fkofilee
Member
- Joined
- 19 Jul 2015
- Messages
- 167
Fareham / Farnham
“A decond class return to Dottingham, please”.My mum (with a cold) once asked for a ticket to Newark Castle and was sold one to Newcastle
Newton, Newton-on-Ayr, Newton for Hyde, Newton-le-Willows. The possibilities are endless!Neilston and Newton. Not only similar sounding but similar intermediate stops depending on the route. To avoid confusion, one of them (I think Neilston) shows as <Neilston> on the board at Glasgow Central.
I heard of someone coming to job interview at a location near Wokingham actually travelling to Woking.
Wilmcote and Wilnecote
I've known someone travelling from Waterloo to Fareham who actually ended up on the Waterloo to Farnham train!Fareham / Farnham
Have heard a story that a person got off the train at Stratford Upon Avon with a ticket for Stratford London. So the story goes he was waiting for a Marylebone train at B'ham Moor St and a train arrived saying Stratford, thought his luck was in with a direct train.Not *quite* sure if this one counts but
The Lakes mostly shows in journey planners nowadays as The Lakes (Warks). There's stories from older conductors of American tourists asking for a ticket to "The Lakes", expecting the lake district and ending up in the midlands!
As a bit of light entertainment during a very busy week, I thought I would start this one. Any easily confused station names - preferably real life experiences not hypothetical ones. Probably most will date back to the days before online ticket sales were common!
- Sunbury and Sudbury - Over 15 years ago, I asked for a day return at Woolwich Arsenal and said Sunbury but was issued a ticket to Sudbury (I thought it looked a bit expensive). I noticed when they gave me the ticket, and agreed to re-issue it (correctly). A case of not listening carefully! Or clarifying which county it was in.
- Pollokshaws West and Pollokshields West - even confused by booking offices often according to a guard. At least 5 years ago, there was an unofficial easement to mutually accept tickets from Glasgow to these stations (we got Pollokshields West tickets and were going to Pollokshaws West!) - staff thought it was normal. Hopefully it persists but never official, just a staff agreement. Probably one should be West before the name and the other after!