Metro Driver's Booming Voice Connects Washington, D.C., Commuters

NPR | By Renita Jablonski

Published September 7, 2015 at 2:02 PM AKDT

When passengers board his train on the Washington, D.C., subway system, they hear Lamour Rogers' pleasing baritone over the public address system.

You see something happen each time you end up on Lamour Rogers' Washington, D.C., Metrorail train.

As Rogers' voice booms over the public address system, people look up from their phones and newspapers left behind by someone else. They make eye contact. They smile at each other.

NPR's Renita Jablonski met with Rogers to find out what is so special about his voice and where his enthusiasm comes from day in and day out.

"It comes from my soul," Rogers laughs. "Because in my soul, you know, it's like in my soul to make people happy, you know. Like, I think I'm a happy person. My name means 'to love.' "

The Washington City Paper named Rogers best train operator last year. He says people stop him all the time.

"They'll wait for me if I'm coming down the platform, and they'll say, 'I was having a bad day and heard your voice,' " Rogers says. "I'm always happy to hear that."

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