Request ID: FOI-2104-2425 Date published: 22 October 2024
You asked
Dear Transport for London,
I’m writing to request copies of the audio files for announcements used on London buses.
Specifically, the route numbers, and miscellaneous announcements (eg. “Seats are available on the upper deck, please move upstairs.”). Please omit any destination names or bus stop names.
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-2104-2425
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 30th September 2024 asking for iBus announcements.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
I can confirm that we hold the information you require. You should have received an email separately that provides a link to the requested audio announcements. Note that all of the audio announcements across the full TfL network that we are currently able to provide access to are accessible via this site. However, please also 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. To confirm, these updates are expected to occur around January and July of each year.
The audio announcements made available to you are copyrighted material and access is provided for personal use only with permission not granted for any re-production or re-use. In the event that these files are re-used in any way we are likely to consider this to constitute a breach of copyright and will consider appropriate next steps.
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any 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 and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
