How do you pronounce that?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Northern re-records 34 mispronounced station names

Are there any station names that need re-recording in the South West?

[Worcester_Passenger]

Worcestershire Parkway.

The recorded announcements on the Cotswold Line are such that everything is announced clearly, in a female voice, but Parkway is whispered in a male voice. I have been told that the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) won't authorise the expenditure to re-record this. Surely that can't be true - this is an organisation that is spending £100 billion on HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)).

[IndustryInsider]

Worcestershire Parkway.

Apparently a female voice is coming very shortly, in fact some sets may already have had the update installed.

[grahame]

I have been told that the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) won't authorise the expenditure to re-record this. Surely that can't be true - this is an organisation that is spending £100 billion on HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)).

"Take care of the pennies and let the pounds run away with themselves" - surely not

[Worcester_Passenger]

Worcestershire Parkway.

Apparently a female voice is coming very shortly, in fact some sets may already have had the update installed.

Hooray!

[Oxonhutch]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Northern re-records 34 mispronounced station names

Glad Euxton got rerecorded. Made to sound as Euston would be pronounced, and every local at Preston station groaned and winced. It's Ecks-t'n ! (where ' is a neutral 'e').

[Bmblbzzz]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Northern re-records 34 mispronounced station names

Glad Euxton got rerecorded. Made to sound as Euston would be pronounced, and every local at Preston station groaned and winced. It's Ecks-t'n ! (where ' is a neutral 'e').

What linguists call 'schwa'. 'Neutral e' is a more accessible description. 

[grahame]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Northern re-records 34 mispronounced station names

Glad Euxton got rerecorded. Made to sound as Euston would be pronounced, and every local at Preston station groaned and winced. It's Ecks-t'n ! (where ' is a neutral 'e').

What linguists call 'schwa'. 'Neutral e' is a more accessible description. 

So what's the difference between Exton and Euxton?

[Oxonhutch]

So what's the difference between Exton and Euxton?

Nowt in't pronunciation!

[Red Squirrel]

Montpelier - which locals generally pronounce "Mon' pelly urr", with a glottal stop after the n - is pronounced various ways in recorded announcements. Station PA^▸ (Public Address (broadcast loudspeaker announcements) or Passenger Assist (railway staff providing physical assistance to passengers with mobility issues), depending on context) systems seem to pronounce it something like "Mong Peal-yur", whilst on-train it comes out something closer to "Mont Pelyah". On Bristol buses, when the system is working, upcoming stops are generally pronounced correctly in an entirely appropriate Bristol accent.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Worcestershire Parkway.

Apparently a female voice is coming very shortly, in fact some sets may already have had the update installed.

Hooray!

The female voice has arrived on the unit I'm on at the moment (800 321?) - but it's as quiet as the male voice that it has replaced.

[Ralph Ayres]

On a related note, the English announcements on TfW^▸ (Transport for Wales) trains always end with "Thank you". It rarely fits the rest of the announcement, eg something like "This is the train to Holyhead. Thank you." and ends up sounding ridiculous. I'm guessing it's a Welsh idiomatic turn of phrase unnecessarily translated directly into English. Can anyone confirm or have a better explanation?

...and following the Bannau Brycheiniog standardisation of the name for what many referred to as the Brecon Beacons, someone really should grasp the nettle and start the move towards a single name for all Welsh places, starting with those which are almost the same anyway such as Trefor/Trevor or Cricieth/Criccieth. It would simplify announcements and signs no end.  What was by many called Portmadoc has been universally known as Porthmadog for around 50 years with no apparent problems but the process seemed to stop there.

[grahame]

I thought that "Thank You" was Welsh for "Railway Station".    Thus "we are now arriving at Barry Island"  is "we are now arriving at Barry Island Railway Station".    Found it a bit irritating - who is being thanked for what? 

[CyclingSid]

Is it just an ancient rumour that Woolhampton's station was called Midgham so that it was not confused with Wolverhampton. Seem to remember from my youth Wolverhampton being pronounced W'ampton.

[PhilWakely]

I've just travelled from Westbury to Bruton and was shocked to hear the automated pronunciation of BruTon as "Bru'un" (a clear use of the gutteral 't').