What would you do if you could rename any stations.

[Gareth]

Liverpool Lime Street > Liverpool London Road

... I'll get my coat!

 

[Altnabreac]

I've never liked Pollokshaws and Pollokshields East / West. Too many stations with similar names.

The best name for Pollokshaws East is probably Shawlands, but that is already taken!

So I'll go with:
Pollokshaws West - Pollok Country Park
Pollokshaws East - Newlandsfield
Pollokshields West - Strathbungo
Pollokshields East - Tramway

 

[Gareth]

I generally hate anything with 'Parkway' in it. To me, a parkway sounds like it should be a road that goes through a park, like Princess Parkway in Mario Kart 64.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Catford/Catford Bridge > Catford Central, merge these into one station, both are ridiculously close to one another

These are on two different lines and on different gradients so would be difficult merging the two.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

The "By Sea" and "On Sea" suffixes are pointless as nobody ever uses them. You won't find any person or business in these towns who actually uses the "By Sea" and "On Sea" suffixes. The railway is pretty much the only place that uses them.

I disagree...unless the station is a long way from the sea (i.e. Goring and Durrington for example).

And dropping Walton-on-the-Naze to just Walton is an insult as The Naze is an area of historical natural beauty (even though it is falling into the sea...)

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Personally i would rename all of the following stations:

• Ashford International -> Ashford (Kent)
•
• Gatwick Airport -> Gatwick Airport South Terminal
•

Ashford International used to be called just Ashford

Gatwick Airport South Terminal would be confusing and unwitting pax would be asking questions like "what train/platform do I take to Gatwick North Terminal?" Gatwick Airport is just fine and is internationally recognized

 

[mrcheek]

The "By Sea" and "On Sea" suffixes are pointless as nobody ever uses them. You won't find any person or business in these towns who actually uses the "By Sea" and "On Sea" suffixes. The railway is pretty much the only place that uses them.

Will this also apply to Weston-super-Mare?

 

[PeterC]

Mostly I would just leave things alone unless there was real confusion.

"Sea" and other suffixes are often because there are other locations with the same or similar name. For example there are three different stations around the country that I can think of with Burnham in the name.

 

[Ken H]

Will this also apply to Weston-super-Mare?

change it to weston super mud

and Grange over sands to grange over mud.

 

[Ken H]

Birmingham International to anything. many get off thinking its the main brum station.
Why not East Brmingham (For NEC and West Midlands Airport)

 

[LOL The Irony]

If the tram extension along the South Fylde line happens, Blackpool North to just Blackpool.

 

[Ianno87]

If the tram extension along the South Fylde line happens, Blackpool North to just Blackpool.

How I wish in English there was a neat equivalent to the German 'Hauptbahnhof' (Main Station)

Blackpool Hbf
Cambridge Hbf
Croydon Hbf

To name but a few!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Millbrook (Beds) to Marston Moretaine, as the latter is nearer and it would remove one of the confusing "doubled up" station names that occasionally cause issues such as on this thread:

https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...-ticket-and-fined-a-penalty-fare-also.174600/

Annoyingly, the other one that I'm aware of, Hope (Wrexham) and Hope (Derbyshire), don't have anywhere near the station to rename them to that isn't already the name of another station!

 

[Warwick]

Does then naming of stations in this manner not possibly date to when a lot of the leisure ttravel by rail was to go to the sea? Otherwise unless there iis an alternative non-on-sea town or station tthe suffix is pointless

. The best example for me being the G.W.R.'s re-naming of Ross to Ross on Wye to promote it's tourism. Shouldn't LUL's Kings Cross St Pancras be Kings Cross/St Pancras?

 

[NorthKent1989]

I think Ebbsfleet International should be renamed to Dartford International since the station I’m sure of lies in the Dartford borough and not the Gravesham borough

 

[Esker-pades]

I think Ebbsfleet International should be renamed to Dartford International since the station I’m sure of lies in the Dartford borough and not the Gravesham borough

It is quite a way outside Dartford though. Ebbsfleet is a reasonable description of the area, as the station has basically given its name to nearby housing developments.

 

[Wirewiper]

How I wish in English there was a neat equivalent to the German 'Hauptbahnhof' (Main Station)

Blackpool Hbf
Cambridge Hbf
Croydon Hbf

To name but a few!

'Central'?

Although probably not applicable to Exeter where Central refers to its location within the City rather than its being the main station.

 

[Ken H]

'Central'?

Although probably not applicable to Exeter where Central refers to its location within the City rather than its being the main station.

the main station isnt necessarily the central one. Liverpool central is nearer the city. but Lime St is the main.
Colchester?
Lichfield?
Glasgow?
Manchester - is Piccadilly the main or victoria? is Oxford the most central?
Wrexham?

So maybe 'Main station' is a good suffix, but not Manchester and Glasgow.

 

[Deerfold]

Personally i would rename all of the following stations:

• East Midlands Parkway -> East Midlands Airport

I don't think this would help. There's 5 miles between the two.

For passengers wanting to get to the airport by bus, Derby, Nottingham or Leicester are likely to be more useful, with more frequent train services.

Perhaps Ratcliffe on Soar Parkway might be better?

 

[Fearless]

I generally hate anything with 'Parkway' in it. To me, a parkway sounds like it should be a road that goes through a park, like Princess Parkway in Mario Kart 64.

Wasn't 'Parkway' originally intended to signify a station that was near somewhere but not actually in it, like a kind of park & ride for the railway? Tiverton Parkway springs to mind (near the location of the old Tiverton Junction, and not in Tiverton - it's actually in Burlescombe, 6 miles east of Tiverton).

The name I'd change is Didcot Parkway back to good old Didcot. The station is in the town, for heaven's sake. It just has a bigger car park than it used to.

 

[Deerfold]

Wasn't 'Parkway' originally intended to signify a station that was near somewhere but not actually in it, like a kind of park & ride for the railway?

Many of them were. Not sure you can expect our railways to always use the same rules though.

I used to use "Alfreton and Mansfield Parkway", now renamed simply "Alfreton" as Mansfield now has its own (two) stations.

 

[pdeaves]

I'd change Lichfield Trent Valley to Tamworth and vice versa, to confuse unwary travellers

In a similar vein, if I were dictator and could change names without fear of consequences I would name all the ones I deem most important after people I know. I wouldn't spoil their name by using any geographical element in the station name, either. As an example of how this would work, imagine a station called 'John Smith'. Nothing else. It may not help the travelling public but would sure make me popular with friends and family!

 

[LUYMun]

London Underground:
Baker Street (Circle, District, H&C) = Lower Baker Street - avoids confusion with the Bakerloo's
Battersea Power Station (when opens) = Battersea North
High Street Kensington = Kensington High Street
Camden Town = Camden Town (for London Zoo) - a lot closer than Regent's Park

 

[Esker-pades]

London Underground:
Baker Street (Circle, District, H&C) = Lower Baker Street - avoids confusion with the Bakerloo's
Battersea Power Station (when opens) = Battersea North
High Street Kensington = Kensington High Street
Camden Town = Camden Town (for London Zoo) - a lot closer than Regent's Park

Baker Street is one big station. Surely Edgware Road would be a better candidate for a re-name. Ditto with Bethnal Green.

 

[LUYMun]

I meant Edgware Road!
London Underground:
Edgware Road (Bakerloo) = Upper Edgware Road
Battersea Power Station = Battersea North
High Street Kensington = Kensington High Street
South Woodford = George Lane
Harrow & Wealdstone = Wealdstone
Woodside Park = North Finchley
Hounslow East = Lampton
Chalfont & Latimer = Little Chalfont
Bethnal Green = Bethnal Gardens

Other London Stations:
Silver Street = Edmonton
Turkey Street = Bullsmoor
Hackney Downs = Hackney North
Hayes & Harlington = Hayes West London
West Drayton = Yiewsley
Acton Main Line = Acton Horn Lane
Haggerston = De Beauvoir Town

 

[kevconnor]

Castleton (Rochdale) - 'What you looking at?'

In honour of what I am guessing is the motto for the local area based on how often this phrase was uttered to me as a teenager passing through here.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

I don’t think I’d rename any stations per se, I quite light the awkward quaintness of the British Railway network. I would however rename City Thameslink, for the love of God, to anything else. Such as Holborn Viaduct or Ludgate.

Loughborough Junction is a horrible name and could instead be called Camberwell Junction.

Edinburugh to Edinburgh Waverley
Newcastle to Newcastle Central
Leeds to Leeds City
Streatham to Streatham South
Maryland to Maryland Point

As you can probably tell I have a soft spot for long awkward names

 

[Deerfold]

In a similar vein, if I were dictator and could change names without fear of consequences I would name all the ones I deem most important after people I know. I wouldn't spoil their name by using any geographical element in the station name, either. As an example of how this would work, imagine a station called 'John Smith'. Nothing else. It may not help the travelling public but would sure make me popular with friends and family!

It may not.

"That John Smith is terrible! Terribly overcrowded and sells crap coffee".

 

[EM2]

Wanstead Park is miles away from the park itself, so should really be Wanstead Flats or Forest Gate North.
There will soon not be a barracks in Maidstone, so that could be changed to maybe Maidstone Buckland Hill, or Maidstone St Peter's.

 

[exsignalman]

I have already posted this in another thread elsewhere on the website, but it makes sense to post it here also, as it directly answers the question being asked.

I think it'd make sense to rename Blackrod to Horwich Parkway & Blackrod and the current Horwich Parkway to Middlebrook to better reflect the areas they both serve, and to provide better clarity for the geographical locations of both stations.

Blackrod has already been renamed multiple times since opening & has been named

'Horwich Road'...
'Horwich & Blackrod'...
'Horwich Junction'...
'Horwich & Blackrod Junction'...& finally in April 1888 the name was changed again to
'Blackrod' ..

The name it has carried ever since.

5 names in total...I wonder if that's a record?

This is quite a good site if anyone hasn't already seen it Blackrod Station - Past & Present