Station names on the UK rail network that you would change

[Bletchleyite]

My twopennorth - leave Cambridge as it is and since the two new stations have yet to open, just to rename them South Cambridge and North Cambridge.

Cambridge North is already open.

 

[Thebaz]

Confusion might be reduced if every station had a unique name. I heard of someone once who used a return ticket from Gillingham to Gillingham to commute for a week from Salisbury to Waterloo!

As I understand it they are pronounced differently - Gillingham (Wilts) is a hard 'G'

Cambridge North is already open.

Ah, yes so it is. Rename it anyway!

 

[zwk500]

As I understand it they are pronounced differently - Gillingham (Wilts) is a hard 'G'

Correct, the Kent one is more 'Jillingham'. Doesn't help if written down, of course!

Ah, yes so it is. Rename it anyway!

For what purpose? Having North Cambridge/Cambridge/South Cambridge is no less confusing than Cambridge North/Cambridge/Cambridge South.

 

[Magdalia]

Other possibles could be Meldreth for Melbourn, Radley for Abingdon, Campsea Ashe for Wickham Market, Rye House for Hoddesdon.

Meldreth and Broxbourne were Meldreth and Melbourn and Broxbourne and Hoddesdon until the early 1970s.

I'm old enough to remember the Wickham Market for Campsea Ashe running in board.

As it's very much not central I'd go for Cambridge Hills Road. Cambridge Botanic Gardens sounds like a local tram stop not the main station, but Hills Rd is the one that takes you into the city centre if you follow station road up.

I considered and rejected both of these. Hills Road and Botanic Gardens are too far away to make sense for locals and with insufficient name recognition for visitors.

My twopennorth - leave Cambridge as it is and since the two new stations have yet to open, just to rename them South Cambridge and North Cambridge.

It is a bit late for that, Cambridge North has been open since 2017 and Cambridge South opens early in 2026.

The Milton Keynes South name could arguably be better applied to Bow Brickhill or Woburn Sands (or a future EWR station between them)

Under the EWR consolidated stations option Woburn Sands is moved a bit to the west and could easily be renamed. There will also be a case for renaming Ridgmont with a Milton Keynes name: this is likely to get lots of Milton Keynes traffic from/to Cambridge because of its proximity to the M1 and A421.

 

[Thebaz]

For what purpose? Having North Cambridge/Cambridge/South Cambridge is no less confusing than Cambridge North/Cambridge/Cambridge South.

If all three begin with 'Cambridge' it is surely more confusing than if two of them begin with a different word?

 

[Bletchleyite]

If all three begin with 'Cambridge' it is surely more confusing than if two of them begin with a different word?

I'd be inclined to rename the middle one "Cambridge City". I'd agree with those saying it isn't very central so Central might be a bad moniker, though the city centre is drifting that way with new developments (I really quite like the developments around the station).

While we're at it, St Albans City should go on the signs etc, it's known as that by just about everyone. As should Edinburgh Haymarket, and there should be a proper Edinburgh Stations group rather than just an informal one.

 

[Farigiraf]

Worth noting the now-quietened plan to rename North Llanrwst to North Llanrwst & Trefriw, despite Trefriw being a 30 minute walk from the station.
This shows that with enough local pressure, you could get stations renamed even without a decent fixed link (e.g. a bus from Hythe to Sandling connecting with railways) although of course a fixed link is still the most desirable option.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Worth noting the now-quietened plan to rename North Llanrwst to North Llanrwst & Trefriw, despite Trefriw being a 30 minute walk from the station.

People (not many, but it's not a big place) do walk to the station from Trefriw. It is a walk, but it's not an unpleasant one if you're just having a day out in Llandudno, and because rural North Wales is a very poor area with a quite high number of young people living there the car ownership isn't as high as you might think. Yes, there's a bus service, but many people prefer the train.

Dolgarrog village is a similar distance from that station and there was a fair bit of shouting when the bridge that allowed them to reach it was temporarily closed.

The station was also traditionally called "Llanrwst & Trefriw" anyway.

 

[yorksrob]

There is precedent. The whole town of Tunbridge was renamed Tonbridge to differentiate it from Tunbridge Wells (which had achieved prominence partly due to the railway).

 

[Gloster]

I thought that 'Baltic' was named after the sea of that name. Presumably there was once a Baltic Dock in that area?

Baltic is short for Baltic Triangle, an area which saw a concentration of businesses that traded with the Baltic Sea area, particularly in timber, and also provided services for Scandinavian emigrants heading for the New World. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century many Scandinavians and north Germans crossed the North Sea to the British East Coast, particularly to Hull, and then travelled by rail to ports for America, particularly Liverpool, before crossing the Atlantic. Some settled in the area: the word scouse derives from the Scandinavian or Baltic dish lobscouse.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Baltic is short for Baltic Triangle, an area which saw a concentration of businesses that traded with the Baltic Sea area, particularly in timber, and also provided services for Scandinavian emigrants heading for the New World. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century many Scandinavians and north Germans crossed the North Sea to the British East Coast, particularly to Hull, and then travelled by rail to ports for America, particularly Liverpool, before crossing the Atlantic. Some settled in the area: the word scouse derives from the Scandinavian or Baltic dish lobscouse.

Hence why "Baltic Triangle" would have been the right name for it, not using an adjective as a noun.

 

[SargeNpton]

Why would you need to change the CRS code? At some point we’re going to open a station where all meaningful codes have already been used and the CRS code will have to be completely unrelated to the name (I’m not a CRS code nerd - it may well already be the case)

By convention*, the first letter of the CRS code for a National Rail station should be the first letter of the full station name. When the codes were first allocated in the early 1980s, the London terminals didn't show a London prefix in retail and operating systems, hence Kings Cross is KGX and not (for instance) LKX.

When running the railway was largely paper-based, renaming a station just entailed all the paper records to be updated. Nowadays, with so many inter-related computer systems, any proposed change has to be managed so that the effects of the change don't cause any of those systems to crash - especially those systems that are safety related.

* The only current exception I can think of is Mottisfont & Dunbridge. When it was renamed from Dunbridge the key database in which all codes ranges are maintained wasn't updated, so the CRS code remains as DBG instead of one beginning with M.

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I don’t particularly like Worcestershire Parkway. Worcester Parkway would make more sense. And I would prefer East Midlands Airport (Parkway) - instead of East Midlands Parkway but it needs a regular bus link to the airport.

It's Worcestershire Parkway as it is not part of the "Worcester" stations groups for fares purposes.

 

[Tobberz]

I have always objected to "St Albans Abbey" considering "St Albans City" is only marginally further away from the Abbey than the Abbey station is. I can't think of another name though.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I have always objected to "St Albans Abbey" considering "St Albans City" is only marginally further away from the Abbey than the Abbey station is. I can't think of another name though.

St Albans West would be the easy one. Or St Albans Verulamium, seeing as it's adjacent to the park of that name (yes, I know that is basically like saying "St Albans St Albans" as that's its former name). I don't see a problem with the name as it is though.

 

[zwk500]

St Albans West would be the easy one. Or St Albans Verulamium, seeing as it's adjacent to the park of that name (yes, I know that is basically like saying "St Albans St Albans" as that's its former name). I don't see a problem with the name as it is though.

Agree, St Albans Abbey would make perfect sense with St Albans City.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Agree, St Albans Abbey would make perfect sense with St Albans City.

That's what most people call it anyway, its station code is even SAC and it appears on the Worldline CIS as St Albans City. Just not *quite* everywhere.

 

[William3000]

My twopennorth - leave Cambridge as it is and since the two new stations have yet to open, just to rename them South Cambridge and North Cambridge.

Cambridge North has been open for 8 years!

 

[LLivery]

I am tired of having the shared identity with Hayes & Harlington.

Oh I get that, I guess. But why 'Gardens' specifically?

That always runs the risk of them falling out of favour as society’s attitudes change. Not saying it applies to these three - although the first almost certainly benefitted from exploitative child labour…

That's fair, I did think Darwin would be controversial, I would choose Franklin. Saying that, the French have zero issues naming places after people, even none French people. Rosa Parks springs to mind.

For 21st century Cambridge the old station is excellently located, as demonstrated by the businesses located around it and its 10 million annual entrances and exits.

But I do agree that it needs a better name. Central actually works for business travellers, the area around the station is what would be called the Central Business District (CBD) in the USA or Australia. But I wouldn't go for Central because it works less well for tourists, even though it is the station that they need to use.

These names are very popular amongst light rail fans who use them as names for lines they have drawn on a map with different coloured crayons (though you forgot Newton).

But names of famous people don't help visitors to differentiate between the stations and work out which they need to use. That's why the old station needs an English equivalent of the German hauptbahnhof.

Maybe, but to tourists Waverley, Temple Meads and Victoria; Garibaldi, du Lyon and Penn, don't either, yet it doesn't really seem to be an issue. I expect the main station of a city to have a suffix, whether it's Central, Termini or Hbf, or Waverley, Sants or Flinders Street. Figuring out the name of the station shouldn't be too much to ask. I have an issue with simply 'Cambridge' or 'University' stations, as you'll just want to ask 'which one?'. In 2025, it doesn't take 30 seconds to ask google 'what's the main station of Cambridge called?'.

 

[Oxfordblues]

Llanbister Road is nowhere near Llanbister (about 15km away). A much nearer settlement is Troedrhiwfedwen, but who could pronounce that?

 

[Zomboid]

I wonder if (political impossibility aside) it would be cheaper and simpler to rename some of these tiny settlements after their station...

 

[Magdalia]

I wonder if (political impossibility aside) it would be cheaper and simpler to rename some of these tiny settlements after their station...

It wasn't impossible with Llandudno Junction or Halwill Junction.

 

[zwk500]

It wasn't impossible with Llandudno Junction or Halwill Junction.

Were they renamed or did new settlements develop around the stations of said name? Similar things happened with Berwick (Sussex), built a couple of miles from the village, but a settlement of Berwick Station now is around the station.

 

[AM9]

That's what most people call it anyway, its station code is even SAC and it appears on the Worldline CIS as St Albans City. Just not *quite* everywhere.

Most locals call SAC 'St Albans' station, and the other one (SAA) the 'Abbey Station'.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Why ‘Exchange’?

Okehampton Exchange sounds a bit more traditional railway wise. Think of Bradford or Wrexham.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It wasn't impossible with Llandudno Junction or Halwill Junction.

Or Windermere, which has confused tourists ever since!

 

[X-City-WM]

Re: University, yes can cause confusion nationally, when people see the name on a TVM.

Also, locally, there are five universities* in Birmingham, all of which have international students. Those students/families have to work out how to get their university when landing in the UK.

University of Birmingham (for Queen Elizabeth Hospital) would be best.

*The five universities are:

• Aston University
• Birmingham City University
• Newman University
• University of Birmingham
• University College Birmingham

 

[Bletchleyite]

Problem is that universities have a habit of flipflopping between "University of X" and "X University". This being the case, "University (Birmingham)" might be the best bet.

 

[duffield]

If it was London L St and Liverpool L St I could at least have seen the logic....

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Then you'd end up with stations being assigned names of seemingly questionable relevance (at best) while some settlement 200 miles away kept their name.

Wouldn't the outbound portion be valid for one day only?

Yes, I wouldn't be bothering with the Gillinghams or the Newports. But I think the Rainhams are a different matter at only 20 miles apart (I do realise they are normally suffixed appropriately, but they certainly confused me until I realised they were two different places).

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I think i would change the 3 pontefract stations, Pontefract Monkhill, Pontefract Tanshelf & Pontefract Baghill.
These three stations are so weirdly named im sure there are some reasons out there for it but surely there are better ones,
I live not far away from these stations (roughly half an hour give or take) and i still wouldnt be able to pin-point which is which on a map
If anyone knows why these stations are named like this id really appreciate it

Monkhill Lane is a major road leading out of the town centre northbound; Baghill Road its equivalent southbound.

Tanshelf is actually just a suburb of Pontefract, but that's a bit of an uncommon way of naming a station (prefixing with the wider conurbation's name). Warrington doesn't have 'Warrington Sankey' and Chester doesn't have 'Chester Bache'.

Tanshelf may take its name from a suburb, but that station is now the best sited of the three for the town centre. Next best is Baghill with its rather limited service, but it's Monkhill (stuck up a back lane near some allotments on the very edge of town) that has an intercity service to London.

Speaking of places served by Grand Central's West Riding services, Low Moor should be "Cleckheaton Parkway".

 

[frankmoh]

Rename Ashford (Surrey) to Ashford Domestic. Not all of these suggestions have to be good ideas!