End of the line for the phrase "this train terminates here"

[whole diary]

[Red Squirrel]

BTW^▸ (by the way) if 'terminate' is to be relocated to an appropriate redundant material receptacle does the term 'terminus' also suffer the same fate? And, if so, with what would it be replaced?

There should be no such thing as a terminus station - for example Severn Beach should be extended to Pilning , Scarborough should extend to Whitby, Henley on Thames should be extended to join up at Marlow, and Windsor Central should join to Windsor Riverside. In extremis, all stations at line ends should be loops like Dungeness on the RH&D.

A few years ago, as I was about to leave Paddington with Weekend First upgrade, a very wealthy-looking chap (who may have been a friend of Sir Rowley Birkin) got on and asked his flunkey whether the train would be going 'that way', gesturing in the approximate direction of Hyde Park. I managed to restrain myself from telling him that if we did, it would be on the evening news...

[grahame]

'Vestibule' is also on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s list for the chopping block.

Yep, they could get more seats in there if they could do without a vestibule 

[Surrey 455]

'Vestibule' is also on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s list for the chopping block.

I still remember the first time I heard an announcement on a Thames Turbo that safety instructions were in the vestibule. Looking around me I saw so many confused faces. What is a vestibule? we were thinking.

[Trowres]

"Terminates" is concise. It fits better on an in-carriage display than "ends its journey here".

Is it really harder to understand than "depart" or "arrive"?

In my opinion there are more significant communication difficulties that should be fixed first.

[Mark A]

I have to wonder if we are being too considerate as we water down wording for sensitivity reasons. "This train in the timetable at 17:44 will not run due to insufficient funding from HMG to staff it" may be the truth, but it's likely to upset the members of HMG who have restricted the funding and consider cancellation rates of around 10% sometimes acceptable.

Gerry Fiennes, from his curiously affecting book: "I tried to run a railway".

One day, fed up with the reaction of the public to our more detailed explanations of delays I walked with a firm stride into the broadcaster's cabin at King's Cross.

'Anything about that's late?' I said.

'Yes, sir. The Yorkshire Pullman just passed Finsbury Park 53 late'.

'Why?'

She went into a string of engine failures on a preceding freight train, signal delays at Peterborough by the station pilot, and so on. I told her what I wanted her to say.

She gasped a little: 'I can't put that over.'

'Yes you can'.

'Sir it's as much as my job's worth'.

'All right, clear out of the seat and I will'.

The Pullman ran in. I gave it a minute.

Then I said smoothly, 'We regret the delay to the Yorkshire Pullman. It was due to bad management'.

I raced down the platform to watch the reaction.

It could be, I thought, 'At last the truth', or 'Sack 'em then'. In fact not a ripple on the surface. Since then I have come to the conclusion that however much the public demand explanations and apologies, with few exceptions they want nothing more than that someone shall take notice of them, no matter in what form.

[infoman]

YOUR next station stop is  XXXX incorrect
OUR next station stop is XXXX    incorrect

The next station stop is XXXX CORRECT

coach/cart/car?

[grahame]

YOUR next station stop is  XXXX incorrect
OUR next station stop is XXXX    incorrect

The next station stop is XXXX CORRECT

I found it odd when announcements changed from "the next stop will be XXXX" to "the next STATION stop will be XXXX", though I admit it is more correct with that extra word.   Especially on trains that call at Westbury that almost routinely seem to stop at the signals outside.

[Ralph Ayres]

YOUR next station stop is  XXXX incorrect
OUR next station stop is XXXX    incorrect

The next station stop is XXXX CORRECT

I found it odd when announcements changed from "the next stop will be XXXX" to "the next STATION stop will be XXXX", though I admit it is more correct with that extra word.   Especially on trains that call at Westbury that almost routinely seem to stop at the signals outside.

Adding the word "station" perhaps made sense before the days of central door locking, with a concern that someone might open a door when the train stopped without checking for a platform, but now it just comes across as unnnecessarily pedantic.

[IndustryInsider]

If you’re partially sighted/blind then ‘next stop’ might lead to an uncomfortable feeling if the train stops before the station.  I think that was the thinking behind adding the word ‘station’.  Automated announcements and audible alarms on the doors (albeit annoying for some) have helped such passengers enormously over the last 20-30 years.

Though what’s wrong dropping the word ‘stop’? 
“The next station is xxxx.”

[infoman]

agreed.

Also for those who come from the Paddington direction on the approach to Swindon the automatic announcements are in alphabetical order

Change here for Cheltenham Gloucester Kemble Stonehouse and Stroud

[grahame]

Though what’s wrong dropping the word ‘stop’? 
“The next station is xxxx.”

Devil's Advocate mode ... leaving Severn Tunnel Junction, the next station is Pilning ... now six days out of seven, the train doesn't stop there 

[didcotdean]

If considering the comprehension of non native English speakers, "terminate" does have the small benefit of being recognisable to speakers of Romance languages. "End of journey" is only an English phrase. End has cognates in Germanic languages but journey has none. Even French from which it was borrowed no longer uses it that sense (voyage instead).

Vestibule has similar words across Romance languages but also in a number of Germanic ones such as Danish and Dutch.

Alight though is peculiarly English word. It goes right back to Old English with much the same meaning (descend away from) but other related languages no longer use a similar word) Simply "getting off" seems better.

[grahame]

It's also interesting how many stations have a suffix on their name (though many have been removed) - the "Junction", "Parkway" etc ... and announcements also seem to have an "only" suffix on them too, but that seems missing on the platform signs when you get there

[Chris from Nailsea]

Devil's Advocate mode ... leaving Severn Tunnel Junction, the next station is Pilning ... now six days out of seven, the train doesn't stop there 

... including Wednesdays.

CfN. 

[PhilWakely]

BTW^▸ (by the way) if 'terminate' is to be relocated to an appropriate redundant material receptacle does the term 'terminus' also suffer the same fate? And, if so, with what would it be replaced?

There should be no such thing as a terminus station - for example Severn Beach should be extended to Pilning , Scarborough should extend to Whitby, Henley on Thames should be extended to join up at Marlow, and Windsor Central should join to Windsor Riverside. In extremis, all stations at line ends should be loops like Dungeness on the RH&D.

And Ryde Pier Head ?