London Underground, London Overground and the Elizabeth Line automated announcements
Request ID: FOI-1933-2324 Date published: 25 September 2023
You asked
Dear Transport for London,
I would like to make a Freedom Of Information Act 2000 request about London Underground, London Overground and the Elizabeth Line automated announcements.
May I have access to your public repository of announcements of London Underground (including new Bakerloo line announcements by Adrian Hieatt), London Overground and the Elizabeth Line please?
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-1933-2324
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 4 September 2023, asking for information about TfL’s audio announcements.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we hold some of the information you require.
Your email account has been added to the permissions list to access the audio recordings we are permitted to release, and you should now have an email with a link enabling you to access the folder (please check your spam folder if this is not visible).
On train announcements for the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines are included in the folder. The Northern line audio files contain historical as well as current announcements. You will note the Piccadilly line announcements are supplied as PCC files which may need specialist software to play them. This format is the only version we currently have available.
With regard to the new Bakerloo announcements, they haven’t been finished yet. Once complete, they will be published in the folder.
As for the rest of the London Underground station announcements and on train announcements, we are not obliged to supply these as they are subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information under section 43(2).
In this instance section 43(2) has been applied as disclosure of the information requested would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of TfL and/or the company used to provide the recordings. The recordings were provided to London Underground under a signed contracts which contained explicit conditions concerning disclosure and distribution.
These contracts specify that the recordings are solely to be used for the purpose for which they were created and for broadcast on the London Underground network only. If TfL were to disclose these recordings in response to an FOI request, it would constitute an actionable breach of contract and would be likely to result in a valid legal claim against London Underground or the license to use the recordings being withdrawn, which would impose additional, unnecessary, costs. TfL wishes to protect its commercial interests and ability to participate in future commercial activity. The disclosure of this information would be to the detriment of present and future business activities for both parties.
The use of this exemption is subject to an assessment of the public interest in relation to the disclosure of the information concerned. TfL recognises the need for openness and transparency within public authorities and the degree of public interest. However, in this instance this is outweighed by the damage that would be done to TfL’s ability to use these recordings and any future contractual negotiations that may take place regarding the London Underground announcements. Please note that the audio announcements across the full TfL network that we are currently able to provide access to, are accessible via this site. However, please be aware that many of the audio announcements that can be heard across the network are actually made up of smaller, fragmented recordings which are then combined for the purposes of public announcements so there will be some instances where full recordings of specific stop/station names, numbers or locations are not held.
We intend to update these files on a six monthly basis and so any newer recordings will be uploaded as part of this pre-determined schedule, rather than in response to specific future FOI requests. This is to ensure our resources can be managed effectively. Therefore, if you are aware of newer recordings that have been created that are not yet uploaded, we would appreciate your patience with this as requests for these recordings will be refused under section 22 of the FOI Act on the basis that there is a pre-existing intention to publish these in accordance with our publication schedule. We would therefore encourage you to wait for this upload rather than submit requests for recordings in this way.
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright.
Yours sincerely
Eva Hextall FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
