Northern re-records 34 station name announcements with local pronunciation

[YorksLad12]

I think you mean Wakefield Kirgate??

I was thinking of the non-locals. Kir-ghit and Wes-ghit.

 

[800001]

A long time since I’ve travelled on a northern service in the Bishop to Saltburn line, and god, even I laughed at how the announcer pronounced Darlington, could hear people sniggering and laughing. Same at some other stations,
It’s almost like northern are laughing at the customers with the accent and pronunciation that is used.

 

[Pete 1981]

Haven't been on an Ardwick stopper and I go through the station regularly

 

[Gwr12345]

A long time since I’ve travelled on a northern service in the Bishop to Saltburn line, and god, even I laughed at how the announcer pronounced Darlington, could hear people sniggering and laughing. Same at some other stations,
It’s almost like northern are laughing at the customers with the accent and pronunciation that is used.

It's the contempt with which it says Allens West that gets me!

 

[DJ_K666]

I didn't know Hall I' Th' Wood (First stop out of Bolton on the Clithero line, for those who might be vaguely interested) was pronounced Hallithwood.

And I'm guessing there must have been some woods with a hall in them nearby for it to get that name.

 

[Geeves]

Bolton is home to a lot of O' th's and I' th's saying that Lancashire generally has a lot, The hall is still there and very nice it is too!

 

[JD2168]

Northern appear to have re-recorded Barnsley on the announcements so it sounds better. The only issue is that it is a different person saying it & sounds like they are not near the microphone or is at a lower volume to the rest

 

[YorksLad12]

Northern appear to have re-recorded Barnsley on the announcements so it sounds better. The only issue is that it is a different person saying it & sounds like they are not near the microphone or is at a lower volume to the rest

I think it’s the same person, just recorded differently. Makes you miss Baaarnsly.

 

[stadler]

Northern appear to have re-recorded Barnsley on the announcements so it sounds better. The only issue is that it is a different person saying it & sounds like they are not near the microphone or is at a lower volume to the rest

David Curtis is the new voice. He is another staff member. I believe that he works as the Onboard Systems Service Delivery Manager for them.

He has rerecorded all of these in recent weeks:

• "Aspatria"

• "Barnsley"

• "Bradford Forster Square"

• "Bryn"

• "Liverpool Lime Street"

• "Headbolt Lane"

• "Marske"

• "Prudhoe"

• "Roose"

• "Wylam"

• "If you are leaving the train here, please be aware the step down to the platform is unusually large at this station, please take extra care when alighting the train."

• "Thank you for travelling with Northern today, we hope that you have a pleasant onward journey."

• "Please be aware that this train is too long to fit fully on the platform, customers travelling in the rear of this train, please move forward if you wish to leave the service here, as not all doors will open at this station."

I reckon there are probably other stations too. These are just the ones i have noticed so far. But it seems like lots are being redone.

What i fail to understand is why they are just getting David Curtis to do some stations and keeping Peter Corley for others. Surely they should either use Peter Corley entirely or use David Curtis entirely. This mixture sounds awful. It is a mess.

I really do not understand what on earth Northern are doing. They had perfect announcements with Trisha Jarman until last year. These were perfect with no issues and now they are just messing up everything.

They got rid of the perfect well liked Trisha Jarman announcements last year and introduced a staff member (Peter Corley) and the announcements instantly went downhill with all kinds of poor pronunciations. Now they are partially replacing him with another staff member (David Curtis) who also has some very poor pronunciations. They should just bring back the Trisha Jarman announcements and get rid of this utter mess that they have created.

I think it’s the same person, just recorded differently. Makes you miss Baaarnsly.

It is not the same person. They definitely sound very different. Peter Corley was the previous voice and i have been told that David Curtis is this new voice.

 

[Wolfie]

David Curtis is the new voice. He is another staff member. I believe that he works as the Onboard Systems Service Delivery Manager for them.

He has rerecorded all of these in recent weeks:

• "Aspatria"

• "Barnsley"

• "Bradford Forster Square"

• "Bryn"

• "Liverpool Lime Street"

• "Headbolt Lane"

• "Marske"

• "Prudhoe"

• "Roose"

• "Wylam"

• "If you are leaving the train here, please be aware the step down to the platform is unusually large at this station, please take extra care when alighting the train."

• "Thank you for travelling with Northern today, we hope that you have a pleasant onward journey."

• "Please be aware that this train is too long to fit fully on the platform, customers travelling in the rear of this train, please move forward if you wish to leave the service here, as not all doors will open at this station."

I reckon there are probably other stations too. These are just the ones i have noticed so far. But it seems like lots are being redone.

What i fail to understand is why they are just getting David Curtis to do some stations and keeping Peter Corley for others. Surely they should either use Peter Corley entirely or use David Curtis entirely. This mixture sounds awful. It is a mess.

I really do not understand what on earth Northern are doing. They had perfect announcements with Trisha Jarman until last year. These were perfect with no issues and now they are just messing up everything.

They got rid of the perfect well liked Trisha Jarman announcements last year and introduced a staff member (Peter Corley) and the announcements instantly went downhill with all kinds of poor pronunciations. Now they are partially replacing him with another staff member (David Curtis) who also has some very poor pronunciations. They should just bring back the Trisha Jarman announcements and get rid of this utter mess that they have created.


It is not the same person. They definitely sound very different. Peter Corley was the previous voice and i have been told that David Curtis is this new voice.

Cheap and far from cheerful.....

 

[stan claire]

• "Please be aware that this train is too long to fit fully on the platform, customers travelling in the rear of this train, please move forward if you wish to leave the service here, as not all doors will open at this station."

I can’t be the only one who thinks the audio quality of this announcement is absolutely horrible, right? On a 331 this announcement sounds like he’s recorded it underwater

 

[stadler]

Cheap and far from cheerful.....

I can’t be the only one who thinks the audio quality of this announcement is absolutely horrible, right? On a 331 this announcement sounds like he’s recorded it underwater

Yes these new recordings sound awful. On some of these new David Curtis recordings they have been cut very poorly and you can hear him breathing for a second before he starts talking. They also sound like they were recorded on some cheap Chinese recording device bought for a couple pounds on an Ali Express type site. You can tell they have put zero effort in to these.

David Curtis has also managed to get some of his pronunciations even worse than the Peter Corley recordings. Marske has become "Musk". Wylam has become "Willam". How hard is it to get these basic pronunciations right.

Northern are really excelling at making their announcements worse and worse and worse. I have no idea what they are trying to achieve as they are just messing them up even more.

 

[Wallsendmag]

Can't wait to hear Ashington

 

[RailWonderer]

Northern should focus on running a better railway rather than messing around with announcements. Most operators have had the same voices for a decade or two and Northern should learn to leave it alone. A few people complain about one pronounciation? Let them.

 

[Requeststop]

I was present when I heard a Scotsman being asked by a Lancastrian, "Are you an Islander or an Islander"? It was honestly the sound that came out of the mouth. The Scot looked confused for a few seconds and answered. "Neither" and walked away.
I suspect the question was 'are you a Highlander or an Islander'? The lack of the pronunciation of the 'H' would have confused anyone but the questioner, even other Northerners I suspect.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

I think it’s the same person, just recorded differently. Makes you miss Baaarnsly.

It demonstrates the contempt Northern have for the towns they serve that after three attempts they still can't get the pronunciation of Barnsley right.

First we had Mr Angry contemptuously growling "Baaaaarnsley", then a slightly camp voice announcing "Bunzlee" and now we have what sounds like someone in the next room yelling "Bunsley" and interrupting Mr Angry's furious rant.

 

[Harvey B]

They got rid of the perfect well liked Trisha Jarman announcements last year and introduced a staff member (Peter Corley) and the announcements instantly went downhill with all kinds of poor pronunciations. Now they are partially replacing him with another staff member (David Curtis) who also has some very poor pronunciations. They should just bring back the Trisha Jarman announcements and get rid of this utter mess that they have created.


It is not the same person. They definitely sound very different. Peter Corley was the previous voice and i have been told that David Curtis is this new voice.

I'm confused....

Are they wanting to phase out Peter Corley for someone new (despite his announcements for these stations lasting less than 18 months)? or is David Curtis a temporary short term measure until they can get Peter back in to properly re-record these stations?

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Travelled on a Cl 156 Hazel Grove stopper from Man Picc today. The announcements are a hybrid now - the ultimate destination 'Hazel Grove' is a new voice - David Curtis? - but the intermediate stations are still Peter Corley. The latter's 'tuh' for to is now 'tew' , however!

 

[Christian Schm]

Or maybe the community should just change their spelling of their place if they are really bothered about the pronunciation?

 

[175001]

Kearsley has been new voiced

 

[Harvey B]

Kearsley has been new voiced

Given the amount of station names that are being rerecorded at the minute by David Curtis, I'm beginning to think that Northern might even decide to fully replace Peter Corley over the coming months.

Why are they getting a completely different guy to only voice station names in the first place?

 

[johntea]

I met up with some work mates from my old job yesterday via a trip on a Class 333 for the first time since 2019 (previous to that it was pretty much twice a day 5 days a week!) and it almost brought a tear of nostalgia to my eye when I heard the good old Dan Stauss 'Welcome to the Bradford Forster Square train!'

Although I'm led to believe they're on about replacing the system soon especially with the upcoming move to Doncaster

 

[jamiearmley]

I met up with some work mates from my old job yesterday via a trip on a Class 333 for the first time since 2019 (previous to that it was pretty much twice a day 5 days a week!) and it almost brought a tear of nostalgia to my eye when I heard the good old Dan Stauss 'Welcome to the Bradford Forster Square train!'

Although I'm led to believe they're on about replacing the system soon especially with the upcoming move to Doncaster

The 333s have a fully recorded Doncaster route calling pattern, that's been in since they were new. They have always been occasional visitors to the line.

 

[Harvey B]

The 333s have a fully recorded Doncaster route calling pattern, that's been in since they were new. They have always been occasional visitors to the line.

Weren't the 333s originally supposed to work the Doncaster line regularly?

I've always wondered why they've got the Doncaster route pattern recorded onto them despite their very rare apperances om the line

 

[D6130]

Weren't the 333s originally supposed to work the Doncaster line regularly?

I've always wondered why they've got the Doncaster route pattern recorded onto them despite their very rare apperances om the line

When the 333s were delivered (2000-2001) the Doncaster services were all booked for 321s. However Northern only had three of those and in the Monday-Friday evening peak all three of them were diagrammed. Therefore in the event of a maintenance over-run on the third unit - or because of a fault on one of the units - 333s did substitute from time to time, on diagrams worked by Leeds crews, as did DMUs (usually 3 car 144s). It wasn't until the arrival of the four 322s from Scotland that sufficient EMUs were available to cover - in theory - all the triangle and Doncaster diagrams. 333 availabilility never quiet reached its intended target.

 

[urbophile]

I have to say, being used to the genteel RP of Merseyrail announcements, sitting on a Northern train the other day and hearing a strong Yorkshire accent came as a shock. Not offensively so (I am an exiled Yorkshireman after all), but it was a bit like hearing French on a Belgian train in Flanders*. Surrounded by Scouse speakers, Yorkshire sounds odder than RP.

*which would never happen (at least as the primary announcement); Belgian trains are very good at switching languages when they cross a border.

 

[Harvey B]

When the 333s were delivered (2000-2001) the Doncaster services were all booked for 321s. However Northern only had three of those and in the Monday-Friday evening peak all three of them were diagrammed. Therefore in the event of a maintenance over-run on the third unit - or because of a fault on one of the units - 333s did substitute from time to time, on diagrams worked by Leeds crews, as did DMUs (usually 3 car 144s). It wasn't until the arrival of the four 322s from Scotland that sufficient EMUs were available to cover - in theory - all the triangle and Doncaster diagrams. 333 availabilility never quiet reached its intended target.

So if the 333s were never intended to regularly work Doncaster Diagrams, then why were announcements recorded for the Doncaster line?

 

[johnnychips]

So if the 333s were never intended to regularly work Doncaster Diagrams, then why were announcements recorded for the Doncaster line?

Why not do it just in case? After all, it’s only eight station names to record.

 

[D6130]

So if the 333s were never intended to regularly work Doncaster Diagrams, then why were announcements recorded for the Doncaster line?

It was - very sensibly in my opinion - done on the premise that the 333s might have to work Leeds-Doncater services on odd occasions....and possibly on a more regular basis later in their careers....as has turned out to be the case.

 

[momo18]

Not to me, and I used to drive the 579 to and from Sowerby in a previous life so have had hundreds of locals ask me for "Sore-by" (and of course "Sore-by Bridge" as well, the two are different villages). Those asking for "Sour-by Bridge" tended not to be locals - I'm only from maybe 10-12 miles away and until I worked in Halifax, by which time I was knocking 40, I'd always known it as "Sour-by Bridge", despite having played football, cricket, and having had nights out there (it's not a bad spot for a drink!). I would understand anyone from further afield thinking that someone like me would be a local, it's not like there's a big distinction accent-wise, but I'd suggest those who live in either village pronounce it as @D6130 suggests.

As an SB local it’s definitely SORE-BEE bridge I used to be one of the Sour-bee offenders. Soon had that knocked out of me!