"The next train on platform 1 is the Great British Railway's London Brighton and South Coast service to..." doesn't exactly roll off the tongue
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Is 'South Central' a better name than 'Southern'?
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contrex
Established Member
OK, 'South Coast Railway' then.
Farnborough
Member
"The next train on platform 1 is the Great British Railway's London, Brighton and South Coast service from London to Brighton and the South Coast, calling at..." is even worse
Hence the insistence that the famous “handbag “ ( The importance of being Ernest) was on the Brighton side - the Chatham side would have signalled even more of a social death.
Gloster
Veteran Member
Methinks it is Earnest.
You think right. I could blame it on autocorrect - but I won’t!
We wouldn't bother with that. Just:"The next train on platform 1 is the Great British Railway's London, Brighton and South Coast service from London to Brighton and the South Coast, calling at..." is even worse
The Network express to Brighton.... or
The Hastings service via Haywards Heath....
SECR 65
Member
It could be abreviated in verbal communications to "LBSCR" or "LB&SCR"?...
Mike Machin
Member
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My partner works for South Central Ambulance Service and her area is Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire - ie, Central Southern England. Most of the present-day Southern's operating is well outside Central Southern England and all of it is technically within the South East of the country, so I think just plain Southern is fine!
Class15
Established Member
Can I ask why?
Sun Chariot
Established Member
Because we are not central in the south
RUK
Member
I personally use an expanded definition of East Anglia, not just Norfolk and Suffolk, but covering Essex, where I am from, as well (and Cambridgeshire).
First Group might still own the name, from when they had First Great Eastern.
boiledbeans2
Member
Beautiful logo:
Photo source: https://sremg.org.uk/emu/class319.shtml
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Still less confusing than Gatwick Express Electrostars on the West Coastway!
Indeed. I don’t think Southern go west of Southampton - which is at a quick glance still East of the centreline of the South Coast!
It is , however, very much in the central third. The Ashford services however…..
"South Central" was used in some stuff before privatisation:
(Image shows 1988 Network SouthEast map dividing the NSE network into "Thames & Chiltern", "North", "Anglia", "Southwest", "Southcentral", and "Southeast" regions)
Class15
Established Member
Hmmmm, not sure about this. If we want consistency, I think South Eastern, South Central and South Western make far more sense than South Eastern, Southern and South Western. Although I would have just called the whole thing Southern…
Sun Chariot
Established Member
Southern gets my vote.
Perhaps Great Western reliquishes services from all track-routes south of the M4 corridor, so that the UK geographic name-splits align with the TOC name-splits.
On the plus-side, it will stop the woes and the moans about GWR's Cardiff / Portsmouth services...
Mentioning the M4, maybe we should name TOCs after nearby major motorways: Chiltern was originally M40 Trains Ltd. GWR could be M4 Trains, maybe Southern M23 Trains?Southern gets my vote.
Perhaps Great Western reliquishes services from all track-routes south of the M4 corridor, so that the UK geographic name-splits align with the TOC name-splits.
On the plus-side, it will stop the woes and the moans about GWR's Cardiff / Portsmouth services...
bramling
Veteran Member
Agree Southern has never sounded quite right, but South Central sounds so bland (as well as providing reminder of an unsatisfactory period, albeit one that not everyone will now be old enough to remember).
I’d be more tempted to use Southern as a brand for all three of the southern region operations, which resolves any awkwardness. I’m not convinced there’s a need for three end-user-facing brands, even if it’s probably desirable to have three operations departments.
TT-ONR-NRN
Veteran Member
We’re not going to get consistency anyway though, whether you call it Southern OR South Central — because North Western refers to commuter services between London and the Midlands that don’t reach the north, just plain North actually IN the North, there ISN’T a North Eastern, and they’re using South WestERN yet just South East.