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Moreton-in-Marsh has now joined the select band of British railway stations with bi-lingual signs in English and Japanese. Bicester North has some, to help Japanese shoppers off to Bicester Village but I'm not sure about Town. Anyone know of others?

Signs saying Welcome to Moreton-in-Marsh - Gateway to the North Cotswolds, with the Japanese translation underneath, giving directions to the town centre, hotels, buses, etc have been fitted at either end of the main station building, plus smaller ones which say where the trains are going to from each platform.

Congratulations are due to FGW, especially the Cotswold Line stations manager Teresa Ceesay, and Cotswolds Tourism for this.

 

Might I ask why!?

Are there a particularly high pc of Japanese visitors to these partS?

Many of the Japanese visitors to Moreton-in-Marsh will probably be heading for the arboretum - see http://thecotswoldgateway.co.uk/batsfordarboretum.htm  :)

Some may well be off to Batsford but it's really the traditional Cotswold themes, like the stone buildings, the villages, etc, that are the draw.

I gather from Teresa there are something like 1,000 hits per day from Japan on the main Cotswolds tourism website, many of which seem to translate into visits to Britain, judging by the numbers of Japanese visitors we get and FGW's customer care courses have yet to stretch to Japanese lessons, so the signs make sense, giving some basic directions and making them feel welcome when they step off the train.

And moving the buses to the station will be a great help. People quite often ask where they need to go to catch services to Stow, Bourton-on-the-Water or Chipping Campden and the Japanese seem far happier than many visitors to get around by train or bus.

And as if to prove my point, a British trade fair in Osaka this week has a Cotswolds theme:

http://www.cotswoldjournal.co.uk/news/8427042.Stow_tearoom_takes_its_treats_to_the_Orient/

Yes, there are bi-lingual signs (in Chinese) at Bicester Town, welcoming passengers and directing them to Bicester Village.  They were put in by Oxfordshire County Council when it funded some station improvements 3-4 years ago.

No as the OP says they are in Japanese.

Would make sense - though I gather that as Chinese tourism grows, they too are also heading to Bicester Village in growing numbers, so it may only be a matter of time before Chinese signs appear as well.

But one of the signs at Moreton, in the bus shelter, may need to go back to the signwriter. The English directions say buses run to a place called Stow in the wold. I know i and o are next to each other on a keyboard but even so... I trust the Japanese characters are more accurate.

Bicester Village apparently ranks in the top 10 "attractions" visited by Chinese tourists to the UK.

Amazing!

And a nice little earner for Chiltern and FGW!

Which is one major reason Chiltern is doing the work & taking the service twixt Oxford & MYB

No, actually the signs at Bicester Town are in Simplified Chinese so I'm afriad the OP is wrong.  As Oxman says Bicester Village is one of the most visited tourist attractions outside London for the Chinese which is why the signs were put up by the County Council.  The one at Bicester North is in Japanese.

The commuting classes of Oxford are a rather more major consideration, given that much of the Chinese and Japanese money for travel from London is already landing in Chiltern's pocket anyway.

Hmmm - maybe the HSTs will make a comeback (see other thread)....which would you travel on - a 168 or an HST?.....

The Daily Mirror has now picked up on the Japanese signs and I gather that the BBC were due to visit Moreton-in-Marsh to do a report this afternoon as well.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/01/13/cotswolds-railway-station-puts-up-signs-in-japanese-115875-22844995/

It features in this week's FGW staff news sheet too....with a nice pic of Teresa beside the signs.