Northern is planning to introduce British Sign Language (BSL) announcements on all of its services, following a successful trial. The announcements were first trialled on trains travelling between York, Leeds and Manchester last year, to provide important information to customers with hearing impairments. The technology, developed by software experts from InfoTec and Signapse, ensures that a sign language interpreter appears on the on-board screens to tell customers which station they are approaching.
After receiving positive feedback from customers during the trial, Northern is planning to introduce them on all of its services in 2025. The interpreters will be filmed signing each station, before AI editing software uses the clips to create the video announcements for customers. Northern is now exploring long-term plans to introduce BSL announcements which provide customers with information about cancellations, delays and other incidents.
Matt Rice, chief operating officer, said: “It’s fantastic to see these sign language announcements have been well received by our customers during the recent trial and we can now press ahead with rolling them out on all of our services. “We’re constantly working make our services more accessible and give people with specific needs the confidence to travel by train.” Census data in 2021 showed that in addition to spoken languages, BSL was the main language of 22,000 people across the UK.
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