Is the greeting ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’ out of date?
The “ladies and gentlemen” greeting on Tube announcements is to be scrapped, Transport for London (TfL) has announced.
London Underground staff have been told to say “hello everyone” in an effort to become more gender-neutral.
TfL said the move was to ensure all passengers felt “welcome”.
LGBT campaign group Stonewall welcomed the decision, which was supported by London mayor Sadiq Khan at a session of Mayor’s Question Time last month.
The revised phrasing will be applied to all new pre-recorded announcements made across the capital’s transport network.
Mark Evers, director of customer strategy at TfL, said: “We want everyone to feel welcome on our transport network.
“We have reviewed the language that we use in announcements and elsewhere and will make sure that it is fully inclusive, reflecting the great diversity of London.”
Mr Khan said he was “keen” TfL speak in a “more neutral way”.
What are your views?
Are you concerned that this cultural constant greeting will be eroded everywhere over time? In attempting to be inclusive are we in danger of losing our quintessentially Britishness? Is this political correctness gone mad? Or is it right that we should move with the times and risk not offending others?
