I am greatly indebted to Paul Hollinghurst, the Secretary of Railfuture’s East Anglia branch, for having the patience to note down the number of announcements raining down on passengers at King’s Cross on a day when his train to Cambridge was cancelled. Network Rail told him that there was ‘no information that suggests that we’ve ever undertaken any research into the matter’. Abroad, I notice there are far fewer announcements. Having your ears blasted every minute with ’see it say sorted’, is not conducive to enjoying a pleasant train journey. Perhaps time for the Railway Standards and Safety Board to assess the value – or otherwise – of these announcements.