Good practice in the making of on-train announcements in the event of an incident

This paper reports on a literature review to help develop guidance for train-crew in respect of on-train announcements during incidents and service disruptions. The emerging findings indicate that passenger evacuation without... [ view full abstract ]

This paper reports on a literature review to help develop guidance for train-crew in respect of on-train announcements during incidents and service disruptions. The emerging findings indicate that passenger evacuation without instruction to do so, given a certain set of circumstance, can be both rational and predictable and this in turn suggest that it can be influenced and controlled through the application of communication good practice principles, such as providing regular and timely updates – even if there is nothing new to report.

Keywords: Communications, behaviour, influence, emergency