"X for Y" - stations that should perhaps have another name added to them but don't have at present

[Bletchleyite]

I've created this thread off the back of this one:

Proposal to change the name of Glenrothes with Thornton

ScotRail have announced they are seeking views on a proposal to change the name of Glenrothes with Thornton railway station to Thornton railway station. https://www.scotrail.co.uk/form/proposedstationnamechange

www.railforums.co.uk

Which is about renaming Glenrothes-with-Thornton to just Thornton, as it's confusing people, not only because it isn't in Glenrothes but also it isn't the station you want to go to to for example get a taxi or bus to Glenrothes - for that you want Markinch.

So that leads me to suggest that as well as renaming that one, they should also rename Markinch to "Markinch for Glenrothes". Unless there's a "permanent RRB" type bus service in the timetable (e.g. Keswick) this means that when someone types that place into a sales site they do get to see what station to go to for it rather than just seeing nothing and going "no train there then, best drive".

Can anyone think of any others that would make sense to have that in their name but don't? Criteria would be them being reasonably close to the place concerned but not in it, but also not a candidate for being called "Y Parkway" because they are in a reasonably sized place of its own that also needs to be in the name.

One I could think of would be "Windermere for Ambleside" - the bus connection is excellent and yet most people probably just put Ambleside in, it doesn't come up so drive instead. I note though that Trainline appear to have tagged that with "near Ambleside" so it does come up on there.

"Penrith for Keswick" would be worth it were there not a formal bus arrangement.

"Headbolt Lane for Skelmersdale" might be tenuous but there is a bus link (and if taking a taxi Maghull North would probably be better, so maybe not). "Upholland for Skelmersdale" would be a good idea if Merseyrail is ever extended to Wigan and a suitable bus service added, though Upholland is so small that "Skelmersdale Parkway" might be a better name for that.

Any more?

 

[Zomboid]

Winchfield for Hartley Witney?
Kemble for Cirencester?

 

[adc82140]

Ashurst for Lyndhurst? Or even change its name back to Lyndhurst Road.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Ashurst for Lyndhurst? Or even change its name back to Lyndhurst Road.

Brockenhurst is better for Lyndhurst unless you're going to walk - there's a direct bus service.

 

[zwk500]

Tweedbank for Melrose.

Didn't Ashchurch used to be 'for Tewkesbury', and Almouth 'for Alnwick'? Although the latter I guess could just as easily be 'Lower Aln Parkway'.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Tweedbank for Melrose.

Didn't Ashchurch used to be 'for Tewkesbury', and Almouth 'for Alnwick'? Although the latter I guess could just as easily be 'Lower Aln Parkway'.

There was the unconventional "Alfreton Mansfield Parkway" which probably should just have been "Alfreton for Mansfield" as less of a mouthful (though that has of course been replaced by Mansfield station and renamed back to just Alfreton).

I certainly remember "Ashchurch for Tewksbury" and didn't know it had been changed to remove that! Edit: It hasn't, it's still Ashchurch for Tewksbury in the online planners.

Gobowen for Oswestry is another one - not in the official name but it is on the signs, or at least some of them.

 

[SargeNpton]

Burnham could well be renamed as "Slough West for Burnham".

Of course, many station renamings, where the first letter changes, get shelved when the person holding the purse strings finds out that more is involved than just changing the signs on the station itself.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Sep 2026 ==

There was the unconventional "Alfreton Mansfield Parkway" which probably should just have been "Alfreton for Mansfield" as less of a mouthful (though that has of course been replaced by Mansfield station and renamed back to just Alfreton).

It was originally Alfreton & Mansfield Parkway.

 

[zwk500]

I certainly remember "Ashchurch for Tewksbury" and didn't know it had been changed to remove that! Edit: It hasn't, it's still Ashchurch for Tewksbury in the online planners.

Ah fair enough, the danger of not checking various sources!

Gobowen for Oswestry is another one - not in the official name but it is on the signs, or at least some of them.

I guess on that one it's complicated by there having been a branch to Oswestry hanging around with some potential for reopening, so no point adding it on only to need to take it off to prevent confusion with the actual Oswestry station if it reopened. Or you end up with a situation like Alfreton with it chopping and changing a fair bit.

 

[eldomtom2]

Wickham Market should be Campsea for Wickham Market, it's two miles from Wickham Market by road.

 

[A S Leib]

Long Buckby for Daventry?

Portsmouth Harbour's enough of a destination in its own right that I don't think the station name needs changing; how well is the ferry link to Gosport advertised on e.g. onboard announcements?

 

[Magdalia]

The obvious example near here is Audley End for Saffron Walden.

50-60 years ago the tendency was to go the other way by shortening station names, for example Broxbourne and Hoddesdon.

 

[brad465]

Leagrave for Dunstable? (not sure which station in the Luton area has the best bus link to the latter though)

Wool for Lulworth
Axminster for Lyme Regis
Cranbrook for Exeter Airport
Add "for Marlborough" to whichever of Hungerford, Bedwyn or Pewsey has the best bus link

Sandling for Hythe (and setup appropriate bus/path infrastructure)

 

[devon_belle]

Holmwood for Beare Green (or, better, Beare Green for Holmwood)
Ockley for Capel
St Denys for Portswood
Goring-by-sea for Ferring (what a mouthful)

All are quite minor and probably wouldn't actually be worth the change.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The obvious example near here is Audley End for Saffron Walden.

50-60 years ago the tendency was to go the other way by shortening station names, for example Broxbourne and Hoddesdon.

Of course the thing that has changed is the coming of journey planners, where if the place you want doesn't come up when you type it in you may just give up and drive.

 

[Djgr]

I've created this thread off the back of this one:

Proposal to change the name of Glenrothes with Thornton

ScotRail have announced they are seeking views on a proposal to change the name of Glenrothes with Thornton railway station to Thornton railway station. https://www.scotrail.co.uk/form/proposedstationnamechange

www.railforums.co.uk

Which is about renaming Glenrothes-with-Thornton to just Thornton, as it's confusing people, not only because it isn't in Glenrothes but also it isn't the station you want to go to to for example get a taxi or bus to Glenrothes - for that you want Markinch.

So that leads me to suggest that as well as renaming that one, they should also rename Markinch to "Markinch for Glenrothes". Unless there's a "permanent RRB" type bus service in the timetable (e.g. Keswick) this means that when someone types that place into a sales site they do get to see what station to go to for it rather than just seeing nothing and going "no train there then, best drive".

Can anyone think of any others that would make sense to have that in their name but don't? Criteria would be them being reasonably close to the place concerned but not in it, but also not a candidate for being called "Y Parkway" because they are in a reasonably sized place of its own that also needs to be in the name.

One I could think of would be "Windermere for Ambleside" - the bus connection is excellent and yet most people probably just put Ambleside in, it doesn't come up so drive instead. I note though that Trainline appear to have tagged that with "near Ambleside" so it does come up on there.

"Penrith for Keswick" would be worth it were there not a formal bus arrangement.

"Headbolt Lane for Skelmersdale" might be tenuous but there is a bus link (and if taking a taxi Maghull North would probably be better, so maybe not). "Upholland for Skelmersdale" would be a good idea if Merseyrail is ever extended to Wigan and a suitable bus service added, though Upholland is so small that "Skelmersdale Parkway" might be a better name for that.

Any more?

A good starting point would be to revisit those that had the "for" culled, primarily in the 1970s.

How about Headbolt Lane for Kirkby East? At least that would help the 99% who have no idea where this station is located.

 

[Lemmy99uk]

On the Cumbrian coast we could do with Askam (for Ireleth), and Bootle should be renamed Hycemoor (for Bootle)

 

[RT4038]

Long Buckby for Daventry?

Long Buckby may well be the closest station to Daventry, but if you were aiming to go or come from Daventry by any method other than walking to a Station you would be better to go to Northampton (where the fairly frequent bus service goes past the Station) or at a pinch Rugby (where the hourly bus service not evenings or Sundays is a good 10 minutes walk away) if travelling to or from from the North.[or even Banbury, for the hourly bus service from there, depending where you are coming from?] If you were in Daventry with a car, you'd drive to Rugby or Northampton or Banbury depending on direction for a more frequent/faster service than Long Buckby. So calling the Station Long Buckby for Daventry would be very misleading. Probably best to stay silent on the signage.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Sep 2026 ==

A good starting point would be to revisit those that had the "for" culled, primarily in the 1970s.

How about Headbolt Lane for Kirkby East? At least that would help the 99% who have no idea where this station is located.

But many of those were called 'for' on the basis of a long walk, or a pony and trap, rather than todays public transport routes.

 

[Farigiraf]

I would think that two things would be required for simplicity:
1. For the 'for' to be part of the official station name, not just an occasionally used suffix on station signs. At the moment it's all over the place. E.g. out of these, which are official station names, which are unofficial and which are a gray area: Greenhithe for Bluewater, Ashchurch for Tewkesbury, Penrith for the North Lakes, Pokesdown for Boscombe, Sankey for Penketh. These are all commonly used so they should be standardised.
2. It should be always be possible to get to the 'for x' destination without driving after arriving at this station. A few common sense exceptions (E.g. for 11pm trains) but otherwise compulsory.
It should probably also be avoided where it would make an excessively long station name (i.e. over 4 words) and where the town already has a designated bus link within the journey planner database.

For example:

Windermere for Ambleside

Kemble for Cirencester?

Tweedbank for Melrose.

Long Buckby for Daventry?

These all would work, as long as the connection doesn't involve more than a 30 min wait for a bus.
That's not to say that all the existing ones are perfect - there's no well-timed bus link from Alnmouth to Alnwick or from Ashchurch to Tewkesbury - but why spend the time and money implementing it where it didn't exist before if the connection isn't even possible for most trains?

Winchfield for Hartley Witney?

Ashurst for Lyndhurst?

Cranbrook for Exeter Airport

These ones less so, because a different station offers better interchange options. Fleet's better for Hartley Wintney, Brockenhurst (or Southampton Central) is better for Lyndhurst and Exeter St David's is better for the Airport.

Add "for Marlborough" to whichever of Hungerford, Bedwyn or Pewsey has the best bus link

Bedwyn already has "for Marlborough" on station signs but that's about it. Most of the time Pewsey and Swindon have better connection options, especially since Bedwyn's effectively at the end of a slow branch line from Newbury most of the day. I'd say Pewsey for Marlborough would make a lot of sense, as in addition to the obvious journey planning benefits it would also make the random stop at a small station in the middle of nowhere on IET services to/from Devon seem less pointless to passengers onboard.

Though since it only has trains every 2 hours, the bus connection would have to be very reliable to not put off potential passengers. Given that Marlborough is a small town in the middle of a National Landscape region, getting even a tenth of tourists onto public transport would go a surprisingly long way towards improving the place.

Wool for Lulworth
Axminster for Lyme Regis

SWR and GWR are particularly good at well-timed reliable rail-bus connections. Most of the interchanges are within large towns which are important in their own right (e.g. Redruth) but there are still quite a few renamings that could work. Barnstaple for Bideford, Totnes for Kingsbridge/Salcombe (though the bus ride may be a bit too long), Axminster to Lyme Regis etc. - "Wool for the Jurassic Coast" would be a really cool name as well. Still you need to be careful as a few do have through-tickets (where it'd just complicate things) like Ilfracombe.
If Didcot-Oxford wiring ever gets approved then during the major upgrade works it might be worth renaming Culham or Radley to Culham/Radley for Abingdon, depending on which has the better connection to Abingdon, since the station's train service would increase from an hourly shuttle to 2tph to London.

How realistic any of these actually are is another thing. For one, they take way too long (still no news on "North Llanrwst & Trefriw" 2 years on), and at the more rural stations, co-ordinating rail and bus is a costly and time-consuming maneuver. The council-funded rail-link service connecting Castle Cary station with Street and Glastonbury shows how surprisingly hard it can be: you have time services around a rail timetable that isn't a perfect 'taktfahrplan', you have to plan and contract out a new route efficiently, you have to watch out for rail delays and then decide on the spot whether to wait or leave early, then once you're done with all this, in the end only a few dozen people use it per day.

 

[Trainspecial]

Cranbrook for Exeter Airport

Cranbrook doesn’t have a direct bus connection to the airport, despite it being nearby. Passengers are advised to change at Exeter St David’s

 

[61653 HTAFC]

If it wasn't for having to negotiate the treacherous (whether on foot, bike, bus or even car) Chain Bar interchange, Low Moor could become Low Moor for Cleckheaton.
A bit more of a stretch would be adding "for Holmfirth" to Denby Dale. You'd want to guarantee connections to the buses though, which might be doable if the Weaver Network is more than just a fancy rebrand.

 

[Farigiraf]

Long Buckby may well be the closest station to Daventry, but if you were aiming to go or come from Daventry by any method other than walking to a Station you would be better to go to Northampton (where the fairly frequent bus service goes past the Station) or at a pinch Rugby (where the hourly bus service not evenings or Sundays is a good 10 minutes walk away) if travelling to or from from the North.[or even Banbury, for the hourly bus service from there, depending where you are coming from?] If you were in Daventry with a car, you'd drive to Rugby or Northampton or Banbury depending on direction for a more frequent/faster service than Long Buckby. So calling the Station Long Buckby for Daventry would be very misleading. Probably best to stay silent on the signage.

The D4 from Long Buckby station to Daventry takes only 13 mins and usually connects quite well with WMT trains. LNR-AWC connections at Rugby are also fairly well timed making it useful even for long-distance northbound travel. For pure frequency, or for travel after 7pm (when the D4 doesn't run) Northampton does win, but it's not particularly faster than going via Long Buckby and it's certainly less convenient and comfortable. If the D4 service was increased to run 16 hours a day then it would definitely make Long Buckby a suitable interchange point to reach Daventry.

If you were in Daventry with a car, you wouldn't need Trainline to tell you which station to travel from - these changes are good for people travelling to the town with no rail connection.

 

[zwk500]

The D4 from Long Buckby station to Daventry takes only 13 mins and usually connects quite well with WMT trains. LNR-AWC connections at Rugby are also fairly well timed making it useful even for long-distance northbound travel. For pure frequency, or for travel after 7pm (when the D4 doesn't run) Northampton does win, but it's not particularly faster than going via Long Buckby and it's certainly less convenient and comfortable. If the D4 service was increased to run 16 hours a day then it would definitely make Long Buckby a suitable interchange point to reach Daventry.

If you're traveling to Birmingham or travelling off peak this is all fairly true, although if you're travelling to London in peak times, then Northampton will start to look a lot more attractive with the additional trains and you don't have to sit for 10 mins at Northampton.

If you were in Daventry with a car, you wouldn't need Trainline to tell you which station to travel from - these changes are good for people travelling to the town with no rail connection.

Very few people are travelling to Daventry who do not already live there.

 

[sabanda]

Wool for Lulworth is already referred to as such on station departure boards.

 

[cle]

This is a highly quaint, and archaic practice and I don't think anyone gets on a train these days without knowing where to get off, or looks out of the window to ascertain that - or indeed, whether a smaller station is the railhead for a larger place. Almost everyone is looking at some form of mobile / online planner.

 

[Bletchleyite]

This is a highly quaint, and archaic practice and I don't think anyone gets on a train these days without knowing where to get off, or looks out of the window to ascertain that - or indeed, whether a smaller station is the railhead for a larger place. Almost everyone is looking at some form of mobile / online planner.

And in a planner they type where they're going, and if that place isn't there they give up and go by car. That's the value of this.

Trainline however notably includes some places in the search and defaults to the nearest station, e.g. Ambleside.

 

[YorksLad12]

Headingley opened as Headingley and Kirkstall in 1849. It is closer to what people would consider Kirkstall than either Headingley or Kirkstall Forge stations.

If you wanted to go to Headingley Stadium for the rugby, Burley Park is closer (about half the time/distance) and equidistant for the cricket, so you could make a case for Burley Park for Headingley and Headingley for Kirkstall. Or rename Burley Park to Headingley and Headingley to Kirkstall, but neither of those is especially accurate.

 

[Merle Haggard]

The D4 from Long Buckby station to Daventry takes only 13 mins and usually connects quite well with WMT trains. LNR-AWC connections at Rugby are also fairly well timed making it useful even for long-distance northbound travel. For pure frequency, or for travel after 7pm (when the D4 doesn't run) Northampton does win, but it's not particularly faster than going via Long Buckby and it's certainly less convenient and comfortable. If the D4 service was increased to run 16 hours a day then it would definitely make Long Buckby a suitable interchange point to reach Daventry.

If you were in Daventry with a car, you wouldn't need Trainline to tell you which station to travel from - these changes are good for people travelling to the town with no rail connection.

Both Long Buckby railway station and the bus stop are pretty bleak places to wait in anything but good weather.

The only useful forward connections from Rugby to the North are to Manchester first stop Stoke and a few to Scotland via the West Midlands - the latter's routing may not be a valid rone for a Long Bucby to North of Crewe ticket. You could., of course, get off a Birmingham bound LNw service to Birmingham to change - at some times - to the Avanti one but this would be slower.

Daventry is very close to the M1 just south of its junction with the M6 and A14, though ...

 

[D6130]

that leads me to suggest that as well as renaming that one, they should also rename Markinch to "Markinch for Glenrothes". Unless there's a "permanent RRB" type bus service in the timetable (e.g. Keswick) this means that when someone types that place into a sales site they do get to see what station to go to for it rather than just seeing nothing and going "no train there then, best drive".

Funnily enough, it was named 'Markinch for Glenrothes' before Glenrothes with Thornton was opened.

Likewise Alnwick for Alnmouth and Sandling for Hythe....before BR had a spate of station name contractions in the 1980s.

 

[Falcon1200]

Winchfield for Hartley Witney?

Many years ago when a booking office clerk at Reading a passenger asked me for a ticket to Hartley Wintney, when told there was no such station they asked 'why?'; Not sure how you answer that! Adding it to Winchfield would help however.

My own suggestion would be Patterton for Newton Mearns.

 

[D6130]

Many years ago when a booking office clerk at Reading a passenger asked me for a ticket to Hartley Wintney, when told there was no such station they asked 'why?'; Not sure how you answer that! Adding it to Winchfield would help however.

My own suggestion would be Patterton for Newton Mearns.

I thought that Whitecraigs was nearer?