Request stop
What it really means
A small station or bus stop where the vehicle only stops if someone asks. On a train, tell the conductor in advance; at a bus stop, put your arm out as the bus approaches.
Context, tips & common mistakes
On rural lines, some small stations are request stops: the train only halts if someone asks. Waiting on the platform, signal clearly to the approaching driver — a raised arm, as if hailing a bus — and stand where you can be seen; to get off, tell the conductor when they pass through, or press the button where fitted, comfortably before the stop. Announcements and the journey planner mark these stations ('calls on request').
Miss the ritual and the train genuinely sails through, which is charming in anecdote and miserable in rain. If in doubt at an unstaffed halt, flag anyway — drivers expect it and a needless wave costs nothing. The system survives on scenic branch lines (the Highlands, mid-Wales, Cumbria), exactly where the next train may be hours away, so the stakes of shyness are real.