http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/26/2609596.htm?site=news
Tube drivers brighten trip with wise words
On London’s underground train system Einstein and Gandhi are making commuters’ journeys a little bit more philosophical and personal.
In a bid to inject a bit of humanity and humour into travel, train drivers on London’s Tube are using quotations from famous thinkers in their announcements.
Travelling on the London underground can be a very impersonal and mundane experience.
Passengers are lost in their own worlds - there is little or no eye contact, and nobody smiles or acknowledges each other - there is only that automated voice droning on.
“This train is full. Next station is King’s Cross St. Pancras.”
But now that is all changing - instead of automated announcements on the Tube there will be talking drivers with a touch of philosophy.
Drivers have been given a book of quotations from great thinkers like Jean Paul Sartre, Gandhi and Einstein to make passengers’ journey a little bit more interesting.
“Do bear in mind that an ounce of action is worth a tonne of theory. Everyone should be respected but no-one idolised. Ladies and gents, have a good day,” one announcement said.
Susy Wells is a driver on the Piccadilly line.
“It can be quite a boring job. You are concentrating all the time but it is nice to put something into your announcements that make people think, make them smile more importantly,” she said.
“Any person who never made a mistake, never tried anything new. Have a good one, cheerio.”
British comedian Arthur Smith thinks the new announcements will inject a bit of humour into travelling on the tube.
“You are quite isolated from the other people and an announcement can kind of somehow bring people together for a moment. There is a little moment of communality and then recognition that you are all human and struggling together along to get to work,” he said.
And Arthur Smith has been advising tube drivers on their delivery.
“I think you have to have a certain extrovert quality because of course it [is a] bit of thing as a stand-up comedian… delivering your material, you can’t hear if the audience have responded or not,” he said.
“I went and drove round on the train with them a bit and someone tapped on the window and said ‘oh, that was brilliant, you really made my day’.”
Sally Shaw is running the scheme for Transport for London and she says the personal touch is the way forward.
“People respond very differently when they are being spoken to by another person and you listen more. I think the more we can get people talking to each other directly, person to person, the better things will be,” she said.
And for those passengers in a mad rush here is a quote to slow them down.
“Albert Einstein: the only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once. Quite a profound statement but actually quite funny at the same time. People are rushing to places.”
