Wikipedia:WikiProject Australian Transport/Naming convention and guidelines

This is a standard naming convention for transport stations and for transport lines/routes/services – including intercity rail, commuter rail, rapid transit, buses, and coaches – in Australia and New Zealand. It is related to guidelines for Canada (WP:CANSTATION), Poland (WP:PLSTATION), the United Kingdom (WP:UKSTATION), and the United States (WP:USSTATION).

The guideline is intended to bring Australian and New Zealand into a standard format that reflects common use in those countries and the relevant local communities.

Stations

Naming

Generally, stations in Australia and New Zealand should take the following forms: "[NAME] railway station" for heavy rail stations; "[NAME] station" for other types of rail transit, or stations that serve more than one form of transit; and "[NAME] bus station" for bus and coach stations. Comma-separated disambiguation should follow if necessary; see the disambiguation guidelines below. If the station has a common name that does not follow this format, always default to the common name per the WP:COMMONNAME policy.

Rail service	Name	Example	Short-form template
Heavy rail including Sydney Metro	[NAME] railway station	Belgrave railway station, North Sydney railway station, Epping railway station, Sydney	{{Stnlnk}} or {{rws}}
Other rail transit	[NAME] metro station	Helensvale railway station, Parkwood East light rail station	{{Station}} or {{stn}}
Bus/coach stations	[NAME] bus station	Caloundra bus station, Curtin University bus station

Where a location has separate heavy rail and metro stations, the metro station should be named "[NAME] metro station" eg Parramatta metro station.

Disambiguation

Australia

If a station's name is ambiguous, disambiguate it according to the disambiguation policy and guideline. Use natural disambiguation where appropriate. Otherwise add a distinguishing term using comma-separated disambiguation. The following options are appropriate depending on the circumstance:

• State: This option is appropriate for stations served by intercity rail outside the major metropolitan areas (see below), especially if the station shares the name of its town (e.g. Croydon railway station, Queensland in Croydon, Queensland).
• City: This option is appropriate for stations located within the metropolitan areas of Australia's major cities: Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, or Sydney (e.g. Croydon railway station, Melbourne in the Melbourne suburb of Croydon, Victoria.
• Other: Use dates, railway names, etc., for cases where there are multiple stations of the same name in the same place, as may happen with historical stations.

Examples:

Disambiguation	Title
None	Kalgoorlie railway station
State	Adamstown railway station, New South Wales, Croydon railway station, Queensland, Queenstown railway station, Tasmania
City	Croydon railway station, Melbourne, Rockingham railway station, Perth
Other	Cleveland railway station (1897–1960)

New Zealand

If a station's name is ambiguous, disambiguate it according to the disambiguation policy and guideline. Use natural disambiguation where appropriate. Otherwise add a distinguishing term using comma-separated disambiguation. The following options are appropriate depending on the circumstance:

• Country (New Zealand), for cases where the name is only ambiguous with entries from other countries.
• City/local community, for cases where the name is ambiguous within New Zealand.
• Other: Use dates, railway names, etc., for cases where there are multiple stations of the same name in the same place, as may happen with historical stations.

Examples:

Disambiguation	Title
None	Manukau railway station
Natural disambiguation	Britomart Transport Centre
Country	Christchurch railway station, New Zealand, Hamilton railway station, New Zealand
City/local community	Hutt Park railway station, Gracefield, Hutt Park railway station, Petone

Disambiguation pages

A disambiguation page should list all the ambiguous stations. "Xxx railway station" (or "Xxx station") should point to the disambiguation page, unless one is the WP:PRIMARYTOPIC. For example, Richmond station disambiguates stations in Melbourne, Sydney, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

=Definition

• Tramway: in Australia used to describe lightly built, special purpose lines. Did not require an Act of Parliament to build.
• Railway: in Australia used to describe heavily built, lines. Required an Act of Parliament to build.
• Route / service: Regular transport traveling to a regular timetable, mostly for passengers. Uses one or more lines.

Naming

Generally, routes / services in Australia and New Zealand should take their name from the operator's name for the route / service. The more common forms are: "[NAME] Line", "[NAME] Service", in the case of officially named trains "[NAMED TRAIN]".

• Melbourne tram routes are just numbers, and should be in the form "Melbourne tram route [NUMBER]".
• For tourist railways, and other small companies that had their own private lines, these should be covered on the page relating to that company.

The major line that connects each state capital should be in the form "[NAME1]–[NAME2] rail corridor". This would most likely cover different individual railway lines. The physical lines in Australia and New Zealand should take the following forms: "[NAME] railway line" for heavy rail lines; "[NAME] tramway" for lightly built, special purpose lines.

• Lines should be named after the last station on them.
• Those that cross over the state border, should use the end of the line if not connected to the other state's network.
  • If connected to the other network, then they should use the last station that was part of the each state's network followed by Comma-separated disambiguation for both lines.
• For cross country lines, they should be a hyphenated listing of both ends of the line, unless otherwise named by the original owner of the line. The order the stations should be listed in:

1. Closest to the states 0.0 km mark & trains are able to run onto that line without needing to be reversed.
2. The order they opened.

Comma-separated disambiguation should follow if necessary; see the disambiguation guidelines below. If the station has a common name that does not follow this format, always default to the common name per the WP:COMMONNAME policy.

Type	Name	Example
Line	[NAME] railway line	Walgett railway line, Grenfell railway line
2 states, not connected to other network	[NAME] railway line	Balranald railway line, Deniliquin railway line
2 states, connected to other network	[NAME] railway line, [STATE]	Tocumwal railway line, Victoria, Tocumwal railway line, New South Wales
Cross country line, hyphenated	[NAME1]–[NAME2] railway line	Albion–Jacana railway line, Molong–Dubbo railway line
Cross country line, named	[NAME] railway line	Inner Circle railway line, Maffra railway line