‘Audio trainspotters’ collect on-board announcements

And other stories from the stranger side of life

A Virgin train

A new form of trainspotter has emerged in the form of train announcement fans who collect recordings of safety, security and timetable announcements and post them on social media. The Times notes that a recent recording of “Great Western Railway on-board announcements” posted to YouTube has been listened to more than 7,000 times by the anorak-audiophiles.

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  Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.