Northern rail u-turns on pronunciation of Derbyshire town after council backlash

The decision comes after an extended consultation with members of the public –and several councillors voicing their discontent over Northern’s decision to re-record on-board passenger announcements.

As part of the new recordings the pronunciation of Ilkeston was changed from “Ilk-kes-tonne” to “Ilks-ton”: a decision which drew the ire of every political party represented on Erewash Borough Council.

Councillors were united in their belief that Northern had “got it wrong” with the new announcements with one even telling the Derbyshire Times that the new recording had made them “cringe”.

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Representatives from Labour, the Conservative Party, and the Liberal Democrats all told this paper that they believed the town should be pronounced “Ilk-kes-tonne” with the brigade being lead by, Mayor of Erewash, Cllr Frank Williams.

The Derbyshire Times now understands that a decision has been made to revert back to Northern’s original pronunciation of the town with a formal announcement set to follow.

Recordings for passenger announcements are made by a small team who have to record over 500 stations – so perhaps the confusion is understandable – but following a consultation with those in the area Ilk-kes-tonne will remain just that.

As previously reported, Cllr Tony King, who is a Conservative councillor for Ilkeston West on Derbyshire County Council, said: “The pronunciation of Ilkeston is definitely Il-kes-ton and NOT Ilks-tonne”. He added that the new announcements from Northern rail had made him “cringe”.