"Robin Mayes" wrote in message
...
Surprised this already hasn't come up.

The end of last week, we were all told that we had to precede P.A.
messages
with "Good (morning / afternoon / evening) ladies and gentlemen". By
Monday
it was reduced to "Ladies and gentlemen".

How do you feel about this? Do you think it's a tad Americanised?

Personally, I hate it. It is patronising and pompous. Apart from which, what
about all of the minors who travel by public transport?

Equally "Good morning, passengers/customers" sounds like a greeting from
"Hi-de-Hi".

How about something like "Good morning/afternoon/evening. The following
train running information is correct as at nn:00 hours. Train services are
currently running as follows. There are delays on the Bakerloo line due to a
person under a train at Waterloo." etc etc.?

That kind of message avoids gender/age etc confusion. It provides a
time-stamp for passengers and the preamble is sufficient to draw the
attention of travellers on the platforms prior to the 'meat' of the message.