Trivia: Stations linked by track with short distances between them.

[Mcr Warrior]

Did anyone have the numbers for Devonport and Dockyard?

RailMiles site suggests 37 chains, which is just under half a mile, or approximately 750 metres in metric, subject to rounding errors.

 

[zwk500]

Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Oxford Road is extremely close

44 Chains (~885m), according to http://www.railwaycodes.org.uk/elrs/_mileages/c/col.shtm

Elsecar & Wombwell stations feel pretty close, train barely gets going before stopping again.

1m 45ch, or 2.5km, according to the same site.

I don't think anything has yet beaten the OP's Canada Water to Rotherhithe at 17 chains/~342m.

 

[Kilopylae]

RailMiles site suggests 37 chains, which is just under half a mile, or approximately 750 metres in metric, subject to rounding errors.

Thank you! That's short but not as short as I thought.

 

[Minnietheminx]

I'll go for Whitehaven and Corkickle. When it was running, the PIS would get as far as "Welcome aboard the Northern service to Carlisle" before being interrupted by "We will shortly be arriving at Whitehaven" partway through the tunnel.

 

[brad465]

Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Oxford Road is extremely close

Elsecar & Wombwell stations feel pretty close, train barely gets going before stopping again.

Likewise Eltham Park and Eltham Well Hall were very close, to the point they closed to make way for Eltham station in between the two of them.

 

[zwk500]

I'll go for Whitehaven and Corkickle. When it was running, the PIS would get as far as "Welcome aboard the Northern service to Carlisle" before being interrupted by "We will shortly be arriving at Whitehaven" partway through the tunnel.

Corkickle 73m78ch, Whitehaven 74m66ch, so 68 chains between them, c.1.4km

Likewise Eltham Park and Eltham Well Hall were very close, to the point they closed to make way for Eltham station in between the two of them.

Eltham Well Hall 9m02ch, Eltham (current) 9m11ch, Eltham Park 9m43ch, so 41 chains (just over half a mile, c.820m) between the two original stations.

Nearby Deptford to Greenwich is actually slightly shorter, at 40 chains.

 

[quantinghome]

Garforth and East Garforth. Hard to understand the logic behind building the latter on a line with such serious capacity issues.

It's not that hard to understand. It was built in 1987, long before there were capacity issues on the line.

 

[Thebaz]

Anerley and Penge West.
Balham and Wandsworth Common
Blackfriars and City Thameslink

 

[zwk500]

Anerley and Penge West.
Balham and Wandsworth Common
Blackfriars and City Thameslink

Penge West 7m 15ch, Anerley 7m 47ch = 32ch (c.640m);
Wandsworth Common 4m 05ch, Balham 4m 52ch = 47ch (c.950m);
City Thameslink 0m 28 (from Farringdon), COM is at 0m 39ch (Farringdon)/0m 21ch (Holborn Viaduct), Blackfriars 0m 30 (from Holborn Viaduct), so (39-28)+(30-21)=11+9=20 Chains (c.400m).

Worth pointing out that the station position given in the sectional Appendix/ELR data is usually the buffer stops (for Termini) or centreline of the platforms (for through stations). The position not to get adjusted if stations are amended after construction (or the most recent remeasuring) unless there is a good reason to. Obviously as platforms for a 12-car station would be 240m long or so, the actual ramp-to-ramp distances will be less than the distance I'm giving.

 

[Thebaz]

Penge West 7m 15ch, Anerley 7m 47ch = 32ch (c.640m);
Wandsworth Common 4m 05ch, Balham 4m 52ch = 47ch (c.950m);
City Thameslink 0m 28 (from Farringdon), COM is at 0m 39ch (Farringdon)/0m 21ch (Holborn Viaduct), Blackfriars 0m 30 (from Holborn Viaduct), so (39-28)+(30-21)=11+9=20 Chains (c.400m).

Worth pointing out that the station position given in the sectional Appendix/ELR data is usually the buffer stops (for Termini) or centreline of the platforms (for through stations). The position not to get adjusted if stations are amended after construction (or the most recent remeasuring) unless there is a good reason to. Obviously as platforms for a 12-car station would be 240m long or so, the actual ramp-to-ramp distances will be less than the distance I'm giving.

Interesting info - so just 20 chains Blackfriars to City Thameslink!

 

[snookertam]

Quite a few stations on the Cathcart Circle. Most of them in fact, I think only Cathcart itself doesn’t have another station within a km.

 

[zwk500]

Quite a few stations on the Cathcart Circle. Most of them in fact, I think only Cathcart itself doesn’t have another station within a km.

CTC mileages

Engineer's Line References: CTC

www.railwaycodes.org.uk

There are a lot closely packed! The shortest distance between two stations appears to be 30 chains, but there's a station about every half-mile.

 

[Rescars]

CTC mileages

Engineer's Line References: CTC

www.railwaycodes.org.uk

There are a lot closely packed! The shortest distance between two stations appears to be 30 chains, but there's a station about every half-mile.

For a route of closely packed stations, the South London Line should be in with a shout. IIRC Stroudley designed the Terriers so as to cope with all the frequent station stops.

 

[och aye]

Waverley and Haymarket are quite a short distance from each other, but I suspect South Gyle and Edinburgh Gateway are closer to each other.

 

[SECR 65]

For a route of closely packed stations, the South London Line should be in with a shout. IIRC Stroudley designed the Terriers so as to cope with all the frequent station stops.

The acceleration on Terriers is crazy! Those things go for it! But don't have much water or coal capacity.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Waverley and Haymarket are quite a short distance from each other, but I suspect South Gyle and Edinburgh Gateway are closer to each other.

Ballpark one-and-a-quarter miles (99 chains) from Edinburgh Waverley to Haymarket. Likely depends on where exactly you measure from for Edinburgh Waverley. South Gyle to Edinburgh Gateway is 68 chains. Source for both: RailMiles website.

 

[plugwash]

Liverpool:Lime street and central are very close together as the crow flies, though perhaps slightly less close as the train drives because of the curvature of the track between them.

(of-course this assumes that mersyrail doesn't count as a metro).

 

[styles]

Stourbridge Junction and Stourbridge Town is presumably the shortest journey at about a km?

 

[Sad Sprinter]

Balham and Wandsworth Common aren’t too far apart. Wandsworth Common really is just the furthest western reaches of Balham. Or perhaps northern Upper Tooting (which is now mostly considered part of Balham)

 

[Sheridan]

Apologies if I’ve missed it, but Wrexham Central and Wrexham General are 49 chains apart. At one point I believe they held the title of shortest scheduled service, and it happened not that long ago as a one-off.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Stourbridge Junction and Stourbridge Town is presumably the shortest journey at about a km?

No. Already mentioned several times upthread are Birchgrove and Ty Glas on the Coryton line in the Welsh Valleys. Ballpark 17 chains (340 metres) for this station pair. One minute journey time!

 

[duffield]

Given that the OP just says "linked by track" and does not rule out reversals, Kidderminster NR and Kidderminster SVR must be in with a shout as two distinct connected stations, although I can't work out the minimum distance involved platform to platform. And there's also East Grinstead NR to East Grinstead Bluebell, again the distance is difficult to calculate because of determining how far the train needs to travel to make the reversal.

 

[Jaydubya]

Maidstone West - Maidstone Barracks

 

[Mcr Warrior]

And there's also East Grinstead NR to East Grinstead Bluebell, again the distance is difficult to calculate because of determining how far the train needs to travel to make the reversal.

Has to be 20 chains from the East Grinstead (NR) station to the Network Rail / Bluebell Railway boundary, then another 3 chains on to the Imberthorne Viaduct to allow the reversal. Then a further 11 chains into the Bluebell station. So, 34 chains in total?

 

[SECR 65]

Has to be 20 chains from the East Grinstead (NR) station to the Network Rail / Bluebell Railway boundary, then another 3 chains on to the Imberthorne Viaduct to allow the reversal. Then a further 11 chains into the Bluebell station. So, 34 chains in total?

It depends how long the train is, I suppose, as to how far along the viaduct you would have to go! If it was just a singular light engine, you might not even need to go onto the viaduct at all.
And, another thing to throw into the mix! Currently EG Bluebell is controlled by a couple of groundframes on-site. Therefore, shunting is communicated by handsignals, so the engine only needs to shunt far enough to be safely clear of the points to be able to run round. However, as some point ('soon'...) EG is coming under the control of Kinsgcote singalbox. That means that movements will have to shunt far enough onto the viaduct to be clear of the shunt signal controlling movements - increasing the distance travelled. That said, loco crews are currently instructed to shunt clear of the yet-to-be-commissioned signal, as best practice in preparation for the change. But I'm getting rather carried away here!....

 

[Trainfan2019]

If we can include closed stations, how about Sinfin North and Sinfin Central?

For stations still open, how about Ardwick to Manchester Piccadilly?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

For stations still open, how about Ardwick to Manchester Piccadilly?

That's almost a mile (it's 74 chains between the two, apparently!)

 

[Pnerick81]

I thought the two smethwicks where the closest at some point

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I thought the two smethwicks where the closest at some point

If you mean Smethwick Galton Bridge (low level) and Smethwick Rolfe Street, they're about 55 chains distant.

Smethwick Galton Bridge (high level) and the now closed Smethwick West station (closed ~1996) look to be around 16 chains apart. However, were they ever open simultaneously so that one could actually travel directly between the two stations?

 

[etr221]

Rotherhithe - Canada Water on the ELL is now suburban rail. It’s regulated in exactly the same way as other parts of the Overground, as normal heavy rail. Yes it’s relatively high frequency, but it’s not a metro.

The Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 Sect 2A give the ORR responsibility for determining and publishing an "Approved list of systems excluded from the scope of the mainline railway requirements" - the current (last updated in April 2026) version includes, under "Metros and other light rail systems", East London Railway from Highbury & Islington (only ELR exclusive tracks) to New Cross Gate, New Cross and Old Kent Road Junction.

So that part of the ELL is metro, and not mainline.

Railmiles gives Rotherhithe-Canada Water and Ty Glas-Birchgrove as 17 chains (=342 metres). While LU kilometrages give a figure of 0.32 km for Rotherhithe-Canada Water (slightly less), I have not seen a more precise figure for Ty Glas-Birchgrove. But as the East London is a metro (see above), it takes the title.

If you are going to count metros, then Canary Wharf to West India Quay on the DLR is only 199m, and has been declared Britain's shortest train journey - see today's (23 May) diamondgeezer blog post (and click 'See Transcript')