Stations that don't contain the name of a settlement, particularly termini

[WizCastro197]

But if you were visiting any one of those cities you would stay on the train to take you there (or have missed the stop), you would not get off the train to visit any of them

I realise there may be an itinerary where someone comes from the south on a train bound for Derby but change for one going to Nottingham (or vice versa), but not many cases I do not think.

Even then East Midlands Parkway is not the destination for most people visiting the East Midlands.

Slightly confused about the top bit.

But with the second part, you don't need to change at East Midlands Parkway if you are going from Derby to Nottingham, you don't need to change at all.

 

[D1537]

Tame Bridge Parkway is named after a river. Or more precisely, a bridge over a river.

 

[Ken H]

But if you were visiting any one of those cities you would stay on the train to take you there (or have missed the stop), you would not get off the train to visit any of them

I realise there may be an itinerary where someone comes from the south on a train bound for Derby but change for one going to Nottingham (or vice versa), but not many cases I do not think.

Even then East Midlands Parkway is not the destination for most people visiting the East Midlands.

Its a parkway. Its for people from the E Mids to park and get the train somewhere. then come back and their car is there to take them home.

 

[Topological]

Slightly confused about the top bit.

But with the second part, you don't need to change at East Midlands Parkway if you are going from Derby to Nottingham, you don't need to change at all.

Which all completes the point.

Anyone visiting Leicester would not get off the train at East Midlands Parkway
Anyone visiting Nottingham would not get off the train at East Midlands Parkway

likewise for Derby, Lincoln, etc.

There is almost no circumstance in which someone who intends to visit the "East Midlands" would get off the train at East Midlands Parkway. Which I think makes it as vague as Worcestershire Parkway.

On the highlighted part. If I am on a train from London St Pancras to Sheffield and want to go to Nottingham or Lincoln then it is possible i would get off at East Midlands Parkway to change trains. I would not get off there and exit the station though.

If i am on a train from London St Pancras to Sheffield and want to go to Leicester then I have missed my stop.

Hope that clarifies that you either be staying on the train, or have missed the stop.

 

[zwk500]

Anyone visiting Leicester would not get off the train at East Midlands Parkway
Anyone visiting Nottingham would not get off the train at East Midlands PaParkway

It's purpose is as a Parkway, I.e. you would get ON the train there to visit Leicester.
My cousin lives in Leicester and they regularly use EMP when travelling between their family outside Sheffield and home. It was a quick drive down the motorway then short train in, far quicker than having to change for Dronfield from Leicester.

 

[Topological]

It's purpose is as a Parkway, I.e. you would get ON the train there to visit Leicester.
My cousin lives in Leicester and they regularly use EMP when travelling between their family outside Sheffield and home. It was a quick drive down the motorway then short train in, far quicker than having to change for Dronfield from Leicester.

The thread was intended to be about places which give no real information about the settlements they are in, and hence no one would get off there when intending to visit.

I do owe 43066 an apology though because East Midlands Parkway already features in the thread.

I do agree that East Midlands Parkway has many uses as a station. It is good for being dropped off at too because of its accessibility.

 

[mrcheek]

Its a local terminal, for local people.

Theres an answer to the original question.

Royston Vasey station is for some reason named "Hadfield"!

 

[Jack Hay]

It's not in Bowness. It's in the settlement called Windermere which used to be called something else but ended up renamed after the station which itself was named after the lake!

The former name of the settlement before the railway came was Birthwaite. At least the station was named Windermere and not Lake Windermere, which is a dreadful tautology because 'mere' means lake.

Verney Junction. Named after Sir Harry Verney. Said to be so named because there was nithing else nearby to name it after.

On that logic - which I like! - there's Crewe, which was named after the local landowning family, whose house nearby was called Crewe Hall, after themselves. The town of Crewe, as everyone here will know, did not exist in any form when the railway arrived and named their station. And Earlestown, named after a chap called Earle. There is no place called Earlestown; the station is in Newton-le-Willows.

Hall Road is a road on the fringes of Crosby/Blundellsands.
Georgemas Junction - I don't recall seeing much more than a house near the station so I doubt there's such a place called Georgemas.
Because Lane's been mentioned. Not sure if New Lane has.
Chassen Road is in Flixton.
I'm not sure if Moses Gate is an actual settlement distinct from Farnworth.

Yes, there are a surprising number of stations with 'Road' as a suffix which are not, GWR-style, indicative of a slightly distant place, with the consequence that non-locals will have no idea where they are. Chassen Road is particularly obscure. Likewise, because the names are quite common and could be anywhere, there are Navigation Road and as you say, Hall Road, and many others.

 

[Fleetmaster]

Tyneside v Teesside - just can't see anyone getting mixed up. If they don't know then they are going to use Google/journey planner and are going to need to specify which airport.
A student is the most likely to know that there are loads of universities! And very likely to use Google/journey planner. Good chance they have near zero geographical awareness and are using google/satnav to get everywhere.

Which only illustrates the point.

"University" simply won't be the university the vast majority of students and parents are meaning when they consult a journey planner for their first time travel needs in the Tyne and Wear region.

Newcastle "Airport" is nominally local to very few people in Tyne and Wear (the vast area covered by the Nexus journey planner and Metro map) in a way that even Teesside Airport could not be considered local.

"Airport" is only actually even accessible as a single journey to half of the stations on the Metro, and even though it's a single journey, taking the Metro from Sunderland to the Airport, with heavy luggage and stopping at every stop, is as much of a pain in the ass feels like you're travelling half way across the country experience as it was when taking the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow.

London being London, they now have better options. But for the sake of illustration, let's forget those (and City Airport) and consider how absurd it would have been to have named Heathrow simply "Airport" on the tube map, as if that was what makes it local (being the only airport on the tube network, and the closest to the nominal centre of the region).

Sure, Gatwick, Stanstead and Luton are further away as well as not being on the tube, but for a large number of people in the "London" area, whether for reasons of speed, convenience, price or flight options, they're not going to bat an eyelid at considering any one of those as their preferred local airport, and would thus find it quite curious to see Heathrow named simply "Airport" on a tube map, even if they knew such a thing is only being done as a nod to locals, with everyone else farmed out to the journey planners to resolve the ambiguity.

 

[xotGD]

Teeside

Teeside

It's Teesside

Back on topic: Tyne Commission Quay, Ramsline Halt

 

[gingertom]

haven't seen Corrour mentioned yet. In the middle of nowhere.

 

[GtNortherner]

Has anyone mentioned Metrocentre yet…?

 

[Ex-controller]

Haymarket is a road junction.

Edinburgh Park is a business park.

Edinburgh Gateway is a purpose built interchange with the tram

Georgemas Junction, Beasdale, Locheilside, Loch Eil Outward Bound, Duncraig

 

[zwk500]

Edinburgh Park is a business park.

Edinburgh Gateway is a purpose built interchange with the tram

Fairly sure that Edinburgh is a settlement!

 

[Ex-controller]

Fairly sure that Edinburgh is a settlement!

oh aye. Got a bit carried away after Haymarket.

 

[Fleetmaster]

Has anyone mentioned Metrocentre yet…?

Yup.

I guess they could have called it Gateshead MetroCentre. Rather odd that it was even called the MetroCentre really, because it's not even on the Metro, with Gateshead Interchange in actual Gateshead town centre, a bus ride away.

Being the biggest mall in Europe, I guess associating itself with Gateshead felt rather small beer.

 

[Meerkat]

Yup.

I guess they could have called it Gateshead MetroCentre. Rather odd that it was even called the MetroCentre really, because it's not even on the Metro, with Gateshead Interchange in actual Gateshead town centre, a bus ride away.

Being the biggest mall in Europe, I guess associating itself with Gateshead felt rather small beer.

Calling it Gateshead Metrocentre would inevitable lead to people getting off there and finding they weren't even in Gateshead, let alone the centre.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Calling it Gateshead Metrocentre would inevitable lead to people getting off there and finding they weren't even in Gateshead, let alone the centre.

It is interesting how the naming scheme of Metro's stations differs from that of very similar Merseyrail, which does prefix stations where it is relevant, e.g. there isn't a station just called Central, and it does, for reasons of confused tourists, make sense to prefix all airport stations.

I'm not sure prefixing Metrocentre is necessary because any local is going to know what and where it is, though.

Georgemas Junction

Does anyone know what that's named for? An old family of lairds perhaps?

That it even exists is bizarre, really. A west to north curve would cost pennies in railway terms and make operations far simpler, and a station at Halkirk would be far more use.

 

[zwk500]

Does anyone know what that's named for? An old family of lairds perhaps?

Apparently a St George's Day agricultural fair was held nearby in the days the railway was built.

 

[northwichcat]

Likewise, because the names are quite common and could be anywhere, there are Navigation Road

Really good example because there's a Navigation Road in Northwich, that's on the same line. So if you're in Hartford or Lostock Gralam and you say to someone "I'll be getting the train to Navigation Road" it's a bit of a confusing statement.

Even Greenbank, that is named after a settlement, is a strange one, as it's named after a very small suburb of Northwich.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Apparently a St George's Day agricultural fair was held nearby in the days the railway was built.

A St George's Day fair in Scotland? Wow, that'd get old Nicola's knickers in a twist now!

Thanks, though. Must admit that along similar lines I only recently twigged that the name of Mayfair in London was because a fair was traditionally held there in May!

 

[Ediswan]

Does anyone know what that's named for? An old family of lairds perhaps?

There is a small settlement called Georgemas just north of the junction. Looking at old maps, it used to have a Post Office.

 

[Gathursty]

That it even exists is bizarre, really. A west to north curve would cost pennies in railway terms and make operations far simpler, and a station at Halkirk would be far more use.

Rebuilding Barrow Haven station on the Barton branch cost £18 million for one platform so I'd be fearful of the figure NR would trot out for this good idea.

I don't think the Hadfield-Glossop timetable works like that except in the peaks. It normally goes to Hadfield via Glossop first and returns again by Glossop. I forget the reason why the timetable is like this but I know I'm wildly off thread.

 

[scragend]

There is no place called Earlestown; the station is in Newton-le-Willows.

There may well not have been when the station was built and named, but I would venture that Earlestown is a place now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earlestown

Earlestown is an electoral ward. There is Earlestown Market, Earlestown Cricket Club, even Earlestown Town Hall (which admittedly is actually Newton Town Hall). You could argue that Earlestown isn't a town, but it is a place.

If only Arriva would learn to spell it correctly on the front of their buses!

 

[hermit]

Smallbrook Junction. (There’s a stadium, but no settlement - in any case, not served by the station, which has no non-rail access).

 

[_toommm_]

The name boards say "James Cook"

And the PIS says either James Cook or James Cook UH.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There may well not have been when the station was built and named, but I would venture that Earlestown is a place now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earlestown

Earlestown is an electoral ward. There is Earlestown Market, Earlestown Cricket Club, even Earlestown Town Hall (which admittedly is actually Newton Town Hall). You could argue that Earlestown isn't a town, but it is a place.

If only Arriva would learn to spell it correctly on the front of their buses!

It's very common for settlements to grow up around or take their name from the station. I think that may be worthy of another thread.

Stations which have given their name to a settlement they serve

I think there'll be more of these than the other thread, but though it worth its own. What stations are there where the station has given a name to the settlement it is in where that settlement wasn't originally so named, or where the railway has caused the settlement to develop from nothing...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[43066]

I do owe 43066 an apology though because East Midlands Parkway already features in the thread.

None needed. It seems I also owe one to @W-on-Sea , who got in there with Clock House before I mentioned it .

 

[Fleetmaster]

Calling it Gateshead Metrocentre would inevitable lead to people getting off there and finding they weren't even in Gateshead, let alone the centre.

Agreed (especially since there is no station on the same line called Gateshead).

And yet strangely, it is often framed in those terms. It is certainly the closest place to it that anyone might have heard of.

"Dunston Metrocentre" would be pretty hilarious.

"Newcastle MetroCentre" would cause riots.

"NewcastleGateshead MetroCentre" is a mouthful, but in line with current civic cross river harmony in the pursuit of life, liberty and stretchy jeans.

(It is also a basic fact that the MetroCentre is in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, typically referred to as simply Gateshead)

 

[Starmill]

A west to north curve would cost pennies in railway terms and make operations far simpler, and a station at Halkirk would be far more use.

While obviously this would be better, it's still several million pounds worth of work once you've factored in the cost of the small piece of land which needs to be acquired, any new turnouts and associated signalling changes .