Trivia: Stations where passengers headed for a completely different destination end up on a regular basis

[vlad]

Not unknown for people to arrive at Castleton station south of Rochdale and to ask for directions to the Blue John Mines (in Castleton (near Hope) Derbyshire).

I was going to mention that (or Castleton Moor on the Whitby line).

I bought a ticket from Manchester Victoria to Castleton (Rochdale) a couple of years ago and the ticket seller did check which Castleton I was after which suggests it happens quite a bit!

 

[Peter0124]

This probably doesn't answer the question properly but I do wonder whether anyone has EVER turned up in Hampden Park (Eastbourne) wanting the football stadium in Scotland.

 

[Killingworth]

Edinburgh Waverley is very well known but the fun may start when they open a new station at Waverley in Rotherham on the line between Sheffield and Lincoln.

It's almost bang on the site of the famous Battle of Orgreave. Perhaps a different name might be Waverley & Orgreave - station code WOE as there was a lot of that back then. A visitor and heritage centre might be built to profit from misdirected travellers waiting for a train back out. Maybe even market it on a tour along with the magnificent facade and house at Wentworth Woodhouse not 12 miles away, a contrasting feature of mining history in Rotherham

 

[Mcr Warrior]

This probably doesn't answer the question properly but I do wonder whether anyone has EVER turned up in Hampden Park (Eastbourne) wanting the football stadium in Scotland.

Maybe, but the nearest station for the Hampden Park football stadium (Glasgow) is actually Mount Florida.

 

[Rail Ranger]

Ince and Ince & Elton (not that many trains go to the latter these days).

 

[JBuchananGB]

There is a Basildon in Berkshire, nearest station Pangbourne. I once employed someone in Basildon Essex who had genuinely applied for the job because he thought it was at the Berkshire location. He took the job and then spent a good few weeks commuting round the M25 from Guildford!

 

[Class800]

Although not disastrous when visiting us in Glasgow my in-laws have mistakenly got trains to Pollokshaws east, Pollokshaws west, Pollokshields east and Pollokshields west.

tickets in my case but not trains, guards accepted it - was Pollokshields West vs Pollokshaws West

 

[BayPaul]

There is the classic (probably urban myth) story of the lady in Paddington, wanting to get to Heathrow for her flight to Turkey, and ended up on an HST to Torquay...

 

[Rail Ranger]

Surely no one has ever taken the Leighton Buzzard narrow gauge railway to Stonehenge expecting to see a certain monument?

 

[Cornpad]

Wanted to get to Long Eaton (Derbyshire). Ticket clerk tried to sell me one to Nuneaton.

 

[MadMac]

The whole "Liverpool Lime Street/London Liverpool Street" thing has reportedly caused issues at Stansted Airport in the past.

Fellow I worked with whose father was a guard told me of a fellow a bit the worse for wear on the last train of the day from Glasgow to Ayr. Trying to be helpful, he asked the chap where he was going to, to which he replied "Lochside". The gentleman was duly woken up and exited at Lochside station (now known as Lochwinnoch). Unfortunately, he was actually trying to get to the Lochside district in Ayr some 20 odd miles away.....

 

[Parallel]

It wouldn’t surprise me if passengers got issued tickets for Alderley Edge when they ask for Audley End or vice versa on occasion if buying tickets somewhere further away from those stations.

Also Appley Bridge and Apperley Bridge!

I wonder if anyone has bought a ticket to Portsmouth Arms because they thought it was in Portsmouth - There isn’t a Portsmouth Central station either so it’s probably not obvious to some!

 

[AM9]

Imagine (before 1958) a sailor worse for drink trying to return to base ending up in Portsmouth, West Riding.

 

[Killingworth]

Clapham (North Yorkshire, once a junction station) and Clapham Junction are probably far enough apart to avoid confusion.

 

[dosxuk]

If we assume, (given the many posts about it), that it does happen, how many would be dumb enough to stay on the train all the way until Liverpool, as the OP asks? We’d also have to assume there was no ticket check, no one wondered why they were in Cambridge, Peterborough, etc etc…

Seen it happen a few times, normally picked up fairly quickly and ends up with them getting off at Ely for an alternative towards London.

Part of the problem was that the Liverpool train was often opposite the Liverpool Street train, and they departed three minutes apart, so both would be boarding at the same time. There used to be regular announcements before departure that the Lime Street train was not going to London, and most times you'd see at least one person look around confusedly and then quickly get off.

 

[Deafdoggie]

Another railway legend is passengers ending up at Alton, Hampshire, asking for directions to Alton Towers some 150+ miles away. Not experienced it myself though!

Having worked at Alton Towers, I can confirm people have arrived a day late, having previously been to Hants! Many by car, but some by train.

I bet some muppets have gone to Leicester Square instead of Leicester over the years.

I'm not sure anyone has actually ended up in the wrong one. But many have bought the wrong tickets I'm sure.

I heard a story, maybe apocryphal, about a passenger from the Midlands or north of England ringing National Rail Enquiries about trains to St. Andrews in Scotland and was given train times for St. Andrews Road. Only when the caller was told to change at Bristol was the misunderstanding realised.

I telephoned NRES from Cornwall once asking for train times from Hayle. They duly told me the times from Hale. The "change at Manchester" bit set alarm bells ringing!

As a North Staffordshire resident, we've had our fair few Newcastle visitors coming to the wrong one. But a hard mistake to make by train.

 

[scrapy]

On a train to Manchester from Preston a passenger had asked the guard if the train went to Poulton, the guard said yes thinking the passenger had asked for Bolton.

 

[lammergeier]

Another one, possibly apocryphal, is tourists, usually American or Chinese, going to Althorpe near Scunthorpe to see where Princess Diana is buried.

 

[Rescars]

Another one, possibly apocryphal, is tourists, usually American or Chinese, going to Althorpe near Scunthorpe to see where Princess Diana is buried.

As summer approaches, no doubt folk near the stations at Carshalton Beeches and Burnham Beeches will again be approached by a few family groups, buckets and spades in hand, asking which way to go to find the seaside.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Clapham (North Yorkshire, once a junction station) and Clapham Junction are probably far enough apart to avoid confusion.

When Clapham High Street station was named simply Clapham, passengers occasionally arrived there from Victoria looking for connections to Wimbledon, Putney, and beyond.

 

[Taunton]

Seen it happen a few times, normally picked up fairly quickly and ends up with them getting off at Ely for an alternative towards London.

Part of the problem was that the Liverpool train was often opposite the Liverpool Street train, and they departed three minutes apart, so both would be boarding at the same time. There used to be regular announcements before departure that the Lime Street train was not going to London, and most times you'd see at least one person look around confusedly and then quickly get off.

I've written about it before, but in the 1980s when North London DC Line peak period trains were diverted from Broad Street to Liverpool Street, they left the bay at Watford, on the opposite side of the Down Main platform you needed to walk along, where the morning Liverpool express was calling, next stop Runcorn. Worse, the Liverpool Street local made a useful connection to the morning Hook Continental from Liverpool Street to Harwich, for the ship to the Netherlands and onwards, and thus was handy for au-pairs with halting English to return home on. Hertfordshire family said their farewells at the Watford barrier, directions given, train running in with porter shouting "LIVERPOOL lime STREET", all aboard. Apparently the Runcorn staff had to deal with this one more than once.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Just imagine how much worse it would be if Liverpools terminus was called "Liverpool London Street"

Well, maybe that would prompt whoever made the decision about which word to prioritise, think about it a bit more. Emphasis on the word "Liverpool" for a station in London is just completely backwards and I'm astonished that anyone thought that was a good idea unless they were the world's greatest pre-internet troll. Can you imagine the confusion at Bradford Interchange or Hebden Bridge if the station in Burnley was announced as "Burnley MANCHESTER Road"?

 

[PTR 444]

An international example: Las Vegas (NV) is one of the largest cities in the USA (and possibly the entire world) to not have any intercity railway service, however Amtrak does manage to serve another, much smaller Las Vegas in New Mexico. I wonder how many rail passengers have ended up there expecting to see the High Roller or the Stratosphere tower?

 

[philthetube]

Imagine (before 1958) a sailor worse for drink trying to return to base ending up in Portsmouth, West Riding.

Slightly off topic but I know of an occasion, verified by my Mothers walking group, when a lorry has arrived there when following a sat nav from Dover.

Not quite what the op asked for but I know of an occasion when a friend asked at Victoria? for a return to Berwick (Sussex), using a railcard and freedom pass, and was sold a return to Berwick on Tweed for around £5, this was in the days when ticket offices had to look up complicated fares like these, probably around 20 years ago.

 

[BeijingDave]

Well, maybe that would prompt whoever made the decision about which word to prioritise, think about it a bit more. Emphasis on the word "Liverpool" for a station in London is just completely backwards and I'm astonished that anyone thought that was a good idea unless they were the world's greatest pre-internet troll. Can you imagine the confusion at Bradford Interchange or Hebden Bridge if the station in Burnley was announced as "Burnley MANCHESTER Road"?

Although in many ways I am a traditionalist, I do think it's worth recognising that the UK is a country with a lot of inbound tourism (which we should be grateful for), at least in non-pandemic times and things should be made as non-confusing as possible for tourists, and even domestic travellers who have poor knowledge of geography.

As I said before, I would be totally on board with London Liverpool Street being renamed London Broadgate or London Bishopsgate.

Similarly, Burnley Manchester Road could easily be called Burnley South (or Burnley Wharf) with no negative impact to anyone except those who insist on retaining 'tradition' for its own sake.

 

[uglymonkey]

I'm sure some people have travelled to Exeter Central, thinking it was (logically) the main station in Exeter, only to find Exeter St Davids is !

 

[Class800]

I'm sure some people have travelled to Exeter Central, thinking it was (logically) the main station in Exeter, only to find Exeter St Davids is !

Annoying if they went on the slow train from Waterloo especially - but if they are coming from more nearby places, there are regular services between the two stations so it's not a major issue

 

[Spartacus]

This probably doesn't answer the question properly but I do wonder whether anyone has EVER turned up in Hampden Park (Eastbourne) wanting the football stadium in Scotland.

Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire regularly makes the news with people ending up there, or en-route up the M1, looking for Chelsea.

I bet some muppets have gone to Leicester Square instead of Leicester over the years.

I'd be shocked if some American tourists hadn't, given their tendency to use street names without the suffix (street, road, square) and the potential for a little Northern Line confusion at St Pancras.

I know of someone who once ended up at Luton Airport when they wanted Gatwick Airport.

Stratford frequently gets tourists looking for Stratford Upon Avon.

I guess it's lucky Caernarfon/Caernarvon doesn't have a main line station any more, given how frequently it's confused with Carmarthen, but I'd be willing to bet a significant sum that some had ended up at the latter while trying to get to the former. I wonder if the Welsh Highland have ever had any issues?

 

[MadMac]

Slightly off topic but I know of an occasion, verified by my Mothers walking group, when a lorry has arrived there (Portsmouth, West Yorks) when following a sat nav from Dover.

I think I’ve told the tale previously of a club in Bo’ness (on the shore of the River Forth) who, about an hour before that evening’s band were due on stage, received a call from said band asking for directions. After a few minutes‘ discussion it emerged that the band were 180 miles away in Bowness-on-Windermere…..

 

[Spartacus]

Have seen someone board a TPE train at Huddersfield, next stop Manchester Victoria, but actually wanting the Manchester Piccadilly train following immediately behind.

Not sure if this is quite what the OP is looking for, though.

Probably happens a few times every day. The Leeds - Man Vics via Dewsbury & Hebden Bridge used to catch lots out for a while, passengers between Cottingley and Mirfield expecting all Northerns to run to Huddersfield, and Passengers from Rochdale to Sowerby Bridge expecting all services to run towards Bradford Interchange. The footfall at Brighouse probably went up significantly as I've known more people be forced to change there than stayed on in the early days!