Request ID: FOI-1179-2122 Date published: 27 September 2021
You asked
Following the passing of Celia Drummond, have the Northern line extension announcements already been recorded? If not, who will the annoucements be voiced by? If there is a new voice for the extension, will the entire line use the new voice actor or will Celia's original announcements stay?
Have TfL thought about how having 2 diferent artists for the same line be a bit confusing or jarring for passengers?
As the extension will be operational from the 20th of this month, have the new announcements already been recorded either by Celia or a new voice?
We answered
Our ref: FOI-1179-2122/GH
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 3 September 2021 asking for information about Northern line extension announcements.
Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy. I can confirm that we do hold the information you require.
New announcements for the Northern Line Extension have been recorded and any existing announcements being altered with new messages have been re-recorded with a new voice. The new voice artist is Elinor Hamilton from ‘Sayer Hamilton Voices’ who is the Managing Director of eLearningVoices.co.uk. All other existing announcements remain on the line.
Elinor was chosen as her voice provides a good match to Celia Drummond’s. The Audio-Visual sub-contractor went through the process of taking the raw .WAV files and editing/processing them to make them sound as similar as possible to Celia. This is the same process undertaken with Celia’s recordings as her voice changed as she got older. While it isn’t feasible to achieve a 100% perfect match, the project’s view is that the voices are a good match and the announcements provide consistent delivery of customer information.
If this is not the information you are looking for please do not hesitate to contact me.
If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Graham Hurt FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
