NS stations get new announcer: this well-known voice will disappear | Inland

Van As’s voice was chosen from a group of professional voice actors and actresses. When choosing a new broadcasting voice, the Dutch Railways paid attention to ensuring that the person is clearly intelligible and sounds friendly. The railway company even had research agency Neurensics do brain research among 24 travelers.

During a brain scan, the participants heard three different voices: the voice of Van As, another voice unknown to the participants and a voice of a loved one, such as a mother or girlfriend. The research showed that Van As’s voice softens negative emotions. According to the NS, this is important because the broadcaster also has to announce annoying things such as delays, work and platform changes.

The NS is using the text-to-speech technology for the first time for the new station broadcaster. This advanced technique automatically converts a message to be broadcast into a text spoken by Van As, adapted to the station and the situation. She has recorded all kinds of individual sounds, words and sentences for this.

Van As’s predecessor, Tuffie Vos, was first heard on an NS station in 1996. In 2005 her voice was heard on all stations in the country. It is estimated that her voice has been blared over 2.5 million times on the stations. In the course of next year, Tuffie will be heard on fewer and fewer stations.

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