Trivia: Most ridiculously named station in UK

[thenorthern]

There was, I think, a plan to rename the 4 other MK stations to something similar to MK South/North etc. It never happened. MKC central is, however the central station for the town.

I know Telford Central which opened in 1986 had the Central suffix so people knew it served the center of the new town, I think I once read the same for Milton Keynes Central but I don't know if that is true.

 

[Mag_seven]

I know Telford Central which opened in 1986 had the Central suffix so people knew it served the center of the new town, I think I once read the same for Milton Keynes Central but I don't know if that is true.

Its a long walk up Midsummer Boulevard from the station to the main central area!

 

[CaptainHaddock]

Alnmouth station is located in Alnmouth

No it isn't, it's in the neighbouring village of Hipsburn. Alnmouth village is over a mile away from the station.

Dinsdale was named for the nearby Dinsdale Spa

Am I the only person who, when seeing the word Dinsdale, immediately thinks of Spiny Norman?

 

[DavidGrain]

There has been some discussion on here about Milton Keynes Central so I will repeat a comment I have made on another forum.

If you get off the train at Milton Keynes Central you then have to get a bus one mile to Central Milton Keynes. Then if you want Milton Keynes (the real place with that name) you have to get another bus 3 miles to Milton Keynes Village.

I know things have moved on since the 1970s when I used to travel at least once a week on the WCML to London but it those days I used to say that trains only stopped there on wet Tuesday evenings in winter, at least that is what it seemed like to me.

 

[DelW]

Bletchley has been called Bletchley long before Milton Keynes ever existed.

It's claimed that Milton Keynes (village) gained its name in the 12th century, when the lords of the manor added their name to an existing Saxon village name. However I know what you mean

Am I the only person who, when seeing the word Dinsdale, immediately thinks of Spiny Norman?

No, I had the exact same thought!

 

[DarloRich]

There has been some discussion on here about Milton Keynes Central so I will repeat a comment I have made on another forum.

If you get off the train at Milton Keynes Central you then have to get a bus one mile to Central Milton Keynes. Then if you want Milton Keynes (the real place with that name) you have to get another bus 3 miles to Milton Keynes Village.

I know things have moved on since the 1970s when I used to travel at least once a week on the WCML to London but it those days I used to say that trains only stopped there on wet Tuesday evenings in winter, at least that is what it seemed like to me.

well your comment on that thread is as wrong as it is on this thread! Take a look at the boundaries of the Central MK town council. It contains the central retail, business, law enforcement and governmental districts,railway station and around 2000 residential dwellings.

That area basically forms a box running along the A5>Portway>V8>Childs Way. The station is at the bottom and the shops near the top

 

[DavidGrain]

My local station is Rowley Regis. It used to be called Rowley Regis and Blackheath until someone sitting in an office in Paddington in the days of BR Western Region decided to go through all the stations with two names and delete the second name. This was OK with Cradey Heath and Cradley two stations down the line where it was always said that one platform was in Cradley Heath Staffordshire and the other was in Cradley Worcestershire. But Rowley Regis station is in Blackheath, although when it was built that was debatable as it was in the next county. Even now there are parts in two separate boroughs.

 

[och aye]

Edinburgh Gateway, its not Edinburgh as such and its certainly not a gateway...

What do you mean by: "its not in Edinburgh as such" ?

 

[DavidGrain]

Deleted

 

[DanTrain]

Grindleford, Bootle, Dinsdale, Uphall and Alnmouth all stations named after small places but are located in or nearest to another place.

Grindleford is in Nether Padley, but this is a smaller and lesser known place than the village of Grindleford, so perfectly reasonable.

 

[Mr Fizz]

Sandwell and Dudley. Sandwell is a made up politicians name for the local authority and nobody outside if the west midlands knows where it is. Plus the station is nowhere near Dudley. Should really be called West Bromwich and Oldbury.

 

[U-Bahnfreund]

Furze Platt has already been named, but I’m not sure whether for the same reason – Furz (imperative of the verb and dative Furze) is German for fart.

 

[gg1]

Sandwell and Dudley. Sandwell is a made up politicians name for the local authority and nobody outside if the west midlands knows where it is. Plus the station is nowhere near Dudley. Should really be called West Bromwich and Oldbury.

My dad still refers to it as Oldbury Station 30+ years after it was renamed.

 

[gg1]

I know Telford Central which opened in 1986 had the Central suffix so people knew it served the center of the new town, I think I once read the same for Milton Keynes Central but I don't know if that is true.

Wellington was for a time known as Wellington - Telford West

 

[theageofthetra]

Stations on the Marston Vale Line seem to have weird names. Aspley Guise, Fenny Stratford, Woburn Sands, etc...

Also there's Bat & Ball, who names a station that?

Named after a long closed pub. The area is still called Bat & Ball locally.

 

[DavidGrain]

My dad still refers to it as Oldbury Station 30+ years after it was renamed.

It was Oldbury (Bromford Lane) until rebuilt and renamed. The Bromford Lane bit was to avoid confusion with Langley Green Station which was then Oldbury and Langley Green. When BR (WR) went through changing the names of stations with two names this is one that they got right changing Oldbury and Langley Green to Langley Green.

What amuses me is that the code for Sandwell and Dudley is SAD but it could be worst, Selly Oak which is also a station I use frequently is SLY

 

[Scotrail84]

What do you mean by: "its not in Edinburgh as such" ?

Its not Edinburgh, sh**e name for a station and a sh**e location, not to mention passenger numbers have fell well below expectations. Waste of money.

 

[cin88]

Dove Holes. Obviously named after the local village but I find it amusing that a place is effectively called water holes in the first place. A perfect example of literal naming.

Kearsley, it's actually in Stoneclough (splitting hairs there, as a local).

Penrith North Lakes is actually announced as "Penrith for the north Lakes" by the auto announcer. You can get a bus from there to the lakes. Although why you would when there's services to the Lake District from Preston and Lancaster.

 

[GatwickDepress]

There was, I think, a plan to rename the 4 other MK stations to something similar to MK South/North etc. It never happened. MKC central is, however the central station for the town.

I've also heard similar, although I can't seem to find a source for it. There was a strong focus on local identity throughout the New Town development, so perhaps that's the reason why.

Stations on the Marston Vale Line seem to have weird names. Aspley Guise, Fenny Stratford, Woburn Sands, etc...

Kempston Hardwick, also on the Marston Vale, has even been used as the protagonist's name in a series of cozy detective novels!

 

[thenorthern]

I have always felt that Dorking Station is poorly named given that there is also Dorking Deepdeene and Dorking West.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Penrith North Lakes is actually announced as "Penrith for the north Lakes" by the auto announcer. You can get a bus from there to the lakes. Although why you would when there's services to the Lake District from Preston and Lancaster.

It is probably quicker to change at Penrith for Lake District destinations if you come at it from the north though. Similarly, I expect places in the northern reaches of the Lakes are easier to access from Penrith no matter which way you come at it from.

Both Penrith and Oxenholme's suffixes most likely also make life easier for the hoards of tourist (both domestic and foreign) who visit there.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

'University' in Birmingham. There are many universities in the UK, in fact there are 4 in Birmingham alone. It's especially ridiculous considering CrossCountry trains stop at the station which serve other cities which contain Universities too.

'Birmingham University' would be a much more appropriate title, or 'Edgbaston South' if that is deemed to still be too unclear.

Or you could call it by UoB's proper title, the University of Edgbaston

 

[delt1c]

The usual bog standard reply there from you Mr d

Another one down the pan Mr A. But never now it could drive some people "Round the bend"

 

[PermitToTravel]

South Greenford? It's about a mile north of Greenford!

 

[DavidGrain]

Its not Edinburgh, sh**e name for a station and a sh**e location, not to mention passenger numbers have fell well below expectations. Waste of money.

I went to Edinburgh Gateway on the tram just to look at the tram depot. The station appeared to be just to provide an interchange between the trains coming over the Forth Bridge and the tram line. I could not see any other point for it and surely any train passengers will continue to Haymarket or Waverley. The only use I can think is for people from Fife and further north to access Edinburgh Airport. Also the road to the station appears to continue as a well made private farm road.

This brings me to Haymarket as an odd name for a station. Should this not more properly be called Edinburgh Haymarket?

 

[gazthomas]

Besses o'th Barn formerly a rail station and now on Metrolink. My favourite bus stop is Crooked Usage, which is just off the A1 in Barnet. It would be a great name for a station.

I too was going to go for the former railway station of Besses oath Barn!

 

[gazthomas]

How about Scunthorpe and Clitheroe?

 

[DavidGrain]

well your comment on that thread is as wrong as it is on this thread! Take a look at the boundaries of the Central MK town council. It contains the central retail, business, law enforcement and governmental districts,railway station and around 2000 residential dwellings.

That area basically forms a box running along the A5>Portway>V8>Childs Way. The station is at the bottom and the shops near the top

I would define Central Milton Keynes as the InTu Shopping Centre which is where the main bus station is. However if you prefer to take the MK Civic Offices as the centre, I have measured that on Google Maps and it is a waking distance of either 0.9 miles or 1.0 mile depending on which route you take

 

[acned]

And I wonder how many passengers actually have a clue about any of this? Just casually asked a friend what he thinks would be meant by a station name including the word parkway, and his response was he’d assume the station was situated on a main road called parkway. Says it all really.

Parkway stations were a concept B.R. came up with. They were designed to entice passengers onto Inter-City routes by having easy motorway links and free parking.

 

[DavidGrain]

I assumed that a Parkway station was a park and ride for long distance train travellers. Perhaps I came to this conclusion because I was aware from my youth of two stations south of Birmingham where the London trains used to stop to pick up passengers from South Birmingham and the areas near Birmingham in Worcestershire and Warwickshire. These were Hampton in Arden on the New Street-Euston line and Knowle and Dorridge (now just Dorridge) on the Snow Hill-Paddington line. Nowadays Birmingham International serves this function for the New Street-Euston line.

Thinking about it, Birmingham International is a silly name for a domestic railway station. The only 'international' service that ever ran was the train which ran for a short time unsuccessfully as a feeder service to Waterloo for Eurostar. Even Birmingham Airport which it was built to serve has dropped International from its name. A more appropriate name would be Birmingham Airport-NEC (for National Exhibition Centre)