passenger confusion over trains going to similar sounding destinations

bunnahabhain · 25 Sep 2019

David Emmott said:
That's another bit of rail jargon that annoys me. 'Alight' in normal English (especially to a foreigner) means if anything something to do with flames and burning. The word is never used in ordinary speech to mean 'get off', 'leave' either of which would be preferable. (The phrase 'when exiting the station' is perhaps less ambiguous but nevertheless annoying: why not say 'leaving'?)

'Alight' is an Old English word with an etymology stretching back over a thousand years, it most certainly is not railway jargon but is perhaps the most correct way to describe a person exiting from a railway vehicle. I use the word as part of my parlance every day.

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chris_in_salop · 25 Sep 2019

Once got sold a ticket to Buckley rather than Bucknell from Shrewsbury. They're roughly the same price, so I didn't notice until the ticket check on the HOWL train after we'd departed.

Birkonian · 25 Sep 2019

Last year I gave advice to a bemused Dutch family who wanted to go to South Kensington and ended up at South Kenton.

daodao · 25 Sep 2019

Once when buying a single ticket to Whitchurch (Glam) at Cardiff Central station booking office, I was offered a rather expensive ticket to Whitchurch (Salop) instead. Both stations are served by direct trains from Cardiff Central.

Chris M · 26 Sep 2019

Birkonian said:
Last year I gave advice to a bemused Dutch family who wanted to go to South Kensington and ended up at South Kenton.

Not directly railway related, but I (and the person I happened to be chatting to at the time) were asked, near Little Venice, for walking directions to Canning Town. The person's first language was clearly not English, and we suspected that they wanted Camden Town but they were insistent. They didn't believe us when we explained that it was several hours walk, they were sure it was a gentle stroll (which Camden Town of course is). Eventually we just gave them directions to Canning Town via the canal (which is the nicest way to get there) figuring they'd just stop when they got to Camden. It did make me wonder how many people had ended up at the wrong one on the tube though.

USBT · 26 Sep 2019

My favorite was on the TripAdvisor London forum a few years back. And it ultimately worked out.

A family from Singapore (footie fans) staying close to Kennington were planning their stadium tour and just checking the travel details.

Essentially- “Northern line to Bank, Central line one stop and then there’s a bus from Liverpool station that stops close to the Shankly Gates”.

Oops!

Fortunately there were still a few days to go. There were still Advance fares from Euston and they managed to ensure their tour was in the afternoon. It cost them around £200 between them and a lot more travel time (but not much more money than had they planned to go to Liverpool in the first place) and they made it.

maxbarnish · 26 Sep 2019

Must admit we got confused when in Glasgow and ended up with a ticket to Pollokshields West instead of Pollokshaws West. It was accepted no issue - and we were told that this is a very common mistake to make, and that the guard sees this one several times per day.

EveningStar · 26 Sep 2019

On the subject of Liverpool ... during my undergraduate days there a friend was on the stopping train from Lime Street to Crewe. After stopping at West Allerton and Allerton, the old lady opposite asked my friend if the next station was going to be Northallerton.

CaptainHaddock · 26 Sep 2019

USBT said:
My favorite was on the TripAdvisor London forum a few years back. And it ultimately worked out.

A family from Singapore (footie fans) staying close to Kennington were planning their stadium tour and just checking the travel details.

Essentially- “Northern line to Bank, Central line one stop and then there’s a bus from Liverpool station that stops close to the Shankly Gates”.

Oops!

Fortunately there were still a few days to go. There were still Advance fares from Euston and they managed to ensure their tour was in the afternoon. It cost them around £200 between them and a lot more travel time (but not much more money than had they planned to go to Liverpool in the first place) and they made it.

Not rail-related but that reminded me of the story of Earl Spencer's daughter, a Chelsea fan from Northamptonshire, who booked a taxi to take her to Stamford Bridge and finished up in the Yorkshire village of the same name.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/apr/04/5

yoyothehobo · 26 Sep 2019

I once nearly got sold a ticket to Bramley (Hampshire) rather than Bramley (West Yorks) from Staveley. It was strange as Bramley W.Y and Staveley are both Northern stations and it was sold by a guy on the train. Just glad i didnt spend 100 pounds on it!

Skimpot flyer · 26 Sep 2019

yoyothehobo said:
I once nearly got sold a ticket to Bramley (Hampshire) rather than Bramley (West Yorks) from Staveley. It was strange as Bramley W.Y and Staveley are both Northern stations and it was sold by a guy on the train. Just glad i didnt spend 100 pounds on it!

Revenue from tickets sold to Bramley is known as apple turnover

Gareth · 26 Sep 2019

Not quite the same but...

A few years back when Liverpool Central was closed for a number of weeks for refurbishment, the old lady in front of me when queueing to board a bus asked for a ticket to Exchange Station. The look on the face of the East European bus driver was a sight to behold.

Harbornite · 27 Sep 2019

Makes me wonder if anyone has ever got Mottingham and Nottingham mixed up.

maxbarnish · 27 Sep 2019

I know someone who often calls Charlton in South East London 'Carlton' due to a family connection to a Carlton in the Worksop area. But there's a Carlton station in Nottingham - so this is a pair I wonder if confuses anyone - although most bookings are done in writing online aren't they, so less confusion.

One that nearly got me many years back was Sunbury. I just said Sunbury and the ticket office in Woolwich without asking presumed I meant Sudbury in Essex rather than Sunbury in Surrey. They printed the ticket, but were prepared to withdraw it once it was pointed out that wasn't the station I asked for.

One could have some good fun if ordering tickets to far-away places in London ticket offices, although it would almost certainly be cheaper online, especially for advances

Milngavie - MILL-GUY
Kingussie - KING-YOU-SEE

Slathwaite - SLAU-IT
Hall i' th'wood - AL-IT-WOOD

They may even have difficulty with some nearer to home

Wymondham - WIND-UM

Skimpot flyer · 27 Sep 2019

Harbornite said:
Makes me wonder if anyone has ever got Mottingham and Nottingham mixed up.

There was an old guy from Cottingham
Who wanted a return ticket to Nottingham
His shock at the price
Made the clerk take advice
‘Ah, you want Cottingham to Nottingham, not Mottingham’ !

paddington · 28 Sep 2019

maxbarnish said:
Slathwaite - SLAU-IT

You missed an i in the spelling, and I woudl like to add that when I travelled on a Huddersfield to Manchester slow 2 weeks ago, there were plenty of people with local accents who were pronouncing it "wrong".

mrcheek · 28 Sep 2019

With the numerous mentions of Nottingham, I am surprised nobody has shared this classic Tunes advert from the 1980s!!!

mr williams · 28 Sep 2019

About five years ago I was on a train to Severn Beach and when we reached Redland the confused looking women seated opposite asked if the train went to Severn Tunnel Junction.

randyrippley · 28 Sep 2019

Gillingham?

randyrippley · 28 Sep 2019

One of the best mistakes I've heard of is of a US Navy officer who was posted to Portland Oregon so turned up at Portland Dorset.....seems he'd hitched a plane ride to Mildenhall and found his way from there

mrcheek · 29 Sep 2019

randyrippley said:
One of the best mistakes I've heard of is of a US Navy officer who was posted to Portland Oregon so turned up at Portland Dorset.....seems he'd hitched a plane ride to Mildenhall and found his way from there

Whilst the story of Americans buying the wrong London Bridge is probably false, it is apparently true that most US Air Force bases were located in East Anglia because a US military office had heard great things about the beautiful "Norfolk Broads"

trebor79 · 29 Sep 2019

mrcheek said:
Whilst the story of Americans buying the wrong London Bridge is probably false, it is apparently true that most US Air Force bases were located in East Anglia because a US military office had heard great things about the beautiful "Norfolk Broads"

It would be amusing if it were true, but it's far more likely to be due to geography. Fairly flat open terrain, so easy to build runways. Not terribly far from supplies of armaments, fuel etc. As close to Germany as it's possible to get.

Dr_Paul · 29 Sep 2019

David Emmott said:
That's another bit of rail jargon that annoys me. 'Alight' in normal English (especially to a foreigner) means if anything something to do with flames and burning. The word is never used in ordinary speech to mean 'get off', 'leave' either of which would be preferable. (The phrase 'when exiting the station' is perhaps less ambiguous but nevertheless annoying: why not say 'leaving'?)

The word 'alight' is specific: it means stepping down from a vehicle; it can also be used in respect of a horse as a synonym for 'dismount'. I think it's perfectly alright; indeed, I feel that it has certain charm about it. I suppose that a purist might object to its use if the floor of the train or bus is level with the platform or pavement. It comes from an Old English word meaning to come down to earth, from the air.

Ken H · 29 Sep 2019

edwin_m said:
Exiting is through the door to the street. Leaving might be on a train.

whats wrong with 'get off'?

ijmad · 29 Sep 2019

modernrail said:
I wonder if there are any continental examples.

Frankfurt Oder (a small city on Germany's eastern border) and Frankfurt-am-Main (the big one in Hesse), are both commonly known as Frankfurt, even though most tourists don't realise the former exists.

Trains to both run from Berlin Hauptbahnhof (the new Central Station).

Not great for us poor tourists.

There is also an apocryphal tale oft repeated in the English Rivera about a poor lady who wished to travel to Turkey, but instead ended up in Torquay, having boarded a train and unsure in her English, had said nothing, believing she must have travelled through the Eurotunnel. Of course since this is a local legend, she had a lovely time on her Devonshire coastal holiday and never did make it to Turkey.

GoneSouth · 29 Sep 2019

Asked for a return to Falmer once and was a bit shocked to see my ticked said Falmouth (don’t think it specifies Town or Dock). Well they are both on the south coast I suppose, and only 275 miles apart

Ken H · 29 Sep 2019

of course there is the confusion between Birmingham International and Birmingham New St
Evidently people get off at Intl, then start looking for the shops!

xotGD · 29 Sep 2019

As a first step I would change the names of all stations with a different town or city in their name - Liverpool St, Oxford Road, etc.

Then do something about the stations with identical or near-identical names.

EbbwJunction1 · 29 Sep 2019

A different form of transport (and a total lack of geographical knowledge), of course, but two weeks ago I arrived at Middlesborough on the National Express coach from Birmingham.

I got off the bus, and collected my case, and the drivers announced that this was the service 530 to Durham and Newcastle. Cue a scouse voice saying "Do you go to Liverpool, mate?!" I looked at both drivers and we all laughed - fortunately the chap who'd asked had walked away.

Peter C · 29 Sep 2019

Having been to Birmingham at the end of August, I learnt how confusing it can be - I found myself getting confused with Moor St and Snow Hill! I'm used to either getting a train all the way to it's destination or getting off at, say, Oxford - a big station*, and so getting off one station before the end of the service and then that station having a similar name - confusing! But maybe that's just me.

-Peter

*(not to say B'ham Moor St. isn't a big station)

passenger confusion over trains going to similar sounding destinations

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