Chesterfield's crooked spire will be among the featured landmarks

Half of 150 people interviewed by the company knew very little about British history and culture.

In a trial measure, train managers will make announcements along the route highlighting landmarks between Chesterfield and Bedford.

Spokeswoman Emma Knight said the company did not want to irritate people who used the route on a regular basis.

She said: "Obviously we don't want to annoy our business travellers - or any regular travellers - by hearing the same thing time and time again.

"So what we're going to do is try it on a few services and just see whether our customers like it or not".

The attractions to be mentioned include Chesterfield's crooked spire, Wingfield Manor in Derbyshire, the Pride Park stadium, Nottingham Castle, the meeting point of the Trent and Soar rivers and two airship hangars from World War II near Bedford.

Ms Knight said: "What we'll do is ease our train managers in - they've got so much knowledge from the training that they have to do... we just want (them) to be able to add a bit of themselves into the job and make it their own guide."

The trials are due to take place on services during late morning, lunchtime and in the afternoons.