Northern re-records 34 mispronounced station names

A train operator which came under fire for mispronouncing names of local railway stations has re-recorded 34 announcements.

Earlier this year, Northern said it had updated its announcements but the company faced a backlash for still getting some of them wrong.

The company then appealed for local residents to help get it right.

Station announcer Laura Palmer said people were "rightly passionate" about where they lived.

In July, Northern acknowledged users of Mossley Hill station in Liverpool were hearing it pronounced wrongly as 'Mozz-ley' and it said it was now planning to use 'Mose-ley', which prompted uproar from locals as that was still incorrect.

The correct pronunciation is 'Moss-ley'.

Northern, which had recorded the names of over 500 stations across the network, received 47 formal requests to re-record announcements.

There were multiple submissions for Aspatria in Cumbria, which should be pronounced as 'As-spay-tria, Kirkham and Wesham in Lancashire, which should be pronounced Wess-am, Ilkeston in Derbyshire, to be pronounced Il-kes-ton and Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire, to be pronounced Sowby Bridge.

Debate ensued around loud Es, missing S' and silent 'ands' and the faces behind the voices, Northern employees Ms Palmer and Pete Corley, went back to the studio.

As the new recordings are rolled-out across the Northern fleet of 345 trains the pair have thanked people for their feedback, adding: "We couldn't have done it without you."

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."

She thanked the announcers and the locals for their "persistence" and "speaking up" for their hometowns.

The 34 station names re-recorded were: