Are loud, repetitive Amtrak announcements driving you crazy?

“May I have your attention please, ladies and gentlemen. The next stop, coming up very shortly, will be that of [station name]. If [station name] is your stop, please take this time to look above and around your seat, gather all your personal belongings, and make your way to the nearest exit where you see a uniformed crew member, as not all doors will open. Please watch your step when exiting the train, and thank you for choosing Amtrak. [Station name], coming up next.”

Those of us who frequently travel by train in the US have heard these or similar Amtrak announcements countless times, announced by the conductor over the train’s public address system before every station stop, on Amtrak as well as many commuter and regional railroads. They are certainly repetitive, and can be annoying if you are trying to sleep on a train while passing through several intermediate stops. No P.A. announcements are made between 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM on Amtrak’s long-distance trains, but that prohibition appears not to apply to short-distance trains (on the Northeast Corridor or state-supported routes) that run during those hours. One may be tempted to think that these announcements are necessary for safety reasons. But are they really?

I started paying more attention to these Amtrak announcements when I returned from a two-week trip to Switzerland last August. On Swiss trains, I had become accustomed to a friendly (usually recorded) voice simply saying the name of the next stop about two minutes before arrival. There was only a minimum of other announcements: a little information about the trip and a “we wish you a pleasant journey” upon departing from the origin point, and a “thank you for traveling” before the last stop, usually repeated in German, French and English. These announcements never seemed too loud or intrusive. And there were never any reminders to “make sure you have all your belongings,” to “be careful when exiting,” to “please review the safety instructions/features of this train,” to “say something if you see something,” or anything like that.

When I flew back to New York and then rode an Amtrak Northeast Regional home to Washington, DC, I was struck by how much verbal hand-holding American train riders are given by crew members compared to our European counterparts. It’s not just the repetitive nature of Amtrak’s customary announcements, but it’s also that they are generally made in a loud, insistent tone, like a general barking orders, rather than in a softer, friendlier tone. Is it just that the average American doesn’t have as much train-riding or public transportation experience as the average European? Or are travelers in Europe, regardless of their level of familiarity with trains, simply expected to know to make sure they have all their belongings before exiting and to be careful when doing so?

I do not believe that there are any legal or regulatory requirements for certain Amtrak announcements to be given at particular intervals on trains, as there are for airlines regarding safety announcements before takeoff and landing. Each passenger train operator or sponsoring agency should be able to make its own policies. Amtrak’s internal policies are fairly uniformly applied throughout the national train network.

Passenger train operators do have a balance to strike between being unobtrusive and respectful to passengers and keeping passengers safe. While I do not expect Amtrak and US commuter/regional railroads to completely match the European standard, these carriers could start by toning down the volume and intensity of announcements. And perhaps there’s no need to reiterate all the behavioral advice before each stop — maybe there could be gentle reminders to check for all your things and watch your step only at major stops, or every third or fourth stop.