Abbreviations, acronyms and initialisations used in the Coffee Shop forum

[whole diary]

[grahame]

We all use abbreviations - sometimes too much for our own good, and almost always too much for our newcomers and guests.  Here are over 100 I came up with in the last hour from "around here", most of which are railway related. Please help by posting up those that I have missed - when we reach 125 I'll sort them and leave them in a prominent place!

106 Section 106 - private developer funds for public infrastructure
121 Older generation train - some now being reused
125 Main line express trains in use on most services, from 1970s
142 Type of train in use on local services from Exeter
143 Type of train in use on some Bristol local services
150 Trains used on slower routes in the West
153 Single coach trains intended for lighter loaded servcies
158 Trains used on Regional routes such as Cardiff to Portsmouth
165 Trains used on commuter routes (and sometimes beyond) from Paddington
166 Trains used on commuter routes (and sometimes beyond) from Paddington
180 Main line express trains - "Adelante" - being withdrawn from our area
47 Class of locomotive, largley retired and operating occasional specials
57 Class of locomotive used on the Penzance to Paddington Sleeper
67 Class of locomotive used on occasions where a contracted extra train is run
Adelante class 180 trains being withdrawn around now
AG Andrew Griffiths
AM Member of the Welsh Parliament (Welsh MP^▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post - a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London, depending on context))
ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about) The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen
ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former Train Operating Company)) Arriva Trains Wales
Avocet^▸ (Branch line from Exeter to Exmouth) Line from Exeter to Exmouth
AXC^» (Arriva Cross Country - about) Arriva Cross Country
B&H^▸ (Berks and Hants - railway line from Reading to Taunton via Westbury) Berks and Hants - Reading to Taunton via Westbury
BPW^» (Bristol Parkway - next trains) Bristol Parkway
BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) British Rail
BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI) but BTM is a commonly used alternative)) Bristol Temple Meads
Bustitution^▸ (the practice of replacing trains with buses) the practise of replacing trains by buses
CANBER^▸ (Campaign Against the New Beeching Report) Campaign Against the New Beeching Report
CDR^▸ (Off Peak Day Return [ticket type] (formerly 'Cheap Day')) Cheap Day Return
CW^▸ (Christian Wolmar (rail journalist)) Christian Wolmar
DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) Department for Transport
DM^▸ (Dilton Marsh) Dilton Marsh
DOO^▸ (Driver-Only Operation (that is, trains which operate without carrying a guard)) Driver Only Operation
ECML^▸ (East Coast Main Line) East Coast Main Line
EK^▸ (Economy Klaus (web log)) Economy Klaus
FCC^▸ (First Capital Connect) First Capital Connect
FGW^▸ (First Great Western) First Great Western
FOSBR^▸ (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways) Friends of Bristol Suburban Railways
GC^» (Great Central Railway - link to heritage line) Great Central
GNER^▸ (Great North Eastern Railways) Great North Eastern Railways
GOSW^» (Government Offices South West - about) Government Offices South West
GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) Great Western Main Line
H&S^▸ (Health and Safety) Health and Saftey
HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) High Speed Train (Inter City 125 units)
IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project. This will offer more capacity on routes, save money, give a consistent and safe service and meet customer requirements. Intended to replace HSTs.) Intercity Express Program
IRUG^» (Ivybridge Rail Users Group - about) Ivybridge Rail Users Group
Jacobs Company who produced reports on which current service level is based
JCN^▸ (Junction) Junction
Laira Laira, Plymouth (Depot)
MEP^▸ (Member of European Parliament) Member of European Parliament
MKM^» (Melksham (Station code) - next trains) Melksham
MRDG^» (Melksham Railway Development Group - about) Melksham Railway Development Group
MTLS^▸ (More Train Less Strain) More Train Less Strain
MTU^▸ (Motor Traction Unit) Motor Traction Unit
NeX National Express - parent company of Wessex Trains
NR^» (Network Rail - home page) Network Rail
NRES^▸ (National Rail Enquiry Service) National Rail Enquiry Service
NSE^▸ (Network South East) Network South East
OOC^▸ (Old Oak Common (depot)) Old Oak Common
ORCAT System for allotting fares between operators - what does it stand for?
ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road, formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) Office of the Rail Regulator
PERTIS^▸ (Permit to travel) Permission to travel machines
PF^▸ (Penalty Fare) Penalty Fare
PHP The programming language used on this web site
PPM^▸ (Parry People Mover, or Pence Per Mile, or Public Performance Measure - depending on context) Parry People Mover
PPM Pence Per Mile
PW^▸ (Permanent Way - the railway track) Permanent Way
RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers
RPI^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector, or Retail Price Index, depending on context) Revenue Protection Inspector
RSS^▸ (Regional Spatial Strategy) Regional Spatial Strategy
SDO^▸ (Selective Door Opening) Selective Door Opening
SDR Standard Day Return
SLC^▸ (Service Level Commitment, or possibly SLC Rail (a consultancy firm), depending on context) Service Level Committment
SMF^▸ (Simple Machines Forum - The software we use on this site) Simple Machines Forum - The software we use on this site
SOR Standard Open Return
SPAD^▸ (Signal Passed At Danger - very bad!) Signal Passed at Danger
SPM^▸ (St Philip's Marsh (Bristol depot)) St Philip's Marsh
SRA^» (Strategic Rail Authority - about) Strategic Rail Authority
SRUG^▸ (Saltash Rail Users Group) Saltash Rail User Group
SSTC^▸ (Strategically Significant Towns and Cities) Strategically Significant Towns and Cities
STAG^▸ (Severn Tunnel Action Group) Severn Tunnel Action Group
STT^▸ (Save the Train) Save the Train
SWL^▸ (South Wales Line) South Wales Line
SWPTUF^▸ (South West Passenger Transport User's Forum (now TWSW^» (TravelWatch SouthWest - website) - Travel Watch South West)) South West Passenger Transport User's Forum
SWT^▸ (South West Trains) South West Trains
T2000^▸ (Transport 2000 (now Campaign for Better Transport)) Transport 2000 (now campaign for better transport)
TIC^▸ (Tourist Information Centre) Tourist Information Centre
TIIS^▸ (Train Infrastructure Interface Program) Train Infrastructure Interface Program
TM^▸ (Train Manager, or possibly Ticket Machine, depending on context) Train Manager
TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) Train Operating Company
TPH^▸ (trains per hour) Trains Per Hour
TransWilts Line from Swindon to Westbury and on to Salisbury
Turbo Class 165 and 166 trains used on Thames Valley services
TV^▸ (Thames Valley) Thames Valley
TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) Ticket Vending Machine
TWSW Travel Watch South West
VFML Vehicle Mounted Flange Lubricaters
VXC^▸ (Virgin Cross Country - former franchise) Virgin Cross Country - former franchise
WC^▸ (Wiltshire Council (Unitary Authority)) Wiltshire Council (name for new Unitary Authority)
WCC^▸ (Wiltshire County Council (Until March 2009)) Wiltshire County Council
WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) West Coast Main Line
Wessex Name of franchise who used to run the regoional and local trains in he West
WHM^▸ (Well House Manor (where I worked - please excuse advert)) Well House Manor (where I work - please excuse advert)
WWDC^» (West Wiltshire District Council - about) West Wilts District Council
WWRUG^» (West Wiltshire Rail Users Group - about) West Wilts Rail User Group
XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) Cross Country franchise trains (now run by Arriva)
Zulu Special Train

As a general rule, I have excluded people's initials - but I've made an exception to that where people are mentioned within a number of posts on the site by those initials and / or where they're very much in a PR^▸ (Public Relations) role and it's their desire (or rather job) to be prominent 

[devon_metro]

Perhaps for some of the less knowledgeable among us who often wonder what we talk about, we could have a photo asigned next to the class of train?

[grahame]

Perhaps for some of the less knowledgeable among us who often wonder what we talk about, we could have a photo asigned next to the class of train?

Yes ... and indeed I think it would be a good idea for someone (do you fancy doing it?) to go through and find links to something a bit longer than my terse descriptions.

And I have just run across HTRWTM5^▸ (Heathrow, Terminal 5), Easement, ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies see - here)

[devon_metro]

I can probably provide a photo of each type of train apart from maybe the bubbles

[grahame]

Thanks ... and I guess we had better define "bubbles" too - that's not one that I think too many people will know!

And I've just come across PTS^▸ (Personal Track Safety) - Personal Track Safety

[devon_metro]

Cl142


Cl143


Cl150


Cl153


Cl158


Cl159


HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units))


220/221


Cl180


Cl47


Cl67


Thats all I can find!

[grahame]

Thanks Liam .. they look good (and I note that they ARE from your own collection / web area too so they're your copyright  - we have to be so careful!)

[devon_metro]

Thanks Liam .. they look good (and I note that they ARE from your own collection / web area too so they're your copyright  - we have to be so careful!)

Indeed, all taken from my website.

[gaf71]

S&T^▸ (Signalling and Telegraph) = Signalling and Telecoms

[Btline]

LM^▸ (London Midland - recent franchise)

London Midland

[smokey]

I might be missing something here, but what is IMHO^▸ ('in my humble opinion')?

[John R]

in my humble opinion?

[grahame]

in my humble opinion?

Yes ... and I was so much wondering whether I should (or should not) include the common elements on netspeak that are used around here. Knife edge decision, but I came down against as I would have been duplicating other resoures.   But here are some links

http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/Abbreviations.htm

http://www.noslang.com/dictionary/i

and a few common one I have see here:

AFAIK^▸ ('as far as I know') as far as I know
LOL^▸ ('laughing out loud') Laughing out loud
AKA^▸ ('also known as') also known as
IMHO^▸ ('in my humble opinion') im my humble opionon

MTWLEH Melksham trains will leave every hour - oops - that's just a dream!

[smokey]

in my humble opinion?

Thanks for that!

[Lee]

Thanks Liam .. they look good (and I note that they ARE from your own collection / web area too so they're your copyright  - we have to be so careful!)

It is worth bearing in mind that the owner of the images contained in the link below (the section from Barnstaple to Torquay) has given permission for anyone to reproduce them.
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=1003.msg5255#msg5255