Northern re-records mispronounced place names for announcements on all its trains

Northern asked customers to tell them which stations were being pronounced incorrectly. Credit: PA

A train operator has re-recorded the names of more than 30 stations on its network after feedback from customers saying they were being pronounced incorrectly.

After Northern received dozens of requests to re-record on-board announcements across its network, 34 stations - including some in Yorkshire - were selected.

They included Barnsley, Chesterfield, Dodworth, Doncaster, Elsecar, Hessle, South Elmsall, and Wombwell – as well as Thurnscoe, Sowerby Bridge, Todmorden, and Slaithwaite.

The recordings were needed following an upgrade to on-board software. The train operator asked customers to get in touch if they had mispronounced any of the more than 500 stations on the Northern network.

Debate ensued around loud Es, missing Ss and silent ‘ands’ within station names, prompting them to return to the recording studio.

Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “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.”

The new, updated and accurate recordings will now be rolledout across Northern’s 345-strong fleet of trains.

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