Most terrifying messages you don’t want to hear while on London Underground

Footage has emerged of maintenance workers at a London Underground station that has left one or two people a little unnerved.

Titled ‘Coming to a station near you’, the video post on Reddit shows men in orange high vis casually walking along the platform during an alarm test for if there was an armed attack.

TfL has had the warning – which tells people to get out immediately – for years, but the video has caused a ripple of fear.

Here’s a handy guide to some of the TfL announcements, starting with the most frightening.

Armed attack

In the video posted on Reddit, two bleeps can be heard before an announcer states: ‘There is an armed attack. Evacuate now by the nearest safe exit whilst evading attackers.’

Reddit user Bulky-Chip927 posted the video and captioned it: ‘This message is being installed into stations to be activated remotely.’

Despite this post, TfL confirmed this announcement was installed a number of years ago as part of its emergency procedures.

A TfL spokesperson told Metro: ‘As part of our routine testing procedures, this announcement was played during engineering hours when the station was closed to the public. 

‘The announcement was created a number of years ago, and was carefully developed and tested with input from the Department for Transport, the National Protective Security Authority and British Transport Police to ensure that it works to keep people safe. 

‘London’s transport network is a safe, low-crime environment and we work closely with the police and emergency services to prepare for extremely rare incidents.

‘All our front-line operational staff are trained to respond to emergencies and incidents on the network.’

But despite this other users on Reddit were left pretty shocked by the announcement on the Tube network.

Scrounger888 posted: ‘That’s going to cause mass panic. Stampedes. Why not just “We’re having a bit of an issue, please exit the station in an orderly queue.”‘

UnregisteredSarcasm added: ‘”While evading attackers” is a little more video game than I’d like.’

Phillipwhiuk wrote: ‘That’s gonna get triggered by accident at some point…’

Fire

If there is a fire on a station or train, passengers will hear an announcement that states: ‘Due to a reported emergency, this station is being evacuated – please leave the station immediately.’

The precise wording of this may vary but it could be an automated announcement or an announcement from a member of staff.

Passengers may be told to leave the station at street level or by train and follow exit signs unless told to do otherwise by staff.

Staff will tell passengers the safest route to follow to avoid a fire or other emergency.

People will be told to take bags and other belongings with them too unless told otherwise.

Incidents on trains

Staff will aim to get passengers off trains immediately if there is an ongoing incident on a London Underground train.

Passengers will hear an announcement that states: ‘Attention. This train and station are now being evacuated. Please leave the train and exit the station. Follow any instructions given by staff.’

If the incident happens in a tunnel, the train will continue to the next station and then come to a stop.

When people arrive at the station, they will then hear announcements directing them to the nearest exit.

Police and TfL staff could be at the station when the train arrives and customers should follow instructions given.

Inspector Sands

Inspector Sands announcements aren’t exclusive to the underground – they’re often heard at Network Rail stations too.

Usually passengers will hear the wording: ‘Would Inspector Sands please report to…’

Inspector Sands is a code phrase to alert staff to a fire alarm without needing to evacuate the station.

The automated public address announcement can be generated automatically by the station’s fire warning system, or can be triggered from the station control.

Signal issue

There’s nothing worse than commuting home, the train stops and then you hear you are stuck because of a red signal.

Usually the announcement goes somewhere along the lines like: ‘We are currently being held at a red signal and should be on the move shortly.’

Most of the time it usually clears up in five minutes or so and the train is on its way again.

But sometimes it leads to severe delays and unhappy commuters.

Mind the gap

The most famous announcement on the London Underground network – ‘mind the gap’.

While tourists might ask what on earth it means, Londoners and regular visitors know it is a safety warning encouraging passengers to mind the gap between the train and the platform edge.

The first ‘mind the gap’ announcement was heard in 1969 and was recorded by sound engineer Peter Lodge.

He made the recordings himself until somebody more suited could be found because royalties for an actor to do it were simply too expensive.

That somebody was Oswald Laurence who recorded the ‘mind the gap’ announcement on the Northern line in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

He died in 2007 and his wife Margaret was left devastated by the loss of her husband.

So TfL digitalised old tapes and now Oswald’s voice can permanently be heard saying ‘mind the gap’ on the Northern line platform of Embankment station.

Warning of pickpockets

In busy station areas like Liverpool Street, Kings Cross St Pancras, Victoria, Waterloo, Euston and Paddington, passengers will hear an announcement warning about pickpockets.

It will say: ‘Please keep your belongings safe, pickpockets operate at this station.’

This is to warn people about the threat of crime at busy station and to keep an eye on their belongings at all times.

See it, say it, sorted

This is one of the most used announcements heard on both the London Underground network and on Network Rail trains.

This is part of a British Transport Police (BTP) initiative to encourage passengers to keep themselves and others safe by reporting unusual items or activity.

The announcement will sound like: ‘If you see something that doesn’t look right, speak to staff, or text British Transport Police on 61016 and we’ll get it sorted, that’s 61016. See it, say it, sorted.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.