This train is running late due to late running." Whoever came up with that one deserves a knighthood.....

― lol p xx, Wednesday, 27 November 2002 11:26 (twenty-three years ago)

When me and Nathalie were getting the tube the noticeboard just said "Man on the tracks" and we cringed.

― Graham (graham), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 11:40 (twenty-three years ago)

Lol P, it's usually "This train is delayed due to a delay on the train's previous journey" which is rather a good way of covering themselves as they assume (usually rightly) that no-one on the platform would've been around to find out what the reason for *that* was....

― MarkH (MarkH), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 11:47 (twenty-three years ago)

'Fatal event' was sometimes used for people chucking themselves under I seem to recall.

― Archel (Archel), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 12:04 (twenty-three years ago)

This reminds me of the time I was getting a bus to see my cousin in Cork, after the 4 hour journey was over the bus driver came on the intercom and said "We'll shortly be arriving in Cork Bus Station, I'd like to thank you all for your cooperation and I'd also like to thank you all for your.............eh......*breathing into microphone*.....cooperation". The whole bus laughed, it was very funny.

― Ronan (Ronan), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 12:15 (twenty-three years ago)

i always assumed that passenger action was someone pulling the emergency stop on the trains! the thing that REALLY REALLY GETS MY GOAT though is on the overground services, when they tell you that a train is late because of "a delay on the train's previous journey" well

DUUUUUH!

― katie (katie), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 12:22 (twenty-three years ago)

de-train

Funny I was just thinking last night about the US word "deplaning" which annoyed the hell out of me when I took domestic flights there. The plane de-passengering makes more sense than the passengers deplaning.

And it makes me think of delousing.

― Sam (chirombo), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 12:34 (twenty-three years ago)

Sometimes they're quite funny. Was stuck at King Cross on the Vicky, and the driver said 'We'll be stuck here for some time - why not put your book down and talk to the person sitting next to you. You might meet the love of your life.'

Also guy on Piccadilly line at Barons Court: 'Unless people stop messing with the doors, I'll stop the train and make everyone get off at Hammersmith.' Would have been understandable if it was the School Disco express, but alas no. Made me think of custard though.

― Dave B (daveb), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 12:52 (twenty-three years ago)

There is that humorous driver on the Victoria line. He once started telling people on my train to stop being miserable and get a life: "After all, there are lots of nice things out there today. Cheer up, you miserable gits." Tube platform dispensing machine chicken soup for the soul?

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 12:57 (twenty-three years ago)

at acton town: "i'm going to stop this train here, because i finsh my shift, and i'm going to go and get a nice cup of tea"

― gareth (gareth), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 13:03 (twenty-three years ago)

The word detrain has had a long and perfectly legitimate life. There is nothing wrong with it that I can see.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 18:45 (twenty-three years ago)

do you decar and debus as well?

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 18:54 (twenty-three years ago)

Those are new ones on me, Stevem. I don't think the words are so needed that we need to coin them when they don't exist. Detrain and deplane have been around for decades. (I am starting to sound like these things are up to me!)

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 19:40 (twenty-three years ago)

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Tubese

DUUUUUH!