Northern corrects wrong pronunciation of Wylam
A rail firm has re-recorded how the name of a village is pronounced on its trains. Northern Rail said feedback had prompted it to review how Wylam, in Northumberland, was pronounced by its voiceover system.For the past two months, the village had occasionally been pronounced as 'Will-em' instead of 'Why-lam', according to Maisie James - from Wylam. Northern said it had made the change last week.
Ms James said she and her friend Izzy Flynn had noticed the incorrect pattern on the way back from Newcastle a few months ago. "Where does the 'em' come from?" said Ms James. "I think 'Why-lam' makes more sense."She said a few people had mentioned the mispronunciation to her. Northern said the previous announcement had only played on certain trains, so not every passenger had heard it. "It's a bit of a small place not a lot of news happens...so the name on the train change is interesting," Ms James said.
The re-recording follows backlash faced by ScotRail for using artificial intelligence for some of its train announcements.Northern said it did not use artificial intelligence for its voiceovers. Fellow Northern passengers said they had regularly heard mispronunciations of Wylam, as well as nearby villages such as Prudhoe on local trains in the past. "It's not terribly important is it as long as the train comes on time," said Rob Doughty. "As long as that happens, I don't mind what they say."
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