Some of the trains that run from London Kings Cross to Cambridge divide at Cambridge. Part of the train goes on to Kings Lynn and the rest stops at Cambridge and does the run back to London. Perhaps it picks up other carriages coming from somewhere else, I don’t know but it seems likely.
When you get on the train and before it sets off, there’s a public announcement announcing how the train divides. It explains that the train is composed of eight carriages and that passengers wanting to travel beyond Cambridge should ensure that they are in the front four carriages.
The rear four carriages are of course nearest the barrier, so we choose to sit in one of those carriages if for no other reason than that we don’t have to walk so far to find a seat.
So there we are and the voice comes over with the announcement. And then there is a pause and then a voice tells you what carriage you are in. So we hear ‘Six of Eight’ or ‘Seven of Eight’ – and every time I hear it I think of Star Trek, ‘Three of Nine’, the Borg, and You will be assimilated: Resistance is futile.
The question is, are the people who recorded the announcement Star Trek fans and did they script the announcement that way on purpose to puzzle passengers?