Stations that should be renamed to a more suitable name.

[steamybrian]

I don't see a reason for changing Leamington Spa to Leamington. The town's name is Royal Leamington Spa so it makes complete sense

In the same way Tunbridge Wells should be renamed to Royal Tunbridge Wells

 

[Bletchleyite]

In the same way Tunbridge Wells should be renamed to Royal Tunbridge Wells

I suspect the OP doesn't know the town and was confused by Bath Spa which is a suffix.

 

[Haywain]

I see the point about Luton Airport Parkway post-people mover. A simple renaming like "Luton Airport & Parkway" would make it clearer that it's actually connected to the airport (well, no less than Birmingham Intl is) but that it is also a Parkway. Almost nobody would expect to see reasonably priced parking at a station just called Airport.

Calling the station Luton Airport would be confusing. Station names do not only serve the railway, but other transport as well. If you get a taxi from Dunstable and asked for Luton Airport where would you expect to be taken? What should it be called in bus timetables? And there seems little point in adding an ampersand just for the sake of it.

Luton -> Luton Town (or Luton Central) for the reason noted above. It's informally called that anyway.

Agreed.

 

[Bletchleyite]

If you get a taxi from Dunstable and asked for Luton Airport where would you expect to be taken?

Most people would probably ask for "Luton Airport train station" if they meant that even now.

 

[Haywain]

Most people would probably ask for "Luton Airport train station" if they meant that even now.

Now they would ask for Luton Airport Parkway. Regardless, it would still have the potential to cause confusion.

 

[SussexSeagull]

Local to me:

Durrington-on-Sea isn't actually in Durrington but is in Goring-by-Sea, which makes it complicated because Going-by-Sea station its also in Goring-by-Sea. Durrington could be named to Maybridge after the near-by estate or Worthing Maybridge.

Angmering should be East Preston or Angmering and East Preston.

 

[A0]

There have been a few threads on this in the past.

Obvious contenders - Welwyn North - is neither north of Welwyn Village nor near Welwyn Village - Digswell would be more accurate.

On the Martson Vale - Ridgmont is stretching it a bit, Brogborough would be more accurate.

On the WCML - Leighton Buzzard really ought to be Linslade.

 

[Basil Jet]

In the run-up to the Overground takeover of the Enfield Town and Cheshunt lines, I sent London Overground an email suggesting that since all of the signage and maps were being re-done anyway, it would be a good time to rename numerous stations which were originally given bad station names because the good names had all been taken by the older Lea Valley line.

My message was

Dear Sir / Madam,

Please forward this message to the person in charge of the takeover.

I believe the takeover will be more successful if several stations are renamed to maximise the number of passengers who switch from the Lea Valley Line to your line. Since every sign and map on your line will need to be replaced anyway, renaming the stations should cost approximately nothing.

Theobalds Grove -> Waltham Cross High Street
Turkey Street -> Enfield Wash
Southbury -> Ponders End Central
Bruce Grove -> Tottenham Central, or just Tottenham

I believe Silver Street is a poor name for a station, because although Silver Street was an important road when the station was built on it, the construction of Sterling Way approximately 50 years ago led to the road past the station being renamed Sterling Way, and Silver Street becoming an insignificant road a quarter of a mile from the station. The construction of the Fore Street Tunnel in the 1990s led to Silver Street being extended back to near the station, but the extension has no properties on it and most people probably think of it as a slip road from Sterling Way rather than as part of Silver Street. There is however a busy road called Silver Street in Enfield Town which contains the Civic Centre and numerous restaurants and shops, and this is locally a much better known road than the now insignificant Silver Street in Edmonton. I believe Silver Street station should be renamed Upper Edmonton or Angel Edmonton.

I imagine you are already planning to rename Bethnal Green to avoid confusion with the Central Line station.

I got no reply, and my final sentence was wrong. None of my suggestions were taken up.

 

[zwk500]

Obvious contenders - Welwyn North - is neither north of Welwyn Village nor near Welwyn Village - Digswell would be more accurate.

Agree with this one

On the WCML - Leighton Buzzard really ought to be Linslade.

Leighton Buzzard means far more to people, and it's in the built-up area of LB. Although given it's usage is almost entirely commuters you could just call it 'home'.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Leighton Buzzard means far more to people, and it's in the built-up area of LB. Although given it's usage is almost entirely commuters you could just call it 'home'.

"Leighton-Linslade" is the term I usually see used to describe the aggregate-of-two-towns that it is (it really behaves like one town with Linslade being the nicer suburb), but I think having a station name with "Buzzard" in it is reason enough to leave it alone, plus again everyone who uses it knows what/where it is anyway, it's a source not a sink.

Along similar lines Hemel Hempstead should probably more accurately be called "Boxmoor for Hemel Hempstead", and I believe it was at one point, but again those who use it know what it is and where it is so it'd be a waste of money. It's not a station likely to be used often by people who aren't either locals or visiting locals. It and Apsley are almost the same distance from the modern-day town centre (Boxmoor slightly closer), so I guess it's just a case of pick one to have the main service and it was Boxmoor (as Bletchley was before MKC was built).

Slightly relevant question - pre MKC was Bletchley ever called "Bletchley for Milton Keynes", or did the furore when it was suggested to rename it and Wolverton to MK North and MK South make them leave it alone?

(Of course in Germany they'd be e.g. Milton Keynes Wolverton)

 

[zwk500]

"Leighton-Linslade" is the term I usually see used to describe the aggregate-of-two-towns that it is (it really behaves like one town with Linslade being the nicer suburb), but I think having a station name with "Buzzard" in it is reason enough to leave it alone, plus again everyone who uses it knows what/where it is anyway, it's a source not a sink.

Along similar lines Hemel Hempstead should probably be called "Boxmoor for Hemel Hempstead", and I believe it was at one point, but again those who use it know what it is and where it is so it'd be a waste of money. It's not a station likely to be used often by people who aren't either locals or visiting locals.

Indeed - there's a substantial set of UK stations you could simply call 'the station' and 99% of regular users would still know exactly where to get off their station.

 

[AzureOtsu]

Our railway network throughout the UK seems to have an awful lot of stations which are (at least in my opinion) very poorly named.

Some have silly suffixes that are not needed. Some are missing suffixes that would help passengers. Some are named after somewhere far away. A lot have just not been named sensibly.

These are all of the stations i can think of that really ought to be renamed:

• Ashford International -> Ashford (Kent)
• Aylesbury Vale Parkway -> Aylesbury North
• Bath Spa -> Bath
• Bicester Village -> Bicester Town
• Birchington On Sea -> Birchington
• Birmingham International -> Birmingham Airport
• Bodmin Parkway -> Bodmin
• Bristol Parkway -> Stoke Gifford
• Bristol Temple Meads -> Bristol
• Buckshaw Parkway -> Buckshaw
• Cheltenham Spa -> Cheltenham
• Coleshill Parkway -> Coleshill
• Didcot Parkway -> Didcot
• Dover Priory -> Dover
• Droitwich Spa -> Droitwich
• Durrington On Sea -> Durrington
• East Midlands Parkway -> Ratcliffe On Soar
• Ebbsfleet International -> Ebbsfleet
• Ebbw Vale Parkway -> Victoria (Gwent)
• Ebbw Vale Town -> Ebbw Vale
• Edenbridge -> Edenbridge North
• Edenbridge Town -> Edenbridge South
• Edinburgh -> Edinburgh Waverley
• Edinburgh Gateway -> Gogar For Edinburgh Airport
• Goring By Sea -> Goring (Sussex)
• Haddenham & Thame Parkway -> Haddenham & Thame
• Harwich International -> Harwich Ferry Port
• Haymarket -> Edinburgh Haymarket
• Holmwood -> Holmwood & Beare Green
• Horwich Parkway -> Horwich
• Leamington Spa -> Leamington
• Liverpool South Parkway -> Liverpool Airport
• London St Pancras International -> London St Pancras
• Luton Airport Parkway -> Luton Airport
• Milton Keynes Central -> Milton Keynes
• Newhaven Harbour -> Newhaven South
• Newhaven Town -> Newhaven
• Ockley -> Ockley & Capel
• Oxford Parkway -> Oxford North
• Port Talbot Parkway -> Port Talbot
• Prestwick International Airport -> Prestwick Airport
• Rhoose Cardiff International Airport -> Rhoose For Cardiff Airport
• Sandling -> Sandling & Hythe
• Shoreham By Sea -> Shoreham (Sussex)
• Southampton Airport Parkway -> Southampton Airport
• Southampton Central -> Southampton
• Stratford International -> Stratford North
• Stratford Upon Avon Parkway -> Stratford Upon Avon North
• Sutton Parkway -> Sutton In Ashfield
• Tame Bridge Parkway -> Tame Bridge
• Tiverton Parkway -> Sampford Peverell For Tiverton
• Warwick Parkway -> Warwick West
• Westgate On Sea -> Westgate
• Whittlesford Parkway -> Whittlesford
• Witley -> Wormley
• Wivelsfield -> Burgess Hill North
• Worcestershire Parkway -> Norton

What other stations do you think ought to be renamed? I would be interested to hear what others you think could do with renaming?

Why does goring, Shoreham and durrington lose the "by sea" & "on sea" suffix and replacing it with a (Sussex) suffix defeats the purpose of the original suffix to avoid confusion with the other stations of the same names (excluding durrington)

And why should bath lose the spa suffix? it's historically and culturally relevent.

Bristol TM to Bristol seems very unnecessary because if you've ever been to Bristol you'll know it's not the only station there

 

[Basil Jet]

Indeed - there's a substantial set of UK stations you could simply call 'the station' and 99% of regular users would still know exactly where to get off their station.

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushey_railway_station

During the war years of 1939-1945 the station was often known as "Ampersand" - this was due to a typically bureaucratic application of emergency regulations. To hinder enemy troops in the event of an invasion it was ordered that all station names should be painted out on station name-boards, and this was interpreted at Bushey & Oxhey to mean the words 'Bushey' and 'Oxhey' but not the '&'. For the duration of the war, therefore, the station bore the designation '&'

 

[PTR 444]

Having just got back from a short trip to Germany, how about renaming some settlements’ most important stations to include ‘Hauptbahnhof’ as a suffix?

Birmingham New Street
Bristol Temple Meads
Colchester
Edinburgh Waverley
Exeter St Davids
Liverpool Lime Street
Manchester Piccadilly
Milton Keynes Central
Newcastle
Reading
Southampton Central
Stratford
Warrington Bank Quay
Watford Junction

Any bits not in bold would be removed from the station name, although this proposal is all tongue in cheek anyway.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

In the run-up to the Overground takeover of the Enfield Town and Cheshunt lines, I sent London Overground an email suggesting that since all of the signage and maps were being re-done anyway, it would be a good time to rename numerous stations which were originally given bad station names because the good names had all been taken by the older Lea Valley line.

I got no reply, and my final sentence was wrong. None of my suggestions were taken up.

I'm not surprised in the slightest! You're not seriously telling me you thought the railway would simply rename a station because one person emails them and says "this name is better!"

 

[zwk500]

I'm not surprised in the slightest! You're not seriously telling me you thought the railway would simply rename a station because one person emails them and says "this name is better!"

Especially as NR will need a year or so's notice to update all the IT systems accordingly.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Dec 2022 ==

Having just got back from a short trip to Germany, how about renaming some settlements’ most important stations to include ‘Hauptbahnhof’ as a suffix?

The issue with this is that most UK residents don't speak German, or even understand what the concept of a Hbf is.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Ash - Ash Green, because everyone confuses it with Ash Vale

London Road (Guildford) - Stoke Park, because most people use it to get there, and it removes the need for the suffix for this and at Brighton

London Road (Brighton) - London Road

Cardiff Central - Cardiff Interchange, because arguably the city-centre is closer to Queen Street, and a new massive bus station is to be built next to it

Yeovil Junction - Clifton Maybank, because that's where it is. It's almost 2 miles from Yeovil.

Beaulieu Road - Beaulieu

Dover Priory - Dover

Oxenholme Lake District - Oxenholme, because there isn't another one - we don't need to know the area

Penrith North Lakes - Penrith, because there isn't another one - we don't need to know the area

 

[zwk500]

Ash - Ash Green, because everyone confuses it with Ash Vale

Yes

London Road (Guildford) - Stoke Park, because most people use it to get there, and it removes the need for the suffix for this and at Brighton

Personally I'd go Guildford East, if the proposed Guildford West becomes reality.

London Road (Brighton) - London Road

No, the Brighton suffix is useful as many towns have a London Road. However you could call it Ditchling Road (the station is actually on Ditchling rise, but Ditchling Rd is the bigger thoroughfare) as it's primarily a local station.

Yeovil Junction - Clifton Maybank, because that's where it is. It's almost 2 miles from Yeovil.

Yeovil junction works though, because it's the junction for trains to Yeovil.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Yeovil junction works though, because it's the junction for trains to Yeovil.

Hardly. There's a small handful a day.

 

[busestrains]

Ash - Ash Green, because everyone confuses it with Ash Vale

London Road (Guildford) - Stoke Park, because most people use it to get there, and it removes the need for the suffix for this and at Brighton

London Road (Brighton) - London Road

Cardiff Central - Cardiff Interchange, because arguably the city-centre is closer to Queen Street, and a new massive bus station is to be built next to it

Yeovil Junction - Clifton Maybank, because that's where it is. It's almost 2 miles from Yeovil.

Beaulieu Road - Beaulieu

I certainly agree about renaming London Road (Guildford) to Stoke Park instead. That would be a very good idea.

However i think London Road (Brighton) ought to be renamed to "Ditchling Road" or "Hollingdean" or "Round Hill" instead as London Road (Brighton) is a pretty poor and inaccurate name.

The main Brighton railway station is actually much closer to London Road than London Road station is. It is only a four or five minute walk out the back entrance of Brighton station to the main part of London Road where all of the shops are. Where as from London Road station it is over ten minutes walk. So in fact Brighton is far closer to London Road than London Road station is.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I certainly agree about renaming London Road (Guildford) to Stoke Park instead. That would be a very good idea.

Thank you

 

[zwk500]

Hardly. There's a small handful a day.

Or you can get a taxi, and there are proposals to increase the amount of trains between Pen Mill and Junction in the long-term future

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Or you can get a taxi, and there are proposals to increase the amount of trains between Pen Mill and Junction in the long-term future

Okay, but it’s not in Yeovil, so calling it Yeovil Junction - the junction station in Yeovil - is somewhat inaccurate. The OP seems to have a vendetta against the Parkway suffice, but in this scenario Yeovil Parkway would work well.

 

[zwk500]

Okay, but it’s not in Yeovil, so calling it Yeovil Junction - the junction station in Yeovil - is somewhat inaccurate. The OP seems to have a vendetta against the Parkway suffice, but in this scenario Yeovil Parkway would work well.

Yeah, fair point, Yeovil Parkway would work quite well for this one.

 

[WizCastro197]

Our railway network throughout the UK seems to have an awful lot of stations which are (at least in my opinion) very poorly named.

Some have silly suffixes that are not needed. Some are missing suffixes that would help passengers. Some are named after somewhere far away. A lot have just not been named sensibly.

These are all of the stations i can think of that really ought to be renamed:

• Ashford International -> Ashford (Kent)
• Aylesbury Vale Parkway -> Aylesbury North
• Bath Spa -> Bath
• Bicester Village -> Bicester Town
• Birchington On Sea -> Birchington
• Birmingham International -> Birmingham Airport
• Bodmin Parkway -> Bodmin
• Bristol Parkway -> Stoke Gifford
• Bristol Temple Meads -> Bristol
• Buckshaw Parkway -> Buckshaw
• Cheltenham Spa -> Cheltenham
• Coleshill Parkway -> Coleshill
• Didcot Parkway -> Didcot
• Dover Priory -> Dover
• Droitwich Spa -> Droitwich
• Durrington On Sea -> Durrington
• East Midlands Parkway -> Ratcliffe On Soar
• Ebbsfleet International -> Ebbsfleet
• Ebbw Vale Parkway -> Victoria (Gwent)
• Ebbw Vale Town -> Ebbw Vale
• Edenbridge -> Edenbridge North
• Edenbridge Town -> Edenbridge South
• Edinburgh -> Edinburgh Waverley
• Edinburgh Gateway -> Gogar For Edinburgh Airport
• Goring By Sea -> Goring (Sussex)
• Haddenham & Thame Parkway -> Haddenham & Thame
• Harwich International -> Harwich Ferry Port
• Haymarket -> Edinburgh Haymarket
• Holmwood -> Holmwood & Beare Green
• Horwich Parkway -> Horwich
• Leamington Spa -> Leamington
• Liverpool South Parkway -> Liverpool Airport
• London St Pancras International -> London St Pancras
• Luton Airport Parkway -> Luton Airport
• Milton Keynes Central -> Milton Keynes
• Newhaven Harbour -> Newhaven South
• Newhaven Town -> Newhaven
• Ockley -> Ockley & Capel
• Oxford Parkway -> Oxford North
• Port Talbot Parkway -> Port Talbot
• Prestwick International Airport -> Prestwick Airport
• Rhoose Cardiff International Airport -> Rhoose For Cardiff Airport
• Sandling -> Sandling & Hythe
• Shoreham By Sea -> Shoreham (Sussex)
• Southampton Airport Parkway -> Southampton Airport
• Southampton Central -> Southampton
• Stratford International -> Stratford North
• Stratford Upon Avon Parkway -> Stratford Upon Avon North
• Sutton Parkway -> Sutton In Ashfield
• Tame Bridge Parkway -> Tame Bridge
• Tiverton Parkway -> Sampford Peverell For Tiverton
• Warwick Parkway -> Warwick West
• Westgate On Sea -> Westgate
• Whittlesford Parkway -> Whittlesford
• Witley -> Wormley
• Wivelsfield -> Burgess Hill North
• Worcestershire Parkway -> Norton

What other stations do you think ought to be renamed? I would be interested to hear what others you think could do with renaming?

I agree with Southampton, old announcements at Victoria when the guy from the BBC was used as the voice (can't quite recall his name), referred to Southampton Central as just Southampton so it would make sense. I disagree, however, with dropping international from names? It clearly shows this station has international services and some of these suffixes do help distinguishing what kind of station it is, eg, Luton Airport Parkway is a Parkway and so Is Southampton Airport but the Parkway doesn't need to be there as evidenced on the station signs, when it is written as Southampton Airport (Parkway).

 

[Glenn1969]

I agree with Southampton, old announcements at Victoria when the guy from the BBC was used as the voice (can't quite recall his name), referred to Southampton Central as just Southampton so it would make sense. I disagree, however, with dropping international from names? It clearly shows this station has international services and some of these suffixes do help distinguishing what kind of station it is, eg, Luton Airport Parkway is a Parkway and so Is Southampton Airport but the Parkway doesn't need to be there as evidenced on the station signs, when it is written as Southampton Airport (Parkway).

Birmingham International hasn't got international train services. Should it have been named Birmingham Airport for NEC or Birmingham South?

 

[Bevan Price]

Horwich Parkway > Middlebrook (it is some distance from Horwich, and I don't know if there is still a direct bus service).
Lea Green > Marshalls Cross (it is not in Lea Green).
Liverpool South Parkway > Garston (South Liverpool).

Birmingham International Airport > Bickenhill & Elmdon (for Birmingham Airport). (look at local maps)
(or alternatively North Solihull for Airport).

Blackrod (mentioned above) is not particularly convenient for either Blackrod or Horwich; Blackrod mostly lies along the top of a hill about a mile or so away.
Bodmin Parkway (ex-Bodmin Road) is a few miles from Bodmin.

"Spa" is an official part of the name of some towns, and should be retained.

 

[WizCastro197]

Birmingham International hasn't got international train services. Should it have been named Birmingham Airport for NEC or Birmingham South?

I have missed that one, apologies. Birmingham Airport or Birmingham International Airport sounds better.

 

[Haywain]

Birmingham International hasn't got international train services. Should it have been named Birmingham Airport for NEC or Birmingham South?

Aren’t there some trains that go to Wales?

 

[Glenn1969]

Aren’t there some trains that go to Wales?

Wales is still part of the United Kingdom though