Sociolinguistic Insights into the English Naming Practices in Urban Transit: A Case Study of Wuxi Metro

As globalization progresses, China’s public transportation system has received an increasing number of foreign passengers. In this context, the English naming practices of metro stations play a cumulatively pivotal role in reflecting a city’s characteristics. This study examines the linguistic strategies adopted by Wuxi Metro in translating Chinese station names to English, explores how these prac-tices mirror the city’s historical and cultural identity, and reviews public per-ceptions of these names. The research content dominantly comes from the bi-lingual map shown on Wuxi Metro’s official website and the posts on some common social media platforms. It reveals that Wuxi Metro’s English names generally adhere to global standards while preserving cultural elements, such as naming metro stations after historical landmarks. Overall, Wuxi Metro uses both translation and transliteration for English station names. Meanwhile, it balanc-es demonstrating a city’s cultural identity with keeping the clarity of names. Public feedback on altering the translations regarding nouns of locality is also taken into consideration by Wuxi Metro.