Should Reading be renamed to "Reading Central"?

[LUYMun]

With the opening of Reading Green Park, the total number of National Rail stations with "Reading" in its name has risen to 3. If stations encapsulating the Reading area should be included (Tilehurst, Earley, Winnersh Triangle, Winnersh) this takes the total number to 7. Surely by now, given the location of Reading is firmly in the town centre, it would be sensible to have the main station renamed to Reading Central?

 

[Whistler40145]

Wasn't Reading originally named Reading General?

 

[jfollows]

Wasn't Reading originally named Reading General?

Yes
1949-1973/4
So not the “original” name, but used for 24 years.

Reading railway station - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[JonathanH]

Wasn't Reading originally named Reading General?

Reading General is shown prominently at one point in the station as well now recalling that period, although it is a recent addition.

 

[telstarbox]

Leeds, Sheffield, Brighton, Oxford and Cambridge all seem to manage as single names. These all have a single "city centre" station like Reading. Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool have multiple stations in their city centres.

 

[PGAT]

It's usually better than not to keep the name simple

 

[Fawkes Cat]

With the opening of Reading Green Park, the total number of National Rail stations with "Reading" in its name has risen to 3. If stations encapsulating the Reading area should be included (Tilehurst, Earley, Winnersh Triangle, Winnersh) this takes the total number to 7. Surely by now, given the location of Reading is firmly in the town centre, it would be sensible to have the main station renamed to Reading Central?

The first question in response to this is surely whether there is any confusion between the various Reading area stations. If so, then maybe something should be done. But if not, then there’s no problem to be solved.

 

[2192]

With the opening of Reading Green Park, the total number of National Rail stations with "Reading" in its name has risen to 3. If stations encapsulating the Reading area should be included (Tilehurst, Earley, Winnersh Triangle, Winnersh) this takes the total number to 7. Surely by now, given the location of Reading is firmly in the town centre, it would be sensible to have the main station renamed to Reading Central?

Reading Central was the name of the goods station down by the canal. It was on the end of a branch line that joined the Berks & Hants where the Basingstoke line split off. Presumably it was there to form easy exchange with canal traffic in the early days.

 

[Tio Terry]

Just think of the thousands of design and construction drawings which all say "Reading" that would need to be changed, P.Way, S&T, M&EE, Buildings etc.. The station fire, safety and evacuation plan that would need to be updated for the emergency services, the list goes on and on.

I suppose you could argue that you wouldn't need to change them until it became necessary to update them but that would lead to a rather confusing situation where some are changed and some not.

Is it really necessary to change the name? There doesn't seem to be any confusion amongst the travelling public.

 

[zwk500]

Just think of the thousands of design and construction drawings which all say "Reading" that would need to be changed, P.Way, S&T, M&EE, Buildings etc.. The station fire, safety and evacuation plan that would need to be updated for the emergency services, the list goes on and on.

I suppose you could argue that you wouldn't need to change them until it became necessary to update them but that would lead to a rather confusing situation where some are changed and some not.

Is it really necessary to change the name? There doesn't seem to be any confusion amongst the travelling public.

you could add (Central/City/General/Great Western*/Middle/Hbf) to the platform boards and the journey planner name without needing to update all the safety critical info and records (which is what I would also like them to do at Cambridge) - like they added 'for Bankside and Southbank' to Blackfriars without changing the official documentation.

Leeds, Sheffield, Brighton, Oxford and Cambridge all seem to manage as single names. These all have a single "city centre" station like Reading. Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool have multiple stations in their city centres.

Leeds and Sheffield do sometimes get their old suffixes back (City and Midland respsectively), Oxford only has potential confusion with Oxford Parkway so is OK for now, and Brighton doesn't have any other stations starting with Brighton (They're all named after the individual settlements the suburbs developed around, rather than 'Brighton East' or whatever). Cambridge I've mentioned above - and is probably the closes comparison to the Reading situation.

I personally think it would be best if situations where there is a '<Place> station' and '<place> <Suffix> station' are avoided totally - if you open a new station in a town with a previously unclarified name, part of the project should be to add *something* to the old one to prevent confusion, even if it's just on the public-facing side and not a change of the name in the back office parts of the railway. Like the use of counties when there are stations in two towns with the same name (Ashford and Gillingham the most famous examples).

*I think Reading GW would be inadvisable, as it doesn't really help confusion with Reading West, but it's the kind of thing local councillors would prefer as it has 'Great' in it's name.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

*I think Reading GW would be inadvisable, as it doesn't really help confusion with Reading West, but it's the kind of thing local councillors would prefer as it has 'Great' in it's name.

Since the station is also served by SWR, XC and TfL it would also be rather unhelpful.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Since the station is also served by SWR, XC and TfL it would also be rather unhelpful.

Reading General would probably be the one to go for if you did do it as it's the historic name that some people still use.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Reading General would probably be the one to go for if you did do it as it's the historic name that some people still use.

And since 'General' is the traditional GW term for the main station in town*, I think it also adequately allows for GW imperialism over other companies.

*when there's no local alternative (Temple Meads, Spa, etc.)

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Reading Main Line? (h/t Acton).

 

[LUYMun]

Reading General would probably be the one to go for if you did do it as it's the historic name that some people still use.

Although General doesn't really emphasise the importance of a centrally located station to most passengers than a "Central" suffix.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Although General doesn't really emphasise the importance of a centrally located station to most passengers than a "Central" suffix.

True. I suppose the argument for General to be used is "Hauptbahnhoefe" which *aren't* quite central, e.g. Wrexham, or where the name is already used, e.g. Liverpool (note: I'm not actually proposing renaming Lime St! )

Cambridge might be another one where General would be better than Central as it, er, isn't.

 

[cactustwirly]

True. I suppose the argument for General to be used is "Hauptbahnhoefe" which *aren't* quite central, e.g. Wrexham, or where the name is already used, e.g. Liverpool (note: I'm not actually proposing renaming Lime St! )

Cambridge might be another one where General would be better than Central as it, er, isn't.

What part of Reading isn't central?

 

[Bletchleyite]

What part of Reading isn't central?

I didn't say it wasn't! The post was just discussing relevant uses of the term.

 

[Bread & cheese]

Looking at the Reading Borough Council map:
The most central station is Reading West.
The most westerly station is Tilehurst.

If renaming was being considered:
Reading West would be more aptly named Reading (Oxford Road).
Tilehurst, being on the edge of Tilehurst, but close to the river, would perhaps be more aptly named Reading (Riverside).
While Reading, being in the Abbey ward, could perhaps be renamed Reading (Abbey). Or Reading (Abbey Ruins), since the Abbey closed in 1539.
Or perhaps it might be better just to leave things as they are.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Central doesn't mean to the settlement (Bicester town centre is towards the south of the settlement, for example), it means serving the town centre.

 

[zwk500]

Looking at the Reading Borough Council map:
The most central station is Reading West.
The most westerly station is Tilehurst.

That borough map clearly excludes a sizeable portion of the built-up area, once again demonstrating that administrative and social boundaries can be very different.

Or perhaps it might be better just to leave things as they are.

Fundamentally, the number of people coming to Reading who don't want the main Town Centre station but instead want Reading West or Reading Green Park will be fairly small and Reading/Reading West has existed for long enough without causing total disaster.

 

[cactustwirly]

Looking at the Reading Borough Council map:
The most central station is Reading West.
The most westerly station is Tilehurst.

If renaming was being considered:
Reading West would be more aptly named Reading (Oxford Road).
Tilehurst, being on the edge of Tilehurst, but close to the river, would perhaps be more aptly named Reading (Riverside).
While Reading, being in the Abbey ward, could perhaps be renamed Reading (Abbey). Or Reading (Abbey Ruins), since the Abbey closed in 1539.
Or perhaps it might be better just to leave things as they are.
View attachment 136249

That's ridiculous, the map is misleading as parts of Reading come under West Berks and Wokingham Council.

 

[bussnapperwm]

Reading Main Line? (h/t Acton).

Could always call it 'Reading Crossrail'

 

[RobShipway]

I am pretty sure if a town like Newhaven until 2020 could cope with three stations all with the name Newhaven in the station title, which where a lot closer than the three Reading stations in distance. Then I am sure both the travellers too and local people can cope with travelling to their three Reading stations.

I really do not see the need to change Reading station from being Reading to be honest, as it would only give aggravation to the TOC's/Local council admins in getting the details changed as @Tio Terry has stated.

If Reading station name was to change, then the most appropriate would be Reading Mainline.

 

[Silenos]

Reading General would probably be the one to go for if you did do it as it's the historic name that some people still use.

Sounds too much like a hospital

 

[zwk500]

I am pretty sure if a town like Newhaven until 2020 could cope with three stations all with the name Newhaven in the station title, which where a lot closer than the three Reading stations in distance. Then I am sure both the travellers too and local people can cope with travelling to their three Reading stations.

All 3 had suffixes though - Town, Harbour and Marine. And Marine wasn't a functional station since 2008, just a spotter's oddity.

 

[David Goddard]

No need for any change, is there evidence if this “confusion”?
Is it a solution looking for a problem?
“Greater Reading area” is an interesting discussion, but it stops short of Winnersh Triangle!

 

[RobShipway]

All 3 had suffixes though - Town, Harbour and Marine. And Marine wasn't a functional station since 2008, just a spotter's oddity.

Granted, but when people talk about travelling to Newhaven by train, it is generally thought that they are travelling to Newhaven Town not Harbour.

If you work on the basis of needing to rename Reading Station as Reading Central, then I would also suggest that you rename all the stations with the name London Road while you are at it, to be place name - London Road, rather than London Road - Place name (i.e. London Road - Brighton, would need to be changed to Brighton London Road).

 

[zwk500]

Granted, but when people talk about travelling to Newhaven by train, it is generally thought that they are travelling to Newhaven Town not Harbour.

Yes but the stations are barely 200m apart, and Newhaven Harbour serves a very specific part of the town (it helps that Town is also the first station you stop at on the way in from anywhere else).

If you work on the basis of needing to rename Reading Station as Reading Central, then I would also suggest that you rename all the stations with the name London Road while you are at it, to be place name - London Road, rather than London Road - Place name (i.e. London Road - Brighton, would need to be changed to Brighton London Road).

Potentially although the (Brighton) is exactly what I'd suggest with Reading - i.e. Reading (General).

 

[David Goddard]

If you work on the basis of needing to rename Reading Station as Reading Central, then I would also suggest that you rename all the stations with the name London Road while you are at it, to be place name - London Road, rather than London Road - Place name (i.e. London Road - Brighton, would need to be changed to Brighton London Road).

Does the OP also propose a change at nearby Worthing?