Please send ma a complete list of all the announcements you make on the tube and buses. The number of them is now totally unacceptable and some of them are OVER 100 DECIBELS!!! I require the decibel levels that these announcements are played Also the number of announcements per day at Southfields Station Please e-mail this to me and please send copies in the post to me

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Our ref: FOI-4528-1718/GH

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 14 February 2018 asking for information about announcements on tubes and buses.

Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations and our information access policy. I can confirm that we do hold the information you require.

Please find attached the LU DVA scripts, providing you with details of the announcements made on London Underground trains. The LU Station Message Library, also attached provides  details of the announcement which may be made on London Underground stations. The attached document ‘iBus Audio List’ provides information on the announcements which may be made on London Buses.

On buses, the volume level of announcements varies by bus type (surveys were carried out on each vehicle type to determine the most appropriate volume level) but would not exceed 75 decibels. This may appear loud but they need to be set at a level when they can be heard over ambience noise, otherwise they would not serve any purpose. Ambience noise is often around this level in central London so a similar level within the saloon area of a bus is audible.

All the bus stops in London are announced along with the destination of the bus. If there are significant points of interest nearby that are not included in the stop name, an ‘alight here for’ announcement is made and if the stop has a bus stop bypass (on our Cycle Superhighways only), it has an additional ‘watch out for cyclists’ announcement. There are also 14 driver initiated announcements.

On London Underground the PA systems are normally commissioned to broadcast live and pre-recorded announcements at 10dB(A) above the ambient noise in the area. Many stations have devices called “ambient noise sensors” which lower or raise the broadcast volume in relation to microphone measured ambient (background) noise (broadcast higher when more ambient noise and vice versa). Where the station relies upon the PA system for emergency evacuation, these will be broadcast at a pre-determined level of between 85 and 90dB(A) in accordance with British Standards and to maximise message intelligibility. There is no ambient noise sensor control when emergency messages are broadcast.

Further general information about announcements on London Underground stations is contained in the attached document ‘Keeping customers informed’. 

More specifically to your request, please see below the number of PA’s played at East Putney, Southfields and Wimbledon Park stations. We have include all three as they are all south of the river and have virtually the same footprint with regard to PA’s and proximity to residential accommodation.

At the time of your request, security messages were played every 60 minutes

“Pre-warn” engineering announcements were played every 60 minutes (Wed to Fri)

Planned closure announcements that affect this line/branch directly were every 30 minutes (Sat & Sun and occasionally a bank holiday Monday)

Otherwise they would be every 60 minutes

Service status announcements were every 10 minutes (7 days a week)

There are “contactless payment” announcements every 30 minutes

This provided a total of:

Mon – Tue: 10 announcements per hour

Wed – Fri: 11 announcements per hour

Sat, Sun and occasional bank holiday Mondays: 11 per hour if no direct effect on our line and 12 if there is.

PA’s were made between the hours of 0700 – 2100 Mon – Sat and 0800 – 2100 Sunday.

Following your Freedom of Information request, we have reassessed the number of announcements and have implemented some changes to reduce the number of PA’s played at these stations. This will apply to all the stations in the Fulham Broadway area with the exception of Fulham Broadway and West Brompton.

Once these changes have been implemented, there will be:

1 security message every 60 minutes (on the hour)

1 engineering (pre-warn) every 60 minutes (on the ½ hour)

1 service status every 10 minutes (on 10, 20 etc.)

These will be the only pre-recorded messages in use. All other messages will be ad hoc and live if and when required.

There are, of course, some exceptions. Any severe weather for example, whether it be hot, cold and icy or inclement may require a pre-recorded message

but these are not used more than every 20 minutes and only when instructed by the London Underground Control Centre. Emergency messages would be made at any time.

Additionally, during events such as Wimbledon Tennis fortnight at Southfields and football at Putney Bridge additional announcements will be required to assist with crowd management, and therefore this framework would not apply.

Lastly, messages will only be broadcast between 0700 and 2000 Monday – Saturday and 0800 – 2000 on Sunday and Bank Holidays (with the exception of emergency messages and events notwithstanding).

Simply broken down, this is a total of 102 pre-recorded messages in a 14 hour traffic day (Mon- Sat) and 94 on a Sunday.

That equates to 8 messages an hour which is the bare minimum needed to provide reasonable customer information and service.

As a further action in response to your request, we have measured the PA noise levels at Wimbledon Park, Southfields and East Putney station. The report on our findings is attached for your information. In summary, the measurement results show that the noise levels from all PA announcements on all stations ranged from 54dB(A) to 79dB(A). The highest broadcasted levels were measured from the middle PA speakers of Platform 1 at East Putney station for both DVA and LLPA announcements.

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.

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

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