We don’t have railway stations in England anymore. We have train stations instead. They have made their appearance on the destination boards of the free (to all) buses which scoot round town.
A fact which makes some people very, very annoyed. My mother would turn in her grave to hear that St Pancras is now an International Train Station.
The Railway Hotel, not The Train Hotel, was a feature of every town.
In everyday conversation the railway station was often just called the station, but buses have stations too & when bus travel has become popular again there is a need, for the avoidance of doubt, to make it clear which station you mean.
You might think that we have always used the word train for the things which travel on the railways, but a glance at the OED would suggest not. The ‘train’ was just the ‘immense’ number of carriages behind the engine at the opening of the Stockton to Darlington railway in 1825. Nowadays I suspect you would get funny looks if you suggested that the engine was not part of the train, even if it were an old fashioned steam one. Imagine telling a small child that Thomas is not a train!
Nowadays we would usually say that we travelled by train, rather than rail, just as we specify the conveyance rather than the medium for road & air.
It used to be British Rail, now we have Virgin Trains who, of course, do not own the railway track.
But perhaps it was British Rail’s famous advertising slogan of the 1970s - Let the train take the strain – which started the rot.
International tourism may have played its part too – railway is a hard word for many non-English speakers to pronounce.
A fact which makes some people very, very annoyed. My mother would turn in her grave to hear that St Pancras is now an International Train Station.
The Railway Hotel, not The Train Hotel, was a feature of every town.
In everyday conversation the railway station was often just called the station, but buses have stations too & when bus travel has become popular again there is a need, for the avoidance of doubt, to make it clear which station you mean.
You might think that we have always used the word train for the things which travel on the railways, but a glance at the OED would suggest not. The ‘train’ was just the ‘immense’ number of carriages behind the engine at the opening of the Stockton to Darlington railway in 1825. Nowadays I suspect you would get funny looks if you suggested that the engine was not part of the train, even if it were an old fashioned steam one. Imagine telling a small child that Thomas is not a train!
Nowadays we would usually say that we travelled by train, rather than rail, just as we specify the conveyance rather than the medium for road & air.
It used to be British Rail, now we have Virgin Trains who, of course, do not own the railway track.
But perhaps it was British Rail’s famous advertising slogan of the 1970s - Let the train take the strain – which started the rot.
International tourism may have played its part too – railway is a hard word for many non-English speakers to pronounce.
Links
The UK's first Railway hotel.
Let The Train Take the Strain – British Rail Jingle
St Pancras International Train Station :: Home of the Eurostar
Related posts
