Train Station

[Goatboy]

I notice more and more signage directing you to the 'Train Station' instead of the 'Railway Station'.

The latest are in Bath - formal blue signage with BR logo directing you to the 'Train Station'.

When did the 'Railway Station' become the 'Train Station'?

 

[GB]

No offense, but like the datum plate, this topic has been done to death.

 

[EM2]

When did 'the station' become 'the railway station'?
I'd be willing to lay decent money that almost all roads called Station Road (or a variant thereof) are so named because of a railway station.

 

[6Gman]

I notice more and more signage directing you to the 'Train Station' instead of the 'Railway Station'.

The latest are in Bath - formal blue signage with BR logo directing you to the 'Train Station'.

When did the 'Railway Station' become the 'Train Station'?

I saw a graph which plotted the use of "railway station" and "train station" in the press.

If I recall correctly, up until c.2000 it was something like 95% RS v 5% TS.

Then one line turned upward and the other downward until it was about 50-50 by c.2012.

FWIW I'm very firmly of the view that RS is the correct British English form and that TS is American (and Australian?) usage. I assume that ever-increasing American influence in the media (films, TV, on-line) has driven the change. There also seems to be an age difference: over-60s use RS, under-40s use TS.

 

[Goatboy]

I'd seen it used in the media lots for ages but I thought official council installed signage might remain safe..

 

[J-2739]

If people keep getting worked up on this, they need to find better cake.

 

[HowardGWR]

No offense, but like the datum plate, this topic has been done to death.

For someone with a GB monniker, well, see the bold above!!

That is yank for 'offence' and so is 'train station'.

We English go to a railway station, buy a railway ticket and get on a railway train, which travels on a railway line.

 

[L&Y Robert]

For someone with a GB monniker, well, see the bold above!!

That is yank for 'offence' and so is 'train station'.

We English go to a railway station, buy a railway ticket and get on a railway train, which travels on a railway line.

And the "Bus Station"? Should be the - er - Roadway Station?

 

[AlterEgo]

For someone with a GB monniker, well, see the bold above!!

That is yank for 'offence' and so is 'train station'.

We English go to a railway station, buy a railway ticket and get on a railway train, which travels on a railway line.

Or even, "moniker".

 

[theageofthetra]

Out of interest does any internal TFL correspondence/publicity refer to Underground stations as train stations since US railway terms are commonly used on the Underground?

 

[Phil.]

I notice more and more signage directing you to the 'Train Station' instead of the 'Railway Station'.

The latest are in Bath - formal blue signage with BR logo directing you to the 'Train Station'.

When did the 'Railway Station' become the 'Train Station'?

It's rather like asking, "when did signing become signage"?

I rather like this one that's here in Pz. Short and to the point - if not 22 years late.

 

[theageofthetra]

Whilst on the subject of railway terminologies-does any rail system other than Japans refer to ticket gatelines as wickets? -much to my cricketing amusement on recent trip. Incidently their 'wickets' are always open and only spring shut if you try and walk through and your Suica/Pasmo card hasn't been read properly- leading to an inadvertent 'googly' if you are unlucky and a gentleman of western height!

 

[6Gman]

And the "Bus Station"? Should be the - er - Roadway Station?

No.

Somebody did explain to me why, but I can't remember the detail.

 

[Master29]

Makes sense when you bear in mind most towns will have a bus station as well and not always anywhere near the train station.

 

[hexagon789]

Technically Train Station is wrong in US English too, the term being railroad station.

 

[EM2]

Technically Train Station is wrong in US English too, the term being railroad station.

Isn't it often 'depot' or 'terminal'?

 

[hexagon789]

True, I meant more the direct equivalent really if Railway Station, but yes depot and terminal are pretty common, Grand Central Terminal immediately springs to mind.

 

[6Gman]

And the "Bus Station"? Should be the - er - Roadway Station?

No.

I'll try to explain.

Railway station was coined in the 19th Century and was pretty well universally used in the UK until the 1970s, and generally used until at least the mid 1990s because it was the location (station) at which you accessed the services of the railway company. Not just to catch a (passenger) train, but to despatch (or collect) a parcel, or items of freight [bearing in mind that in those common carrier days freight wasn't something despatched by huge companies but by local traders and even private individuals].

Bus stations - which, I believe, were virtually unknown before the 1920s - were the locations where you accessed the services of the bus company. Principally as a passenger, but in some cases to despatch/ collect parcels.

Railway station - railway company.
Bus station - bus company.

It is an error to try to force the word station into a set of rules or analogy.

If train station is correct because it's where you catch a train, or bus station where you catch a bus, please explain fire station, petrol station, or space station.

 

[Busaholic]

It's rather like asking, "when did signing become signage"?

I rather like this one that's here in Pz. Short and to the point - if not 22 years late.

There are still signs to the heliport in the Penzance area. Would confuse the shoppers in Sainsburys if a helicopter came whirring in to its old location!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

No.



If train station is correct because it's where you catch a train, or bus station where you catch a bus, please explain fire station, petrol station, or space station.

Ambulance station seems to be getting replaced by ambulance depot.

 

[Mordac]

I wish people would get off their prescriptivist high horse and realize language evolves. Both phrases are perfectly fine, as long as the receiver of the message can understand the meaning behind the statement. I'll hazard a guess that that is true of 100% of the people complaining about it.

 

[herschell]

I use the term "railway station" particularly when Googling a station for information about it but I'm also quite happy with the term "train station" though I'll use the former more myself and when telling someone I'm going there.

 

[randyrippley]

Buses stop at at BUS station
Police (and their cars) stop at a POLICE station
Fire Engines stop at a FIRE station
Ambulances stop at an AMBULANCE station
So where do trains stop? Logically at a TRAIN station.

Railways don't stop at stations, they carry on. Except at terminii, but they're called terminii.

 

[Phil.]

I wish people would get off their prescriptivist high horse and realize language evolves. Both phrases are perfectly fine, as long as the receiver of the message can understand the meaning behind the statement. I'll hazard a guess that that is true of 100% of the people complaining about it.

Yes it does evolve but currently the English language is evolving into a series of adverbs and portmanteau words which fail to address the scope of the communication.
A fine example is the now universal "take".
We used to have thoughts, ideas, interpretations, versions. Now we just have takes.
We used to use the word "about" as in, "it was about three hundred". Now it's, "it was like three hundred". "I was like walking down the road to..." was one I heard on the number 2 bus to Helston on Thursday. In fact, if I had been given a pound for every time that the teen couple used the word "like" I'd have had enough money for a decent night out.
Anyway, it's still railway station.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

And the "Bus Station"? Should be the - er - Roadway Station?

"Omnibus Station", perchance?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Ambulance station seems to be getting replaced by ambulance depot.

However, in certain hospitals, there are "Nurses Station" clearly marked as such.

 

[takno]

Ambulance station seems to be getting replaced by ambulance depot.

Increasingly that's how they work. A lot of times the ambulances will spend their shifts strategically scattered around the covered area to minimize response times, and only return to the depot for shift changes etc.

 

[6Gman]

Buses stop at at BUS station
Police (and their cars) stop at a POLICE station
Fire Engines stop at a FIRE station
Ambulances stop at an AMBULANCE station
So where do trains stop? Logically at a TRAIN station.

Railways don't stop at stations, they carry on. Except at terminii, but they're called terminii.

I refer the Hon Member to my explanation above.

Historically the railway station was about more than catching trains.

Incidentally, but possibly irrelevantly, I note that the use of train station has coincided with the move toward 'Train Operating Companies' rather than the previous British Rail / British Railways / Railway Companies.

 

[GB]

I refer the Hon Member to my explanation above.

Historically the railway station was about more than catching trains.

Incidentally, but possibly irrelevantly, I note that the use of train station has coincided with the move toward 'Train Operating Companies' rather than the previous British Rail / British Railways / Railway Companies.

Historically maybe...but we no longer live in such historical times so I fail to see why "Train Station" should not be excepted as an alternative.

 

[Mag_seven]

I wish people would get off their prescriptivist high horse and realize language evolves. Both phrases are perfectly fine, as long as the receiver of the message can understand the meaning behind the statement. I'll hazard a guess that that is true of 100% of the people complaining about it.

No I'm quite happy to stay on my "high horse" to defend against the constant dumbing-down and Americanisation of my language. Its "railway station" - end of.

 

[Mordac]

No I'm quite happy to stay on my "high horse" to defend against the constant dumbing-down and Americanisation of my language. Its "railway station" - end of.

I don't see how train station is an Americanism, and regardless of that, the UK does not own the English language. Nor do I see how saying "train station" rather than "railway station" is dumber--except in the very narrow sense that it allows pedants on the internet to feel a sense of superiority over anyone who uses it, despite its meaning being perfectly clear.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

No I'm quite happy to stay on my "high horse" to defend against the constant dumbing-down and Americanisation of my language. Its "railway station" - end of.

As one who wishes to defend the English language against "dumbing-down", how in terms of grammar would you classify the use of the last two words in your quote above?