Confusion at the border: Announcement with Swiss accent on a German train

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Since the SBB timetable change, a train has been running in Germany with announcements in a Swiss accent. And that causes irritation for our neighbors. In concrete terms, this concerns the Seehas, which is operated by SBB Germany.

“On the route between Konstanz and Engen, the train has 16 stops and covers the distance of 44 km in 50 minutes,” the SBB writes on its Seehas page.

Until now, these stops were always announced in standard German. But now things are different. Since this week, a voice with a Swiss accent has been coming from the speakers. “The Swiss are now really serious about their national pride,” writes the “Südkurier”. Apparently it is absurd that an announcement in High German can be heard on a Swiss train.

“It seems that everything must have a federal character”

But can that be so? The “Südkurier” has inquired about this with the SBB. The change has cost and quality reasons. New recordings were made especially for this purpose. There is also talk of casting. The comment from “Südkurier”: “Everyone saves where he can.”

Ultimately, however, it is not a human being heard, but a computer voice that imitates a human. That’s the real big innovation. Artificial intelligence (AI) can now be heard in Seehas. Before, you could hear someone speaking at the stations.

However, the ‘Südkurier’ finds it striking that the announcements now have a Swiss accent. “For the Swiss, everything seems to have to have a federal character.” However, the article ends with malice towards Deutsche Bahn. Because: while the SBB is known for its punctuality, Deutsche Bahn is known for the opposite: when the train arrives at all.

Source: Blick