World Cup of Stations, 2025

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From Rail Delivery Group

Welcome to our annual World Cup of Stations Competition where a group of shortlisted stations in Britain battle it out head-to-head in a public vote.

With 2025 marking 200 years since the birth of the modern railway, this year’s World Cup of Stations will see us celebrate the most life-changing station of the last 200 years. This theme will spotlight the many stations that have touched lives in unforgettable ways, from moments of hope and heroism to new beginnings.

There will be two phases to the competition:

Nomination phase (1 to 22 August) - Nominate a station that you believe has made a life-changing impact.

Public voting phase (13 to 17 October) - Cast your vote for your favourite shortlisted station, with the station with most votes to be crowned the winner.

[JayMac]

Would love to submit a station but I can't get the 'Submit nomination' button to do anything.

[ChrisB]

Just worked for me - follow the instructions for each box carefully

[JayMac]

I did.

It was a very slow loading of the confirmation page without the usual progress bar. Got there in the end.

[grahame]

I have (members will not be amazed!) submitted Melksham Station. "Nominate a station that you believe has made a life-changing impact" says the blurb from the Rail Delivery Group." 

I don't just believe it has made a life-changing impact - I know it has.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Erm ... where's Melksham?   



CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum) 

[grahame]

Erm ... where's Melksham?   

CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum) 

Yes - I can spell that - M-E-L-K .... oh, wait, wrong  question

"About 100 miles  / 160 kms west of London.  Not very far from Stonehenge / near Bath"

[Chris from Nailsea]

 

I have several 'personal favourite railway stations':

1. Kemble, 2. Nailsea & Backwell, 3. Melksham.

My vote has gone in for Melksham.

CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum). 



For the information of any of my regular readers here (if indeed there are any), Taunton does not appear on that list. Anywhere.

[ChrisB]

You can nominate Taunton right now if you wish!

Voting starts in October half-term week

[grahame]

Voting starts in October half-term week

The shortlist:

Abergynolwyn – Wedding Bells on the Railway
Ashington – A Station with Sporting History Returns
Bristol Temple Meads – Where Railways Shaped Time
Cambridge – For Students, Cyclists and Elephants
Chesterfield - Home to the Father of the Railways
Exeter St Davids – The Birth of Penguin Books
Liverpool Lime Street – The Oldest Grand Railway Terminus
London Marylebone – From Pop Culture to Personal Pride
Paddington – Evacuations, Kindness, and a Famous Bear
London Waterloo – A Gateway Through History
Merthyr Tydfil – A Historic Steam Engine Journey
Preston Station - WW1 Free Buffet
Ramsgate – A Journey Home from Dunkirk
Ribblehead – A Station for All Seasons
Shirley – A Station of First Dates
Skegness – Original Gateway to the Seaside
Swanage – Inspiring the Next Generation of Railway Enthusiasts
Tilbury Town – Britain’s Gateway to New Beginnings
Vauxhall – Home of LGBTQ+ Heroes
York – Home to Railway History

[Ralph Ayres]

Took a while to work out that the voting list was greyed-out because I hadn't selected Cookie options that were on a pop-up lurking below the bottom of the screen (who designs these things?), but I've now voted.

[ChrisB]

The list ought to be offered in random order, otherwise the first on the list gets most votes everytime (this time too)

[Western Pathfinder]

Having just been to the site and voted ,strikes me as odd that so early on one station has 45% of the votes cast !....

[grahame]

I have (members will not be amazed!) submitted Melksham Station. "Nominate a station that you believe has made a life-changing impact" says the blurb from the Rail Delivery Group." 

Having just been to the site and voted ,strikes me as odd that so early on one station has 45% of the votes cast !....

Yes - but the voting is going by quantity of vote(rs) and not by the quality of the impact made.

Personally, the biggest impact on me is "none of the above" and I don't just believe it has made a life changing impact - I know it has.   However, my nomination didn't make the shortlist ...

[grahame]

The list ought to be offered in random order, otherwise the first on the list gets most votes everytime (this time too)

Ah yes - we've had this with the taxi drivers list in Melksham - where AAP would come at the top and Paul's Taxis at the bottom.   We cannot randomise them each time as people sometimes have to work through the list to find someone who's available and if the list is mixed up on every refresh it's a problem as people don't know who they have tried.   Our solution has been to provide the list alternately forward and backward, one day and the next ... and furthermore to start with a diferent firm each day as we cycle though.   That would not work on a short term high use site such as this World Cup vote, but it could be cycled around and reversed depending on the user's IP address.