Mispronounced Yorkshire place names: Northern Rail re-records 34 station name announcements to better reflect local pronunciation - 13 of which are in the region including Slaithwaite and Thurnscoe

The train operator received 47 formal requests to re-record announcements, with multiple submissions for Aspatria in Cumbria (to be pronounced as ‘As-spay-tria’), Kirkham and Wesham in Lancashire (to be pronounced as Kirkham and Wess-am), Ilkeston in Derbyshire (to be pronounced as Il-kes-ton) and Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire (to be pronounced as Sowby Bridge).

Here in Yorkshire we take pride in the pronunciation of place names, but despite this, various place names in Yorkshire are often mispronounced such as Slaithwaite (pronounced as ‘Slou-wit’). So it’s no surprise that 13 of these 34 station names are in our region.

When the re-recordings were completed, the duo behind the new announcements, Northern employees Pete Corley and Laura Palmer, issued a video message to thank customers for their feedback.

The new recordings, which will now be rolled-out across Northern’s fleet of 345 trains, were required following an upgrade to on-board software. Announcements also cover important topics like safety information and details of how to report suspicious behaviour and criminal acts.

In June, Mr Corley and Ms Palmer appealed to customers to get in touch if they had mispronounced any of the more than 500 stations on Northern’s network. After much debate was made around loud Es, missing S’ and silent ‘ands’ within station names, a decision was made to change the announcements.

Chief operating officer at Northern, Tricia Williams, 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 presence with this project - and to everyone that took the time to get involved and speak up for their hometown.”

Full list of station name announcements that have been re-recorded

Yorkshire station names have been highlighted.

Accrington

Ardwick

Ashburys

Aspatria

Barnsley

Barrow-in-Furness

Bentham

Burneside

Cark-in-Cartmel

Chesterfield

Dodworth

Doncaster

Dore & Totley

Elsecar

Euxton Balshaw Lane

Gathurst

Hall i' th' Wood

Handforth

Heighington

Hessle

Ilkeston

Kirkham and Wesham

Langwathby

Lazonby & Kirkoswald

Lostock Gralam

Mossley Hill

Redcar

Roose

Slaithwaite

South Elmsall

Sowerby Bridge

Thurnscoe

Todmorden

Wombwell