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Stockport renamed "Scottport" for a day

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Mikey C

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I've certainly heard of Scott Mills. Whether someone taking over a Radio show (even a very high profile one) justifies this sort of stunt is debatable.

When Terry Wogan retired from the show, renaming one of the Wigan stations Wogan for a day might have been ok though :D
 
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DarloRich

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Interesting point. I wonder how much revenue Avanti may have lost if passengers trying to book tickets to Stockport yesterday couldn't find the station on ticket machines and online booking sites because it had been renamed Scottport. A bit of a PR own goal, I think.
I doubt the name was changed on the ticketing system.
 

Deepgreen

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I'm not sure if this is purposeful facetiousness, but not only is he now the presenter of the most listened radio program in the UK, he has presented on the two most listened to national radio stations for more than 25 years, as well as presenting lots of high profile TV. I happen to be culturally unaware of lots of film stuff (much to many of my friends' amusement and/or disbelief), but there are times when even if I wouldn't recognise / name a film a famous actor has been in, at least I'd know of them

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Sorry to prove you all wrong (along with @CardiffKid's post), but this has been done with roadsigns:

Oh no...!

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As far as the general public is concerned, I'm not sure the railway is held in a position of respect at all, especially after the last few years of industrial disputes and operational disasters like some of the timetable changes.
Probably not so much now, all added to by this sort of bilge.
 

Howardh

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Never heard of him, but then the last time I listened to a radio programme it was Alan Beswick on Red Rose Radio in nineteen-eighty something...

I've heard of Tony Blackburn if that counts?
If a radio station has "presenters" I won't listen, all my listening is via internet-based radio stations where ads are few and DJ's don't exist. Websites usually display the track that's being played in case you want to download later. That being said, my usual go-to radio station, Ibiza Global radio, does have the occasional DJ so that's the exception that proves the rule.

I was in a health spa last week, and over the speakers they were playing the gawdamauful "Heart" so my stay was somewhat curtailed.
 

Halwynd

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If a radio station has "presenters" I won't listen, all my listening is via internet-based radio stations where ads are few and DJ's don't exist. Websites usually display the track that's being played in case you want to download later. That being said, my usual go-to radio station, Ibiza Global radio, does have the occasional DJ so that's the exception that proves the rule.

I was in a health spa last week, and over the speakers they were playing the gawdamauful "Heart" so my stay was somewhat curtailed.

The Alan Beswick Late Night Show was about listeners calling in and chating with Beswick about his chosen topic of the day. Being a late night show and talking about political topics of the day and it often became 'lively'. I don't remember him playing music, but being a commercial station there were ad breaks.

Last time I listened to radio music I was recording Sunday night Top40 tracks onto TDK C90 cassettes!
 

Howardh

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I read that few will be confused with Stockport and Scottport, but last year - at least on social media - many were getting "Stockport" and Southport" mixed up, and as I travel around I certainly want stations named correctly to help navigate. Hope this is the last time any TOC does this.
 

jfollows

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I’ve seen newspaper articles in which Southport and Stockport get used interchangeably, it just confirms to me the London bias of most of our press.
 

edwin_m

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Sea Mills was a perfect opportunity to do this. Quiet station on a branch line with only altering a couple of signs and not many people who'd end up confused however I can see why a large station was chosen over a suburb of Bristol.
Or Mills Hill or one of the New Mills stations.
With all the announcements on the train, I confidently estimate that a number of people very closely adjacent to zero use station running-in boards as a navigation tool.
People using headphones may not hear announcements, and those buried in a device or even a book (remember them?) may tune them out. They may however notice when the train is slowing to a stop, so it's important they can then quickly find out if this is their station or not. On-board displays may be showing this or may have moved on to lists of connections or something else even less relevant, so I suggest it's still important that people can find out by looking out of the window.
I've heard of Tony Blackburn if that counts?
He had a station named after him too?
 
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TfL seem to particularly like this, not a fan of these myself but at least it doesn't seem to include departure boards at other stations like GTR do with Brighton just for Halloween
It's a shame Halesowen no longer has a railway station - that would be prefect for a rebrand on the 31st October. Maybe they'll just do a bus stop instead.
 

Howardh

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I’ve seen newspaper articles in which Southport and Stockport get used interchangeably, it just confirms to me the London bias of most of our press.
Or how poor people are at geography?! Which - of course - is a reason for keeping station names as they are. I would assume many look for a station knowing it's the one before they get off and can prepare, especially when they are close together. "Once we reach Stockport we can prepare to get off at Piccadilly". Doubt many - if not zero - passengers were confused by the change, but the underground once changed the name of a station to something completely different - a brand I think - which was appalling; especially considering the number of foreign visitors using that line.

I do have a money making suggestion though in the speculation thread coming shortly!
 

Trainfan2019

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What a waste of time, effort and money changing station signs for 'fun'. Avanti should try sticking to running a train service and having staff on platforms.
 

43096

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You’re missing the point, I fear! Station running in boards are not there to ‘advertise’ the station, they are provided to inform people on an arriving train of where they are. We can argue all day as to whether or not they’re really necessary in this day and age, but that is their purpose. In that context, it is unacceptable to bastardise them and intentionally provide false information as some sort of daft gimmick - if you want to advertise something, use the abubdant advertising space which is no doubt available in the station area! If it was something like an all-over advertising livery it would be of no concern whatsoever, but the deliberate misuse of information signage should not be happening - particularly when it has been intentionally designed so as to mock the original style and look ‘proper’, which is plain misleading.
That is the (very obviously) correct answer. This sort of nonsense just needs to be banned.
 

Ediswan

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Will we be renaming London Waterloo to appease a whole nation?
No, just a submarine.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c87dyjgrgzeo
The Royal Navy has announced it is changing the name of a new submarine from HMS Agincourt to HMS Achilles, in a move branded "woke nonsense" by former Defence Secretary Grant Shapps.

It follows reports of concern within the Ministry of Defence that the original name for the vessel - which is being built in Barrow, Cumbria - may have offended the French.
 

Ashley Hill

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Well at least Dennis Pennis didn’t get the R2 job. I can’t think which South Yorkshire station would have been renamed if he did!!!
 

enginedin

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It's the latter 2 who are comparable to the people you mention.
maybe I'm just more aware of things. I'm not a massive football fan but I know who Alex Scott is. I don't watch MOTD, but I'm aware she's a presenter of it, and I know she was a world cup winning footballer, despite having not watched any of the games. There's a clear analogy there again which I said last night: you don't need to listen to Radio 2 to be aware of its high profile presenters.

So, I agree, I probably would put Alex Scott in the same category as the radio presenters, and I'm surprised at people not having heard of any of them
 
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jfollows

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No, I had heard of Scott Mills and recognised his picture, but I’d have said that Alex Scott was a man, I’ve never heard of her before. Just the circles I operate in.
 

Sprinter107

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No, I had heard of Scott Mills and recognised his picture, but I’d have said that Alex Scott was a man, I’ve never heard of her before. Just the circles I operate in.
I've never heard of Alex Scott, nor would I recognise a picture of Scott Mills.
 

tumbledown

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Relevant study here: you can't expect people to remember things that they have no interest in. That includes celebrity.
 

43096

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maybe I'm just more aware of things. I'm not a massive football fan but I know who Alex Scott is. I don't watch MOTD, but I'm aware she's a presenter of it, and I know she was a world cup winning footballer, despite having not watched any of the games.
World Cup winning? Really?
 

enginedin

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World Cup winning? Really?
oh, no! :) I've just looked it up, I was a generation out (and the Women's Team won the Euros, but lost to Spain in the World Cup).

Maybe that has inadvertently proven my point - I know who she is, and what she's famous for, despite knowing very little about football.
 
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