Northern said it will introduce British Sign Language (BSL) announcements on all of its services.

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.

Chief operating officer, Matt Rice 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.”