Trivia: The train to 'XXX', calling at 'XXX'

[FLIRTfan18]

It has always appeared a bit odd to me (although I can see why it is done to avoid confusion) that station announcers say things like "the xx:xx service to Bristol Temple Meads, calling at Bath Spa and Bristol Temple Meads" with the fact it's calling at Bristol Temple Meads seemingly completely obvious been as it's going there! However it has got me thinking, are there any examples of trains that are 'to' somewhere but don't actually 'call' there?

 

[yorkie]

However it has got me thinking, are there any examples of trains that are 'to' somewhere but don't actually 'call' there?

Can you elaborate on what you have in mind please?

 

[_toommm_]

Avanti miss out the final destination as a calling point on their on-board announcements, so they’ll announce a train as a service to Euston for example, and list the calling points except Euston.

 

[Huntergreed]

Avanti 390’s announce “train to ZZZ, calling at WWW, XXX, YYY” but don’t mention ZZZ again.

As far as I’m aware, there are no advertised services on the National Rail network which advertise a terminus which the train does not call at.

You could argue that circular services (Glasgow - Glasgow Cathcart circle services for example) display a “false” terminus, as they are shown to terminate at Cathcart, when in actual fact they simply call here and continue back to Glasgow Central.

Other than that, I cannot think of any examples (and I can’t really see a reason why there would ever be a need to do this) or a train having a stated terminus where the train does not call at.

 

[David Goddard]

How can a train be 'to' somewhere but not call there?

 

[JonathanH]

However it has got me thinking, are there any examples of trains that are 'to' somewhere but don't actually 'call' there?

Not quite sure what you have in mind - the last train on the North Cotswold line terminates at Worcestershire Parkway but runs on out of service to Worcester Hereford Sidings which is effectively Worcester Shrub Hill. It still wouldn't be advertised as going further than its last call, Worcestershire Parkway, though.

 

[TheSel]

Merseyrail Liverpool-bound Wirral Line services all announce themselves as "This train is for Liverpool Central, calling at XXX, YYY" etc until they get to James Street - three stations prior to Liverpool Central, at which point they announce: "This train is for [West Kirby / New Brighton / Chester / Ellesmere Port etc], calling at ...

Whilst Liverpool Central is announced alongside the dozen or so other stations to be served, it can confuse strangers to the area who boarded the train expecting it to terminate at some grand "Liverpool Central" terminus, only to find hear that the train - having not yet got there - is about to return whence it came.

 

[Taunton]

Only the keenest of rail buffs listen intensely to every announcement, so do not assume people will have heard the principal destination in the first few words. Given the amount of announcement auto-babble nowadays, it seems irrelevant to then eliminate one word being said again - the final destination, probably the most significant word of the message.

 

[JonathanH]

I'm the 1990s there was an announcer at Reading who used to read out the local service destinations to Ealing Broadway in the days when they weren't advertised as going to Paddington who had his own individual take on the concept. Something like:

"Platform 6 for the xx.xx service to Ealing Broadway, calling at Twyford, Maidenhead, ... , Ealing Broadway and then on to London Paddington, Ealing Broadway service, platform 6."

 

[071]

Merseyrail Liverpool-bound Wirral Line services all announce themselves as "This train is for Liverpool Central, calling at XXX, YYY" etc until they get to James Street - three stations prior to Liverpool Central, at which point they announce: "This train is for [West Kirby / New Brighton / Chester / Ellesmere Port etc], calling at ...

At Chester the departures board displays Liverpool Central but the arrivals board for the same train says it's from Chester, so to the uninitiate the train appears not to have gone anywhere.

 

[185]

If a train / station environment is noisy, many people may miss the most important thing - the time & destination, if only said at the start. Also some people with earphones on or on phone calls attention may come into an announcement halfway through it and only hear

eg:-
(300db Metallica Death Metal/The Archers/Drill Garbage) - ....ville, Littleton St Wotsits, Muddy Ditch halt and Unimportantsville.

And they missed "1228 to London Waterloo via Thingyville..."

Cue 100 questions 'are were going to London?'

 

[norbitonflyer]

Only the keenest of rail buffs listen intensely to every announcement, so do not assume people will have heard the principal destination in the first few words. Given the amount of announcement auto-babble nowadays, it seems irrelevant to then eliminate one word being said again - the final destination, probably the most significant word of the message.

Why is the final destination the most significant word in the message? Many services call at large cities on their way to much smaller termini - Manchester, and Sheffield on the way to Cleethorpes, Leeds and York on the way to Redcar, Exeter and Plymouth on the way to Penzance. And in some cases where the final destination is a fairly large place, there are faster trains to that place - for example if you are going from London to Guildford you don't want the stopper "to" Guildford, you want the express "to" Portsmouth, "calling at" Guildford.

To the operators, it sometimes seems that getting to the end of the line is the only thing that matters, skipping busier stations in order to do so.

 

[Taunton]

Why is the final destination the most significant word in the message?

In the same way it's the big word on the departure indicator, with the intermediate stations in lesser font. Most of the passengers from Paddington to Chippenham or Bath, for example, will know it's the "Bristol train".

 

[yorkie]

Why is the final destination the most significant word in the message?

I don't see how it could ever be anything different, but if you have an alternative suggestion you are very welcome to propose it (please create a new thread in Speculative Ideas and feel free to post a link to it here)

 

[bengley]

I actually prefer it when the destination is mentioned again at the end of the list of calling points.

 

[Dr Hoo]

I have known cases during engineering work or other disruption when a train is announced 'normally' (as in "The train at Platform X is the HH:MM for London St Pancras, calling at Chesterfield, Derby and Leicester"), followed by a qualification that "this train is terminating at Luton today because of engineering work/overhead line damage at Radlett/etc. where passengers can change for a rail replacement bus service to Stanmore for Underground connections to Central London."

You get the idea.

 

[40129]

Why is the final destination the most significant word in the message?

Because in most cases, trains - unlike buses - don't display a route number/letter and therefore the easiest way to identify a particular train is by the destination. e.g take the London Paddington train for Swindon rather than the #1 train. Obviously, this has it's downsides as not all trains to the same destination have the same calling pattern (or in some case, event the same route) which can cause confusion. One thing I like about the New York City subway is that all trains have a route number or letter which identifies the destination and the calling pattern but for some reason this kind of logical system doesn't seem to sit well with British passengers.

Regarding the Wirral line trains changing their destination before reaching the terminus, I remember when West Midlands buses did a similar thing in downtown Birmingham. I was on a bus with some college friends and we were all sitting there quite happily until 2 stops before ours, the driver left his cab to set the nearside blinds for the next journey. Cue 2 of my friends panicking because they thought we had to get off there and then

 

[Aljanah]

I actually prefer it when the destination is mentioned again at the end of the list of calling points.

Yes, saying the destination again at the end is a clear indication the list of stations has finished.

 

[norbitonflyer]

I don't see how it could ever be anything different, but if you have an alternative suggestion you are very welcome to propose it

in most cases, trains - unlike buses - don't display a route number/letter

Perhaps they should - many countries do.

 

[bengley]

Yes, saying the destination again at the end is a clear indication the list of stations has finished.

Indeed. It gives closure to the list. Particularly with the Avanti announcements it sounds like the announcement has just cut out.

 

[PeterC]

Perhaps they should - many countries do.

Copy foreigners? Heaven forfend!

 

[southern442]

Not exactly what the OP was looking for, but in a similar vein to what some others have said, I believe LO services from Watford Junction are advertised as going to South Hampstead rather than Euston. I believe at the other end it doesn't do this, however.

 

[Snow1964]

At Waterloo, you will see trains advertised to Frimley, Strawberry Hill etc. But none terminate there, it is just an intermediate station and later in the journey will add the remainder.

There is also a Fastest train to panel, so don’t inadvertently get on one that is overtaken to selected destinations.

It is a simplified system of trying to get people on fastest train without changing. But doesn’t indicate quickest way there (eg at times Strawberry Hill can be reached quicker by taking a semi-fast to Twickenham or Richmond and changing)

On SWR used to happen at other locations (might still do so, but haven’t used recently), eg Southampton used to advertise stopping trains to Pokesdown (even though went onto Bournemouth or Poole)

 

[greyman42]

On the services between York and Leeds via Harrogate, the final destination of Leeds or York is not announced on the station tannoy or the information screens.

 

[norbitonflyer]

It is a simplified system of trying to get people on fastest train without changing. But doesn’t indicate quickest way there (eg at times Strawberry Hill can be reached quicker by taking a semi-fast to Twickenham or Richmond and changing)

Assuming both trains are running to time, there is always a quicker way to get to Strawberry Hill than the xx.27/xx.57 "Strawberry Hill via Kingston" services. The "Teddington via Richmond" services leaving Waterloo six minutes later are due at Strawberry Hill one minute earlier. .

Conversely, the xx.33/xx.03 "Teddington" services get to Teddington five minutes later than the xx27/xx57 "Strawberry Hill" services, so are only the fastest service if you have just missed a service via Kingston.

 

[southern442]

At Waterloo, you will see trains advertised to Frimley, Strawberry Hill etc. But none terminate there, it is just an intermediate station and later in the journey will add the remainder.

There is also a Fastest train to panel, so don’t inadvertently get on one that is overtaken to selected destinations.

It is a simplified system of trying to get people on fastest train without changing. But doesn’t indicate quickest way there (eg at times Strawberry Hill can be reached quicker by taking a semi-fast to Twickenham or Richmond and changing)

On SWR used to happen at other locations (might still do so, but haven’t used recently), eg Southampton used to advertise stopping trains to Pokesdown (even though went onto Bournemouth or Poole)

It is unusual because SWR are quite inconsistent about it.
The loop line trains will have false destinations for obvious reasons. But I have also noticed at Waterloo the Weybridge via Hounslow ones are advertised as terminating at Addlestone. However Woking stoppers are advertised as terminating at Woking, and ditto for some other stopping routes.

 

[Panceltic]

This train is for Aberystwyth, calling at Aberystwyth. The next stop is Aberystwyth.

They actually play this announcement after the last stop before Aberystwyth!

 

[asw22]

On the services between York and Leeds via Harrogate, the final destination of Leeds or York is not announced on the station tannoy or the information screens.

For the Leeds Harrogate York trains their destination is given as Poppleton in one direction and I think Burley Park in the other.
Similarly Leeds Bradford Huddersfield is given a destination of Brighouse.
In both cases alternative trains run via a shorter route with shorter journey times.

 

[norbitonflyer]

It is unusual because SWR are quite inconsistent about it.
The loop line trains will have false destinations for obvious reasons. But I have also noticed at Waterloo the Weybridge via Hounslow ones are advertised as terminating at Addlestone. However Woking stoppers are advertised as terminating at Woking, and ditto for some other stopping routes.

But some information outlets do refer to them as "Waterloo to Waterloo". Notably when announcing platform alterations at Waterloo ("the xx.xx arrival will now arrive at platform 15. This is the service from London Waterloo") . This is a particularly bizarre quirk because arrivals of local services are not normally announced, or displayed, so why announce a change. Also, of course even if someone is meeting one of the loop services, and is aware that it is a loop, there are four different such services (Kingston/Richmond, Richmond/Kingston, Richmond/Hounslow, or Hounslow/Richmond) and no clue as to which one it is.

Just to add further confusion, on Sundays there is a service to Kingston via Hounslow (reversing at Twickenham) taking 62 minutes, compared with 45 via Richmond ("roundabout" service) and 28 via Wimbledon (Shepperton service))

 

[Surreytraveller]

But if its the Bristol train and its terminating short, its still the Bristol train, but won't call there.
The destination of the train is the title of the train, and also a calling point