Since Monday, actor Jan Vondráček has been announcing the names of stations and other information for passengers on all tram lines in Prague. His voice was chosen last year in a poll. He replaces Dagmar Hazdrová, the voice of Prague Integrated Transport (PID) buses and trams for almost 30 years.
During this spring, Vondráček’s voice should also appear on bus lines. The Prague transport company was informed about it.
Vondráček, a member of the ensemble of Prague’s Theatre v Dlouhé, had to or will have to, speak all the traffic and operational announcements and the names of bus, trolleybus, and tram stops used on urban and suburban lines in the PID. This amounts to 10,567 announcements.
“I have seen many different premiers. From those of theater, film, television, radio, and music to a pressed CD of an audiobook. And this is such a premiere as well. This time it’s a streetcar premiere. An audiobook that will probably press itself into my head because I ride the tram almost every day, and I can’t turn off this player,” said actor and dubber Vondráček.
“So I hope that people will not get tired of this long-playing record and will accept it like the singing of birds in the fields, the croaking of frogs by the pond, or the warning bark of the neighbor’s dog, which one slowly no longer perceives, but which one needs to live. And don’t ask me how long I have been recording the name of the Radhošt’ská bus stop so that everything would be there and sound natural,” he added.
Last year, 62.15 percent of the more than 200,000 people in the poll voted for Vondráček.