Has Northern pronounced Sowerby Bridge right? Duo behind Northern’s new announcements make appeal to customers

Peter Corley and Laura Palmer have pledged to return to the studio and re-record any station name that customers believe doesn’t respect local pronunciation.

“Whilst every effort was made to get them right first time, we know how proud people across the North of England are of their regional dialect” Peter and Laura said. “Who knows how long these recordings will be in the system – so now’s your chance to correct us if we’ve got it wrong.”

The pair both work for Northern and were asked to front the new announcements after being urged by colleagues.

Corley is a conductor based in York and Palmer is Northern’s cyber security and compliance manager. Whilst this is their first official ‘voiceover’ work, Corley has some previous experience having served in the army as a radio operator before joining Northern in 2019.

Roll-out of the new recordings began last month, with all trains in Northern’s fleet set to be using them in a matter of weeks.

Stations that have already been subject to specific pronunciation work include:

Sowerby Bridge – pronounced Sowby Bridge

Slaithwaite – pronounced Slouwit

Roose in Cumbria – pronounced Ruse

Burneside in Cumbria – pronounced Burn-E-Side

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.

“As a local, there's nothing worse than someone mis-pronouncing your hometown – especially when you have to hear it every time you use the station.

“Peter and Laura have done a fabulous job – but it never hurts to check with the people that matter the most.”

Northern says that if the audio of your local station doesn’t sound quite right to contact Northern on Twitter (@northernassist) or via Facebook Messenger (m.me/northernassist).

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