Northern is to run a trial of communicating its announcements by British Sign Language (BSL) on some of its services.
Trains between Manchester Victoria and Leeds will be the first to display information, such as station announcements in BSL. The operator aims to start the trial by the end of the year.
Results from the 2021 Census showed that as well as spoken languages, BSL was the main language of twenty two thousand people in the UK, although the Royal National Institute of Deaf People (RNID) claims that it is the first language of eighty seven thousand.
BSL gained legal recognition only last year, with the passage of the British Sign Language Act 2022, which had been introduced as a Private member's Bill by Labour MP Rosie Cooper the previous year. Deaf people and organisations had campaigned for legal recognition for many years.
Other operators, including TransPennine Express, already offer information in BSL on stations.
Northern is looking for partners – charities, organisations or experts – which can help provide sign language interpreters for the project.
Marc Silverwood, onboard systems manager at Northern, said: “We know that rail travel can be daunting for anyone with specific needs, and I really hope this makes a difference to give people confidence to travel by rail.
“International Day of Sign Languages which will take place on September 23rd, has really driven this home to us – we want to make a difference to our customers and provide for them as needed.
“We're looking out for people who could help with this scheme to interpret our announcements and who could share their expertise with us – so we can create the best possible service for our BSL passengers.”
