MTA’s new classically trained voice

THE MTA has found its voice, and she is Queens native Velina Mitchell.

Officials have picked one of their own, an announcer at the Rail Control Center, to be the newest transit oracle. Mitchell’s voice caught the ear of Sarah Meyer, NYC Transit’s chief customer officer, in October while she read public service announcements.

“She sounded like a New Yorker, but she was also warm and she enunciated very well,” Meyer told the Daily News.

Mitchell has recorded more than a dozen announcements as part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s effort to improve its communication with riders. Her assured tones are being pumped into stations and four models of new-technology train cars.

But the subway’s familiar voices, like that of radio anchor Charlie Pellett (“Stand clear of the closing doors, please”) will also stick around.

With a new voice, there will be new messages telling riders not to hold train doors or stand too close to the edge.

But riders won’t be subjected to “There’s train traffic ahead of us.” That, Meyer said, “has become an rolling-eye moment.”