Bicester Town > Village - flawed renaming

[Andyjs247]

I was going to post the following in another thread but feel the controversial renaming of Bicester Town station deserves a thread of its own.

Renaming Bicester Town station as Bicester Village was a done deal, even before the so called consultation and survey of just 200 Bicester households. But now further details have emerged of the "consultation" - little more than a fig leaf to justify Chiltern Railways' flawed decision.

According to this survey, 72% thought the name Bicester Village would help reduce traffic (I have seen a letter from Chiltern Railways confirming this figure). But I also know Chiltern Railways didn’t consult with relevant stakeholders and totally ignored the views of others, including our MP. Sir Tony Baldry wrote in the strongest terms before the election and pretty much all of our elected representatives were also opposed; also OBRAG etc.

Since the station reopened and parking charges were hiked up to £7 per day, London Road has also been plagued by inconsiderate parking. That’s on top of the level crossing which now closes at least 4x an hour. It's clear that the people of Bicester have been sold a lie. Nobody believes traffic will reduce; the fact is congestion has increased.

See http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/your-new-bicester-station

This October a new station will be open in Bicester. This will form part of the new line now being built between Oxford and London. It is the first rail link between a major British city and London for over 100 years, with direct trains serving Oxford Parkway and London Marylebone.

Bicester Village outlet centre will be directly accessible from a new entrance on the station platforms.

Our decision to call the new station Bicester Village.

And here's why:

• The roads around Bicester are congested. The more visitors that can be encouraged to travel sustainably (ie. by train), the more pressure will be removed from local roads. Visitors are more likely to visit Bicester Village by train with a clearly named direct station.
• More (sustainable) visitors will create jobs and encourage wider employment opportunities. This will increase passengers on our off-peak trains from London that would otherwise be empty, thereby helping to hold down train fares for everyone.
• Naming the station after the major visitor attraction will make it easier for visitors to go to the right place. Just as Wembley Hill station was renamed Wembley Stadium, it makes sense to name the station after the place most people are going to.
• With two stations in Bicester, it could be confusing and potentially costly for those trying to get to Bicester Village to travel incorrectly to Bicester North. A station named Bicester Village will avoid this and make it far easier for visitors. The decision has been shaped by consultation with residents and officials and was followed by an independent survey of Bicester households. A public meeting highlighted strong feelings amongst some residents who felt the name Bicester Town should be retained.

Frequently asked questions
Q : Tell me more about the survey and how it was conducted.

A : We know the issue is emotive and we wanted to get behind the emotion and check the opinions of regular people in Bicester. We therefore commissioned an independent survey of Bicester households carried out by a reputable market research agency. The participants were chosen completely at random and did not self select. We also ensured that we geographically and demographically weighted the survey so that it would accurately reflect the Bicester population. The research agency interviewed 200 households out of the 50,000 population. This is a much higher coverage than the norm for general election opinion surveys, in which 1,000 people are surveyed out of the national 60 million population. The survey conducted is detailed at the bottom of this page.

Q : When will the new station open?

A : It will open in October 2015 when we launch our new service between Oxford Parkway and London.

We commissioned our survey through the independent research agency, Wavelength Insight. Residents were selected at random from households within a two mile radius of the town centre. They were asked the following questions.


Q1 Have you travelled by train to or from Bicester North station in the last 12 months or so?
A Yes/No

Q2 How often do you use Bicester North?
A Several times a week/Once a week or so/Once or twice a month/Once every 2-3 months/Once every 4-6 months/Less often

Q3 As part of the new Chiltern Railways Oxford project, the old Bicester Town station has now been demolished and a brand new station is being built in its place. Were you aware of this?
A Yes/No

Q4 And did you travel by train to or from Bicester Town station before it was closed?
A Yes/No

Q5 How often did you use Bicester Town station?
A Several times a week/Once a week or so/Once or twice a month/Once every 2-3 months/Once every 4-6 months/Less often

Q6 Do you agree that naming the stations to better reflect their respective proximity to Bicester Village shopping centre and the main station car park would help reduce the traffic in Bicester?
A Yes/No/Don't know

Q7 There is a suggestion that the station that is being built on the old site of Bicester Town station, could be called Bicester Village. Which of the following best reflects your view on this proposed change?
A I am strongly in favour of a change to Bicester Village/ I am slightly in favour of a change to Bicester Village/ I don't really mind either way/ I am slightly in favour of keeping the name Bicester Town/ I am strongly in favour of keeping the name Bicester Town

Q7a All in favour of keeping the name Bicester Town
And if the new station was named Bicester Village, how likely would you be to raise an objection to this?
A Very Likely/Fairly Likely/Neither Likely nor Unlikely/Fairly Unlikely/Very Unlikely

Q8 And as I also mentioned earlier, there is a suggestion that the station that is currently called Bicester North could be renamed Bicester on the basis that it is closest to the town centre. Which of the following best reflects your view on this proposed change?
A I am strongly in favour of a change to Bicester / I am slightly in favour of a change to Bicester / I don't really mind either way/ I am slightly in favour of keeping the name Bicester North/ I am strongly in favour of keeping the name Bicester North

Q8a Ask: All in favour of keeping the name Bicester North
And if Bicester North station was renamed Bicester, how likely would you be to raise an objection to this?
A Very Likely/Fairly Likely/Neither Likely nor Unlikely/Fairly Unlikely/Very Unlikely

Q9 An alternative station name for Bicester Town is Bicester South and Bicester Village. Which of the following best reflects your view on this proposed change?
A I am strongly in favour of a change to Bicester South and Bicester Village/ I am slightly in favour of a change to Bicester South and Bicester Village/ I don't really mind either way/ I am slightly in favour of keeping the name Bicester Town/ I am strongly in favour of keeping the name Bicester Town

To be clear, I would love to see more people arrive in Bicester by train. But realistically, its not going to make the slightest difference to congestion here whatever the station is called. However I cannot agree with Chiltern Railways' logic; in addition they have not addressed any of the legitimate concerns which have been raised. The survey is itself questionable: the 72% figure does not feel right - it does not fit with reality (were people aware that the level crossing would create traffic issues at London Road?). It's also interesting that there was some thought to renaming Bicester North as Bicester (but that also doesn't make much sense). Though in the survey there was a Hobson's choice of "Bicester Village" or "Bicester South and Bicester Village" so no wonder there was some preference for the first one.

There are many reasons why Bicester Town station should not have been renamed. Speaking from many years experience of marketing and product planning, the decision to rename is simply wrong. The marketing messages are also confused:

• As per thread title, Bicester Town > Village. The town will always be bigger than the village. The name compromises the identity of the town. The needs of the town should always come first (and certainly before an individual business). You will never convince people otherwise - the “Bicester Village for Bicester town centre” signs are an insult quite frankly - no wonder people are upset.
  
• Future service pattern with East West Rail has not been considered. For once having the foresight to deliver the EWR Western Section Phase 1 infrastructure as well as Evergreen 3 it was crazy not to consult members of the East West Rail Consortium on renaming. Q8 is also factually incorrect - if you take Market Square as being the historic centre of Bicester, Town station is closer. Even from Sheep Street the 2 stations are equidistant. Q6 is also confused. North station has a bigger car park (agreed) but not all trains stop and the service pattern has been thinned (especially off peak). Already all trains stop at Bicester Town and its importance and stature is only going to increase when East West Rail opens. Bicester Town is therefore the main station.
  
• Bicester Village is the name of a business. There are all sorts of potential branding, advertising and intellectual property issues here. It gets more complicated with increasing market share and when public money is involved. Best not go there...
  
• Oh and why wasn’t the new name included in the Transport & Works Act Order application and subject to proper scrutiny? All documentation mentions Bicester Town station of course...

For reference see also the following articles from the Oxford Mail (12 March and 31 March).

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/11852591.Bicester_Town_station_to_be_renamed_Bicester_Village_after_Chiltern_Railways_decision/
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/12662640.Hundreds_join_fight_against_renaming_station/?ref=ar

 

[Bletchleyite]

I certainly do think the split service, leaving a basically hourly[1] service at North[2], is a very bad thing. They should have recruited as required, and rejigged the fleet a bit, to make the services from Oxford additional to, not instead of, the Bicester North stoppers.

[1] There are 2tph but they are within something like 5 minutes of each other, so to all intents and purposes there is a long train hourly.

[2] North is a misnomer in a way as if you look at the map it is right in the middle of the built up area of Bicester. Bicester is just a bit odd, though, in that the town centre is towards the south end of the built up area rather than the usual location in the middle.

 

[RPM]

I don't like the Bicester Village station name very much but in business terms it is a no brainer. The bit that grates is "village", because Bicester isn't a village, but the blame for the twee, hammy name lies squarely with the retail outlet, not the railway. For the trugs & trugs of foreign tourists who flock to BV by train, having the station share the name of the retail outlet makes life much easier. I do now think Bicester folks need to get over this. I was initially sympathetic, but really it is a a storm in a teacup.

 

[jimm]

I certainly do think the split service, leaving a basically hourly[1] service at North[2], is a very bad thing. They should have recruited as required, and rejigged the fleet a bit, to make the services from Oxford additional to, not instead of, the Bicester North stoppers.

[1] There are 2tph but they are within something like 5 minutes of each other, so to all intents and purposes there is a long train hourly.

[2] North is a misnomer in a way as if you look at the map it is right in the middle of the built up area of Bicester. Bicester is just a bit odd, though, in that the town centre is towards the south end of the built up area rather than the usual location in the middle.

The way Bicester looks on a map now is because of the way the town has developed, notably the big housing developments north of the railway from the 1960s onwards, which made North station - previously the outer extremity of the town - look central. But with new housing developments under way now along the the south and south-west edges of the town, North station will soon appear to be pushed back north and the town centre will become more central, if that makes sense. However, the 'eco' town will then add a bulge out to the north-west and development of the MoD site at Graven Hill will pull the town out to the south as well.

The changing shape of Bicester over the past couple of centuries is neatly illustrated by a series of maps put together by the local history society here http://www.blhs.org.uk/index.php?page=maps

I especially like the Cold War one from 1950 pretending that RAF Bicester and the adjacent MoD site at Caversfield didn't exist, with just blank spaces in their place.

I don't like the Bicester Village station name very much but in business terms it is a no brainer. The bit that grates is "village", because Bicester isn't a village, but the blame for the twee, hammy name lies squarely with the retail outlet, not the railway. For the trugs & trugs of foreign tourists who flock to BV by train, having the station share the name of the retail outlet makes life much easier. I do now think Bicester folks need to get over this. It is a storm in a teacup.

Oh please. The people wanting to get to Bicester Village shopping outlet - as opposed to the stupidly-named station - on a train seem to have managed to do somehow for 20 years, despite the oh-so-confusing names of the stations with, er, Bicester in them...

The blame for the name of the railway station lies fair and square with Chiltern Railways. No one made them do it. They drove it through despite clear opposition both in the initial consultations and at a public meeting.

Only after that was the dubious poll commissioned, replete with red herring distraction questions about the name of Bicester North and which carefully does not ask a straight yes or no question about renaming of Town to Village. I wonder why that was.

 

[JaJaWa]

Is there any evidence that more people are using the station to travel to Bicester Town than Bicester Village? That might not still be the case?

 

[30907]

I was going to post the following in another thread but feel the controversial renaming of Bicester Town station deserves a thread of its own.

Since the station reopened and parking charges were hiked up to £7 per day, London Road has also been plagued by inconsiderate parking. That’s on top of the level crossing which now closes at least 4x an hour. It's clear that the people of Bicester have been sold a lie. Nobody believes traffic will reduce; the fact is congestion has increased.

With respect, both these would have happened even if the name had remained Town.

And the congestion question clearly is about "the roads around Bicester" not "around Town station." I can't see how anyone outside the immediate area would use London Road to reach the shopping village.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Oh please. The people wanting to get to Bicester Village shopping outlet - as opposed to the stupidly-named station - on a train seem to have managed to do somehow for 20 years, despite the oh-so-confusing names of the stations with, er, Bicester in them...

But given that the only service was the irregular shuttle from Oxford, how many actually did so?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

dubious poll... does not ask a straight yes or no question about renaming of Town to Village. I wonder why that was.

Provided the replies are aggregated, a 1-5 scale is both fair and allows a more nuanced interpretation.

 

[Gathursty]

Was there an issue with the naming of MetroCentre station?

 

[Andyjs247]

With respect, both these would have happened even if the name had remained Town.

And the congestion question clearly is about "the roads around Bicester" not "around Town station." I can't see how anyone outside the immediate area would use London Road to reach the shopping village.

...because the name of the station implies you can reach the shopping village. You can on foot (although not necessarily via the station platform or footbridge as it involves crossing a gateline). Outside the station there is a pedestrian gate for access to the shopping village. There is potentially road access also from Station Approach but that gate is normally closed. It's unclear if the pedestrian gate is always open - it should be IMO. The vehicle gate could at least be open for buses/cycles but isn't.

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

But given that the only service was the irregular shuttle from Oxford, how many actually did so?

Quite a few actually, despite the irregular service. Most would have come using the shuttle bus from Bicester North though.

 

[Harpers Tate]

The way I see it is...

People who live or work there or who otherwise use it frequently will know what it is, where it is, and how best to use it, even if it was called Launton West. Name largely irrelevant.

Which leaves the infrequent user. It makes perfect sense to me for the Railway to try and draw the Chinese Tourist from London (and anyone else for that matter) to use the train to reach the hugely popular outlet mall by naming the station after it. There are several stations quite rightly named after nearby "draws" - mentioned above is MetroCentre; likewise Meadowhall (although that is also the name of the area) and so on.

 

[jimm]

Was there an issue with the naming of MetroCentre station?

In actual fact it was called Gateshead Metrocentre from 1987-1993. Presumably the Gateshead was dropped as it's not anywhere near the core of Gateshead and people just said they were going to the Metrocentre - hardly surprising as there's nothing but the shopping centre and adjacent retail outlets in the immediate area anyway. In addition, unlike Bicester, there wasn't a station at the site previously and it doesn't also serve a town with a population of 30,000-plus now and huge amounts of new housing on the way, as I noted above.

But given that the only service was the irregular shuttle from Oxford, how many actually did so?

From 2009 until the branch shut for rebuilding, the enhanced FGW service, funded with Section 106 money planning gain from Bicester Village's owners no less, was plenty frequent enough to attract a good trade, with two or three dozen Chinese shoppers often getting on and off each train at Oxford, making a big contribution towards passenger numbers at Bicester Town going from 59,000 in 2008-9 to 214,000 in 2012-13, the last full year before the closure.

Provided the replies are aggregated, a 1-5 scale is both fair and allows a more nuanced interpretation.

Never mind nuance and aggregation, they did not ask a straight question and instead threw in all those ones about Bicester North as a smokescreen, including the dubious claim that it is closer to the town centre - one end of it, maybe, but the Market Square is closer to the other station.

The way I see it is...

People who live or work there or who otherwise use it frequently will know what it is, where it is, and how best to use it, even if it was called Launton West. Name largely irrelevant.

Ah yes, the same defence used to explain away why a new station at the edge of Kidlington (population 17,000) does not bother to mention it in its name...

Which leaves the infrequent user. It makes perfect sense to me for the Railway to try and draw the Chinese Tourist from London (and anyone else for that matter) to use the train to reach the hugely popular outlet mall by naming the station after it. There are several stations quite rightly named after nearby "draws" - mentioned above is MetroCentre; likewise Meadowhall (although that is also the name of the area) and so on.

And the railway - principally Chiltern - has been doing a very good job of drawing Chinese tourists (and others) out of London for many years without the aid of a station named after a certain shopping centre. Aided by all the guidebooks and travel websites the Chinese use, which gave the names of the two railway stations in the town and explained their location and how to get from them to Bicester Village. Amazing...

 

[swt_passenger]

They should have recruited as required, and rejigged the fleet a bit, to make the services from Oxford additional to, not instead of, the Bicester North stoppers.

There wouldn't have been room to platform the extra trains at Marylebone. They had to divert some existing trains to Oxford to make the timetable work at all, it was all covered in one of the very early consultations.

But this is somewhat irrelevant to the renaming issue.

 

[Mikey C]

The way I see it is...

People who live or work there or who otherwise use it frequently will know what it is, where it is, and how best to use it, even if it was called Launton West. Name largely irrelevant.

Which leaves the infrequent user. It makes perfect sense to me for the Railway to try and draw the Chinese Tourist from London (and anyone else for that matter) to use the train to reach the hugely popular outlet mall by naming the station after it. There are several stations quite rightly named after nearby "draws" - mentioned above is MetroCentre; likewise Meadowhall (although that is also the name of the area) and so on.

Agreed, the locals know which station is which, whereas for casual visitors (and I would guess 90% are coming up from London to visit the Village) naming the station after the Village seems entirely reasonable.

Another example, in the 1970s Brent station on the Underground was renamed Brent Cross when the shopping centre opened.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Bescot Stadium and Arsenal also spring to mind. In these cases the 'attraction' is only occasional. At least Bicester Village is open much of the time.

 

[30907]

...because the name of the station implies you can reach the shopping village.

Sorry, my comment was about road traffic using London Road, not passengers arriving at the former London Road station . Didn't realise pedestrian access to the Village was so poor though.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

From 2009 until the branch shut for rebuilding, the enhanced FGW service, funded with Section 106 money planning gain from Bicester Village's owners no less, was plenty frequent enough to attract a good trade, with two or three dozen Chinese shoppers often getting on and off each train at Oxford, making a big contribution towards passenger numbers at Bicester Town going from 59,000 in 2008-9 to 214,000 in 2012-13, the last full year before the closure.

I stand corrected.

 

[starlightEXPRESS]

Reminds me of this scene from Yes Prime Minister:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ZZJXw4MTA

What if Q6:

Do you agree that naming the stations to better reflect their respective proximity to Bicester Village shopping centre and the main station car park would help reduce the traffic in Bicester?

had been rephrased along the lines of:

Do you agree that changing the names of the stations would be an unnecessary cost and would not reflect the railway heritage of Bicester?

might there have been a different outcome?

Interesting to note that they also wanted to rename Bicester North...

 

[Bletchleyite]

Interesting to note that they also wanted to rename Bicester North...

What to?

Edit: Ah, I see it's in the survey. Having one station without a suffix and one with would be silly. However renaming it "Bicester Central" might actually make more sense...as it is!

 

[30907]

Never mind nuance and aggregation, they did not ask a straight question and instead threw in all those ones about Bicester North as a smokescreen, including the dubious claim that it is closer to the town centre - one end of it, maybe, but the Market Square is closer to the other station.

Q7 is a perfectly straight question, and the inclusion of Q8 cannot affect the answer to a question that has already been answered!

That said, I agree that Bicester South and/for Bicester Village would be better.

 

[Bletchleyite]

That said, I agree that Bicester South and/for Bicester Village would be better.

I agree - the "for" can after all be changed relatively easily because that wouldn't form part of the station's formal name.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

It's always a risk naming a station after just one facility that happens to be nearby, particularly when it comes to stadiums and the like. The original name for the new Coventry Arena station was going to be Ricoh I believe, but that would've needed renaming when that sponsorship deal ends. See also Etihad Campus on Metrolink, and the patchwork effect on roadsigns near football grounds around the country!
As for Meadowhall, that is also the name for the area but prior to the shopping centre opening there was nothing there so the name didn't get used much. A friend of mine who grew up in Sheffield says that when describing that location the names Meadowhall and Tinsley were widely thought to be interchangeable. These days Tinsley is only used for the area on the other side of the motorway viaduct.

 

[jimm]

Interesting to note that they also wanted to rename Bicester North...

There is no suggestion of this notion in any of several OxfordMail/Bicester Advertiser stories on the topic of Bicester Town/Village renaming, nor in many letters about the subject published by the papers. The only place I can find any trace of it is in that questionnaire.

Q7 is a perfectly straight question, and the inclusion of Q8 cannot affect the answer to a question that has already been answered!

That said, I agree that Bicester South and/for Bicester Village would be better.

The only question they needed to ask, rather than all the ones they did, was should the name of the station be Bicester Town or Bicester Village - no ifs, buts, hedgings, red herrings about Bicester North, etc, etc.

What to?

Edit: Ah, I see it's in the survey. Having one station without a suffix and one with would be silly. However renaming it "Bicester Central" might actually make more sense...as it is!

As I keep trying to point out, that all depends on how you define central - it may look like it now on a map, but it is no more central - in the accepted way of being right in the heart of a town's main shopping/office area - than Bicester Town/Village, with both stations being at opposite ends of the town centre and the shape of the town is going to shift as new developments take place. This is the current masterplan http://www.langfordlife.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Key-Policies-Map-Bicester.pdf
Net result will be that both stations are pretty 'central'.

Ultimately this boils down to one key point, nothing to do with geography - that Chiltern Railways has chosen to put its commercial interests and those of a shopping centre ahead of anything else and could not care less what the broader community in Bicester thinks on the matter. The money used on that dubious poll - which couldn't even come up with a majority in favour of the switch - might have been better spent finding out how many Bicester North passengers were willing to switch to the other station when it opened - or weren't, if the local media reports on that topic are anything to go by.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The problem is not so much the need to switch, but the split - fine for anyone who arrives at the station on foot or by bus, but a right nuisance and a significant service cut for anyone who arrives by bicycle or car, the latter probably forming the vast majority of users.

 

[cjp]

As I see it
Money talks.
Money has said "Bicester Village".

Chiltern and the shopping arcade known as Bicester Village have established a cosy relationship which is why Boxing Day sees trains from Marylebone to Bicester.

Anywhere else in England getting a "long" distance train service that day?

Thank you Money

 

[johnnychips]

Just a question. What is so wonderful about Bicester Village that attracts so many foreign tourists anyway? Aren't there similar shopping centres nearer London? Or has it got a good reputation that self-perpetuates: "oh you're going to England, you must visit Bicester village!"

 

[Bletchleyite]

Just a question. What is so wonderful about Bicester Village that attracts so many foreign tourists anyway? Aren't there similar shopping centres nearer London? Or has it got a good reputation that self-perpetuates: "oh you're going to England, you must visit Bicester village!"

I don't entirely know; I went there myself and thought it rather samey. But it does seem it has that reputation - who knows where it got it from!

 

[Clip]

Just a question. What is so wonderful about Bicester Village that attracts so many foreign tourists anyway? Aren't there similar shopping centres nearer London? Or has it got a good reputation that self-perpetuates: "oh you're going to England, you must visit Bicester village!"

Well last time I went they had outlets from Burberry and the like which are looked favourably upon in China so whilst they visit here they are able to get a bertter bargain than back home so off they pop.

 

[NSEFAN]

My understanding is that Bicester Village is marketed heavily by various travel agencies, as a sort-of "must visit" location. Goodness know why Bicester of all places, but presumably now this has been established in the minds of the travel agents it has become sort of self-sustaining?

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Just a question. What is so wonderful about Bicester Village that attracts so many foreign tourists anyway? Aren't there similar shopping centres nearer London? Or has it got a good reputation that self-perpetuates: "oh you're going to England, you must visit Bicester village!"

A very good question. I was under the impression that it was really not all that different to "outlet villages" that can also be found at (among other locations) Glasshoughton, Street in Somerset, and Cheshire Oaks. Only one of those has a railway station and I don't see Grand Central being in a rush to divert their services to bring hordes of Chinese tourists there!

 

[Bletchleyite]

A very good question. I was under the impression that it was really not all that different to "outlet villages"

It isn't. Indeed, an "outlet village" is precisely what it is.

 

[johnnychips]

Which is bizarre as I've been to a lot of shopping centres in China, selling exactly the same products, which are distinctly very empty apart from the food bits. Are they really cheaper in England, considering the products are made in China itself or Vietnam, Malaysia etc?

Sorry off topic.

 

[hassaanhc]

Just a question. What is so wonderful about Bicester Village that attracts so many foreign tourists anyway? Aren't there similar shopping centres nearer London? Or has it got a good reputation that self-perpetuates: "oh you're going to England, you must visit Bicester village!"

In Wembley there is London Designer Outlet, with Wembley Stadium Station being the closest and it does get mentioned in the Chiltern on-board auto announcements. Not sure how popular it is though (I'd never heard of it until a cousin asked if I wanted to go, and the one in Bicester I first found mentioned on here in one of the previous threads on this controversy).