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Stations unsure of their name

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61653 HTAFC

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I would quite like to see the "Main" suffix (which is the best translation we have of "Haupt") normalised as there's several places I feel it would be useful. Currently I believe the only ones using it are Dorking and Farnborough.
The problem there is that in some places with two stations it's debatable which one is the "Main". For example in Bradford which station would be the "Hauptbahnhof"? (I'd argue Interchange, but only because it's nearer to Little Germany so could actually be called Bradford Hbf!). Both stations have intercity services to London, which might otherwise be a determining factor.
 
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Parallel

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St James' Park used to/is listed as 'St James' Park' on at least some departure boards in the area. The previous automated announcers in the area also said it this way, but the current ones now say 'Saint James Park'.

The railway doesn't really seem to be consistent with apostrophes. I've seen Exeter St David's both with and without the apostrophe on departure boards.

In Wales, the nameplates at Maesteg Ewenny Road just say 'Ewenny Road' but the announcements say 'Maesteg Ewenny Road'. To be honest, I would imagine the local users on the line may refer to it as just Ewenny Road, but on the few direct trains from Holyhead, I doubt some would even know where Maesteg is, let alone Ewenny Road!
 

mmh

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In Wales, the nameplates at Maesteg Ewenny Road just say 'Ewenny Road' but the announcements say 'Maesteg Ewenny Road'. To be honest, I would imagine the local users on the line may refer to it as just Ewenny Road, but on the few direct trains from Holyhead, I doubt some would even know where Maesteg is, let alone Ewenny Road!

I have to admit that until we got direct trains to it and I heard it on announcements, I'd never heard of Maesteg!
 

YorksLad12

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Just remembered that the totem station signs for the northermost West Yorkshire station on the Airedale Line say "Steeton and Silsden" or "Steeton & Silsden", depending on which sign you look at at which direction you approach it from. It's not only apostrophes that are inconsistently applied.
 

Ianno87

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Norwich Thorpe or Thorpe station still floats around a bit, despite there being very much the only station for Norwich for several decades.

People referring to historical suffix still survive here and there. You used to get people in Bolton referring to "Trinity Street" Station.
 

py_megapixel

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The problem there is that in some places with two stations it's debatable which one is the "Main". For example in Bradford which station would be the "Hauptbahnhof"? (I'd argue Interchange, but only because it's nearer to Little Germany so could actually be called Bradford Hbf!). Both stations have intercity services to London, which might otherwise be a determining factor.
Indeed - in which case, you don't name either of them Main. I'm not saying we need a full-on convention of it like Germany - just that it would be nice to see it used where it makes sense - most notably where currently the main station just takes the name of the place with no suffix.
 

61653 HTAFC

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Indeed - in which case, you don't name either of them Main. I'm not saying we need a full-on convention of it like Germany - just that it would be nice to see it used where it makes sense - most notably where currently the main station just takes the name of the place with no suffix.
I don't really think there's much need- as a general rule if it's a place I'm unfamiliar with, I'll assume the one without the suffix is the "main" station. If there's multiple stations e.g. Pontefract then I'll find out which is nearest to where I need (and whether I can actually catch a train there at the time I need- which rules out Baghill!).

What's more of a problem is some of the legacy names from pre-1948 operators, which can lead to stations being called "Central" which are anything but. In those cases I'd rename to something more suitable for each location.
 

etr221

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The problem there is that in some places with two stations it's debatable which one is the "Main". For example in Bradford which station would be the "Hauptbahnhof"? (I'd argue Interchange, but only because it's nearer to Little Germany so could actually be called Bradford Hbf!). Both stations have intercity services to London, which might otherwise be a determining factor.

Indeed - in which case, you don't name either of them Main. I'm not saying we need a full-on convention of it like Germany - just that it would be nice to see it used where it makes sense - most notably where currently the main station just takes the name of the place with no suffix.
In Germany (and other countries using the same principle), one (and only one) of the stations is often designated and named - a matter of designation, not status - the main station or 'Hauptbahnof' (or equivalent) - and if there isn't an obvious choice, there may not be one: traditionally neither Berlin nor Vienna had one: none of their principle stations was THE main one. And even if one was so designated, there were (are) places where it isn't the most important from a passenger point of view (even if it is from a railway point of view). In some anglophone places 'Central' has been used in the same way - a station may be central for the railway, but not so on the city plan.

One other thing that distinguishes Britain is the extent to which there isn't the same sense of whether an area (or locality) is - or isn't - part of a city, that you find in many other countries.
 

xotGD

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Was Gateshead one station, or were Gateshead East and Gateshead West two separate stations?
 
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Is this a record? I can’t think of other station that has carried 4 different names.
Box Hill and Westhumble has had five (one name reused):
- 1867: West Humble for Box Hill
- 1870: Box Hill and Burford Bridge
- 1896: Box Hill
- 1904: Box Hill and Burford Bridge
- 1958: Boxhill and Westhumble
- 2006: Box Hill and Westhumble

Redhill has had five (one name reused):
- 1841 (LBSCR): Redhill and Reigate Road
- 1842 (SER): Redhill
- 1843: Reigate
- 1844: Redhill and Reigate
- 1858: Red Hill Junction
- 1929: Redhill
(strictly speaking the 1844 renaming involved a relocation)

Dorking Deepdene has had four:
- February 1851: Box Hill and Leatherhead Road
- March 1851: Box Hill
- 1923: Deepdene
- 1987: Dorking (Deepdene)
 
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Norwich Thorpe or Thorpe station still floats around a bit, despite there being very much the only station for Norwich for several decades.
When my Norwich born uncle phoned up in the 1970's he regularly asked for the time of the next train from Thorpe to ____, he was given the time from Thorpe-le-Soken!!
 

Deepgreen

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St James' Park, or St James's Park.

I assume we are discussing multiple names officially used for stations rather than colloquial ones? That would give a lot of localisms (Portsmouth Harbour - the harbour, Portsmouth & Southsea - the city)
Assuming you mean the LU station, it is called 'St. James's Park'. There is one roundel on the EB platform which reads "St. James' Park" which was retained in situ as a heritage item (dating from around 1910) when I was responsible for the station's refurbishment in the early 1990s.

Box Hill and Westhumble has had five (one name reused):
- 1867: West Humble for Box Hill
- 1870: Box Hill and Burford Bridge
- 1896: Box Hill
- 1904: Box Hill and Burford Bridge
- 1958: Boxhill and Westhumble
- 2006: Box Hill and Westhumble

Redhill has had five (one name reused):
- 1841 (LBSCR): Redhill and Reigate Road
- 1842 (SER): Redhill
- 1843: Reigate
- 1844: Redhill and Reigate
- 1858: Red Hill Junction
- 1929: Redhill
(strictly speaking the 1844 renaming involved a relocation)

Dorking Deepdene has had four:
- February 1851: Box Hill and Leatherhead Road
- March 1851: Box Hill
- 1923: Deepdene
- 1987: Dorking (Deepdene)
Even today, the two TOCs serving Box Hill can't decide whether it's 'Boxhill' or 'Box Hill' in their on-train information!

As I've mentioned here before, Betchworth was recorded by FGW as "Bletchworth" for their on-train announcements, and they only bothered to change it after many years, when I raised it with Mark Hopwood.

St James' Park used to/is listed as 'St James' Park' on at least some departure boards in the area. The previous automated announcers in the area also said it this way, but the current ones now say 'Saint James Park'.

The railway doesn't really seem to be consistent with apostrophes. I've seen Exeter St David's both with and without the apostrophe on departure boards.

In Wales, the nameplates at Maesteg Ewenny Road just say 'Ewenny Road' but the announcements say 'Maesteg Ewenny Road'. To be honest, I would imagine the local users on the line may refer to it as just Ewenny Road, but on the few direct trains from Holyhead, I doubt some would even know where Maesteg is, let alone Ewenny Road!
Society has lost its already-imperfect grasp of apostrophes, not helped by the BBC and other organisations 'dumbing down' and using them both wrongly and inconsistenty.
 
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randyrippley

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Cark - is it "and Cartmel" or not?

(Interestingly the road signs for the village throw in another curveball - they say "Cark In Cartmel"!)
That is because Cark is in the Cartmel peninsular. Cartmel village is a couple of miles away. The station is actually equidistant between Cark & Flookburgh - which would be a more accurate name.
 

Taunton

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The London termini, of course, are commonly known without the "London" prefix, especially those without long distance services like Fenchurch Street, or those south of the river. London London Bridge would be silly.

St James' Park, or St James's Park.
Apostrophes are as randomly done on the railway as elsewhere. You would think that local authority streetnames would be correctly done, but in a few minutes in Chelsea I found official street nameplates for King's Road, Kings' Road and Kings Road.
 
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randyrippley

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The station at Heysham isn’t sure if it’s Heysham Port or Heysham Harbour. I believe the current station should be Heysham Port and that Heysham Harbour was a previous one, but the name Heysham Harbour is still used in some places.
Not exactly, the original harbour station was on the Stone Jetty in Morecambe, not Heysham. Except it hardly did service as a harbour, even with the adjacent Wooden Jetty
 

317666

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On the subject of apostrophes, the NXEA station signs at Bishop's Stortford omitted it. The current GA signage includes the apostrophe, as does the (presumably) BR-era sign on the signal box.
 

mmh

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The London termini, of course, are commonly known without the "London" prefix, especially those without long distance services like Fenchurch Street, or those south of the river. London London Bridge would be silly.


Apostrophes are as randomly done on the railway as elsewhere. You would think that local authority streetnames would be correctly done, but in a few minutes in Chelsea I found official street nameplates for King's Road, Kings' Road and Kings Road.

London Bridge is of course the answer to a surprisingly common question in pub quizzes (it's in at least two rubbish books of questions)

"What's the only London Underground station with the word London in its name?"
 

Horizon22

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The London termini, of course, are commonly known without the "London" prefix, especially those without long distance services like Fenchurch Street, or those south of the river. London London Bridge would be silly.

That's a rather broad statement! I've heard and seen both used interchangeably (London included or not) on both sides of the river. Generally I think depends on the type of user and whether the TOC adds/omits it in passenger information systems. Thameslink I've noticed don't tend to use 'London' for the terminals which I imagine is because it's a through service.
 

BrianW

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If Crossrail 2 ever comes, it will create an absolute monstrosity in Somers Town. I have no idea what St Euston Cross will end up actually being called, but it will certainly qualify for this list!
Quite a conundrum, already! I'm neither a common enough or recent enough user to expatiate on St Pancras (or St. Pancras?) or King's' Cross with or without International or Thameslink or York Road (one way) or Suburban or London King(')s(') Cross St Pancras International for Central St Martins' College of Art and University College London University... Maybe platforms 0-99 or whatever of North London Central Interchange? Or Great British Library?

Is the expression 'London Termini' (or Terminals) still in use- how is it applied to eg Faringdon (or is it Farringdon?) or passengers from 'the south' to KX or StP ...

Waterloo East or Waterloo (East)?

As regards current 'anomalies', it seems to me a very likely outcome of changes in 'management' and 'cock-ips'- anyone ever been involved in proof-reading? Or poor writing of 'Orders'- like Cucumber's or Collies?

Personally I never warmed to Didcot Parkway- Bristol Parkway ok. Maybe if there were a Didcot City or similar.

Sad to have lost such individualities as Paragon, Priory, Promenade, however understandable and logical the rationale.

Oxenholme the Lake District (for Kendal?) ...

Enough from me, for now ...such fun ;)
 
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mmh

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That's a rather broad statement! I've heard and seen both used interchangeably (London included or not) on both sides of the river. Generally I think depends on the type of user and whether the TOC adds/omits it in passenger information systems. Thameslink I've noticed don't tend to use 'London' for the terminals which I imagine is because it's a through service.

Not convinced by that, but neither sure that they do. "Calling at London Bridge, London Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon, London St Pancras International," is however engrained in my mind after hearing it so many thousands of times!

In other station name news, I noticed today that Avanti's redo of the awful announcement system on Voyagers is terrible at being bilingual. Virgin changed it years ago to announce the next stop about five minutes before arrival, which now means if it's a close enough stop you only get an announcement in Welsh. Dim problem? Hmm, no. Word for word systems are terrible when faced with a language with mutations of a word's first syllable. In happier news, the displays and announcements on TFW's marvellous Mk4s correctly tell you you're arriving "yng Ngyffordd Llandudno," not "yn Cyffordd Llandudno." ("in Llandudno Junction" correctly, vs. a spillchucker translation)
 

Horizon22

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Not convinced by that, but neither sure that they do. "Calling at London Bridge, London Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon, London St Pancras International," is however engrained in my mind after hearing it so many thousands of times!

Perhaps that's true but I swear I've heard or seen "Blackfriars" & "St Pancras International" before on their own.
 

mrcheek

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People referring to historical suffix still survive here and there. You used to get people in Bolton referring to "Trinity Street" Station.
This isnt confined to railways of course.
Plenty of people still refer to Midland Bank. Or go shopping in Safeway.
 

The exile

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There are no fewer than 19 stations in the Bristol area with more to come, though technically some are in S Glos. If I were to say I was going down the station for a while, it would be because I was going down to Lawrence Hill (been my local station for many years despite several home moves). Hence I would always say that I was going down TM if I was off to Temple Meads.
Interestingly - the GWR dispensed with the suffix on the tiled walls of the new platforms at TM in the 1930s. I think the same applies at Cardiff (no “General”)
 

FenMan

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I would quite like to see the "Main" suffix (which is the best translation we have of "Haupt") normalised as there's several places I feel it would be useful. Currently I believe the only ones using it are Dorking and Farnborough.

All the signage at Farnborough (Main) says "Farnborough" as do the road signs, excepting the walking route signs from Farnborough North that do say "Farnborough Main".
 

BrianW

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The auto announcer at Cambridge announces "Farringdon Underground"
In a way that makes a kind of sense, if somewhat abbreviated- if it's intending to convey that it can be easier to 'change' to 'the underground' at Farringdon than e.g. at St Pancras, for some destinations ;)
 

thenorthern

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Given it's still the United Kingdom the station sometimes known as "Waterside" and the "North West Transport Hub" in Derry~Londonderry, Northern Ireland is well complex.

A lot of the former Midland Stations such as Derby, Nottingham, Chesterfield and Loughborough are often still called "Midland" even though the suffix is redundant.
 
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