Euro final rail staff learn the lingo

Staff will have pocket prompts to help them

Railway staff in Scotland are being urged to learn phrases such as "Good evening and welcome to Glasgow" in Spanish and German, in time for the Champions' League final.

The city will be inundated with thousands of Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen fans on Wednesday 15 May, adding an estimated £20m to the local economy.

ScotRail has told conductors and station staff to practise key phrases in the hope of reducing problems at stations on the night.

Staff have been given a list of basic phrases and words in both languages and will be given pocket-sized prompts which they must carry with them on the night.

They include (translations attached in Spanish and German):

• "Can I help you?" ¿Puedo ayudarle? Kann ich Ihnen helfen?

• "Where are you going?" ¿Adonde va usted? Wohin fahren Sie?

• "Tickets please!" ¡Billetes por favor! Fahrkarten bitte!

• "Hurry along now!" ¡Adelante con prisa! Eilen Sie sich bitte

• "Be careful!" ¡Tenga cuidado! Vorsicht!

Staff have also to learn welcoming phrases such as:

• "Hello, how are you tonight?" ¡Holá! ¿Qué tal esta noche? Guten Abend, wie geht es Ihnen?

• "Good evening and welcome to Glasgow." Buenas tardes y bienvenido a Glasgow. Guten Abend und wilkommen in Glasgow.

A ScotRail spokeswoman said: "This is a major event and have decided to do this to really get into the spirit of things.

"We also hope it will make it easier for all the overseas fans travelling in the city and staff working that night."

Additional signs in English, Spanish and German will be placed at stations across the city.

Students will wear the appropriate strip

Language students have also been drafted in to work at stations where they will make regular announcements telling fans where to go and issue train information.

Fans of the two teams will be directed to different stations where the students, who have been told to wear the appropriate team's strip, will patrol stations to answer any questions.

The spokeswoman added: "We think this is a great night for Glasgow and indeed Scotland and want to do all we can to create a carnival-style atmosphere."

However fewer fans than normal are expected to use the city's train network due to recent rail strikes which led Uefa officials to organise hundreds of buses to transport fans from airports.