New Blue Line Cars Discussion(Now in Service)

[jamesinclair]

Is the chime really necessary before every single comment?

How about an MBTA manager ride the line and see if theyc an make it without going crazy

[jwhite07]

*Note: Frank 1.0 is something I made up to designate it as a "first" version. It is not the official name of the version

Slightly off topic, but I've heard the voice of the new commuter rail announcements referred to as "Crystal".

I call it something else.

[ftran999]

For the first time today I noticed that under the row of seats, towards the end on the panel was a power outlet. Similar to the ordinary household type. Never noticed them before since they are usually covered by chrome plates. I assume there used to plug in the cleaning and maintenance equipment.

[jdrinboston]

I was on a Wonderland-bound Blue Line train last night (7/6) and there was a new voice/automated voice announcement program in use. Frankly, I hope this is the one they will be using from now on because the announcements were much cleaner, the timing was perfect, and the door chimes actually sounded when the doors closed. For a second, I actually thought I was on some of the newer IRT trains in NYC. Personally, I actually like the destination annoucements, even if there are only two potential destinations. In fact, I would argue that the Blue Line has three potential destinations since the inbound trains can end at either Bowdoin or Gov. Center.

[vivelasondas]

I was on a Wonderland-bound Blue Line train last night (7/6) and there was a new voice/automated voice announcement program in use. Frankly, I hope this is the one they will be using from now on because the announcements were much cleaner, the timing was perfect, and the door chimes actually sounded when the doors closed. For a second, I actually thought I was on some of the newer IRT trains in NYC. Personally, I actually like the destination annoucements, even if there are only two potential destinations. In fact, I would argue that the Blue Line has three potential destinations since the inbound trains can end at either Bowdoin or Gov. Center.

Hey everyone, I've been following this thread for years, but just signed up today. Quoting the post above, did it sound like the voice in the following link, or was it Frank Oglesby? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOw_DWPGqpM
I had a train like that last year, maybe in August, car number 0712 in front. They've changed it annoucements since then (I've been back on 0712 and 0713, it's the Frank Oglesby one). I liked that voice a lot better, though. One thing I found out was wrong with it was that it pronounced "Suffolk" in "Suffolk Downs" wrong. Other than that, it's perfect. One other note: I wrote to the top a few months back regarding the ASA and how I kept running into the door while trying to board as the chime wouldn't go off when the doors closed, and the man who replied (it wasn't the Blue Line's chief) said he would bring it up at the next engineers' (I think) meeting. Was that the only train you've run into with that version?

[jdrinboston]

Yes, that is definitely the voice I heard the other night. However, they seemed to have reduced the number of chimes in between annoucements so it wasn't quite as annoying. Unfortuantely, I didn't think to look at the car number. No offense to Frank Oglesby, but again, I thought these annoucements were much clearer, cleaner, and better timed than the ones I'm used to hearing on the blue line.

[vivelasondas]

Yes, that is definitely the voice I heard the other night. However, they seemed to have reduced the number of chimes in between annoucements so it wasn't quite as annoying. Unfortuantely, I didn't think to look at the car number. No offense to Frank Oglesby, but again, I thought these annoucements were much clearer, cleaner, and better timed than the ones I'm used to hearing on the blue line.

Yes, that happened to me, too. It was like a "revised" version of the one in the movie, which didn't have all chimes, announced courtesy messages between stations, and the destination was correct. Could it be that writing to the top actually works?

[diburning]

The voice still sort of sounds like Frank Ogelsby except with some enthusiasm in the voice

[vivelasondas]

Some people have noticed that Frank Oglesby isn't the only voice on the Blue Line. That's right, there are some trains with an even better announcement system that actually works like it should (It was actually the factory original). No lack of door chime, all punctuation present, less courtesy messages that take forever to read out, and even an announced destination! There was a spotting last year around August in car 0712, and recently (a few days ago) in an unknown car. The voice sounds like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOw_DWPGqpM), but doesn't have a chime for every single announcement. I have written to the Blue Line chief recently asking him if the T could restore this ASA, since I've had some trouble with hitting my head closing doors, since there's a lack of a door chime (sometimes, the lights don't flash or flash the entire time the doors are open). If anybody catches a train with a different ASA, please post here to see if the T is replacing their bugged Frank systems with this flawless system (well, it pronounces "Suffolk" wrong, but I barely go past Orient Heights, so it doesn't matter to me ), at least until they fix the Frank version.

[BostonUrbEx]

Who exactly is Gil Santos? I assume he is just another part of T management somewhere like Frank but where exactly is he?

[vivelasondas]

Who exactly is Gil Santos? I assume he is just another part of T management somewhere like Frank but where exactly is he?

Not quite. Gil Santos is an ex-sportscaster for WBZ. It really wasn't him doing the announcements. Honestly, it doesn't even sound like him. The creator of the video thought he sounded like him, which is why he titled the video as he did. It was really just some guy over at Siemens who does voice-overs, not Gil Santos.

[BostonUrbEx]

Ah. Hmm, yeah I don't see the resemblance in their voices either.

[vivelasondas]

True. Who cares who did the voice, though? It's something that the Blue Line actually needs. If we get more people to write to the top regarding the faulty ASA, then they might actually change it for us. Not that I have anything against Mr. Oglesby, but they really need to clean up the programming for his version.

[CRail]

Frank Oglesby is the voice on the Red Line Bombardier cars. The cars are seldom updated because they can no longer match the voice for new announcements because he is no longer with the company, and hasn't been for a while. The 0700s do not have his voice, nor do they have one that sounds anything like his.

[danib62]

Frank Oglesby is the voice on the Red Line Bombardier cars. The cars are seldom updated because they can no longer match the voice for new announcements because he is no longer with the company, and hasn't been for a while. The 0700s do not have his voice, nor do they have one that sounds anything like his.

Are you 100% sure about either claim? I remember the globe doing a story on Oglesby semi-recently and I'm pretty sure the voice on most 0700 blue line cars is him (at least it sure as heck sounds like him).

Edit: I just did a search and he is listed as the Manager of Paratransit Contract Operations on the write to the top page: http://www.mbta.com/customer_support/write_to_top/

This is a fun watch if you haven't seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk7z2kiHAKY. He even talks about how much he loves the blue line announcements at around the 4 minute mark.