Stations not known by their "official" names?

[Leight]

Just had the pleasure of visiting Edinburgh and decided to check live departures from Waverley on RTT, as one does. Curiously, the station is known as just "Edinburgh" on the website, despite signage at the station entrance, within the station, etc. all saying "Edinburgh Waverley".

While I'm not going to complain about Network Rail or RTT misleading passengers, I did wonder if this discrepancy between the public-facing and internal names for the same station existed elsewhere -- Carlisle Citadel came to mind, though a cursory Google search didn't show up any signage within the station with "Citadel". Not counting stuff like "Lichfield T Valley" on departure boards, of course.

As an aside, that hole where the line to Newhaven used to run through on platform 20 surely deserves more than a dingy placard above it.

 

[A S Leib]

(Newcastle) Central rather than just Newcastle; I suspect with Manors as the only other mainline station in Newcastle, the Central qualifier isn't seen as necessary.

The only cases I can find where there's a mainline station officially called Central without any other stations of the town's name (e.g. Coatbridge Central and Sunnyside) are Rotherham, Milton Keynes and Telford.

 

[zwk500]

Leeds City, Sheffield Midland, and Bedford Midland do get used occasionally, I think, despite the 'official' names lacking suffixes.

 

[The exile]

Just had the pleasure of visiting Edinburgh and decided to check live departures from Waverley on RTT, as one does. Curiously, the station is known as just "Edinburgh" on the website, despite signage at the station entrance, within the station, etc. all saying "Edinburgh Waverley".

While I'm not going to complain about Network Rail or RTT misleading passengers, I did wonder if this discrepancy between the public-facing and internal names for the same station existed elsewhere -- Carlisle Citadel came to mind, though a cursory Google search didn't show up any signage within the station with "Citadel". Not counting stuff like "Lichfield T Valley" on departure boards, of course.

As an aside, that hole where the line to Newhaven used to run through on platform 20 surely deserves more than a dingy placard above it.

The furore when BR officially dropped “Waverley” was immense and the signage is basically bowing to public opinion. Now that there’s a “Park” and a “Gateway” as well, using the suffix is very sensible.

 

[A S Leib]

How frequently do people say the Parkway bit of station names, either where it's clear what the station is (Luton Airport, Southampton Airport) or where there aren't any others by its named settlement (Tiverton, Bodmin)?

 

[Leight]

Leeds City, Sheffield Midland, and Bedford Midland do get used occasionally, I think, despite the 'official' names lacking suffixes.

Are they still signed as Sheffield Midland etc. within the station, though?

 

[swt_passenger]

How frequently do people say the Parkway bit of station names, either where it's clear what the station is (Luton Airport, Southampton Airport) or where there aren't any others by its named settlement (Tiverton, Bodmin)?

I’ve often heard people in my area, near Southampton, just use ‘Parkway’, as in ‘pick me up at Parkway’. I suppose context matters, if you’re local you’d not confuse it with anywhere else…

 

[Falcon1200]

How frequently do people say the Parkway bit of station names

I first started travelling to and through Didcot in 1972, and don't, and never will, add the Parkway bit!

 

[YorksLad12]

Leeds City, Sheffield Midland, and Bedford Midland do get used occasionally, I think, despite the 'official' names lacking suffixes.

Are they still signed as Sheffield Midland etc. within the station, though?

It says "Leeds City" on the door but nowhere else (since Leeds first in 2001-ish). Oddly, ten years ago we had the Leeds Integrated Station Masterplan but the Sheffield Midland Integrated Station Masterplan, even though there is no other station in Sheffield centre.

 

[MedwayValiant]

The station called Colchester is 1 mile north of the city centre, and is known locally as "North Station".

That name is used by railway staff and it appears on the front of buses, but I don't think it's ever had any official status.

 

[ejstubbs]

The train manager on my (much delayed) train from Newcastle yesterday repeatedly referred to our destination as "Edinburgh Waverley". I'm not at all sure where the separation between the uses of the two names falls, or is supposed to fall. The NRE journey planner only refers to it a "Edinburgh" - and the station immediately to the west as "Haymarket", which could be confusing for those not aware of the fact that there is a second, reasonably centrally located, station in Edinburgh. The OS shows it on its maps as just "Waverley Station", whereas Google Maps and Open Street Map show it as "Edinburgh Waverley".

I do recall a bit of a hoo-ha in the press a number of years back (at least within the time I've been living in Edinburgh, so this century) when I think NRE started referring to it as just "Edinburgh".

 

[A S Leib]

Boxmoor in place of Hemel Hempstead (as I tend to need to distinguish between the station and town centre) is one I use, as is Watford (Met) rather than just Watford. I thought SAC was just St. Albans at one point, but the Thameslink and National Rail websites both refer to St. Albans City.

 

[frankmoh]

Think about all the London terminal stations owned by Network Rail. No one ever calls it London (station name), just the normal name. By this logic, London Bridge's "normal name" would be just 'Bridge'!

 

[A S Leib]

Rhoose Cardiff International Airport station is another one where I can't imagine most people use the full name.

 

[Sorcerer]

In my experience Penrith North Lakes is more often shortened to either just "Penrith", or extended to "Penrith, for the North Lakes", but never anywhere in-between. The signage and announcements will either say one or the other, just not the official station name itself as I understand it. The entrance sign said "Penrith The North Lakes" when it was managed by Virgin, but since Avanti took charge it seems to now be written as "Penrith North Lakes" even though the on-board announcements only refer to it as "Penrith".

 

[The exile]

I’ve often heard people in my area, near Southampton, just use ‘Parkway’, as in ‘pick me up at Parkway’. I suppose context matters, if you’re local you’d not confuse it with anywhere else…

Same applies in the Bristol area!

There are of course the various stations which the railway still insists on tacking "Spa" on to the end of - despite it being neither part of the name of the town/city, nor necessary (any more) to distinguish from a second station in the town / city. I think the only one that's right is Droitwich Spa, as neither Bath nor Cheltenham have it in the town / city name and Leamington also has "Royal". If I've forgotten any other "Spa"s - apologies!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Carlisle Citadel came to mind, though a cursory Google search didn't show up any signage within the station with "Citadel".

The 'Citadel' suffix got dropped in 1948, I think.

 

[YorksLad12]

Think about all the London terminal stations owned by Network Rail. No one ever calls it London (station name), just the normal name. By this logic, London Bridge's "normal name" would be just 'Bridge'!

Well no, because the place is called London Bridge and the station is named after it. Same as Manchester Airport.

 

[A S Leib]

Well no, because the place is called London Bridge and the station is named after it. Same as Manchester Airport.

It used to be the only station name with London in it on the tube map, until London Fields on the Weaver(?) line was added.

 

[Zamracene749]

Redcar? I'm not a regular, but never heard anyone ask for Redcar Central

 

[birchesgreen]

Think about all the London terminal stations owned by Network Rail. No one ever calls it London (station name), just the normal name. By this logic, London Bridge's "normal name" would be just 'Bridge'!

I do.

 

[tram21]

Mansfield says Mansfield Town on the station signs (as shown below) but that's the only place its known as that, online etc. its just Mansfield

 

[Rail Ranger]

Lincoln Central is often seen in many official places despite Lincoln St Marks having closed in 1985.

 

[duffield]

Leeds City, Sheffield Midland, and Bedford Midland do get used occasionally, I think, despite the 'official' names lacking suffixes.

Old people in Nottingham (like me) still refer to "Midland Station" despite there being (AFAIK) no official references by that name anywhere. I expect some folks in Leicester do the same. In Loughborough it's actually useful to refer to "Midland Station" to avoid confusion with the heritage Loughborough Central.

 

[70014IronDuke]

I first started travelling to and through Didcot in 1972, and don't, and never will, add the Parkway bit!

Here here! A thousand likes! Ditto Port Talbot!

 

[superalbs]

Bradford Interchange, or "the interchange" as the locals call it.

 

[Segedunum]

(Newcastle) Central rather than just Newcastle; I suspect with Manors as the only other mainline station in Newcastle, the Central qualifier isn't seen as necessary.

The only cases I can find where there's a mainline station officially called Central without any other stations of the town's name (e.g. Coatbridge Central and Sunnyside) are Rotherham, Milton Keynes and Telford.

Though it's very much known locally as "Central", or "The Central". Even on Tyne & Wear Metro, the screens/announcements on board refer to it as "Central" despite all signage having it as "Central Station".

 

[MadMac]

Leeds City, Sheffield Midland, and Bedford Midland do get used occasionally, I think, despite the 'official' names lacking suffixes.

Derby has a large illuminated sign outside proudly proclaiming it as “Derby Midland”.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Jul 2025 ==

The furore when BR officially dropped “Waverley” was immense and the signage is basically bowing to public opinion. Now that there’s a “Park” and a “Gateway” as well, using the suffix is very sensible.

The attempts to drop the suffix and accompanying furore date back to the 1970s!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Jul 2025 ==

Old people in Nottingham (like me) still refer to "Midland Station" despite there being (AFAIK) no official references by that name anywhere. I expect some folks in Leicester do the same. In Loughborough it's actually useful to refer to "Midland Station" to avoid confusion with the heritage Loughborough Central.

There was some discussion re Leicester a while back which, IIRC, confirmed my recollection that it was never “Midland” but was “London Road”.

 

[stadler]

Most people do not say the Parkway part of some station names. I normally hear Didcot Parkway said as Didcot and Southampton Airport Parkway said as Southampton Airport etc.

 

[LRV3004]

Lancaster is often referred to as “Lancaster Castle”, despite not being on any of the station signs.