Stations unsure of their name

[507020]

Another one is the two London Road's. The Brighton one is announced on trains at London Road (Brighton), yet all the station signs simply just show London Road, and the Guildford one is announced (on SWR at least) as just London Road, but all the station signs show it as London Road (Guildford)!

Reading that I thought you were about to mention Manchester London Road, the original name of Piccadilly! At least we know why it was changed.

 

[etr221]

It's actually North Station roundabout at the end of North Station Road. Weirdly, I can find no evidence of the station ever being officially called anything in it's 175 year history except Colchester. Even more weirdly until 1991 ( when st. Boltophs was renamed Colchester Town), it was the only one of 3 stations in the town with Colchester in it's title, the third being called simply Hythe. But the NLS map from 1888, shows that the road from the town was called North Station Road then.

So why North station? Presumably it just arose from local usage when the other 2 stations opened in the 1860's.

I always thought it had been Colchester North. Looking at old OS maps (of suitably large scale) and town plans, they identify it as "North Station"...

Elsewhere, I remember in Glasgow going to the Garden Festival (which dates this!) and mentally identifying the required station as the 'second station west of Central' (in those terms) because the signs and indicators didn't agree what it was called!

I am surprised that no one has so far mentioned Monument/Bank on the London Underground. And with Crossrail there will be several more schizophrenic stations coming...

 

[NorthOxonian]

I am surprised that no one has so far mentioned Monument/Bank on the London Underground. And with Crossrail there will be several more schizophrenic stations coming...

If Crossrail 2 ever comes, it will create an absolute monstrosity in Somers Town. I have no idea what St Euston Cross will end up actually being called, but it will certainly qualify for this list!

 

[david1212]

"Royal" Leamington Spa (main station for Warwick) is one of my favourites.

I think traditional, longer names are often good, for example for people who knew the place and return after many years away.

Given "Royal" Leamington Spa is served by XC where as Warwick and Warwick Parkway are predominantly served by Chiltern, indeed do WMR services now all terminate at Dorridge, I understand your meaning but I would never call it the main station for Warwick. That has to be Warwick as Warwick Parkway serves a wider area.

In terms of passenger numbers for 2019 - 2020 the total number of entrance and exits for Warwick was 631,694 and Warwick Parkway was 611,566. The previous 12 months were 643,994 & 682,228 so a change with a 10% decline at Parkway.

Data from here.

 

[tomuk]

Wellington on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton Line shows up as Wellington (Shropshire) in various places although on platforms and trains it Wellington. It was also known as Wellington - Telford West for many years after Wellington became part of Telford New Town in the 60's. I'm not sure when it reverted to Wellington it was still Wellington - Telford West after Telford Central opened in the mid 80's.

 

[Killingworth]

Dore. Or Dore and Totley. It’s in Totley.

No it isn't.

The railway out of Sheffield doesn't enter Totley parish until it crosses the Old Hay Brook just before Totley Tunnel, over a mile south west of the station. For half of that mile it's east of the River Sheaf in Bradway! The station is at the most north-eaatern corner of Dore.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jun 2021 ==

In my train spotting days I'd take a Tyneside electric to Manors or Central. Manors remained the terminus for Blyth and Tyne trains into the city until they were withdrawn, long after the two stations were linked to form the North Tyneside loop.

It cost me for a platform ticket at Central, but not necessary at Manors.

 

[krus_aragon]

Valley / Y Fali / Dyffryn

Not quite sure what is on the name boards at the moment, it seems to change periodically.

"Dyffryn" only popped up a decade or two back, in an attempt to "make" a Welsh version of the place name - it didn't meet with local approval.

While "Dyffryn" is a literal translation of "Valley" , it overlooked the fact that the name comes from "Baille" , courtesy of the Irish navvies who were camped nearby, building the Stanley embankment, Chester & Holyhead Railway, etc.

Road signs, plus local usage, are settled on "Valley" and "Fali" (which are homophones anyway). I haven't drifted past the station recently to check the platforms.

 

[Andyjs247]

When the Buckinghamshire Railway first opened a station in Bicester in 1850 it was called simply “Bicester”. When the GWR opened the cut-off line in 1910 a new station opened at “Bicester North” and the original station became “Bicester London Road”.

When the London Road station closed at the end of 1967, Bicester North became simply Bicester. That lasted until 1987 when the branch from Oxford re-opened to passengers.

The ex GWR station became Bicester North once again but the other station at London Road became Bicester Town.

Bicester Town saw its last train in February 2014 when the line to Oxford closed for 18 months but continued into 2015 for the replacement buses.

Controversially the new station opened in October 2015 as Bicester Village, rebuilt slightly further from London Road but with a new Chiltern Railways service to Marylebone. Is this a record? I can’t think of other station that has carried 4 different names.

 

[Cletus]

Same with Dover; there was Dover Priory (for the town) and Dover Marine/Western Docks. We simply referred to the Priory station as plain Dover and as this is now the only station in the town, SouthEastern have not dropped the Priory name.

There was of course also Dover Town and Dover Harbour stations.

Locally we quite call the station just the "Priory"

I'd imagine Dover still retains the Priory just to avoid any confusion, however slight with Andover.

 

[johnnychips]

No it isn't.

The railway out of Sheffield doesn't enter Totley parish until it crosses the Old Hay Brook just before Totley Tunnel, over a mile south west of the station. For half of that mile it's east of the River Sheaf in Bradway! The station is at the most north-eaatern corner of Dore.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jun 2021 ==

In my train spotting days I'd take a Tyneside electric to Manors or Central. Manors remained the terminus for Blyth and Tyne trains into the city until they were withdrawn, long after the two stations were linked to form the North Tyneside loop.

It cost me for a platform ticket at Central, but not necessary at Manors.

You are absolutely right about Dore. I am really surprised, I always thought Dore was ‘up the hill’

 

[YorksLad12]

When the Buckinghamshire Railway first opened a station in Bicester in 1850 it was called simply “Bicester”. When the GWR opened the cut-off line in 1910 a new station opened at “Bicester North” and the original station became “Bicester London Road”.

When the London Road station closed at the end of 1967, Bicester North became simply Bicester. That lasted until 1987 when the branch from Oxford re-opened to passengers.

The ex GWR station became Bicester North once again but the other station at London Road became Bicester Town.

Bicester Town saw its last train in February 2014 when the line to Oxford closed for 18 months but continued into 2015 for the replacement buses.

Controversially the new station opened in October 2015 as Bicester Village, rebuilt slightly further from London Road but with a new Chiltern Railways service to Marylebone. Is this a record? I can’t think of other station that has carried 4 different names.

Another "only" four: Apperley Bridge. Opened in July 1846. Renamed Apperley, 1847. Renamed Apperley and Rawdon, 1 October 1890. Renamed Apperley Bridge and Rawdon, May 1893. Renamed Apperley Bridge, 12 June 1961. Closed 20 March 1965, reopened 13 December 2015.

Another another one: Whitby. Opened 8 June 1835. Renamed Whitby Town, 1886. Renamed Whitby, 1924. Renamed Whitby Town, 30 September 1951. Renamed Whitby, 5 September 1966.

[And for those who saw my Yorkshire Stations map... I just spotted the typo at Apperley Bridge.]

 

[stuu]

Wellington on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton Line shows up as Wellington (Shropshire) in various places although on platforms and trains it Wellington. It was also known as Wellington - Telford West for many years after Wellington became part of Telford New Town in the 60's. I'm not sure when it reverted to Wellington it was still Wellington - Telford West after Telford Central opened in the mid 80's.

And if Wellington (Somerset) gets it's station back, it may well have to change again

 

[The exile]

I guess it could be a case that they started off with the names in isolation, then the railway came and made a point of using Wells (as done with places like Bath Spa), with the intention of attracting tourists especially English ones, the towns then increasingly adopted this, only for the railway to drop it in relatively recent years. This is only a hypothesis though.

The oddity is that only Llandrindod is really a resort - the other two are much less developed; which is why I find it surprising Llandrindod doesn’t have it on the station signs but the other two do!

The "Spa" in "Bath Spa" is a post-nationalisation addition to distinguish the ex-GWR station from its ex-LMS/SR counterpart and applies purely to the station, not to the city. As far as I know, in the 50+ years since Bath Green Park has closed, there has never been an attempt to "simplify" the name back to what it originally was - in contrast to Edinburgh Waverley (which in its current form had never been just plain "Edinburgh")

 

[MadMac]

The "Spa" in "Bath Spa" is a post-nationalisation addition to distinguish the ex-GWR station from its ex-LMS/SR counterpart and applies purely to the station, not to the city. As far as I know, in the 50+ years since Bath Green Park has closed, there has never been an attempt to "simplify" the name back to what it originally was - in contrast to Edinburgh Waverley (which in its current form had never been just plain "Edinburgh")

BR did moot dropping the Waverley “suffix” in the 70s, but were met with such a public outcry that the idea was quietly filed away.

 

[JBuchananGB]

Rainford or Rainford Junction? It was always Rainford Junction when I was growing up, despite the actual junction being removed well before I was born. However recently it seems to have become known simply as Rainford. However the strangest thing is that on some maps the settlement around the station is still refered to as Rainford Junction and there is a good 1/2 mile of open countryside between the station and the actual village of Rainford.

And the name on the signal box is "Rainford Junction".

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jun 2021 ==

I always had trouble with people who said they were going "up to town", when they meant London - from places like Watford, which is itself a town.
I suppose it's better than going to "downtown London".

In the home counties the phrase "up to town" always referred to heading for London. Probably still does.

 

[Tomos y Tanc]

There are no fewer than 19 stations in the Bristol area with more to come, though technically some are in S Glos. If I were to say I was going down the station for a while, it would be because I was going down to Lawrence Hill (been my local station for many years despite several home moves). Hence I would always say that I was going down TM if I was off to Temple Meadston

Except that Cardiff has even more stations than Bristol does, including a very busy secondary station in Queen Street. "The station" over here though is always taken to mean Cardiff Central (or General as was) by taxi drivers etc. Maybe the "Temple Meads" phenomena is better explained by the fact that it's some distance from the city centre proper and that it's rather a pretty name.

 

[urbophile]

A related question is why, in a city with more than one station, all of them do not take the city name followed by a suffix? It happens in Italy: Genoa for example has two main stations, Genova (Piazza) Principe and Genova Brignole, yet all the other minor stations within the city boundaries – Genova Sturla, Genova Nervi etc - take the city name on their signboards and announcements. In this country it seems that only major or terminal stations use the city name as well as or instead of the locality. It's always "Balham" rather than "London Balham", or "Hunts Cross" not "Liverpool Hunts Cross". No obvious need I suppose, and it might be confusing if they did, but an interesting cultural difference.

 

[mister-sparky]

A related question is why, in a city with more than one station, all of them do not take the city name followed by a suffix? It happens in Italy: Genoa for example has two main stations, Genova (Piazza) Principe and Genova Brignole, yet all the other minor stations within the city boundaries – Genova Sturla, Genova Nervi etc - take the city name on their signboards and announcements. In this country it seems that only major or terminal stations use the city name as well as or instead of the locality. It's always "Balham" rather than "London Balham", or "Hunts Cross" not "Liverpool Hunts Cross". No obvious need I suppose, and it might be confusing if they did, but an interesting cultural difference.

This happens in Germany too, almost every urban station has a prefix of the city

 

[geoffk]

Slightly off-topic, but the A640 road from Huddersfield to Rochdale is named New Hey Road from about 2km out of Huddersfield up to beyond Outlane near junction 23 of the M62. I assume this refers to the settlement served by Metrolink, despite its insignificance.

Yes. The A640 ends at New Hey. It's actually called New Hey Road until about half-way to Denshaw, where it becomes Huddersfield Road. I agree it's an odd name and perhaps Rochdale Road would have been more logical.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jun 2021 ==

There are no fewer than 19 stations in the Bristol area with more to come, though technically some are in S Glos. If I were to say I was going down the station for a while, it would be because I was going down to Lawrence Hill (been my local station for many years despite several home moves). Hence I would always say that I was going down TM if I was off to Temple Meads.

Until the 1960s Bristol Stapleton Road was so named in timetables and on station signs as trains from South Wales to the south coast (Portsmouth or Brighton) called there to avoid reversal at Temple Meads. The word Bristol was presumably dropped when all these trains began to run via Temple Meads, after which Stapleton Road became just another suburban station. Indeed when the Severn Tunnel opened in 1886, trains from London to South Wales began to run via Bath and many called at Stapleton Road only, until the opening of the direct Badminton line in 1903 enabled them to avoid Bristol altogether.

 

[Bill57p9]

Prestwick International Airport
The station signs used to all read "Glasgow Prestwick Airport". I can't remember whether they still do. Of course the road signage refers to Prestwick Airport with no mention of Glasgow.

On the subject of Prestwick, Prestwick Town station appears in the fares system as Prestwick Strathclyde instead. I once really struggled to buy a ticket to it from Southampton Airport Parkway thanks to that.

 

[Class800]

About Valley, unfortunately there seems no BR arrows sign on the roadside on street view so I have to go by the photo on wikipedia which may be out of date https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valle...y_station_-_platform_1_(geograph_6103495).jpg
But it says that the Welsh name is 'Y Dyffryn' - though I know locals tend to use 'Y Fali'

 

[Ianno87]

If Crossrail 2 ever comes, it will create an absolute monstrosity in Somers Town. I have no idea what St Euston Cross will end up actually being called, but it will certainly qualify for this list!

In the 2015 Crossrail consultation, the Crossrail station was named "Euston St Pancras"

 

[tankmc]

Heathrow Terminal 2 & 3 or Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3 or Heathrow Central?

Cambridge is also been referred to as Cambridge Main by the local radio

 

[Western Sunset]

Re-Bristol, there was also the one platform Midland terminus Bristol St Philip's.

As to King's Cross / Kings Cross; the new signage at the platform ends has it as London King's Cross.

 

[Ianno87]

Cambridge is also been referred to as Cambridge Main by the local radio

Cambridge 'station' or 'main station' seems to be the main parlance to avoid confusion with Cambridge North.

(I personally prefer 'Cambridge Hauptbahnhof' )

 

[mrd269697]

Some departure announcements at major stations refer to Penrith as ‘Penrith for the North Lakes’

 

[Western Sunset]

Still with KX.
The National Rail website has it as London Kings Cross, but the accompanying map (provide by Network Rail) titles it as King's Cross.

 

[MadMac]

Prestwick International Airport
The station signs used to all read "Glasgow Prestwick Airport". I can't remember whether they still do. Of course the road signage refers to Prestwick Airport with no mention of Glasgow.

On the subject of Prestwick, Prestwick Town station appears in the fares system as Prestwick Strathclyde instead. I once really struggled to buy a ticket to it from Southampton Airport Parkway thanks to that.

Many years ago, I worked in a distribution warehouse and items for Prestwich in Manchester often ended up with us near Glasgow (and Prestwick items ended up at the Preston facility). Maybe that’s the reason?

 

[py_megapixel]

Cambridge 'station' or 'main station' seems to be the main parlance to avoid confusion with Cambridge North.

(I personally prefer 'Cambridge Hauptbahnhof' )

I would quite like to see the "Main" suffix (which is the best translation we have of "Haupt") normalised as there's several places I feel it would be useful. Currently I believe the only ones using it are Dorking and Farnborough.

 

[TheEdge]

Norwich Thorpe or Thorpe station still floats around a bit, despite there being very much the only station for Norwich for several decades.