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The Name First...

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starrymarkb

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Seems to cause confusing with the public...

So far today at work I've heard them referred to as.

First Direct (no that's a bank)
First Choice (that's a holiday company)
First National

What other mangled names for TOCs (not just First) have you heard - and by mangled I don't mean things like Worst Late Western or Vermin as thought has gone into those names as insults
 
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BestWestern

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Well I guess "One" would be the obvious, err, one...

"Platform one for the 15.01 One service to...."

What a silly idea that was :|

I agree that First does cause confusion, the most obvious one we see on board is people thinking that it refers to First Class, which happens frequently. Not especially helpful putting the branding on the internal sliding doors really :roll:
 

dvboy

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Still hear CrossCountry called Virgin and LM called Central trains, as well as "London Midlands" or sometimes "Centro" thinking the PTE is the same as the train company.

It's not just the public that gets names wrong. Network Rail at BHM called National Express West Midlands, "WMT Buses" and the Midland Metro "Metrolink" on display boards recently.

Old names just stick with some people. My dad recently referred to the regional news programme as "ATV Today". It hasn't been ATV since before I was born.
 

LE Greys

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My godfather called the Glasgow suburban service the "Blue Train" all his life, despite the fact that the trains went orange and brown, then blood and custard for several decades. Pity he didn't live a few more years, then he would have seen them go blue again.
 

philjo

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Well I guess "One" would be the obvious, err, one...

"Platform one for the 15.01 One service to...."

At Cambridge there was the potential for possible confusion if someone asked which is the first one to London? ...

is this the first First
the first One
or the next train ?

At least that scenario no longer applies!



A lot of people still refer to East coast services as GNER.
 

cuccir

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I had to explain to a friend at a TVM that a 'cross country' only ticket referred to a train company and was not a description referring to all the long distance trains which 'cross' the country!
 

HawkeyeTheNoo

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My godfather called the Glasgow suburban service the "Blue Train" all his life, despite the fact that the trains went orange and brown, then blood and custard for several decades. Pity he didn't live a few more years, then he would have seen them go blue again.

Same as my parents and because of that me, I've called them that all my life, through every livery change much to my children's bafflement! :lol:
 

pemma

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West Yorkshire stations used to have announcements saying "Platform 1 for the Metro Train service to Leeds"
 

Schnellzug

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Still hear CrossCountry called Virgin and LM called Central trains, as well as "London Midlands" or sometimes "Centro" thinking the PTE is the same as the train company.

It's not just the public that gets names wrong. Network Rail at BHM called National Express West Midlands, "WMT Buses" and the Midland Metro "Metrolink" on display boards recently.

Old names just stick with some people. My dad recently referred to the regional news programme as "ATV Today". It hasn't been ATV since before I was born.

People round here call the local buses Southern National, and the trains are Southern Region. :-/
 

BestWestern

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Thameslink still turns up every now and then, but at least it's still the name of the route.

Yep, I still refer to 'FCC' as Thameslink. It sounds much better, and as you say it does still have links with the route. God only knows why they allowed the Flying F to change it. Not only does the new name sound daft but it's a bit of a mouthful too! :roll:
 

Badger

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To be fair, London Midland 150s were actually in "Centro livery", I can see how they'd get confused. All my friends think LM = Centro though.
 

Mojo

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I don't ever recall the Toc 'one' being a problem. It was quite clearly distinguished from the time on the auto announcements.
 

tsr

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Yep, I still refer to 'FCC' as Thameslink. It sounds much better, and as you say it does still have links with the route. God only knows why they allowed the Flying F to change it. Not only does the new name sound daft but it's a bit of a mouthful too! :roll:

I know it is explicitly not the point of this thread, but I shall plough ahead and mention that I think "First Capital Connect" is a stupid name because you can make so many silly and facetious names out of it. For example, "Worst Capital Connect", "First Cr*pital Connect", "First Capital Punishment" (my personal name for them), etc.
 

LE Greys

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Yep, I still refer to 'FCC' as Thameslink. It sounds much better, and as you say it does still have links with the route. God only knows why they allowed the Flying F to change it. Not only does the new name sound daft but it's a bit of a mouthful too! :roll:

And it's included in several stations on the route. Of course, my section is not Thameslink (that's a Midland/Southern thing) so we tend to use FCC. Or WAGN if we're being forgetful...
 

thelem

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The passenger train, operated by Arriva was delayed by a coal train for an Areva power station, but they claimed for the delay with Aviva. :roll:

Nothing to do with rail, but if you're looking for the most repetitively confusing sentence, I don't think you can beat:

James, while John had had "had", had had "had had"; "had had" had had a better effect on the teacher.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Yep, I still refer to 'FCC' as Thameslink. It sounds much better, and as you say it does still have links with the route. God only knows why they allowed the Flying F to change it. Not only does the new name sound daft but it's a bit of a mouthful too! :roll:

They didn't change it. The old "Thameslink" route is still Thameslink, it's just now part of a larger franchise (First Capital Connect).

See http://www.thameslinkprogramme.co.uk/ including the speech bubble on the train window: "Transforming Thameslink"
 

Skimble19

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Yep, I still refer to 'FCC' as Thameslink. It sounds much better, and as you say it does still have links with the route. God only knows why they allowed the Flying F to change it. Not only does the new name sound daft but it's a bit of a mouthful too! :roll:
Because FCC includes the GN route, which isn't Thameslink perhaps? :lol:
And it's included in several stations on the route. Of course, my section is not Thameslink (that's a Midland/Southern thing) so we tend to use FCC. Or WAGN if we're being forgetful...
Or if the PIS is having an eppy!
 

BestWestern

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Nothing to do with rail, but if you're looking for the most repetitively confusing sentence, I don't think you can beat:


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


They didn't change it. The old "Thameslink" route is still Thameslink, it's just now part of a larger franchise (First Capital Connect).

Fair point, but I still think some sort of TL branding ought to have been retained on the relevant route and stock, the overall impression held by many is that First simply wanted to change the name and stick their branding all over it :|
 

Schnellzug

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Wasn't First Capital Connect originally created as part of what was originally called (but for some reason [i wonder why] isn't any more), Thameslink 2000, so that the original idea was that Thameslink and GN would be connected?
 

LE Greys

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Wasn't First Capital Connect originally created as part of what was originally called (but for some reason [i wonder why] isn't any more), Thameslink 2000, so that the original idea was that Thameslink and GN would be connected?

Well, the original idea was that it would be finished by the year 2000. :roll:
 

starrymarkb

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Today I got a new one at work - I want the "National Westminster" Bus... They meant First... :roll:
 
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