When our CSAs come under attack, we must fight back

I'd like to share these emails written after I was alerted by readers about public apologies made over the P.A. system last week; and a comment made to me about another CSA.

from:		Cindy (Cj) Smith
to:		Metrolinx Public Relations
date:		Fri, Mar 11, 2016 at 7:38 AM
subject:		Fwd: CSA Katelyn - 4:20 Union-Georgetown

Below is an email regarding Katelyn who coincidentally in the fall was commended by another passenger for her stellar customer service to which Mr. Bachant replied to the GO customer directly via email thanking him for his letter. And then we have this situation as noted in the email below.

Last night I was also informed that the CSA on the Kitchener train made a public announcement to passengers apologizing for her monotone delivery after a customer complained she wasn't engaging enough.

Katelyn also made an announcement apologizing.

This is simply ridiculous. GO Transit CSAs are an extremely helpful and professional group of men and women. I am appalled to learn public apologies are being made. One is too cheerful and one is not cheerful enough? Quite a contradiction!

Passengers on the Georgetown line were outraged and told me so via text message.

I have noticed that on the Lakeshore line the announcements aren't as witty or engaging.  And I was also told that a passenger complained about one CSA on the Lakeshore East wishing a happy international women's day to passengers earlier in the week.

Are we to expect no more cheeriness from our ambassadors? Why call them ambassadors then?

This all seems a little ridiculous and unbecoming of the agency.

from:		IK
to:		Raymond.Bachant@ca.transport.bombardier.com
cc:		greg.percy@gotransit.com, Cindy Smith
date:		Thu, Mar 10, 2016 at 7:54 PM
subject:		CSA Katelyn - 4:20 Union-Georgetown

Good Evening Raymond / Greg

I am a long time GO Train rider and have been riding the same train for past 14 years. Recently Katelyn (CSA) took over the CSA duties and is definitely a welcome change. Her witty announcements always left all of us with a smile on our face after long day of work. I was shocked when today she came on PA and apologized for her announcements. I know as Canadians we are conservative people almost approaching boring and bland. But this is extreme.

Shutting some one down just because she broke the normal bland way of making her announcements is just ridiculous. I have copied CJ Smith on this email and will also be asking her to post this email on her blog and I am sure there will be many more passengers that feel just like I do.

I guarantee you that if you received one complaint (this person must not love their life) there will be hundreds more that absolutely love hearing her voice that exudes positivity.

Please convey my personal thanks to Ms. Katelyn in making end our work day a bit more pleasant and urge you to let her be herself. It reflects positively on your organization.

Thank You

from:		Metrolinx Public Relations
to:		"Cindy (Cj) Smith"
date:		Fri, Mar 11, 2016 at 7:53 AM
subject:		Re: CSA Katelyn - 4:20 Union-Georgetown

Thank you for sharing this CJ! I've sent to along to our team responsible for Customer Care. 

From: GO Transit Customer Relations
Date: Fri, Mar 11, 2016 at 9:46 AM -0800
Subject: EM0119003602
To: IK

Thank you for your recent email to Greg Percy, President of GO Transit. Please allow me to respond on his behalf.

First and foremost, thank you being a loyal customer of 14 years.  Your loyalty is truly appreciated.

I appreciate your feedback about Katelyn.  I am happy to hear that she goes above and beyond to provide an enjoyable experience for our customers. It will be my pleasure to share your kind words with Katelyn as well as her Supervisor so she can be commended for her commitment to providing excellent customer service.

We will also follow-up with her direct Supervisor to determine what may have caused her to feel the need to apologize for her announcements.

Thank you again for sharing this with me and for allowing me the opportunity to address it.

The Olympics and score announcements on the GO train

On my train this morning, the CSA announced that GO CSAs would do their best to update passengers on the scores for women's hockey and curling during train travels today as Canada competes for Gold in both events. One lady made a face and said to her seat mate, "So much for taping the game..."

On Friday night, this email came in. Since then, I've come to the realization that there is no escaping not knowing the outcome of an Olympic event because you want to watch it later, and perhaps it's not a bad judgement call by any CSA to announce the scores.

This is where you get to weigh in.

In the past, I have received text messages from passengers upset that the score of a hockey game they were heading home to watch was announced on a train.

from:		Anonymous
to:		"cj@thiscrazytrain.com"
date:		Fri, Feb 14, 2014 at 5:49 PM
subject:		Please don't use my email and feel free to edit this story if you want it

As we all know, the Winter Olympics are on.  Because I work in an office all day, this truehockey fan has resorted to taping the noon hour men's hockey games so I can watch it in the evening. I go all day trying to avoid hearing about the game. I stay off the internet. I don't play the radio on my drive home from the GO station.  Guess what happened today on the Lakeshore West line, the 4:10 departure out of Union?  The CSA proudly announced over the loudspeaker the outcome and score from today's game. What a jerk. Maybe his employer is more flexible in that HE got to watch the game today. Way to go, GO.

Anonymous (please)

from:		Cindy (Cj) Smith cj@thiscrazytrain.com
to:		Anonymous
date:		Sat, Feb 15, 2014 at 1:25 PM
subject:		Re: Please don't use my email and feel free to edit this story if you want it

AHHHHHHHH!

I can only imagine - okay YEAH that SUCKED. For me, impossible. In my office, it is OLYMPICS ALL THE TIME. You can't escape it. I shut my door and play music but I can't venture anywhere without someone screaming out scores etc.

I feel terrible that your balloon was popped. I think the CSA made a bad judgement call but I will publish this so other CSAs realize that maybe this isn't a good idea. My husband is next to me and I asked him if he understood the "don't tell me the score I haven't watched the game yet rage" and he gets it.

from:		Anonymous
to:		"Cindy (Cj) Smith"
date:		Sat, Feb 15, 2014 at 1:34 PM
subject:		Re: Please don't use my email and feel free to edit this story if you want it

Thanks for your response. Appreciate the understanding and support!  I also must tell you that I have loved reading your blog!  I stumbled on it about two months ago and have really enjoyed the stories. I can totally relate. Keep up the great writing. All the best.

Good guy CSA

from:		AC
to:		cj@thiscrazytrain.com
date:		Sun, Feb 10, 2013 at 10:27 AM
subject:		C is for Customer Service, Compassion and Cookies

Hi CJ.

I know a lot of GO transit employees read your blog.  I am hoping that if you post this, the right person sees it.

My daughter and her girlfriend were on the 10:13 LSE Union to Oshawa on Saturday, February 9, 2013.  My daughter's girlfriend is a type I diabetic; she is insulin dependant and wears a pump.  Her blood sugar went dangerously low during the trip.  She normally carries juice boxes for this purposes but Saturday night she didn't have one.  She had some candy with her but it wasn't enough.  

The girls went to see the CSA to ask if there were any sugar tablets in the first aid kit but apparently GO transit doesn't stock the first aid kits with these.  

The CSA offered cookies out of his own dinner!  He didn't have to offer food from his own dinner and it was greatly appreciated.  Isabela's blood sugar had mostly stabilized by the time they reached Oshawa.  

It was a little thing, but a really nice thing.  

I don't know if he usually drives that train and the girls didn't get his name.  I did write to GO transit so hopefully they will pass along our thanks. 

See haters.  Not all GO stories are bad!

Maybe it's the copious amount of Canadian Club and Pepsi, but I found this video hysterical

So someone who likes Billy Gilman - A LOT - decided to make a fan video for Gilman's cover of "Away in a Manger". I had to Google the kid as I'd never heard of him.

The only reason why I am posting this is because "Away in a Manger" is a favourite Christmas carol of mine (despite its religious affiliation) and if a GO Train CSA ever invited me to serenade you jokers like what happened on Friday morning's LSW train into Union, according to This Crazy Train subscriber Tyler S., it's the song I'd sing.

Since it has been so long since I've heard the song, I you-tubed it. What's hysterical about the video are the captions and the fact that the "producer" of this crap puts together Gilman's wardrobe and sets the "scene" of each verse with stock photos.

It's such a hot mess, I had to share. Be sure to check out the standing ovation part (1:48). The opening is funny too because there's no way Gilman, who according to wikipedia has sold over two million albums, lives in a double-wide.

Richard, your friendly Barrie CSA!

I've heard a lot about you, Richard. I don't know what you've heard about me but I'm as fabulous as described.

Hope you like your shoutout. Stay classy, bro.

The number you have dialed is in service but please don't hang up and try your call again

I took the 8:38 am OSH - UNST this morning.

Quiet train. COLD train. No heat. Not until I traveled through three coaches to the fourth coach from the rear did I find heat.

The CSA for the trip, Gary, spoke with the diction and annunciation of an aircraft pilot. I was waiting for him to tell me when we'd reach the train's top cruising speed, that's how smooth his voice was. Like butter, slowly sliding off a warm corn on the cob.

At some point during the ride, the woman across from me receives a phone call. She has her phone on her lap, balanced on her thigh. She's fast asleep. She has her headphones in and her mouth wide open. I can hear her music playing. After four annoying rings of what sounds like the theme music from the 80s video game Pole Position, the phone goes silent. Seven seconds later, it goes off again. A few people around her are showing their annoyance and I decide I'll poke the woman awake. Her phone goes silent and I lean over and tap her knee. Nothing.

Her phone goes off again. The man near us throws his newspaper down in aggravated pissed-offness.

I tap her shoulder. Nothing. I can see she's breathing so it's apparent she's in a deep REM state. Her phone goes off again

By this time, I've realized I could have robbed this woman blind. Seriously. Her purse, her iPhone, her bag. All of it.

Her phone goes off for a fourth time.

I shit you not. I pick it up and answer it. "Hello?"

"Hi ... (pause) Hello Sara? How come you weren't answering?"

"This isn't Sara. This is the woman sitting across from Sara on the train. I tried to wake her up but she's in a deep sleep and you've phoned so many times I was thinking maybe it was an emergency and so I answered it."

"WHO IS THIS?"

"A woman on the train."

"WHERE. IS. SARA?"

"Asleep, which is why I answered... "

"PLEASE PUT SARA ON THE PHONE NOW."

"I'd love to do that but she's asleep."

"Well (expletive) wake her up!!!"

"Please do not swear at me. I tried. I don't know what medication she's taking but you may want to ask the doc to change her dosage. We roll into Union around 9:40 am so try calling back around then. If she wakes up before that I'll tell you to call her. Who shall I say is calling?"

"I'm calling the police!!!"

"And tell them what?"

"THAT I AM CALLING MY (expletive) SISTER AND SOME STRANGER ANSWERS?!"

"Right, and you called four times in a row and there are people on this train who were getting annoyed and I figure hey, maybe it's an emergency and I can't wake up the owner so maybe I should answer. Your sister is fine. She's just in a coma".

"LET ME TALK TO MY SISTER!!!".

She's yelling so loudly that I pull the phone away from my ear and the man who had thrown his newspaper down is talking to me. "Hang up," he says.

I put the phone down and tap Sara again. Nothing. I grab her iPod and pull the headphone jack out. Nothing.

I can hear her sister yelling.

This has gone so awry that I am now at a loss of what to do. I can tell Sara isn't dead but now I'm wondering if she's, you know, taken something.

I confer with newspaper man. "Who cares!" He says. "Not your problem."

I dismiss him.

We're now at Danforth.

I decide that maybe it's time to visit CSA Gary in the next coach when Sara suddenly stirs and pops open her eyes.

Here's what Sara sees:

Some strange woman is holding her iPod and her iPhone is on the seat next to me. Shit. I've already regretted getting involved. This didn't go as I planned with her sister being pissed and panicked and me looking like a tool.
I angle my legs in case she decides to kick me.

I start talking. I pick up her phone and I tell her that it was ringing. A lot. I tried to wake her up. Several times. I answered her phone to:
a) quit the ringing as it was disturbing other passengers
b) field the call in case it was an emergency and I could at least assure the person she's alive but just asleep.

She doesn't say anything. She takes her iPhone from me and speaks into it. I guess her sister hung up because she proceeds to dial. I'm still holding her iPod which I motion to hand back to her.

Since this had gotten really awkward for me, I get up and head downstairs to the main level of the coach.

I didn't care to hear the conversation and don't really care what Sara and her sister had to say about me or the situation.

What I don't understand is if you're going to start sleeping hardcore on a train, why wouldn't you turn your phone off when you know you're not going to hear it?

The amazing Olympic Sprint that will never be again

Those of you who have me on the tweets know I was up at an ungodly hour yesterday morning to catch the 1st LSE train (507 am) out of Oshawa.

My day really was trains, planes, buses and automobiles for a whirlwind trip to Montreal for business. A trip that almost didn't happen.

Oh it was close. It was so so so close.

Monday was a long day and my mother sweetened the crap by asking me to venture into the Eaton Centre - a place I HATE - "to run to Old Navy to fetch a sweater she put on hold". First of all, there is no 'running' to Old Navy. I work across from the Eaton Centre, where it starts. Old Navy is located where it ends.

I had a million things to do before leaving for this trip, some items that were delayed because I wasn't in on Friday. I was already working well past 'time to go home' and had to be up at 4am the following day. There is no saying no to my mother.

Those with an Eastern European mother know they are the first to throw out the guilt card. Screw the King of Hearts. Nothing beats the "next time you ask me to do something for you, I'm going to be too busy to do it, too" card. Her house wins. Every time.

By 730 pm, I'd done as much as I could on a presentation I had to provide graphics for. Knowing I had to call it a night, I left work and walked up Yonge from Queen to Old Navy (Dundas).

I buy the goddamn sweater and take the subway to Union. I miss the 813 pm train by 2 minutes.
This sets the mood for the rest of the night.

I sit around Union waiting for the 913 pm train, pissed off that I'm wasting time and all this over a stupid $17.25 sweater. Granted, that was the 75% off sale price, but still.

I roll out on the 913. I have the sweater, my purse, and a leather attache folder with printouts relevant to Montreal, notes from the company president about the presentation I had been working on, my boarding passes, the address of where I was going and reference guides for training all neatly bound and printed in colour.

On the train, I put the Old Navy bag and my purse under my seat and I slide the folder into the crevice of the seat between the cushion and armrest - this location is key to the story so pay attention.

As we leave Whitby, I'm so tired and unhappy that I will get less than 4 hours sleep that I'm no longer clued in to what I had with me when I boarded.

I remembered the sweater. I remembered my purse. (Oh yes, you know what's coming...)

I walked to my car all the way at the end of the lot - the same distance to walk from Queen to Dundas. As I get in my car I suddenly realize that I don't have the leather attache folder. Yes, those of you who are swift already knew this.

The train was still sitting at the station.

I threw my purse and the goddamned sweater into my car and took off running.

Here's what I didn't clue into: the train wasn't going anywhere but when I got off the train, it was "out of service" but only temporarily.

I'd like to point out a few things about me and running.
1. I suffer from chronic heel pain.
2. I'm overweight.
3. I have asthma.
4. I run like I'm treading mud.

As I reach the platform, my lungs are screaming, my feet are numb, I can't feel my thighs and I'm coughing. In fact, by the time I reach the accessibility coach, I am so out of breath I can't talk.

The engineer was on the platform and he took one look at me and asked me if I left something on the train.

I nodded. I coughed and gasped and felt like vomiting. He told me the doors would be opening soon once the train was back in service and that's when I clued in to a few people milling about the platform.

I didn't know! The hell! And I did that Olympic Sprint for nothing. Nothing!

I got on the train and could not recall which coach I was on, so I raced through the four locomotives east of the CSA and on the second run-through, found my folder.

I walked like a turtle back to my car and was coughing so hard, I was gagging. In hindsight, I should have just slept at the office.

I honestly don't know where the hell I was going with this. Other than to say when the CSA says to look around for your shit so you don't forget it, heed the advice.

Eaton Centre lady is not happy with us working folk

This morning, I hopped on the 7:21 LSE, originating in Oshawa. By the way, that train can never leave on time. I've also noticed the CSAs can't get it's departure time right, either. Friday, it was the 7:23. Today, it was the 7:21. It doesn't really matter seeing as it doesn't really roll out of Oshawa until 7:25.

When we arrived in Pickering, the train was full - at least my coach was standing room only. This woman gets on with her husband and immediately begins to fret.

"Is there a seat number on that ticket?" she asks her husband, who looks as surprised as her that there are PEOPLE on the train.

He studies their day passes. "No", he says. They climb up the stairs. They come back down the stairs.

The woman looks distraught. "Are we to stand the whole way to Toronto?!" She exclaims while holding her hands out in a "WTF" gesture.

Her husband shakes his head in disgust. "Ridiculous," he says.

"And considering how much we paid!" She laments.

"And then there's the TTC cost to the Eaton Centre!" She says, clearly distressed.

Her husband pulls out a calculator. (Okay, he didn't really pull out a calculator but holy shit folks, if these people had driven from Pickering to the Eaton Centre, the fuel and parking charges would be more than the fares they paid, i.e. senior discount and senior discount, times two).

I get up and offer the woman my seat.

She takes it, which leaves me standing next to her husband. "Is it always like this?" He asks me, surveying the crowd.

"Well," I say, "We are on our way to work and it is rush hour."

"All these people work downtown," his wife muses, somewhat impressed that so many of us have jobs.

"Last time I took the train," says her husband, preparing to entertain me with tales of GO Trains past, "the coaches were never this full."

And the year that was?

1987.

5:20pm LSE CSA

From: 1416938XXXX
To: 19054427423
November 02 2011 05:23 PM

Ok
the csa just announced his name is burly
what, as in big lumberjack type??

---

Anyone care to comment? Is it really Burley?

Unique, for sure.

Your hair. On a train

I hope this isn't the start of a disgusting trend. Can you imagine the CSA courtesy announcement to combat this narsty-ness?

Spotted last Friday on the 5:17 Union-Barrie train by 905751XXXX

Some talk a little and some talk way too much

Karen.

Karen, Karen, Karen ...

I'm sure you're a lovely gal, but you overloaded us with way too many announcements this morning on the 7:53 Oshawa-Union train.

It was, um, irritating.

Not surprisingly, I did receive an email about the announcements and Tom W. has some comments. I second all of them:

To all CSAs:

* As we near Union, stop saying it is our "last and final stop". The last stop is always the final stop.

* Stop saying crossing tracks is "illegal and prohibited". Illegal stuff is always prohibited.

* Stop using the phrase "Next station stop". Stops which aren't stations are moot - just say "Our next station is ..."

* "Detrain" is not a word. I think you mean "alight", as in "Alight at Pickering for stations between Pickering and Union".

* Saying, "Doors are now closing" and then failing to close them makes you a liar. Just close the doors. Worry about trapped limbs afterwards. If everyone knows the doors close when you say they will, people will get out the way.

* Stop using overly complicated descriptions. This morning on the 7:59 from Whitby - Union, I heard, "This train will make all stops to Pickering, then operate express to Union Station". Just say, "This train stops at Ajax, Pickering and Union." It's quicker and less confusing for people who haven't memorized the order of the stops on the line. Similarly, on the 17:20 out of Union to Oshawa, don't say "This train stops at Danforth and Scarborough, then express to Pickering, then all stops to Oshawa". Just say "This train calls at Danforth, Scarborough, Pickering, Ajax, Whitby and Oshawa", which leaves no room for confusion and no need to explain that passengers going to Eglinton, Guildwood and Rouge Hill want a different train.

* It's "Union Station", not "Toronto Union Station" or "Toronto's Union Station". There are indeed other Union stations out there, but the nearest are Washington DC and Chicago, so there won't be any confusion. Toronto has lots of stations, but we never hear "Toronto's Danforth station" or anything like that.

* When we do stop for some random reason, don't say we will under way "momentarily". That means "in an instant or moment", and implies we will be moving within the next 5 seconds, which we almost never are. Use "shortly" instead.

Anyone else?

All aboard the 5:53

LIVE BLOGGING
This dude (Burly I think is his name) speaks slower than Tom. I have no idea why his annunciation skills are so precisely monotone and drawn out but dude needs some coffee.

PART WHERE MY SHIT WEBPHONE DIED
During the ride this evening I was subjected to someone standing near me who repeatedly slammed her bag into my head until finally I stood up and asked her if she would like to sit. Of course, she said no thank you, so I told her that her bag was was giving me a concussion and she put it on the floor. What in the hell do some of you women carry in your purses? Do you pay for everything with gold bullion?

LIVE BLOGGING RESUMES
The guy sitting next to me is asleep and is breathing like Darth Vader. Earlier this dude was picking dead skin off his forehead and forearm. Why can't people groom at home?

Someone deserves a compass for Christmas

Why in the hell did this CSA just spend 7 minutes telling us about every single train, bus and donkey leaving Aldershot for the santa clause parade this Sunday... Oh wait, someone must have told her she screwed up. Now she just spent 6 minutes telling us the same info, only for Oshawa. That's 13 minutes of announcements about something easily found on GO's website.

Grade: F

Ron Burgundy tells pissed off GO commuter how it is

I started a conversation on the train on Saturday night with this Ron Burgundy wannabe.

This guy has a girlfriend in California, and he just moved back from university, after 4 yrs.... He was going to Pickering.... He also got in a fight with a guy who broke his finger. (Background: There was a train that unfortunately, some person killed themselves in front of. This particular guy he fought with was on this train that this happened on, and he was 'traumatized' from waiting 3 hours on the train. He apparently was a witness).

So, the guy broke his finger, and was bitching about it to the customer service ambassador. Ron here says to the guy, "How about you be quiet until you get to Oshawa" and then the guy bitched about how the train ride was traumatizing etc, and he said "I don't wanna hear your bullshit. You're ruining my train ride. Get a cab in Oshawa to the hospital and shut up" .... all from a guy who could be mistaken for Guy Smiley!

from Stef via Facebook.

---

It's mind-numbingly crappy, especially those who were on their way to the Leafs game - to be stuck for three hours and miss the game - but until there comes a day when people don't jump in front of a train to end their lives, this is something we all have to be prepared for. Bitching about it won't make it go away. Yay, Ron Burgundy!

Lost & Found

On Friday night, I happened upon a round polished stone necklace that had fallen off a woman's neck on the 5:20 LE out of Union. She had rushed to exit the train at Scarborough losing the necklace as she flew down the aisle.
I brought it into the Lost & Found at GO Customer Service in Union Station this morning.

Ay yi yi papi!

People who lose stuff are a hot mess!

There were three people in line in front of me and at the window was a woman, clearly distressed. She had left her Blackberry on a GO bus Friday night. The CSR was patiently and politely explaining to this woman that Friday's "collection" hadn't been couriered in yet. I was impressed at the courier part. GO pays to have your lost stuff sent to Union. Impressive. Yet, at the same time, explains the steady GO fare increases. If I had it my way, I'd send everything back to Union on a train, or bus. Right?

Anyhoo ...

This woman was convinced the CSR was lying and was trying to fit her upper torso through the wicket window to see what was in the red bins partially hidden by a door.

"Are you sure you don't have a red Blackberry Model ####, version XXXX, with a small scratch on the screen?" implored the lady.

The CSR says no and tells her again that Friday's items aren't in yet.

"Are you sure? Can I look at the bins myself?" asks the lady.

The CSR tells her no.

"How do you know I've come here to claim something and someone else won't claim my Blackberry?" asks the lady. The CSR tells her everything is itemized and tagged with as much information gleaned as possible from the person or employee who found it, so the person claiming the item would have to at least match some of the information, such as which bus, which train.

"Can you call me at work the second you see it?" asks the lady.

The CSR tells her she has to come back.

This makes the lady aggravated and she begins to angrily shove items back into her purse.

Good Christ, woman. It's not anyone else's fault you can't keep track of your shit. There's no need to put on a huff and puff show. It ain't impressing me and I'm certain the CSR doesn't need to watch your show either.

I just want to drop off this damn necklace and you're holding up the damn line with all your posturing.

Tom

Those of us who ride out of Oshawa on the 7:53 train to Union know all too well who Customer Service Ambassador Tom is.

A lovely gent, Tom is the one whose voice cracks like a 13 year old boy when he reads all of the service announcements for the morning commute. And I mean all of them.

Tom goes into great detail about where we're heading, how we'll get there, what to do if you want to go somewhere else, how to avoid death at platform level and he does all of this at the speed of a turtle. And the best part is he only subjects those of us leaving Oshawa with this long-winded novel of announcements of his. The Pickering people are often spared. That's because Tom has passed out due to a lack of oxygen.

This morning, both Jill (my train buddy) and I found out that a woman on the train with us, while commenting on the new guy - "Mr. DOORS... ARE... CLOOOOOOSSSSSINNNNNNG" -that she actually started to take the 8:25am train just to avoid Tom.

That's hardcore, man.

Easy on the announcements, bro

Roger W. sent an email (cj@thiscrazytrain.com) about the "doors not opening" announcements for Whitby. He writes:

Does anyone else think that the number of announcements from GO transit on the Union outbound train are ridiculous?
The number of times that the Whitby train cars not opening is announced while the train is stopped followed by an announcement upon leaving Union, followed by several other announcements. It seems like GO transit could simplify the message, make it shorter and make it more likely to be heard. Less is more in this case.

---

Dude, you totally have a point. People tune it out. What I enjoy are the ones who ride to Oshawa, having missed Whitby, all distraught - claiming they never heard the announcements. That's funny, considering how many times those poor customer service ambassadors have to say them.

Please wait on the tracks, your train will be here momentarily

Reader TomW emailed in expressing his concern about the contradictory warnings/notifications read out in the mornings on the LE.

Customer Service Ambassador Tom (God love him, with his voice that cracks like a 12 year old boy) likes to remind us all on the 7:53 out of Oshawa to "not cross tracks at platform level because high speed trains may pass at anytime, and it's dangerous and illegal" but he wants those looking to stop at stations between Pickering and Union to get off at Pickering and wait on Track #3 for a connecting train.

Kind of like that scene in the movie Stand By Me .... "Traaaaaaaaaiiiiinnnnnnnnnn!"

Announcements

For those of you with rice paper bladders, washrooms will be unlocked on the accessibility coaches of all trains or so says the customer service ambassador riding my 5:20 train tonight.
Since most of my readers are people who work for GO, I have to give props to the ambassadors and how they're becoming more and more creative with the 7-minute long G-20 announcements.

But I'd still like to see some jazz hands!

Warm!!!

Dear God! Can someone please turn the heat off in this coach?
It feels like 35C in here.
Can't breathe... can't ... must ... try ... oh shut up Tom... just find the friggin thermostat button and kick it. That's how you can be my customer service ambassador this morning!