Northern re-records 34 station name announcements with local pronunciation

[NorthernSpirit]

Just get the king himself in to do the announcements, it's sad Lizzy is gone but the new guy could probably command some authority. Let's get the royals working for once!

Edit: I'm not *actually* being serious before someone accuses me of being preposterous.

The interesting thing is that King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla did a generic announcement for the Coronation weekend.

 

[Birkonian]

The Yorkshire chap does a robust rendition of 'Cark & Cartmel' - though I think a Scouser might do it even better.

The exaggerated f'th in Carnforth in the old recording came across as a bit of an affectation. There are times when a more RP version, in this case as in the number or the Scottish bridge, would be more appropriate.

I travelled last week and it was definitely Cark in Cartmel, as it should be.

 

[northwichcat]

The phrase 'this is the Northern service to' is irritating. Use of the definite article suggests that it is the only one, or the only one that day; 'a Northern service' would be better.

What about the train terminating here, rather than the train service terminating here?

 

[py_megapixel]

It's little wonder there's been a need to re-record stations if they can't even manage to pronounce "to" correctly.

"...Northern service tuh" - Absolutely hideous

Yep, i was on a Leeds to Doncaster stopper last night and all the passengers around me were mocking the tu pronunciation

That's a relatively recent change - it used to read it as if it were the end of a sentence, which I don't think is any better.

"This train is the Northern service to. ... Leeds."

 

[Greybeard33]

What was the problem with Langwathby and with Lazonby & Kirkoswald?

 

[urbophile]

It's little wonder there's been a need to re-record stations if they can't even manage to pronounce "to" correctly.

"...Northern service tuh" - Absolutely hideous

Do you mean the Boris Johnson 'ter' (agreed, hideous) or 'to' as in 'took'? (The difficulty in trying phonetic spelling is it depends on accents - many people would pronounce the R on the end of 'ter', or 'took' with the same vowel as 'Waterloo'.)

 

[Fadacious]

The big emphasis on TUH is really jarring

 

[urbophile]

The big emphasis on TUH is really jarring

I still don't know whether you mean that the u in TUH is pronounced in the southern English way (ie a schwa), or as the distinctive northern way (which as I understand it is also the standard English pronunciation of 'to'). Either way to put a stress on it would indeed be jarring, but even more so if it were Boris Johnson's 'ter'.

 

[C J Snarzell]

The one that always tickles me is Euxton Balshaw Lane pronounced as ‘Ookston Balshaw Lane’.

CJ

 

[Trackman]

The one that always tickles me is Euxton Balshaw Lane pronounced as ‘Ookston Balshaw Lane’.

CJ

Thanks- this was one of my original questions.
So they say Ookston rather than Exston?

 

[markem41]

I still don't know whether you mean that the u in TUH is pronounced in the southern English way (ie a schwa), or as the distinctive northern way (which as I understand it is also the standard English pronunciation of 'to'). Either way to put a stress on it would indeed be jarring, but even more so if it were Boris Johnson's 'ter'.

I think they mean pronouncing, for example, "to Piccadilly" as "t'Piccadilly" (as in a comedy Yorkshire accent). The angry pronunciation of "SAND-bach" and a weird "Goooooostrey" had people smirking today.

 

[northwichcat]

I think they mean pronouncing, for example, "to Piccadilly" as "t'Piccadilly" (as in a comedy Yorkshire accent). The angry pronunciation of "SAND-bach" and a weird "Goooooostrey" had people smirking today.

I notice the new announcements omit the "If you're leaving the train here" and "between the train and the platform edge" bit and just say "mind the gap". I wonder if that was intentional or whether they just thought having t' in the annoucement four times was excessive!

 

[markem41]

I notice the new announcements omit the "If you're leaving the train here" and "between the train and the platform edge" bit and just say "mind the gap". I wonder if that was intentional or whether they just thought having t' in the annoucement four times was excessive!

I think the main issue with the Yorkshire bloke is he sounds angry and impatient, like he's telling his kids to stop messing around. Or am I misunderstanding his friendly Yorkshire directness?

 

[jfollows]

I notice the new announcements omit the "If you're leaving the train here" and "between the train and the platform edge" bit and just say "mind the gap". I wonder if that was intentional or whether they just thought having t' in the annoucement four times was excessive!

The "mind the gap" thing is patronising and stupid if it's used all the time; everyone knows there's a gap, so "mind the gap" only makes sense if it's an excessive or unusual gap. This is the way we seem to have gone in our latest safety culture. "We told you to mind the gap so we aren't responsible any more".

 

[northwichcat]

The "mind the gap" thing is patronising and stupid if it's used all the time; everyone knows there's a gap, so "mind the gap" only makes sense if it's an excessive or unusual gap. This is the way we seem to have gone in our latest safety culture. "We told you to mind the gap so we aren't responsible any more".

At Northwich and Lostock Gralam the announcement should be: "This station has low platforms. Passengers with mobility issues should use the doors at the very front of the train to alight". Even then there's a problem if it's a pair of units including a 150/1, or they haven't opened the connection between the two units.

 

[Trackman]

I think the main issue with the Yorkshire bloke is he sounds angry and impatient, like he's telling his kids to stop messing around. Or am I misunderstanding his friendly Yorkshire directness?

If anyone wants to know what he looks like or hear the 'TUH' here's a link to a Northern tweet ..

Meet the new voices on our trains: Peter & Laura! Peter is a conductor based in York and Laura is our cyber security & compliance manager. You'll start hearing them welcoming you on board and providing safety announcements along your journey.

https://twitter.com/northernassist/status/1670741531886485505

 

[py_megapixel]

If anyone wants to know what he looks like or hear the 'TUH' here's a link to a Northern tweet ..

https://twitter.com/northernassist/status/1670741531886485505

That tweet has the old version, where it sounds like "to" is the end of the sentence. The recording that people on here are complaining about is one that's since replaced it.

 

[johnnychips]

The reason it grates a bit is that it should be a schwa, a bit like the last sound in ‘bitter’. Instead it has a distinct short ‘u’ sound, which is unnatural.

 

[urbophile]

The reason it grates a bit is that it should be a schwa, a bit like the last sound in ‘bitter’. Instead it has a distinct short ‘u’ sound, which is unnatural.

'to' should be pronounced as in the first example. It just sounds odd because it ends abruptly and so unnnaturally emphasised. A schwa is just about pardonable in an unstressed position. In this case the first part of the announcement (up to 'to') is recorded separately from the station name(s), so there is bound to be a slight hesitation on the 'to', as you might say it on a live announcement while trying to find the names on the list. Lord deliver us from the Johnsonian 'ter', let alone the unstressed indefinite article pronounced as 'ay'.

 

[Parallel]

Having heard a few of these new announcements, they really are quite poor in my opinion. Odd inflections, strange emphasis on certain parts of words, some sound like they are shouted, some are said quickly and others slowly and they’re just not very clear. A real downgrade on the two voices these replaced.

 

[J-2739]

Having heard a few of these new announcements, they really are quite poor in my opinion. Odd inflections, strange emphasis on certain parts of words, some sound like they are shouted, some are said quickly and others slowly and they’re just not very clear. A real downgrade on the two voices these replaced.

I agree. I thought they couldn't get any worse than the last two announcers, but here we are.

 

[Starmill]

They also add (Chs) after Ashley, which gets a strange sound from the automated annoucement. I'm not sure why. Possibly to identify the first non-Greater Manchester in the Chester direction?

I would venture the guess that the name of Ashley in the data feed has been changed, in order to differentiate it from Ashley Down. I wonder if Wilmslow will also become Wilmslow (Cheshire).

The abbreviations for these are very frustrating in my view. Swinton has Swinton (Greater) on the CIS, though I have a feeling that the IDMS data feed name is Swinton (Manchester) - if anyone can confirm that incidentally I'd be grateful. In similar fashion it really should have been Apperley Bridge (Yorkshire).

 

[GRALISTAIR]

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

Yes I once worked at Crown Paints in Darren - very amusing. Most locals called it Darren not Darwen.

 

[Wolfie]

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

If by foreigners you mean anyone from outside Lancashire l agree and therein lies the potential issue with this.

 

[frodshamfella]

So, what should it be?

"Moss-Lee Hill"?

"Mose-Ley Hill"

Something else?

Its definitely ' Moss Lee ' Hill in pronunciation.

 

[Killingworth]

I wonder how they'd have got on with Bellingham on the long closed North Tyne line?

 

[geoffk]

I would venture the guess that the name of Ashley in the data feed has been changed, in order to differentiate it from Ashley Down. I wonder if Wilmslow will also become Wilmslow (Cheshire).

The abbreviations for these are very frustrating in my view. Swinton has Swinton (Greater) on the CIS, though I have a feeling that the IDMS data feed name is Swinton (Manchester) - if anyone can confirm that incidentally I'd be grateful. In similar fashion it really should have been Apperley Bridge (Yorkshire).

I suppose the database can't cope with more than one station with the same name. As well as Swinton, we have Adlington, Whitchurch, Newport, Bramley and Moreton among others. But stations where only part of the name is duplicated get the same treatment, so we have "Preston, Lancs" on the CIS, presumably to distinguish it from Preston Park, Long Preston and indeed Prestonpans!

 

[SargeNpton]

I would venture the guess that the name of Ashley in the data feed has been changed, in order to differentiate it from Ashley Down. I wonder if Wilmslow will also become Wilmslow (Cheshire).

The abbreviations for these are very frustrating in my view. Swinton has Swinton (Greater) on the CIS, though I have a feeling that the IDMS data feed name is Swinton (Manchester) - if anyone can confirm that incidentally I'd be grateful. In similar fashion it really should have been Apperley Bridge (Yorkshire).

Which file in IDMS? There are two pertaining to locations and the entry for Swinton differs between them.

 

[riceuten]

”Leeds” needs re-recording. It’s only got the two Es in there, the current announcer thinks there’s four.

It's missing the prefix "Dirty, dirty..."

 

[RailWonderer]

Which units are these new voices on besides 195s? I had a 3 car 158 and a pair of 2 cars on the Leeds - Carlisle last week still with the older but better voices and the 333s have also kept the best voice of them all (Martin Oldfield).