Northern re-records 34 station name announcements with local pronunciation

[Trackman]

Please see article below.
I get this with local pronunciations, but quite a few puzzle me like Ardwick and Ashburys.
Then there's Euxton Balshaw lane, currently pronounced Exton anyway last time I was up there, same with 'Todmodden' ... The list goes on

I'd like to hear peoples thoughts on the matter...

Northern re-records 34 station name announcements with local pronunciation

Northern has re-recorded on-board announcements of then names of thirty-four stations on its network after appealing to the public for help.

www.railadvent.co.uk

Northern has re-recorded on-board announcements of then names of thirty-four stations on its network after appealing to the public for help.
The operator received forty-seven formal requests to re-record announcements, including multiple submissions for:

• Aspatria in Cumbria (to be pronounced as ‘As-spay-tria);
• Kirkham and Wesham in Lancashire (to be pronounced Kirkham and Wess-am);
• Ilkeston in Derbyshire (to be pronounced Il-kes-ton); and
• Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire (to be pronounced Sowby Bridge).

Northern employees Pete Corley and Laura Palmer recorded the new announcement, and then issued a video message to thank people for their feedback. An upgrade to on-board software meant that announcements had to be recorded again, which prompted the appeal for correct local pronunciation.

In June, Pete and Laura appealed to passengers to contact them if they had mispronounced any of the five-hundred-plus stations on Northern's network. After discussing issues such as loud Es, missing Ss and silent ‘ands' within station names, they returned to the studio and made the new recordings.

Northern will now begin using the new recordings on its fleet of 345 trains.

The 34 stations whose names were re-recorded were: Accrington; Dore & Totley; Lostock Gralam; Ardwick; Elsecar; Mossley Hill; Ashburys; Euxton Balshaw Lane; Redcar; Aspatria; Gathurst; Roose; Barnsley; Hall i' th' Wood; Slaithwaite; Barrow-in-Furness; Handforth; South Elmsall; Bentham; Heighington; Sowerby Bridge; Burneside; Hessle; Thurnscoe; Cark-in-Cartmel; Ilkeston; Todmorden; Chesterfield; Kirkham and Wesham; Wombwell; Dodworth; Langwathby; Doncaster; Lazonby & Kirkoswald.
Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “This has been such an interesting process and proof if ever it were needed of the passion our customers have for the North.
“Some of the stations on our network are pronounced very differently to how they appear in writing – it's important to get these things right.

“I'd like to thank Pete, Laura and all of the on-board systems team for their persistence with this project – and to everyone that took the time to get involved and speak-up for their hometown.”

 

[Tracked]

Noticed the DON-LDS Northern Services had stopped shouting Wakefield Westgate, but were now stopping at "South Elms-hall", the other week

 

[QueensCurve]

Please see article below.
I get this with local pronunciations, but quite a few puzzle me like Ardwick and Ashburys.
Then there's Euxton Balshaw lane, currently pronounced Exton anyway last time I was up there, same with 'Todmodden' ... The list goes on

I'd like to hear peoples thoughts on the matter...

Northern re-records 34 station name announcements with local pronunciation

Northern has re-recorded on-board announcements of then names of thirty-four stations on its network after appealing to the public for help.

www.railadvent.co.uk

No more Core Kickle?

 

[bramling]

Please see article below.
I get this with local pronunciations, but quite a few puzzle me like Ardwick and Ashburys.
Then there's Euxton Balshaw lane, currently pronounced Exton anyway last time I was up there, same with 'Todmodden' ... The list goes on

I'd like to hear peoples thoughts on the matter...

Northern re-records 34 station name announcements with local pronunciation

Northern has re-recorded on-board announcements of then names of thirty-four stations on its network after appealing to the public for help.

www.railadvent.co.uk

My only thought can be that someone didn’t do their work properly in the first place. Getting this sort of thing right should be basic stuff.

 

[D6130]

Sowerby Bridge should be pronounced 'Sore-by', not 'Sow-by'.

 

[Oxfordblues]

Locals call Darwen "Darren", which might confuse foreigners!

 

[D6130]

What about Mytholmroyd?

 

[Trackman]

Locals call Darwen "Darren", which might confuse foreigners!

This is true, met a bloke in a pub and said he was from 'Darren', much confusion then after.. So Darwen near Blackburn? .. Yes 'Darren'.. you mean Darwen? .. and so on.

What about Mytholmroyd?

Don't think it's on the list, so locals have not moaned.
Thinks its Mithermroyd

 

[jfollows]

My pet local peeve of "Handfuth" has hopefully been corrected; I did feed back to them earlier on. My usage, which I believe to be correct, is that the o is pronounced as a long o, to rhyme with "forth".

 

[td97]

Shame they didn't re-record some of the North West stations with a more local dialect rather than the broad Yorkshire accent. Manchester Airport and Deansgate are the most overbearing.
It would also be nice if the announcement was "this is the Northern service to ..." rather than "this is the Northern service t' ..."

 

[D6130]

Thinks its Mithermroyd

Err, no....it's My-tholm-royd.

 

[BarnsleyDriver]

I hope they have altered Wombwell , pronounced Wum-Well, not woooooomwell

 

[bramling]

Sowerby Bridge should be pronounced 'Sore-by', not 'Sow-by'.

Is that one a bit contentious? Only because I’ve certainly heard locals say sour-bee bridge.

 

[jh64]

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

 

[NI 271]

Is that one a bit contentious? Only because I’ve certainly heard locals say sour-bee bridge.

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.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

As well that Northern trains don't serve Shrewsbury!

 

[prod_pep]

I hope the re-recorded announcement for Mossley Hill gets it correct. It is not pronounced 'Mozzley' locally unlike the Greater Manchester one.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I hope the re-recorded announcement for Mossley Hill gets it correct. It is not pronounced 'Mozzley' locally unlike the Greater Manchester one.

So, what should it be?

"Moss-Lee Hill"?

"Mose-Ley Hill"

Something else?

 

[transportphoto]

Does this explain why Wakefield Kirkgate was pronounced “Kirr-gate” whilst I was on a Northern service the other day?

 

[BeccaOnATrain]

It would also be nice if the announcement was "this is the Northern service to ..." rather than "this is the Northern service t' ..."

I find that announcement rather jarring every time I hear it. It feels like there's way too much emphasis on that 'tuh' as well.

 

[Andyh82]

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?

 

[jfollows]

I assume that when Northern first decided to automate their announcements they contracted the work out to some "media" types who probably live in London and think they know everything; the very first time i heard one at Wilmslow station I heard "Sandback" instead of "Sandbach". And some of the examples above, especially for places east of the Pennines, are mistakes I make personally, not being local. So at least I'll give Northern their due for spotting their problem and doing something about it.

 

[prod_pep]

So, what should it be?

'Moss-lee'.

 

[HUY2ROB]

I find that announcement rather jarring every time I hear it. It feels like there's way too much emphasis on that 'tuh' as well.

Agreed.

 

[Purple Train]

At least they're not as bad as text-to-speech announcers' problems with abbreviated names...

Anyway, good to see they've made an effort to sort the recordings out. They wouldn't have been allowed for cost reasons if the DfT had recognised the places concerned as being in its geographical remit...

 

[Trackman]

Still confused about Ardwick and Ashburys.
Anyone any ideas?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Still confused about Ardwick and Ashburys.
Anyone any ideas?

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

 

[J-2739]

Still confused about Ardwick and Ashburys.
Anyone any ideas?

Ard-ick?
Ash-brees?

 

[Trackman]

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

I know that's what I thought. And yes, Berry as is in Bury 'Berry'
Puzzling.

Ard-ick?
Ash-brees?

Depends what the locals call it.
We'll have to wait for the new announcements.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The issue with 'Ashburys' was that it was apparently being announced as 'Ash-bury' (with no 's' at the end).