Northern re-records 34 station name announcements with local pronunciation

[OhNoAPacer]

It won't be right until they start announcing Aspatria as Spatry.

 

[D6130]

It won't be right until they start announcing Aspatria as Spatry.

....or Wigan as Wiggin.

 

[Pit_buzzer]

I'm a regular traveler on the Doncaster to Leeds stopper and the two things that really grate with the new announcements are the "tu" instead of "to" and "south elms-hall" , made worse by it being a yorkshire accent getting it wrong. The best way for a non local is to say south Emsall, that would sound better although the actual local usage is a little more subtle than that

 

[stadler]

The Scotrail units that occasionally worked the Carlisle-Newcastle service for Northern would announce Prudhoe ('Prudda') as 'Prood-ho'.

That is one of the most common pronunciation errors i think. All four of the Scottish announcers - Fletcher Mathers (Onboard) onboard / Karen Cunningham (Atos Worldline) station / Alison Mckay (Ketech) station / "Scottish Female" (ASL) station - all say it as "Prood-Hoe" instead of the correct pronunciation. The previous "Only Woman" (Amey) at Carlisle and the original BR Female (Ditra) at Carlisle both said it as "Prood-Hoe" too. Celia Drummond originally said it incorrectly as "Prood-Hoe" too but she recorded it again and corrected it. So that is at least seven different announcers who have said it incorrectly. I guess it is an easy one to mispronounce as it is one of those place that is not pronounced as it is written.

As well that Northern trains don't serve Shrewsbury!

They do not serve Slaithwaite any more either but that is in the list of stations that have been corrected. I reckon it has been recorded in case they call there in the future. It makes sense to record all stations in the area just in case it is needed.

Why have they changed the announcements from the female voice introduced with TrainFX/the new units, to a new male voice in the first place?

Probably to save money i reckon. The original voices were professional voice over artists so charge high fees to record the announcements and they had to pay a fee every time they needed a new announcement recorded or corrected. The new voices are just staff members so are likely doing it free of charge.

 

[BeijingDave]

The problem is with some provincial places, even the locals pronounce the places differently to one another.

Slowit vs Slathwaite for Slaithwaite being an example.

When I lived in Coventry, even the locals couldn't seem to decide whether Stivichall was 'Stychal' or something more like 'Styvechale'. Some even still spell it the latter, archaic way.

 

[YorksLad12]

”Leeds” needs re-recording. It’s only got the two Es in there, the current announcer thinks there’s four.

 

[Djgr]

'Moss-lee'.

Good job they don't serve Aigburth, Maghull or Meols!

 

[185]

What about Mytholmroyd?

When I first stopped there in the late 90s I think reading the docket, I announced "shortly be arriving at... err.. a pile of letters beginning with M"

But for Northern's voice professional, allegedly a Yorkshireman being unable to pronounce this - is pretty poor.

 

[1st Ade]

Out of the geographical area but someone couldn't cope with stations with three words when they recorded the original announcements. So we ended up with: -

• Bletchley (correct)
• Milton Keynes (erm?)
• Central Wolverton (so that's where the rest of MKC went)
• Northampton (correct)

 

[Bantamzen]

When I first stopped there in the late 90s I think reading the docket, I announced "shortly be arriving at... err.. a pile of letters beginning with M"

But for Northern's voice professional, allegedly a Yorkshireman being unable to pronounce this - is pretty poor.

But which Yorkshire accent should they use? There are at least three variants going from Leeds, through Bradford and onto Halifax and the Calder Valley.....

I love arguments like this. Its just like the great t-cake & scraps ones that roam freely around social media...

 

[185]

But which Yorkshire accent should they use?

My friend from hull, computer says nooooohhh

 

[billh]

Good job the station closed at Luddendenfoot then.How is that spoke in local parlance?

​

 

[Winthorpe]

Interesting bit of symmetry of the railway's involvement in this. The strong local dialects stem from the pre-railway world when most people didn't travel very far from where they were born. The railway first opened up travel and made the world 'smaller' and movement easier.

 

[Neptune]

”Leeds” needs re-recording. It’s only got the two Es in there, the current announcer thinks there’s four.

Common practice for Leeds sadly. Also the pronunciation of Shipley as Shhhhhipley just sounds like he’s taking the piss. I wonder if Shepley is the same.

 

[D6130]

But for Northern's voice professional, allegedly a Yorkshireman being unable to pronounce this - is pretty poor.

....but Yorkshire is a very big county region and Northern's current voice professional is from York - 50 miles away from Calderdale and a very different accent!

But which Yorkshire accent should they use? There are at least three variants going from Leeds, through Bradford and onto Halifax and the Calder Valley.....

....and the rest. I would suggest that the Saltburn or Whitby accents have very little in common with those from Barnsley or Sheffield. As for Hull....

Good job the station closed at Luddendenfoot then.How is that spoke in local parlance?

​

Lood foot.

 

[185]

Slowit vs Slathwaite for Slaithwaite being an example.

Correct solution was a Man Vic guard announcing this with a jolly posh "ladies and gentlemen, we will shortly arrive at Slaythe-waite."

Cue groans from punters.

Followed by "Ahem. Ayup - Right love, by ek it's slowwit. Mind t' gap."

Passengers degenerate into fits of laughter at this point. Ten times better than any TfW multilingual announcement.

 

[Neptune]

Followed by "Ahem. Ayup - Right love, by ek it's slowwit. Mind t' gap."

Just as bad and very cringeworthy. I’ve never come across anyone from my home county who speaks like that in over 50 years.

 

[D6130]

I’ve never come across anyone from my home county who speaks like that in over 50 years.

In fairness, that could be because the conductor was from Manchester and maybe - ever so slightly - taking the mick in an exaggerated TV comedian manner.

 

[Bantamzen]

Just as bad and very cringeworthy. I’ve never come across anyone from my home county who speaks like that in over 50 years.

Seriously?

 

[owidoe]

Good job the station closed at Luddendenfoot then.How is that spoke in local parlance?

​

"Foot", unless you're a unionist.

 

[ModernRailways]

Probably to save money i reckon. The original voices were professional voice over artists so charge high fees to record the announcements and they had to pay a fee every time they needed a new announcement recorded or corrected. The new voices are just staff members so are likely doing it free of charge.

Wasn’t the old announcer a posh more professional speaking geordie? Chosen because it’s generally seen as a very friendly accent, but the recordings didn’t mess up the stations or try and fake it. It just did the job.
You pay a fee, but you get the job done professionally and it just sounds so much better, localisms are great, but that’s not going to help a tourist (or someone with accessibility requirements) who needs it in plain english, which is surely the whole point in the announcements in the first place. It’s one of those things that you could probably set up a contract that they record a set number of announcements, then have another session or two for fixes from feedback etc. For future station openings you already have a good idea of what’s coming in the next 10 years or so, so just record them then (TfL had crossrail announcements done years prior to it opening for example)

It seems northern have gone for the cheap option and they ultimately sound terrible. ‘This is the northern service tuuu leeeeeeds’ is tacky and all in just very very poor.

 

[Parallel]

It seems northern have gone for the cheap option and they ultimately sound terrible. ‘This is the northern service tuuu leeeeeeds’ is tacky and all in just very very poor.

I agree - the previous two are very professional yet also sound friendly. These two sound rather unprofessional. I wonder if the DfT asked Northern to take the recording in house to save costs in the long term.

I’m also surprised how this made the news? There have been numerous corrections to other operators announcements over the years - correct pronunciations should just be a given. Anne used to announce St Germans as ‘Sant Jur-MANs’ and Lostwithiel as ‘Loswivul’!

 

[OhNoAPacer]

Welcome aboard this service to Barrer in Furniss calling at ..... Spatry, Scaryport,... Wukkingten, .... Whitehaven....

 

[skyhigh]

I’m also surprised how this made the news? There have been numerous corrections to other operators announcements over the years - correct pronunciations should just be a given.

Because Northern pushed out a press release and given the lazy 'journalism' that exists at local media these days they just picked it up and used it.

 

[weepingwillowb]

I used to know a BR employee from Stafford who pronounced Mytholmroyd as "Myth-holmroyd," until I told him it's "My-thum-royd." Maybe I was wrong too.

How was Doncaster being mis-pronounced? Locals call it Donny, don't they?

 

[northwichcat]

So will TfW Rail correct their incorrect pronunciation for Lostock Gralam used at Chester?

 

[Parallel]

So will TfW Rail correct their incorrect pronunciation for Lostock Gralam used at Chester?

Unfortunately there's a few mispronunciations at Chester - the Leeds services for example! Todmorden and Mythomroyd mispronounced and missing Low Moor and Bramley recordings. Though the voice they use is a lady from Cornwall so probably had no idea how to say them without guidance!

 

[Trackman]

Unfortunately there's a few mispronunciations at Chester - the Leeds services for example! Todmorden and Mythomroyd mispronounced and missing Low Moor and Bramley recordings. Though the voice they use is a lady from Cornwall so probably had no idea how to say them without guidance!

Big fail there with Toddy!

Ard-wick and Ash-berries, isn't it?

Well, I've found a recording on you-tube published 12 months ago- here's how they say them..

 

[DunsBus]

That is one of the most common pronunciation errors i think. All four of the Scottish announcers - Fletcher Mathers (Onboard) onboard / Karen Cunningham (Atos Worldline) station / Alison Mckay (Ketech) station / "Scottish Female" (ASL) station - all say it as "Prood-Hoe" instead of the correct pronunciation. The previous "Only Woman" (Amey) at Carlisle and the original BR Female (Ditra) at Carlisle both said it as "Prood-Hoe" too. Celia Drummond originally said it incorrectly as "Prood-Hoe" too but she recorded it again and corrected it. So that is at least seven different announcers who have said it incorrectly. I guess it is an easy one to mispronounce as it is one of those place that is not pronounced as it is written.

Stow, on the Borders Railway, is another one - pronounced to rhyme with "cow", not "tow". I remember the automated on-board announcements on the Borders Railway having to be redone soon after it opened, as they all had Stow pronounced wrongly.

 

[Halish Railway]

Bit disappointing to see that Bradford Forster Square isn’t being re-recorded as it currently doesn’t pronounce the R in Forster.