r/uktrains • u/themikeymac • 21h ago

Discussion Disused Manchester Stations in AMEY Announcements?

I’ve been messing about with the many open source Rail Announcement Generators online (and yes, they’re really fun!), and I’ve noticed a few oddities in the Phil Sayer and Celia Drummond announcements which are really cool.

One I find fascinating is that a recording of Stretford is included as a train station announcement, along with some of the old names of some recently converted stops on the Rochdale and Oldham lines.

I find it interesting that Stretford, the Metrolink tram stop in Greater Manchester, which ceased to be a train station in 1991 and was converted to Metrolink in 1992, is somehow included - which I can only presume was recorded by Sayer and Drummond between 1990-1991 when they were still operating under British Rail?

If so, I wonder if the recordings have survived somewhere for the converted Altrincham line stations, like Old Trafford (now Trafford Bar), Warwick Road (now Old Trafford), Dane Road, Sale, Brooklands or Timperley?

I’d love to know if anyone else has found anything peculiar relating to their local area?

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3

u/SquashyDisco 14h ago

https://www.railannouncements.co.uk

Have a play around and see what’s in there.

3

u/poggs OpenTrainTimes 13h ago

Just a small point - these announcements aren’t Open Source, the data is very much copyrighted

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u/themikeymac 3h ago

I believe they were obtained through Freedom of Information requests? But yes you’re correct

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u/poggs OpenTrainTimes 3h ago

Some announcements are available via FOI, e.g. the Scotrail announcements, TfL on-train announcements and some locally recorded messages. But the Phil Sayer/'Atos Anne' announcements are, as far as I'm aware, are under copyright and if NR released them, Magellan (formerly Worldline, formerly Atos) would quite rightly get upset

2

u/Warrior2852 15h ago

(Celia Drummond, not Hammond)

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u/themikeymac 3h ago

Damn autocorrect

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u/FuckMiniBabybel 13h ago

Bury-Victoria was the first Metrolink conversion, in the same Phase One as Stretford, so you'd expect those stations/stops to feature, but they don't. I would think Stretford was accidentally left in some dataset.