Why is it called Milton Keynes Central?

[Gathursty]

Every other station in the Milton Keynes area is named after the appropriate suburb so I don't understand the suffix Central applied to MK unless in the past there were other stations named Milton Keynes.

Can anyone explain why Milton Keynes is suffixed with Central?

 

[yorkie]

Let's turn the question around: Why not?

The entire borough is called Milton Keynes, and there are other stations within the borough.

 

[Trog]

Because BR did not like the sound of Central Milton Keynes as that would be harder to look up alphabetically.

 

[yorkie]

Because BR did not like the sound of Central Milton Keynes as that would be harder to look up alphabetically.

I think Gathursty is asking whether it could simply be called Milton Keynes without any prefix or suffix, on the basis that people would (correctly) assume it was located centrally.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I half recall the original intent may have been to prefix the other 4 stations in the borough as well, but this never occurred.


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[thenorthern]

Telford Central is a similar one, I think in both cases its because they are in the middle of the new town development. Given that both Telford and Milton Keynes are larger than most new towns this is quite an important thing.

Milton Keynes is a strange one as its constitutionally a town but the centre of Milton Keynes has always been known incorrectly as "the City Centre".

 

[IanD]

I read that Wolverton and Bletchley were going to be renamed Milton Keynes North and South (respectively) so Milton Keynes Central would have made sense. Although it is in an area known as Central Milton Keynes it isn't particularly centrally located in Milton Keynes.

 

[al green]

BR did indeed consider renaming BLy and Wol as MKS and MKN. The idea was extremely unpopular with local residents so they backed off.

I read that Wolverton and Bletchley were going to be renamed Milton Keynes North and South (respectively) so Milton Keynes Central would have made sense. Although it is in an area known as Central Milton Keynes it isn't particularly centrally located in Milton Keynes.

 

[zn1]

the station of Milton keynes Central or MKC is also at the bottom of the hill of the shopping centre - central milton keynes

makes complete sense to me...but then im an MK boy !!

 

[Ianno87]

It is quite centrally located for the business/office district.

And is in the area known as "Central Milton Keynes".

I think the point is to emphasise it's "Hub"-ness (also being the closest thing MK has to a proper local bus station)

 

[LowLevel]

Telford Central is a similar one, I think in both cases its because they are in the middle of the new town development. Given that both Telford and Milton Keynes are larger than most new towns this is quite an important thing.

Milton Keynes is a strange one as its constitutionally a town but the centre of Milton Keynes has always been known incorrectly as "the City Centre".

In much the same vein Wellington was known for a while as Wellington Telford West but this was also dropped.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

In much the same vein Wellington was known for a while as Wellington Telford West but this was also dropped.

Wasn't that Oakengates?

 

[LowLevel]

Wasn't that Oakengates?

It was not.

 

[thenorthern]

Slightly off topic but is Lincoln Central now just Lincoln as all timetables and National Rail seem to say that now.

 

[najaB]

Slightly off topic but is Lincoln Central now just Lincoln as all timetables and National Rail seem to say that now.

Still officially Lincoln Central as far as I know.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Slightly off topic but is Lincoln Central now just Lincoln as all timetables and National Rail seem to say that now.

Was Lincoln Central ever used in Northern or EMT (or their predecessors) of the NRT of late?

 

[Alteran Ancient]

On the same basis of making lookups easier, why are the Croydon stations therefore not "Croydon East" and "Croydon West"?

 

[mr_jrt]

On the same basis of making lookups easier, why are the Croydon stations therefore not "Croydon East" and "Croydon West"?

Probably predate the policy.

I was under the impression that TfL (and its predecessors) favoured the prefix style (hence East Acton, West Acton, South Acton, North Acton) and BR favoured the suffix style (i.e. Watford Junction, Watford High St., Watford North, Watford West, etc), but probably wrong. Probably makes sense as BR would have had a lot more stations (i.e. macro scale) whilst TfL was probably more concerned about confusion on a more micro scale as journeys would have been more localised.

Exceptions are probably legacy from old pre-nationalisation company policies that it's not cost effective to change.

Personally I think they should just do it all in one big bang. Everything should switch to the BR policy given the use of modern electronic lookups.

 

[Mojo]

I was under the impression that TfL (and its predecessors) favoured the prefix style (hence East Acton, West Acton, South Acton, North Acton) and BR favoured the suffix style (i.e. Watford Junction, Watford High St., Watford North, Watford West, etc), but probably wrong. Probably makes sense as BR would have had a lot more stations (i.e. macro scale) whilst TfL was probably more concerned about confusion on a more micro scale as journeys would have been more localised.

A prefix denotes an area of that name; for instance East Acton is an area in its own right (as are West Acton, South Acton, North Acton, and Acton), whereas say, Hounslow East is merely on the east side of Hounslow.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Another well-known South-Coast example is West Worthing, Worthing and East Worthing.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think the point is to emphasise it's "Hub"-ness (also being the closest thing MK has to a proper local bus station)

It's no less of a bus station than any other bus station since they did it up! Nicer than many.

 

[thenorthern]

Livingston South was similar when it opened in 1984 it was the only Livingston station but that was only for 2 years.

Its not uncommon though for new towns to have strange station names such as Ebbsfleet International, Runcorn East (Rucorn has no suffix) and Glenrothes with Thornton.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Milton Keynes is a strange one as its constitutionally a town but the centre of Milton Keynes has always been known incorrectly as "the City Centre".

Curiously, the city centre in most actual cities is known as "town".

FWIW, Milton Keynes is a "New City" but not a city. The definition of the former is "large New Town".

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Curiously, the city centre in most actual cities is known as "town".

FWIW, Milton Keynes is a "New City" but not a city. The definition of the former is "large New Town".

I thought MK had been granted city status in 2002 or 2012, along with Preston and Brighton & Hove (there's another oddity there!).

 

[thenorthern]

Curiously, the city centre in most actual cities is known as "town".

FWIW, Milton Keynes is a "New City" but not a city. The definition of the former is "large New Town".

Yep Milton Keynes was built to be a "city in scale" and its creation was marked as "the birth of a new city".

Practically Milton Keynes is a city as its more important than many places with city status such as Lichfield, St Asaph, St Davids and Wells its just it doesn't have a bit of paper from HM Queen saying its a city.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I thought MK had been granted city status in 2002 or 2012, along with Preston and Brighton & Hove (there's another oddity there!).

No, it was in that competition but didn't "win".

I have no idea, though, as a resident of MK, why anyone cares about it. City status is a merely ceremonial concept that only really exists in the UK and a few other countries - in Germany a city is just a "Grossstadt" which means a big town. It is what it is, it makes no difference what you call it.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Yep Milton Keynes was built to be a "city in scale" and its creation was marked as "the birth of a new city".

Compared with how it felt in 2001 when I moved there, I think it now feels much more like one than it did. But as I say - who cares what it's called? You like it or you don't. It doesn't really matter about the nominal status.

 

[onlinespotting]

Was Lincoln Central ever used in Northern or EMT (or their predecessors) of the NRT of late?

Lincoln Central is still Lincoln Central on announcements and at least in the VTEC timetable

 

[tsr]

Probably predate the policy.

I did find out once, but I can't remember where the information was from. I seem to remember that it could have been something to do with the format of the name of the old "Central Croydon" station (since closed and now overlaid with a municipal garden of sorts).

 

[40129]

In much the same vein Wellington was known for a while as Wellington Telford West but this was also dropped.

IIRC following the creation of Telford new town and prior to the opening of Telford Central station, both Wellington and Oakengates stations had "for Telford" added to their platform signs. When Telford Central opened, Wellington (for Telford) became Wellington - Telford West and Oakengates (for Telford) reverted to being Oakengates. Subsequently, when Inter-City stopped serving Shropshire, Wellington - Telford West reverted to being Wellington

 

[noddingdonkey]

I never really understood why Railtrack were so keen to rebrand Leeds as Leeds City in the early 2000s, totally superfluous.