London calling

[matchmaker]

Yes

In the same way we have airports miles from London claining to be a London Airport eg
London Southend and London Oxford

And "Glasgow Prestwick" despite being 30 miles from Glasgow!

 

[Lockwood]

I would argue that Fenchurch Street is one of four stations that people don't need reminding is in London, along with Liverpool Street, Kings Cross and Marly-that one.



Let's take this down a different path, if we are debating putting the "London" prefix on station names? London Underground has it covered. Mainline don't, other than London Midland.

"Welcome on board this South West Trains service to London Waterloo, calling at London Chessington North, London Tolworth, London Malden Manor, London Motspur Park, London Raynes Park, London Wimbledon, London Earlsfield, London Clapham Junction, London Vauxhall and London Waterloo"

"Welcome on board this South West Trains service to London Waterloo, calling at London Hounslow, London Isleworth, London Syon Lane, London Brentford, London Kew Bridge, London Chiswick, London Barnes Bridge, London Barnes, London Putney, London Wandsworth Town, London Clapham Junction, London Queenstown Road, London Vauxhall and London Waterloo"

That way leads to insanity.

 

[TheKnightWho]

I would argue that Fenchurch Street is one of four stations that people don't need reminding is in London, along with Liverpool Street, Kings Cross and Marly-that one.



Let's take this down a different path, if we are debating putting the "London" prefix on station names? London Underground has it covered. Mainline don't, other than London Midland.

"Welcome on board this South West Trains service to London Waterloo, calling at London Chessington North, London Tolworth, London Malden Manor, London Motspur Park, London Raynes Park, London Wimbledon, London Earlsfield, London Clapham Junction, London Vauxhall and London Waterloo"

"Welcome on board this South West Trains service to London Waterloo, calling at London Hounslow, London Isleworth, London Syon Lane, London Brentford, London Kew Bridge, London Chiswick, London Barnes Bridge, London Barnes, London Putney, London Wandsworth Town, London Clapham Junction, London Queenstown Road, London Vauxhall and London Waterloo"

That way leads to insanity.

As has been stated above, this applies to principle stations only.

The relevant thing here is the catchment area of the station. The large London termini have a catchment area over the entire city, whereas clearly smaller local ones don't.

 

[Lockwood]

Mmm hmmm.

I'd just like to see the look on the commuters' faces as they have to listen to that twice daily.

 

[mister-sparky]

I would argue that Fenchurch Street is one of four stations that people don't need reminding is in London, along with Liverpool Street, Kings Cross and Marly-that one.



Let's take this down a different path, if we are debating putting the "London" prefix on station names? London Underground has it covered. Mainline don't, other than London Midland.

"Welcome on board this South West Trains service to London Waterloo, calling at London Chessington North, London Tolworth, London Malden Manor, London Motspur Park, London Raynes Park, London Wimbledon, London Earlsfield, London Clapham Junction, London Vauxhall and London Waterloo"

"Welcome on board this South West Trains service to London Waterloo, calling at London Hounslow, London Isleworth, London Syon Lane, London Brentford, London Kew Bridge, London Chiswick, London Barnes Bridge, London Barnes, London Putney, London Wandsworth Town, London Clapham Junction, London Queenstown Road, London Vauxhall and London Waterloo"

That way leads to insanity.

AFAIK that's exactly what happens in Germany. The "local" stations within a city are known as "City-locality". For example, Dortmund-Dorstfeld, Dortmund-Mengede etc in Dortmund. It happens all over.

 

[30907]

AFAIK that's exactly what happens in Germany. The "local" stations within a city are known as "City-locality". For example, Dortmund-Dorstfeld, Dortmund-Mengede etc in Dortmund. It happens all over.

But the S-Bahns (and Regional trains for that matter) only announce the next stop (and the destination?).

 

[Muzer]

Yeah - I was going to mention that, the pattern in this country is not to use the city prefix (in most cases) on stations that probably won't be used for much more than local journeys (or in some cases for interchange). See St. James' Park (Exeter), all the local London stations, etc.

 

[Railsigns]

AFAIK that's exactly what happens in Germany. The "local" stations within a city are known as "City-locality". For example, Dortmund-Dorstfeld, Dortmund-Mengede etc in Dortmund. It happens all over.

If we adopted the Russian system here, King's Cross and Liverpool Street stations might be named "Edinburgh station" and "Norwich station", respectively (to give just two examples).

 

[Deerfold]

As has been stated above, this applies to principle stations only.

Are these stations with particularly high moral standards?

 

[TEW]

Yeah - I was going to mention that, the pattern in this country is not to use the city prefix (in most cases) on stations that probably won't be used for much more than local journeys (or in some cases for interchange). See St. James' Park (Exeter), all the local London stations, etc.

St James' Park is one which might usefully have Exeter added as it is the destination of some services from Paignton, Barnstaple and Okehampton. Having the destination as Exeter St James' Park might be useful to indicate the train is going to Exeter.

 

[Jonny]

St James' Park is one which might usefully have Exeter added as it is the destination of some services from Paignton, Barnstaple and Okehampton. Having the destination as Exeter St James' Park might be useful to indicate the train is going to Exeter.

Bearing in mind that LU has a similarly-named station, and that there is a football stadium in Newcastle-upon-Tyne called St. James' Park (with the associated TW Metro Station called St James), it is necessary to make it clear which St James' Park is being referred to.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

People DID know the stations were in London. My dad when he went down to the smoke always went to Euston, never "London" Euston. To my mind, it's all part of the modern aggrandisement of the capital and its economic dominance.

Euston does sound more than a bit like Ouston, which is the name of at least two different settlements in North-East England.

 

[imagination]

I vote we get rid of the town/city name on every station, so at Leeds we can have trains announced to "Interchange". Let the tourists work out whether they end up in Bradford or Barnsley.

We shouldn't specify a town name with "Central" either. Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool or Gainsborough, you decide.

And a train from London to Cardiff would go Paddington - General - Parkway - Junction - Parkway (again?) - South Wales - Central

 

[LBSCR Times]

Stations on the former Southern Region had destination finger boards that just gave Waterloo, Victoria etc, and even when they were updated from the old green ones to the later black and white versions, this continued.

Even many official documents referred to the London termini in such a way too.

 

[aylesbury2]

Has any foreign tourist got on the Piccadilly line at Heathrow and travelled all the way to Cockfosters waiting for a station with "London" in it's name? The common sense answer to station naming is that platform signage should tell you where you are (i.e. town or city name) while the name on the front of the station does not need to mention the town or city since it can be assumed that people who are in the place know where they are (so, Birmingham New Street on the platform, but just New Street Station over the entrance).

I've seen some poor tourists trying to get from Marylebone to Bicester Village getting on a MYB-BMO/BSW train which is first stop Banbury (although they are rare) and getting stuck either there, Moor Street or Snow Hill (last stop when they eventually realise something is wrong) to the extent that Chiltern now use their second digital information board underneath the main one with "Next service to Bicester Village is xx : xx" displayed.

I think it's unacceptable for the company behind Bicester Village to advertise it as being in London on their website, it's a good 64+ mile trek down the M40 or a 40 minute+ rail journey.

 

[GatwickDepress]

Mmm hmmm.

I'd just like to see the look on the commuters' faces as they have to listen to that twice daily.

I don't think anyone's wanting to affix "London" to more stations, let alone suburban ones. Otherwise we may as well have Eastbourne Hampden Park or Brighton London Road (Brighton) - tongue firmly in cheek there.

 

[455driver]

Mmm hmmm.

I'd just like to see the look on the commuters' faces as they have to listen to that twice daily.

Think of the poor bloomin guards listening to it 10 or more times a day!

 

[Skimpot flyer]

It's the same with airports, Luton is known as London Luton, London Stansted etc.

Is this because people think by sticking London in front of a name it makes it better or more important ?

All seems pretty daft and unnecessary to me.

It's all about perspective.
I used to think along similar lines re London Luton, London Stansted. But when you're flying from, say, Barcelona or Munich to London, looking down from the air, and seeing the speed at which an aircraft can fly between central London and either of those airports, the perceived 'distance' in terms of minutes, is relatively short, and thus the 'London' prefix makes sense.

One could just as easily argue that London Paddington is in fact not close at all to the City of London

The City is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of the London region, though it remains a notable part of central London. It holds city status in its own right and is also a separate ceremonial county.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I think it's unacceptable for the company behind Bicester Village to advertise it as being in London on their website, it's a good 64+ mile trek down the M40 or a 40 minute+ rail journey.

They say in the main body of the text that it's an hour from London, though the list does show it as "London Bicester". But then they also think that Ingolstadt is in Munich, so they obviously have Ryanair's sense of geography.

 

[Greenback]

In the 1970's we stayed in Croydon with relatives, and I'm sure that our daily trek to the sights of central London began with a journey on a train to a station that was announced as London Victoria. One day we travelled on a different service, but it wasn't described as going to London London Bridge.

As far as I can recall, from my earliest remembered railway journey, trains to London from Swansea were always referred to as going to London Paddington.

Of course, staff and passengers often used the abbreviated versions in conversation!

 

[Lockwood]

Think of the poor bloomin guards listening to it 10 or more times a day!

They're going to be too busy reading the paper/sleeping to notice :P

 

[aylesbury2]

They say in the main body of the text that it's an hour from London, though the list does show it as "London Bicester". But then they also think that Ingolstadt is in Munich, so they obviously have Ryanair's sense of geography.

Haha!

For some unsuspecting tourist who doesn't speak much English, isn't familiar with where the small, market town of Bicester is in England (which they undoubtedly won't be) is or are relying on an online translator, it will be tough to differentiate between where Bicester is in relation to London - the website really does make it sound as if they're the same place.

There's not an awful lot in Bicester (a small town) except a huge shopping village which attracts international tourists - I can't understand why, everything there is a pretentious rip-off. They also blacken out the windows of the shuttle bus between BCS and Bicester village so the visitors can't see what the town is really like, and how far away from London it is - it's not entitely a fabricated shopping village.

 

[Deerfold]

Staying as I often do, in Youth Hostels in London, I'm surprised by how many visitors have a day at Bicester Shopping Village on their itinerary.

I popped in once (when in the area) and was underwhelmed. I think my wife bought some smelly soap.

 

[aylesbury2]

Staying as I often do, in Youth Hostels in London, I'm surprised by how many visitors have a day at Bicester Shopping Village on their itinerary.

I popped in once (when in the area) and was underwhelmed. I think my wife bought some smelly soap.

It causes so many problems for Bicester residents as well (believe me I know a lot of then) - the traffic most days is ridiculous because of it, journeys can take 30 minutes to clear from the town centre to the A34 which is a distance less than a mile. It also raises the prices of train/bus tickets at both BCS and BIT and parking to an unaffordably high level.

They are also extending the so-called 'village', in doing so knocking down a Tesco that was built in 1990, creating a lot of annoyance, inconvenience, waste and pollution. It's completely unnecessary.

However, I suppose it does bring a few jobs to the area an the BIT-MYB llink probably wouldn't have happened without it as the two are in very close proximity, passenger numbers have rocketed in the last 5/6 years or so

 

[cjp]

It causes so many problems for Bicester residents as well (believe me I know a lot of then) - the traffic most days is ridiculous because of it, journeys can take 30 minutes to clear from the town centre to the A34 which is a distance less than a mile. It also raises the prices of train/bus tickets at both BCS and BIT and parking to an unaffordably high level.

They are also extending the so-called 'village', in doing so knocking down a Tesco that was built in 1990, creating a lot of annoyance, inconvenience, waste and pollution. It's completely unnecessary.

The Tesco has taken a knock from from the new much larger centre of town Sainsbury - which also provides free parking for the town centre and the smaller town centre Tesco

 

[Kite159]

Staying as I often do, in Youth Hostels in London, I'm surprised by how many visitors have a day at Bicester Shopping Village on their itinerary.

I popped in once (when in the area) and was underwhelmed. I think my wife bought some smelly soap.

Whenever I've done the Chiltern services, the train fills up pretty well (and empties) when it reaches Bicester.

 

[muddythefish]

I've seen some poor tourists trying to get from

I think it's unacceptable for the company behind Bicester Village to advertise it as being in London on their website, it's a good 64+ mile trek down the M40 or a 40 minute+ rail journey.

I didn't know that, but it's exactly the sort of nonsense I was trying to point out when I started the thread.

I travelled with the commuter herd from Peterborough to King's Cross today, and the train announcement constantly referred to it as London King's Cross as if the people who make the journey every day don't know where it is.

Irritates me intensely but it seems some people think it's acceptable.

 

[Muzer]

For the record, I'm not in favour of calling things nowhere near a place and not even intended to serve a place the name of that place, like a few of the examples given. Where the railway stations mentioned differ is that they are actually IN (or at least very close to, depending on your exact definition) London.

If we started calling railway stations London Oxford, London Reading, etc. then I'd see your point

 

[Starmill]

It's the same with airports, Luton is known as London Luton, London Stansted etc.

Is this because people think by sticking London in front of a name it makes it better or more important ?

All seems pretty daft and unnecessary to me.

If the Airports weren't called that people wouldn't think they served London. Look at Stansted on a map; doesn't look like it serves the capital all that well anyway does it?

And did they say "This train is for Bridge." back then?

Maybe we should omit the place name form other group stations. "Piccadilly" "Snow Hill" "Victoria" "Oxford Road" - how about just "East" or "West"? The locals will know what the stop after Dinsdale is if you just call it West, now won't they?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The rule does get broken sometimes.
VT's Voyagers insist on putting up "Euston" on the front, not "London Euston", even when there is space for it (like all those signs on the A1 saying "Peterbro'" when there is plenty of space to use "Peterborough").
"Euston" is also what gets auto-announced at Flint station at least.

At Earlestown and Newton le Willows, "Manchester Piccadilly" and "Manchester Victoria" have recently become just "Piccadilly" and "Victoria".
This is from the same voice ("Anne"?) who wouldn't dream of being so sloppy when she announces the same train at Liverpool Lime St.

A worrying change at some suburban Manchester stations too :/

 

[Tetchytyke]

There's not an awful lot in Bicester (a small town) except a huge shopping village which attracts international tourists - I can't understand why, everything there is a pretentious rip-off.

It might be a pretentious rip-off, but it is cheaper than they can buy the same things in China. Don't forget they can claim the VAT back at the airport.

I don't understand the appeal of it either, but then I've never understood the point of paying £500 for a handbag.

I travelled with the commuter herd from Peterborough to King's Cross today, and the train announcement constantly referred to it as London King's Cross as if the people who make the journey every day don't know where it is.

People travelling every day don't need any announcements at all. The announcements are for people who don't travel every day.

Is your annoyance just with London, or is it all towns? You have a "Central" or "Queen Street" or "Victoria" in more than one city.

And if we took your idea to the end we'd have this train calling at International, International and International before going on to West, Central and Priory.

 

[aylesbury2]

It might be a pretentious rip-off, but it is cheaper than they can buy the same things in China. Don't forget they can claim the VAT back at the airport.

Indeed, the company behind it have opened an equivalent of it in Shanghai (well not in it, on the very outskirts).