TOCs with Unfortunate Nicknames

[12C]

Virgin on the ridiculous I heard a few times from traincrew over the years

 

[ChiefPlanner]

the late LMS Railway - was called the "Ell of a Mess Railway"

And until the Edwardian era , the fabled GWR was "Great Way Round" ..

 

[gc4946]

Years ago in a model railway club I heard someone say the (old pre-nationalisation) GWR = Greasy, Wet and Rusty

 

[duncanp]

Virgin on the ridiculous I heard a few times from traincrew over the years

And of course it was Sir Richard Branson who famously said

"....We can't call the company Virgin trains any more because it is completely f*****....."

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I've heard a few not particularly inventive nicknames for Sheffield Supertram but I don't think any have caught on. Things like "Poopertram", "Not-so-supertram" and "Supertramp".

 

[Mag_seven]

The general Rail -> Fail transition means most train companies will have the obvious nickname.

Indeed with certain common words within TOC names its quite easy:

Rail = Fail
First = Worst
Great = Late
Network = Notwork
Express = Distress / Excess / Depress

etc etc

 

[DelayRepay]

Years ago in a model railway club I heard someone say the (old pre-nationalisation) GWR = Greasy, Wet and Rusty

Not quite in the spirit of the thread, but weren't they also God's Wonderful Railway?

 

[gc4946]

Not quite in the spirit of the thread, but weren't they also God's Wonderful Railway?

I've heard it also as Gone With Regret and Great Way Round

 

[Basil Jet]

When c2c was named, people said it stood for "Cash 2 Consultants"

 

[whoosh]

The old LNER was known as the Late Never Early Railway

Garnett's Never Early Railway, when GNER...

Let's not forget:

Chronic South Eastern
Chronic South Central

From Connex days!

 

[Kneedown]

WAGN - We Are Going Nowhere.

GNER - Going North Eventually Railway.

 

[bishdunster]

I've heard it also as Gone With Regret and Great Way Round

Heard it referred to many times as Great waste of rails !

 

[Mag_seven]

The abbreviation for Freight Operating Company when you say it out loud is rather unfortunate..

 

[Peter0124]

The abbreviation for Freight Operating Company when you say it out loud is rather unfortunate..

I suppose the best way to say it would be F-O-C, and for Train Operating Company just Tock. Rather unfortunate though haha!

 

[norbitonflyer]

There were also variants on "Not work" - as in Notwork South East, Notwork Rail, etc

 

[STINT47]

Two modern TOC ones

First Great Western - Forever getting worse
Cross Country - Cross C##ts

Two old railway ones

GWR - Great way round and or Gresley was right.
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire- Money sunk and lost. (Used by their shareholders)

An aviation one

British Airways - Bloody Awful

A bus company in Yorkshire

Pride of the road - Side of the Road

 

[warwickshire]

Silverlink. Silverstink amongst staff.

 

[Beebman]

Another historic one but complimentary:

Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway - Many Short Journeys and Absolute Reliability

 

[warwickshire]

Lorol. Toilet roll. Nicknamed locally in London.

 

[duncanp]

I suppose you could refer to the Docklands Late Railway in the event of delays, but this is a bit contrived.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Not really a railway, although it appears on the Tube Map - the "Dangleway"

 

[rownd]

In the latter years of Central Trains:

Central Citylink - Central Sh*ttystink

 

[satisnek]

An aviation one

British Airways - Bloody Awful

It used to be Belated Arrivals. There was also Air Chance and the Belgian one which was an acronym: Such A Beastly Experience Never Again.

But once we sift out the Fail/Worst/Late type stuff, there are comparatively few truly inventive and clever nicknames for today's TOCs.

 

[richard1976]

Network Rail = Not work Fail

 

[Runningaround]

Doesn't Arriva

 

[Western 52]

The Somerset and Dorset was either the Slow and Dirty or the Swift and Delightful, depending on your point of view.

 

[gc4946]

The Somerset and Dorset was either the Slow and Dirty or the Swift and Delightful, depending on your point of view.

Sometimes known as Serene and Delightful

 

[Western Lord]

Slightly off topic, but it reminds me of B.O.A.C. (British Overseas Airways Corporation), a predecessor of today's British Airways, which was known as Better On A Camel

The (long haul) BOAC crews used to say that the other (short haul) state corporation, BEA, stood for Back Every Afternoon.

 

[warwickshire]

Another one for Central trains was Central pains. Hence the cancellations.

 

[Pinza-C55]

When First Great Western launched it was said that their symbol (a stylised F) meant that they didn't give a Flying F about their passengers.

"The original Great Western was also called the Great Way Round before the Berks and Hants route to Taunton opened. "

Also God's Waiting Room.