Welcome to Stafford Forum. Please or sign-up and start posting!
I passed through early one Sunday morning in February 2018 when the line from Oxford to Banbury was closed for engineering work and then changed at Haddenham and Thane Parkway for a northbound train.You probably already know but the station name was changed when the line was upgraded 5 or 6 years ago and named after the designer outlet shopping centre.
Chiltern railways earn a great deal of income from tourists and cockeneeeees travelling up from London and it was changed so that passengers went to the right station for shopping.
Bilingual station name plates are not unknown where I currently am.I passed through early one Sunday morning in February 2018 when the line from Oxford to Banbury was closed for engineering work and then changed at Haddenham and Thane Parkway for a northbound train.
I noticed that the "Bicester Village" sign on the platform was bilingual suggesting that the shopping centre ( it's NOT a "village" ) earns a great deal from Japanese shoppers as well as those cockeneeeees travelling up from London.
Southall is probably the only other bilingual sign I've seen on an English railway station.
I don't know but nearly twenty years ago "Crap Towns" books were published by the idler magazine.Isn't there a Shit Towns website or facebook page? Think you can nominate your town and say why.
Maybe Chinese rather than Japanese but it was the same size as "Bicester Village" on the platform sign.Bilingual station name plates are not unknown where I currently am.
View attachment 10549
Does Bicester actually have bilingual station name plates? I don't see a picture of one, just helpful signage like this.
It looks more intended for Chinese visitors than Japanese ones, but it would be helpful for them also.
Also, Arabic has been added here.
Presumably foreigners have better vision?
I actually couldn't understand why you would visit a Designer Village then spend half an hour queuing for Haribo when you can go to B&M any time and pick them up for £1 a packet.
Still, each to their own.
We'd heard...I like getting mine out on the line as well.
Lego have a cracking pick-a-brick,