Speaking of random...

[randomness]

...I've been working on a list of stations which share the same names in different metro/subway systems. It's tedious work finding them. I figured I'd see if anyone else on the net shared one of my quirky interests and could help out.

The Mornington Crescent intersystem quick reference, a work in progress.

Feel free to pass this to anyone you think interested in transit systems or Mornington Crescent.

Comments

[redbird]

Times Square: New York, Hong Kong
Kew Gardens: London, New York

[tamago.livejournal.com]

So, are you using language as a barrier? I noticed "Central" and "Centraal Station" listed separately. What does that do to stations like Stockholm's Tunnelbana stop "Centralen" which simply translates to "the Central" station?

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

So, are you using language as a barrier?

Not per se, but exact spelling counts, which is why "Central" and "Centraal Station" aren't matches. (Well, actually, they wouldn't match even if spelling didn't matter because "Central" isn't "Central Station".

I know, it's quirky. :)

[jimmystagger.livejournal.com]

What in the blue blazes is this Mornington Crescent stuff??? How have I never heard of this...

Chicago's CTA system shares the following names with Boston's MBTA:
Central
Davis
Chinatown

Washington's Metro and Atlanta's MARTA share a Medical Center stop

St. Louis's Metrolink and the CTA share a Grand stop

This site can be of further help

Cool thought. I love subways and public transportation, too.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

So, I'm doing exact matches, and I think the "Times Square" station in New York is actually "42 St Times Square" At least, so says the TA map. However, I'm not sure where the "Times Square" MTR station is in Hong Kong, so that may not matter.

Similarly, "Kew Gardens" is actually "Kew Gardens Union Turnpike" in Queens, and thus doesn't exactly match "Kew Gardens" in London.

I know you're thinking the strict version of the intersystem rules is an unnecessary restriction on play, but those are the house rules we play with... :)

[redbird]

It's "Times Square" to all the people who live here, if that matters. And just for the record, it's "Union Turnpike Kew Gardens, not the other way around." Union Turnpike to its friends.

[totient]

the Gold Line in LA is now open, and with it "Chinatown" (shared with Boston and Philadelphia) and "Lake" (shared with Chicago)

Also, Boston and Sydney share two stops: "Museum" and "St Marys".

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

It's "Times Square" to all the people who live here, if that matters. And just for the record, it's "Union Turnpike Kew Gardens, not the other way around."

Sure, I'll buy that. I'm just going by http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/nyct/maps/submap.htm at the moment.

I think the best thing would be for me to visit the stations and see what the signage says, because that's the only way I verified that Victoria was in both London and Athens; most of the signs in the Attiko Metro actually say "Viktoria", but I saw two old signs that said "Victoria", so I declare it counts... :)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Chicago's CTA system shares the following names with Boston's MBTA:
Central

Got that one...Central is very popular.

Davis

Excellent! Thanks! I'm updating. :)

Chinatown

Alas, this one doesn't match; the one in the CTA is "Cermak-Chinatown", while the MBTA one is "Chinatown".

Washington's Metro and Atlanta's MARTA share a Medical Center stop

Yay! Another one! :)

St. Louis's Metrolink and the CTA share a Grand stop

Yah, I'm not sure what to make of Metrolink, 'cause it's kind of a glorified trolley line...then again, so is the Green Line, so I'm torn.

Thanks for the additions!

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

the Gold Line in LA is now open, and with it "Chinatown" (shared with Boston and Philadelphia) and "Lake" (shared with Chicago)

The Gold Line is light rail, right? Opens up that whole urban light rail question.

Also, Boston and Sydney share two stops: "Museum" and "St Marys".

Sydney is one of those weird grey areas, because in a way Sydney doesn't really have a subway system, just a commuter rail system that has a few stations underground in the center city...because then, what do you do about SEPTA Regional Rail, or various German S-Bahn systems.

Decisions, decisions...

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Also, otherwise, Sydney would have been yet another of the "Central" mob, and "Town Hall", "St James", and "King's Cross" would all have come in handy...

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

What does that do to stations like Stockholm's Tunnelbana stop "Centralen" which simply translates to "the Central" station?

Leaves them separate, alas. Otherwise, "Airport" would connect nicely to "Aeropuerto". And there are a lot of stations in the former Soviet Union that would work for each other, because their pre-1991 names are the same, but not after the station names got changed into the local languages.

Hmmm. I think I need to handle station name changes.

[totient]

The Gold Line is light rail, right?

It is, but it's high-platform light rail, like the abovground portions of Boston's Blue Line.

[jimmystagger.livejournal.com]

Boston and Atlanta also share an "Airport" stop.

London and Toronto share "Queen's Park"

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

The Blue Line is light rail? http://www.urbanrail.net/am/bost/boston.htm claims it's full metro.

Oh, man, edge cases galore. :(

It's like obra once said to me about writing web applications: everything is an edge case. :)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Boston and Atlanta also share an "Airport" stop.

Yup! Already got them. So does Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in fact.

London and Toronto share "Queen's Park"

Had that one already, too. :)

[holmes-iv.livejournal.com]

Except for the dreaded corner cases, of which be very, very afraid. ;-)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Also, you're absolutely right about "Times Square": Mike Epstein just forwarded me http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?4400, which shows station signage saying "Times Square" as of 17 September 2002.

Still don't know where "Times Square" on the MTR is. I think there's a shopping mall by that name somewhere in Hong Kong.

(BTW, I hope I didn't sound discouraging, before. I didn't mean to be, and I'm sorry if I did, though I'm sure I sound like I'm splitting hairs...)

[totient]

well, it shared the pantograph with the (boston) blue line, anyway. Blue line trains are four cars, each shorter than one of the cars in a two-car (LA) gold line train.

Fuzzy.

[totient]

The Blue Line runs 4-car trains (compared to 6 in the rest of Boston's system) with third rails and pantographs. The trains switch systems at Airport. The trains are high-platform, but narrower than a Red Line train. Rights of way are dedicated with no grade crossings.

Chicago's Blue Line, by the way, does have grade crossings, as do LA's Gold and Blue lines.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Fuzzy.

Yeah, I agree.

Although pantographs aren't the best distinguishing feature, I don't think, because I think there are a lot of heavy rail systems with overhead power, including Hong Kong: http://de.geocities.com/m_hong_kong/hongkg-kowloonbay1.jpg

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Except for the dreaded corner cases, of which be very, very afraid. ;-)

Oh, believe me, I am.

(Now, I'm trying to come up with a corner case in this situation.)

[tamago.livejournal.com]

Hey, if it works, it works. It seems like as effective a division as any. I just selfishly want a way to connect the T-bana system to Mornington Crescent. Centralen was a better choice than, say, Odenplan or Hotorget.

[totient]

So what is the distinguishing feature? The Gold Line rails themselves were Conrail freight lines before they were light rail lines (and the ATSF Super Chief before that), so it's not that.

[wolfkitn.livejournal.com]

this makes me think of something that a few of us dreamt up once (although i'm sure it wasn't original, even then): the same-name transport device for easy access to far-away places. wouldn't it be cool if you wanted to go to, say, somerville, NJ and you were in somerville, MA and could blink and you'd be transported? suddenly, all sorts of far-away places would become a lot more easily accessible. just imagine the possibilities!