Northern re-records 34 station name announcements with local pronunciation

[johntea]

It is strange they've using Laura for "This is the Northern service to" but not using her for "We will be calling at".

They’ve actually ‘fixed’ this now so Peter does “This is the Northern service to” along with the rest of the announcement at least on the Harrogate line

Presumably a slow update via the good old SD cards again though!

 

[northwichcat]

They’ve actually ‘fixed’ this now so Peter does “This is the Northern service to” along with the rest of the announcement at least on the Harrogate line

Presumably a slow update via the good old SD cards again though!

Unless they decided the Yorkshire passengers were overall happy with Peter's pronunciation but others weren't?

 

[urbophile]

You could argue that some place-names have a posh 'Sunday' version as well as a local one, and locals will always use the former when talking to strangers. An example is Barnoldswick (no longer on the rail network of course) which locals call affectionately 'Barlick', but will usually say 'Barnoldswick' (stress on the second syllable) in polite company. I wonder if Slathwaite/Slawit is one of these? Darwen/Darren almost certainly.

 

[FrodshamJnct]

I’ve noticed that recently the announcement has changed slightly, and the bloke has re-recorded the first part where he used to say, “This is the Northern service tuh…” In the new announcement it’s now a more standard “to”.

 

[jfollows]

Wilmslow station's automated announcement still says "Sandback" so I'm not all that impressed. On the train it's probably OK.

 

[185]

"Ther next stershun stop". Sounds terrible... uses the same manner of speaking as Arriva Trains Wales 2005 tourettes lady from the 175s. Unsuitable for train announcements.

The misnomer of Yorkshire passengers liking this - I've heard several wanting to pull the train's speakers out.

Someone ring Julie Berry.

 

[northwichcat]

The misnomer of Yorkshire passengers liking this - I've heard several wanting to pull the train's speakers out.

Very few people like former military personnel talking like they are still in the armed forces.

I remember TransPennine Express doing a friendly voices competition for staff to do annoucements. While the winners weren't popular with everyone, they certainly didn't go down as badly as Peter's annoucements have.

I wonder if Northern attempted to copy Plusnet's idea, which works well with a Yorkshire accent, but couldn't replicate it?

 

[ricoblade]

I’ve noticed that recently the announcement has changed slightly, and the bloke has re-recorded the first part where he used to say, “This is the Northern service tuh…” In the new announcement it’s now a more standard “to”.

Yep - This changed noticeably for me last week in Northern-land, whereas the week before it had still been the "tuh".

 

[185]

I wonder if Northern attempted to copy Plusnet's idea, which works well with a Yorkshire accent, but couldn't replicate it?

Plumsnet chap was downright irritating & patronising. Sounds more like Captain Boycott from Yorkshire Airways.. a-la "coz if it int in b___ Yorkshire, it's not worth b___ visiting"

Need someone with a very mild Northern but equally neutral accent. If they insist on someone with a strong accent, they may as well just hire Peter Kay.

 

[Class800]

Sounds more like Captain Boycott from Yorkshire Airways

a-la "coz if it int in b___ Yorkshire, it's not worth b___ visiting"

Yes it's a shame when I was visiting the north there were so many posh sounding announcements, I'd rather something broad and funny, like 'welcome tut Narthern service tut Yark'.

 

[185]

I'd rather something broad and funny, like 'welcome tut Narthern service tut Yark'.

This would be akin to asking the cast of Hot Fuzz to do GWRs announcements. Probably wouldn't go down too well locally... "coz we all sell apples round ere"

 

[Starmill]

Wilmslow station's automated announcement still says "Sandback" so I'm not all that impressed. On the train it's probably OK.

I'm not sure any station announcements have been changed at all? In any case if there's no correct Sandbach clip from Celia, it's too late now, it would end up sounding like Headbolt Lane.

 

[455refurb]

Having now heard some of the new recordings, I can tell you this is what you get when you don't use professionals.

I say this as a professional voice artist who has been heard on the railways in the past, and I'm also quite experienced at recording for auto-attendants and what's known as IVR systems (call handling).

It requires a particular style of delivery and you have to be mindful at all times of how the system will stitch the component parts of your recordings together. You have to maintain a neutral pitch and metre (speed) of delivery, unless you're specifically recording clips for certain inflections.

None of these considerations seem to have been followed here presumably in an attempt to save money. But it's good they've fixed the pronunciations, so every cloud and all that.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Wilmslow station's automated announcement still says "Sandback" so I'm not all that impressed.

Should, of course, sound as if it's "Sand-batch".

It's a bit like Scheveningen over in the Netherlands. Bad pronunciation makes it easier to spot the non-locals!

 

[AJG3]

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

As in "Spatry; larp out!" Lucky for Northern that other Cumbrian gems such as Beckermet and Curthwaite no longer have stations.

Can't wait until the Northumberland line reopens, they may need subtitles

Yes, attempting some of the vowel sounds should be interesting

 

[Neptune]

'welcome tut Narthern service tut Yark'.

As a lifelong Yorkshire person with a Yorkshire accent who’s always lived in the county I’ve never once heard anybody talk like that.

There’s nothing wrong with a professional voice artist with a neutral accent doing the announcements whichever region you’re in. People need to stop being so precious about ‘their’ area.

There’s nothing worse than all these so called famous people on TV Yorkshire-ing it up. It’s utterly cringeworthy.

 

[D6130]

Ther next stershun stop". Sounds terrible...

To be fair, Peter is from York....and that's how 'station' is pronounced in a York accent. However, I agree that it would have been better to have used a professional voice artist in the first place. Perhaps there might be an opening for @TT-ONR-NRN ?

 

[urbophile]

"Ther next stershun stop". Sounds terrible... uses the same manner of speaking as Arriva Trains Wales 2005 tourettes lady from the 175s. Unsuitable for train announcements.

The misnomer of Yorkshire passengers liking this - I've heard several wanting to pull the train's speakers out.

Someone ring Julie Berry.

Accent apart, it seems un-necessarily pedantic to say 'station stop' when if they said simply 'next stop' nobody would assume that a signal in the middle of fields was meant. Not as annoying as the over-use of 'service' when 'train' is more natural (eg. 'the next service is not in service', which is tautologous rather than helpful).

But who is the 'Tourette's lady'? She sounds interesting.

There’s nothing wrong with a professional voice artist with a neutral accent doing the announcements whichever region you’re in. People need to stop being so precious about ‘their’ area.

Yes and no. It would be weird if the accent changes every time the train crossed an invisible language boundary (like the entire language does in Belgium). But I'd be freaked out if I got on a Scottish or Welsh train and heard an announcer with pure RP. Accents need to be intelligible for non-locals, but regional diversity is good.

 

[185]

But who is the 'Tourette's lady'? She sounds interesting.

Think she was called Ruth. You could picture her slowly beating someone up as she recorded those announcements. CIA probably used her in Guantanamo alongside Rick Astley's Greatest Hits and An Evening with James Corden. Truly awful and patronising, nothing like Phil Sayer or Julie Berry.

 

[RailWonderer]

Why do they keep fiddling with announcements? Phil had a case for being removed as he died years ago now but there is nothing wrong with Northern Celia, or the old on-board Northern announcers. They want to save money yet have this obsession with breaking what isn't broken. I don't understand this mentality.

Having now heard some of the new recordings, I can tell you this is what you get when you don't use professionals.

I say this as a professional voice artist who has been heard on the railways in the past, and I'm also quite experienced at recording for auto-attendants and what's known as IVR systems (call handling).

It requires a particular style of delivery and you have to be mindful at all times of how the system will stitch the component parts of your recordings together. You have to maintain a neutral pitch and metre (speed) of delivery, unless you're specifically recording clips for certain inflections.

None of these considerations seem to have been followed here presumably in an attempt to save money. But it's good they've fixed the pronunciations, so every cloud and all that.

That nails it. It's a pity too many TTS and staff recorded voiceovers make UK railways feel run by amateurs. Also, bring back the chimes.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Think she was called Ruth.

It's a really, really dodgy blend of Ruth Mitchell and Alison Forster, and it does sound ridiculous.

 

[D6130]

It's a really, really dodgy blend of Ruth Mitchell and Alison Forster, and it does sound ridiculous.

Is that the same Alison Forster who was formerly Managing Director of First Great Western....and - when I was a guard at Brighton in the 1980s - Station Manager at Eastbourne?

 

[185]

I say bring Phil back, digitally remaster it, and AI any new stuff as required. Perhaps a single voice for the GBR brand within England.

*Use of this AI will probably summon the rise of the machines with 195s running through LA looking for Sarah Connor but such an apocalypse is still a mild improvement on Northern's current audio offering.

 

[Wolfie]

I say bring Phil back, digitally remaster it, and AI any new stuff as required. Perhaps a single voice for the GBR brand within England.

*Use of this AI will probably summon the rise of the machines with 195s running through LA looking for Sarah Connor but such an apocalypse is still a mild improvement on Northern's current audio offering.

In general terms one of the things that the Screen Actors Guild on the US took strike action over...

 

[HullRailMan]

The problem here is that there no such thing as a ‘Yorkshire accent’ - we don’t all talk like extras from Emmerdale Farm, the variances from Pennines to coast are huge. This is why a ‘local’ voice doesn’t work as it’s only local to one tiny bit of the county. As others have said, stick with someone neutral who speaks clearly and is easily understood. The important part of the announcement is the content, and being distracted by the delivery really doesn’t help anyone. Sadly this is just another example of ‘identity’ tokenism that is all the rage in corporate circles.

 

[weepingwillowb]

Aspatria is still being pronounced incorrectly, despite Northern saying the 34 station names had been re-recorded last year. "when approached by the BBC, the firm [Northern] was unable to confirm how many have been implemented in the subsequent six months."

Northern yet to fix Aspatria mispronunciation

Northern re-recorded dozens of place names after passenger complaints, but not all have been corrected.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[RHolmes]

Why do they keep fiddling with announcements? Phil had a case for being removed as he died years ago now but there is nothing wrong with Northern Celia, or the old on-board Northern announcers. They want to save money yet have this obsession with breaking what isn't broken. I don't understand this mentality.

It’s all about brand personality, marketing 101, the idea that you can give human personality traits to a brand or business, therefore making the brand seem both reliable and trust worthy from a psychological point of view, humanising the business.

Northern is essentially trying to shake off the bad PR of its predecessors (a very good move) whilst retaining both the tainted brand name of twenty or so years and company image of Arriva (baffles me that part).

It stems from the same marketing catalogue as ‘Proud to be Northern’ and ‘Do your thing’

What Northern wasn’t expecting was the sheer number of complaints in regards to mispronounced station names and the use of “this is the northern service t’” which was recent removed and then updated to “to”, hence the various edition updates

I must say I personally preferred the Geordie (safety) announcements when the CAF fleet were first introduced personally and would have preferred a full roll out of those, which were much more peppy and jovial in tone when compared to the current serious announcements

 

[RailWonderer]

I say bring Phil back, digitally remaster it, and AI any new stuff as required. Perhaps a single voice for the GBR brand within England.

I'd go along with this, but using original Phil where AI is unnecessary and have AI fill in the gaps. He has recorded thousands of announcements, from Achnasheen to Zeebrugge to Moutiers Salin.

 

[Parallel]

Wilmslow station's automated announcement still says "Sandback" so I'm not all that impressed. On the train it's probably OK.

Celia does have a correct pronunciation of Sandbach which was in use at Wilmslow until recently but they seem to have swapped it back to the old recording. Sharing below as this is not a Worldline system.

Think she was called Ruth. You could picture her slowly beating someone up as she recorded those announcements. CIA probably used her in Guantanamo alongside Rick Astley's Greatest Hits and An Evening with James Corden. Truly awful and patronising, nothing like Phil Sayer or Julie Berry.

As @TT-ONR-NRN mentions it is two different people on the 175s. Ruth announces the station, the bit about no smoking and thanks you for travelling with TfW. Alison Forster does the other generic bits and the bit about belongings. It used to be a bit jarring because Ruth's recordings were clearer and louder than Alison's on the 175s, so it would make it sound like she was shouting 'CREWE!' etc.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Celia does have a correct pronunciation of Sandbach which was in use at Wilmslow until recently but they seem to have swapped it back to the old recording. Sharing below as this is not a Worldline system.


As @TT-ONR-NRN mentions it is two different people on the 175s. Ruth announces the station, the bit about no smoking and thanks you for travelling with TfW. Alison Forster does the other generic bits and the bit about belongings. It used to be a bit jarring because Ruth's recordings were clearer and louder than Alison's on the 175s, so it would make it sound like she was shouting 'CREWE!' etc.

“This train is for” and “We will be calling at the following principal stations” is also Ruth. “The next stop is,” “We will shortly be arriving at” and “Thank you” are Alison.