Old Commuter & Dart Announcements!

[paddyb180285]

For the past year the announcements on both the Commuter and the DART have been in English and then Irish. For instance, "The Next Station is <English station name>, <Irish station name>". Also, when it gets near town it says "Please mind the gap and have your ticket ready for validation" after the announcements for the next station. While I am aware of the introduction for exit validation I much preferred the old announcements when it said "passengers leaving the train at <named Dublin station>, please mind the gap between the train and the platform, please ensure you have your ticket ready for INSPECTION". It sounded smarter and more precise. Some passengers might not know what the announcements mean when they say "gap" or "validation". Correct me if I am wrong but Pearse still doesn't have exit validation.

As well as that, when I would have gotten on the Commuter a year ago the announcements would have said "this train is for <destination name>, calling at <destination 1>, <destination 2>...... and <destination name>". Now it says "this train is for <destination name>, <destination name in Irish>". I think it is important that the passenger knows the exact list of stations being served as soon as they board the train as they may end up being trapped on the train, accidently passing their intended stop. Recently they partially fixed this problem where it calls out the remainder of the stations when it gets into town. While it may have been quite intrusive for the passenger who has been on the train since it's departure, it is important that these announcements are made when taking on new passengers at later stations. Alternatively, the announcements could be made at stations being serviced by Commuter branded trains when the train is approaching. I personnaly think that the old announcements should be brought back!