Seven South Yorkshire train stations including Dore & Totley re-recorded using local pronunciation

Northern has re-recorded announcements of 34 train stations across its network, including seven South Yorkshire stations, following a public appeal to correct any pronunciation mistakes.

Peter Corley and Laura Palmer, the voices behind the on-board announcements which started being rolled out in May, appealed to customers to let them know if they had mispronounced any station names.

The company received 47 formal requests to re-record announcements which, following some debate around loud ‘E’s, missing ‘S’s and silent ‘ands’, have now been corrected and will be used across its 345 trains.

Dore & Totley is now pronounced as such rather than just ‘Dore’, as it was previously. Barnsley, Doncaster, Dodworth, Elsecar, Thurnscoe, and Wombwell have all been updated.

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 – it’s important to get these things right.

“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.

“I’d like to thank Pete, Laura and all of the on-board systems team for their persistence with this project – and to everyone that took the time to get involved and speak-up for their hometown.”

Mossley Hill, Aspatria, Sowerby Bridge, Chesterfield, and Ilkeston were among the other re-recorded station names.

Corley, a conductor based in York, and Palmer, the company’s cybersecurity and compliance manager, said: “Whilst every effort was made to get them right the first time, we know how proud people across the North of England are of their regional dialect.”