Could station names be sponsored to raise cash?

[Howardh]

With the recent kerfuffle over "Scottport" (Scottportgate??) I wondered - keep the station name but, rather like football grounds these days, have them "sponsored" so underneath the station name could be a local firm "Bolton, Sponsored by XXX's bread".

I haven't seen this on any station sign, it may even happen, and it would make station signage (and tickets) a bit ugly, but could raise extra cash to maintain station facilities?

 

[Bletchleyite]

This is done in quite a few places.

 

[Howardh]

This is done in quite a few places.

I did wonder. Any examples? And if so, should this be extended nationwide?

 

[The exile]

I did wonder. Any examples?

Think Basingstoke used to have “home of something or other”. Shows how effective it was, but then I was never a regular passer-through! In general though, no. Station names should be clear and unaffected by commercialism., though a simple “for xyz” underneath if there is a really major feature within 10 minutes’ walk is OK. No third party logos or colours etc to confuse matters.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Think Basingstoke used to have “home of something or other”. Shows how effective it was, but then I was never a regular passer-through!

Yeah, I don't recall any specific ones, so it's clearly not great advertising! Station wise I've seen something at both Slough and Lancaster though.

 

[edwin_m]

Nottingham has been sponsored by Nottingham Trent University. Not sure if it still is - I'm probably another one that doesn't ever look at it.

 

[Andover]

but could raise extra cash to maintain station facilities?

Would the money raised be ring-fenced for those purposes?

 

[jfollows]

I did wonder. Any examples? And if so, should this be extended nationwide?

Ironically, Stockport used to have something like “for Stockport College” on it in recent memory.
EDIT “The home of Stockport College” signs were removed by September 2021 per http://www.railwaycodes.org.uk/stations/sponsoreds.shtm

 

[Howardh]

Would the money raised be ring-fenced for those purposes?

That's what I would hope, could be used for things that don't really get done now or maybe by volunteers eg landscaping. Thought occurred that Huddersfield, with it's famous residents, could be sponsored by a cat-food company, and the money used to fed and treat the cats!

As for those already mentioned, I'm sure Lancaster is "sponsored" by the local university (UCLAN??) can't recall if it's on the station signs though.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Lancaster Uni. University of Central Lancashire (which is being or has been renamed to the University of Lancashire) is what was Preston Poly.

Lancaster is interesting as being a "new red brick" (actually concrete, but in terms of its academic reputation) - there aren't many of those.

 

[jfollows]

As for those already mentioned, I'm sure Lancaster is "sponsored" by the local university (UCLAN??) can't recall if it's on the station signs though.

Not UCLAN, that’s Preston, Burnley, Westlakes & Larnaca and will become ”University of Lancashire” probably to the annoyance of the University of Lancaster which is somewhere in the Lancaster vicinity.

 

[Thirteen]

People lose their shirt when TfL has any sort of brand partnership, it's weirdly a taboo to have any sort of commercial tie ins even though some can be very effective like the various PlayStation tie ins.

 

[Bletchleyite]

People lose their shirt when TfL has any sort of brand partnership, it's weirdly a taboo to have any sort of commercial tie ins even though some can be very effective like the various PlayStation tie ins.

People lose their shirt (as you put it) about station renaming, because it's utterly silly because it confuses passengers.

Advertising, which the Tube is full of, bothers pretty much nobody.

 

[KT550]

There are many stations that have advertising underneath/alongside the station name which causes unnecessary clutter.

It's often something like "Home of [name of some local solicitors or estate agents]" that no-one cares about.

Personally, I'd like to see it removed.

 

[duffield]

The following, recently updated, webpages on the railwaycodes website claim to be a comprehensive list of sponsored stations, although I would consider many of them informational rather than sponsored.
Quote:

Sponsored station name signs​

A (hopefully) comprehensive listing​

Locations beginning A​

Last update 10 September 2024

Additional information is always gratefully received, whether entirely new records (particularly historical records) or information to fill in gaps or correct errors, via the contact link under the Miscellaneous entry in the navigation bar above. Thank you.

Link:

Sponsored station name signs, location A

A list of commercially-sponsored UK railway stations with photos of all known variations of station signs: stations beginning A

www.railwaycodes.org.uk

 

[Farigiraf]

Plenty of these in East Anglia, although mostly advertising community rail or places of education - Bury St Edmunds 'for University of Suffolk', Cambridge 'Home of Anglia Ruskin University', Ely 'for the Hereward Line'

 

[Western Sunset]

As noted above, quite a number of stations promote that they are home to this or that university.

 

[6Gman]

Most of the ones I've seen seem to involve educational establishment - "Bloggtown - home of the University of Bloggshire". (Not a real example )

But I've seen at least one example where the university name is a different place, but has a campus there which seems a recipe for confusion.

 

[RailAleFan]

Most of the ones I've seen seem to involve educational establishment - "Bloggtown - home of the University of Bloggshire". (Not a real example )

But I've seen at least one example where the university name is a different place, but has a campus there which seems a recipe for confusion.

Stafford
sponsored by The University of
Wolverhampton

 

[Thebaz]

Think Basingstoke used to have “home of something or other”. Shows how effective it was, but then I was never a regular passer-through! In general though, no. Station names should be clear and unaffected by commercialism., though a simple “for xyz” underneath if there is a really major feature within 10 minutes’ walk is OK. No third party logos or colours etc to confuse matters.

Wintherthur! whatever Winterthur is or was. East Croydon used to have Nestle. More confusingly Norwood Junction currently has "Croydon" in a large roundel where one of the running in boards used to be, to advertise the fact that Croydon was the Borough of Culture last year - not that anyone can remember a single positive event that happened.

 

[jfollows]

Most of the ones I've seen seem to involve educational establishment - "Bloggtown - home of the University of Bloggshire". (Not a real example )

But I've seen at least one example where the university name is a different place, but has a campus there which seems a recipe for confusion.

Warwick should have signs saying “a hell of a long way from the University of Warwick” for sure.

 

[Western Sunset]

Poole
Welcome to the home of Bournemouth University

 

[Bletchleyite]

Most of the ones I've seen seem to involve educational establishment - "Bloggtown - home of the University of Bloggshire". (Not a real example )

But I've seen at least one example where the university name is a different place, but has a campus there which seems a recipe for confusion.

To be fair that's sometimes because of where the uni actually is. Warwick Uni (another "new red brick" like Lancaster) is and always has been based in Coventry and does not have, and has never had, a major campus actually in Warwick. It couldn't however be called Coventry Uni as there already was one.

Edge Hill by contrast did actually start out with Edge Hill as its local station, later relocating to Ormskirk.

 

[Western Sunset]

Yes, the original main campus of Bournemouth Uni is actually in Poole.
I remember the conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra telling me that when he first visited, he got off the train at Bournemouth (as you would). However, unbeknown to him, the orchestra's base and main hall is in Poole.

 

[Howardh]

Stafford
sponsored by The University of
Wolverhampton

That could be useful, many (like myself) might go through Stafford and not be aware there's a university in Wolverhampton!

 

[Benters]

That could be useful, many (like myself) might go through Stafford and not be aware there's a university in Wolverhampton!

University of Wolverhampton does have an offshoot in Stafford next door to the main County Council offices in the town centre, but its main campus is in Wolverhampton.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Recall several outer London stations having things like this back in the 2000s. IIRC East Croydon was sponsored by Nestlé for a while, and Kingston had a sponsor too (Unilever maybe?). The link posted upthread only lists some random business I've never heard of for Kingston though.

 

[edwin_m]

Warwick should have signs saying “a hell of a long way from the University of Warwick” for sure.

To be fair that's sometimes because of where the uni actually is. Warwick Uni (another "new red brick" like Lancaster) is and always has been based in Coventry and does not have, and has never had, a major campus actually in Warwick.

It's not exactly near Coventry either, so Coventry station could have those signs as well.

 

[jfollows]

It's not exactly near Coventry either, so Coventry station could have those signs as well.

True, but there’s a bus service from Coventry from memory, I only went there by public transport once, I know I drove there after that and it was much less hassle.

 

[SynthD]

There’s a price on dignity too few want to know. I’d want no sponsored names for stations, and limits on these subtitle signs. The photos in Duffield’s link are clearly with what is and isn’t the name of the station. The sponsor messages are on a different piece of metal with a yellow background. The current guidelines may be good enough.

Are there any public records or FOIs about how much they cost?