Eternal Love Story: Announcement on the trains.
Over the years, passengers who often take the subway in the morning at Embankment station, Westminster, England, have become accustomed to the image of a strange woman. Almost every morning she appears at the train station for hours but doesn’t travel by train.
The woman is always dressed politely, aristocratic, with no sign of being homeless or mentally ill. She often sat quietly on the waiting chair. However, her appearance too many times also attracted the attention of many people, including station staff and security guards.
After being questioned by the staff, the strange woman shared her story. Her name is Margaret McCollum. She is a retired Ph. Every day, she keeps the habit of going to the train station for only one purpose: to hear the sound of the train arriving at the station coming from the speaker saying: “Mind the gap”.
“Mind the gap”
To everyone else, this ordinary announcement is normal. But for Mrs. Margaret, it was the best sound in the world because the Embankment train station announcement was the recording voice of her late husband – Mr. Oswald Laurence. She simply wanted to hear his voice as much as possible to ease her nostalgia and feel like he was still by her side.
During his lifetime, Mr. Oswald was a voice actor. He recorded voice announcements for the subway system in the North of the city in the 50s of the last century. However, only the Embankment Station still uses his recordings today.
Husband and wife Oswald and Margaret met and got married in 1992. They lived happily together for 15 years until Mr. Oswald died in 2007.
From the day her husband died, she would sit there and wait for the train to come, to hear his voice. Margaret believes her habit is a way for her husband to “live forever” in her mind.
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The woman’s touching story was reported and touched the hearts of many people. In 2012, Margaret was once heartbroken when suddenly one day she couldn’t hear her husband’s voice on the loudspeaker anymore. She went to ask the staff and got the answer that the system had changed to a more modern automated notification. They gave her a CD of Mr. Oswald’s recordings as a souvenir.
Although sad, Margaret could not do anything else. But a short time later, the director of the city’s metro system Nigel Holness heard her story and made a heartwarming decision. Officers restored Oswald’s announcement as a tribute to the deceased. Moreover, every time the train arrives, this notice is announced 3 times. This is both for Mrs. Margaret to listen and to remind passengers to be careful before stepping on board.
To this day, the “Mind the gap” announcement at Embankment Station is completely different from every other station in Westminster.
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