"London..." prefix on station names

[AM9]

Oxford airport is officially "London Oxford"!

Then there's:
London Luton (LTN)
London City (one of the more apt names - LCY)
London Biggin Hill (BQH)
and of course London Gatwick (which also recognises the London bit in its IATA code - LGW)
and don't forget London International (YXU) - actually it is in Ontario which is a really inconvenient diversion!

 

[whhistle]

And don't even get me started with people who say:

"New Street, Birmingham"

 

[broadgage]

(London) Liverpool Street was mixed up with Liverpool Lime Street (and I believe still is by tourists)

Not helped by the custom among tourists of omitting the word "street" or "road" when asking directions. When I worked in London, tourists regularly enquired asked for directions to "Liverpool" when the context suggested that they actually required Liverpool street.
Likewise visitors asking the way to "Oxford" probably want Oxford street if in central London and on foot.

 

[NSEFAN]

Then there's:
London Luton (LTN)
London City (one of the more apt names - LCY)
London Biggin Hill (BQH)
and of course London Gatwick (which also recognises the London bit in its IATA code - LGW)
and don't forget London International (YXU) - actually it is in Ontario which is a really inconvenient diversion!

What about London Prestwick Airport?

 

[Mojo]

And don't even get me started with people who say:

"New Street, Birmingham"

For a while, WebTis booking engines were changing station names entered by customers to the station name with the town/city name in brackets, eg. New Street (Birmingham), Barracks (Maidstone), etc.

 

[fairysdad]

In the National Rail timetable I think London Bridge and London Fields were the only two stations where the "London prefix" was used in all cases, I presume this is because "Bridge" and "Fields" could mean many things. One thing to remember that most London stations have unique names so if a train is going to "Euston" most people will know its going to London and to many people the "Euston" is more important than the "London" as it its a specific part of London, also there isn't another station named Euston so people won't confuse it with other things. London Road (Brighton) and London Road (Guildford) also always have the London prefix but they aren't within Greater London.

There's a difference between a prefix and being part of the name. The station London Bridge is named after London Bridge, so isn't just 'Bridge'. London Euston, as you say, a specific part of London and is named after Euston Road, therefore 'London' is a prefix. Similarly, London Road (Brighton) and London Road (Guildford) stations are on (or at least named after) London Road in their respective towns, so isn't a prefix.

 

[DavidGrain]

I tried to book a ticket recently to Euston and could not. I had to put London Euston to get it.
University is an anomaly and I see it is now being shown as University (Birmingham) on tickets but not on the station name board presumably to differentiate it from University (Coleraine). Actually I think the Birmingham name was missed off because of the argument I had with a revenue inspector one morning about whether my ticket made out from Birmingham Stations was valid or not at that station.
Birmingham International usually called International locally, I have mentioned on another thread. The airport no longer calls itself Birmingham International Airport so it is only the station that is international. The North of London Eurostars never got here although some local trains were timed to wait at International to let them overtake

 

[Abpj17]

Farringdon isn't a 'London Terminal' for ticketing purposes, and is primarily an underground station (tho GTR I suspect operate the south building now?). Not sure what further change may come with Crossrail.

No one really called Blackfriars, London Blackfriars. And the underground component of the station is just Blackfriars.

 

[6Gman]

Not necessarily, the addition of London to the signage of various “major London Terminals” was comparatively recent in railway historical terms. Someone probably knows when it was done, and who did it.

Farringdon specifically is a London Underground station that mainline trains happen to pass through. London Bridge (obvious really), City Thameslink and Vauxhall (as well as the aforementioned Moorgate) are also part of the London Terminals group that do not include “London”...

"City Thameslink" is a particular bête noire of mine, sounding more like a service branding rather than a railway station. The only place I've ever needed to go to the booking office window to ask "what station is this?"

 

[AM9]

"City Thameslink" is a particular bête noire of mine, sounding more like a service branding rather than a railway station. ...

I've always thought that it sounded like a parcel delivery service, (remember Citylink?).

 

[randompixel]

I've always thought that it sounded like a parcel delivery service, (remember Citylink?).

Which of course grew out of the railway's own Red Star Parcels.

 

[JW16]

"City Thameslink" is a particular bête noire of mine, sounding more like a service branding rather than a railway station. The only place I've ever needed to go to the booking office window to ask "what station is this?"

It should be renamed something like "Old Bailey", or "Ludgate Hill". Or "London Ludgate Hill"

 

[Joe Paxton]

It should be renamed something like "Old Bailey", or "Ludgate Hill". Or "London Ludgate Hill"

On opening, it was called St Paul's Thameslink.

 

[Armardar]

London Stansted (always though that this was stretching the geographical limit a bit too far though!?!)

Haha yeah this probably the wierdest one for me

 

[Bevan Price]

Waterloo needs a "London" prefix just to stop any French or Belgians getting confused

Also, there is another Waterloo on the Liverpool - Southport line.

 

[MK Tom]

Stretching things a bit further, how about the various London Road stations that are still open, have closed, or renamed?

Brighton (presently open)
Guildford (presently open)
Leicester (the present day Midland station)
Manchester (Piccadilly, which was renamed from London Road)
Carlisle (closed)
Glasgow (closed)

Unsure if Edinburgh ever had a London Road station, although the main A1 London Road starts just east of Waverley station.

Don't forget Bicester, later renamed 'Town' and now 'Village'.

I'm sure Kings Cross is sometimes announced as just that without the 'London' prefix.

 

[Mag_seven]

And don't even get me started with people who say:

"New Street, Birmingham"

I've never heard anyone say it as that.

 

[LAX54]

Haha yeah this probably the wierdest one for me

Is this not because its the main 'diversion' airport for London ?

 

[Class 33]

London Fenchurch Street though is referred to on the departure screens and on the onboard audio announcements as just Fenchurch Street. Which I find very odd. It should be London Fenchurch Street.

 

[SussexMan]

Well I reckon the example set by London Southend Airport should be followed. London Southend Victoria anyone?

Or London Ashford Airport which is neither in London nor Ashford.

 

[Armardar]

Is this not because its the main 'diversion' airport for London ?

Very well could be, still must be confusing for tourists landing in London Stansted and being in the middle of rural Essex

 

[DavidGrain]

On opening, it was called St Paul's Thameslink.

The problem with City Thameslink is that it is a long platform station to accommodate 12 car trains so has two main entrances. The old entrance which used to be Holborn Viaduct station and the new entrance on Ludgate Hill. I once had to give someone directions and had to be very specific which way they went when getting off the train

 

[Howardh]

Does any other city in the world have as many terminals as London? If not, what's the next on the list??

 

[urbophile]

Waterloo needs a "London" prefix just to stop any French or Belgians getting confused

Or scousers.

 

[DavidGrain]

Does any other city in the world have as many terminals as London? If not, what's the next on the list??

A city which comes to mind immediately to me is Paris. Gare de Nord, Gare de l'Est, Gare de Lyon, Invalides are all terminal stations I have used. There are others and also closed stations. Budapest has three terminal stations.

 

[telstarbox]

In the National Rail timetable I think London Bridge and London Fields were the only two stations where the "London prefix" was used in all cases, I presume this is because "Bridge" and "Fields" could mean many things.

Indeed - within Greater London there are Kew Bridge and Mitcham (East)fields stations for starters.

 

[londonbridge]

And don't even get me started with people who say:

"New Street, Birmingham"

Along similar lines, there is a regular customer in the shop I work in who insists on asking for "twenty blue superkings Benson And Hedges", instead of "twenty B&H superking blue" like everybody else does.

 

[stut]

Is this not because its the main 'diversion' airport for London ?

No, it's because the city it primarily serves is London.

 

[stut]

A city which comes to mind immediately to me is Paris. Gare de Nord, Gare de l'Est, Gare de Lyon, Invalides are all terminal stations I have used. There are others and also closed stations. Budapest has three terminal stations.

Unpicking the mess of private railways and transfer stations in Tokyo is no mean feat. I can't even begin to count the number of tiny private railway terminals in the city, like the Tobu Railway Asakusa station, or the little JR local terminals like the Sobu Line terminus at Akihabara. Surely that must beat London, all told?

 

[jon0844]

Forget Moorgate not being London Moorgate officially. What about it being sometimes known as Moorgate East?