I received an email yesterday asking about the Swiss German equivalent of Bitte verlassen Sie den Zug (Please alight from the train). Does anybody know?
Are announcements on Swiss trains in Swiss German or Standard German (Hochdeutsch)? What other languages are they in? Or does it depend on where you are in Switzerland?
This got me thinking about some of the words that are used in announcements on trains and stations. On trains in the UK there are endless announcements which tell you what stations, stops or station stops are coming up next, where the train is going, where it’s come from, what is available in the buffet / shop. You are reminded to keep a close eye on your luggage and personal belongings, to dispose of rubbish in the bins provided, not to smoke – not even in the vestibule areas or toilets, and not not to leave anything on the train and to mind the gap when you alight.
Some of the expressions are rarely heard elsewhere. e.g. alight, vestibule and station stop. Trains are referred to as services, and they call at station stops. Passengers are often referred to as customers.
In parts of Wales announcements are in Welsh and English, though not in the parts where Welsh is most-spoken.
You can hear recordings of some announcements from UK trains and stations here:
Are there particular terms used in announcements on trains and other public transport in other countries?
They’re definitely in Hochdeutsch. Sometimes quite heavily-accented Hochdeutsch, but Hochdeutsch nonetheless. 🙂
As for other languages – I’ve always heard them in French and German, and the order seems to depend on where you are (the local language is first, and the order switches once the train crosses the boundary).
I’ve never been on a route passing through the Italian-speaking region, so I don’t know what happens there; presumably the list of languages used depends on the list of linguistic regions the train will pass through?
In tourist areas of Switzerland, such as the Bernese Oberland, announcements are normally made in three languages: German (Hochdeutsch), English and French (in that order). The French voice is somewhat ‘little-girly’, making the phrase ‘prochain arrêt’ sound quite comical.
I agree with the previous comments. I use the SBB (swiss railways) often but don’t really pay much attention to the announcements.
You can listen to the various announcements here: http://www.durchzug.info
Someone could be hurt in England by the announcement “mind the gap”. How many Americans can figure that out?
To add to Ivan’s comment; they announcements really do depend on the train’s real time location (even when in between stations). Having recently taken a train from Milan to Geneva that passed through the Wallis/Valais Canton, the announcements were initially in the order of Italian, German, French, English, switching to German first after crossing the Swiss border and to French first exactly after crossing the language border that divides the Canton in half. All of it really spoke to Swiss precision and timeliness when it comes to any aspect of life.
I am pleasantly surprised that there are parts of Wales where train announcements are only in Welsh – I have never heard this. One would think that, even in the areas where the language is strongest, many of the passengers (who could be tourists from England) would not have any Welsh. But maybe there are places where this is not the case.
The most impressive thing I saw was leaving Interlaken, the conductor entered the car and asked for tickets in English, Hochdeutsch – and Korean! There were a lot of tourists in the car, but I was impressed that the conductor learned and used the phrase.
David – there aren’t any places in Wales where there announcements are only in Welsh, as far as I know. They are in bilingual in Welsh and English in some places, and just in English in others.
“… though not in the parts where Welsh is most-spoken.”
The above phrase threw me, Simon. Are you saying that in the areas with the most Welsh speakers, announcements are not in Welsh?
The announcements are only in English in the areas where Welsh is the majority language (Anglesey, Gwynedd, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion) and in Welsh and English elsewhere. However there are more people in other parts of Wales. In Cardiff, for example, Welsh speakers make up about 15% of the population and number around 54,000 – more than on Anglesey.