Has the government ever consulted on closing a station and then NOT closed it?

[MagnificentNut]

Hi all,

I was looking through everylaststation's great list of stations which have closed the past two decades. It struck me that the government has to consult on closing a train station. Have they ever consulted on closing a train station and then NOT done it?

 

[yorksrob]

There were lots of stations under the closure notice that ended up surviving. Those on the Marshlink spring to mind.

 

[imagination]

Breich station was consulted for closure in 2017 (due to the cost of upgrades to deal with planned electrification of the line) and then kept open instead with an increased service.

 

[QueensCurve]

Stations between Carlisle and Settle Junction?

 

[Starmill]

Apparently the Reshaping of the Railways reccomended closure for over 400 stations which we still have today. Some of those could be interesting targets?

 

[Many2Audi]

There were lots of stations under the closure notice that ended up surviving. Those on the Marshlink spring to mind.

The Liberty line was originally meant to shut under beaching. However this was avoided and now Emerson Park is the least used station on the entire overground.

 

[trebor79]

I do wonder what the point is of the many “parliamentary” and one service a day stations. For example on my local Breckland Line I’m firmly of the option that Spooner Row, Harling Road, Lakenheath etc should all either be closed or served properly. They all had expensive departure boards and ticket machines installed relatively recently. Total waste of money.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I do wonder what the point is of the many “parliamentary” and one service a day stations.

Supposedly the cost of going through the formalities of closing such stations is prohibitively high, but just how expensive can it be?

 

[Kite159]

Although it could be argued that some of those limited served stations (which get a token service) would be worthy of gaining extra calls due to the areas the station is located in gaining lots of new housing. Just how many residents of Pegswood or Widdrington would love to use the train to head into Newcastle for work/leisure rather than driving to a Metro P&R (or Ashington line station) or using the buses.

Some stations are no hopers with hardly anything located close by.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

There have been several narrow squeaks over the years where closure notices have been posted, only to be reprieved at the minute. St. Ives and Looe in Cornwall came within five weeks of closure in 1965; the former is now incredibly busy in summer of course. Oldham to Rochdale (now part of Metrolink) narrowly escaped in the '70s thanks to the intervention of GMPTE. The North Warks. line to Stratford on Avon survived thanks to a legal stuff-up by BR and some very eagle-eyed campaigners.

 

[81A]

Finstock and Combe came up for closure in 1994 (but were saved by the Cotswold Line Promotion Group-source). Don’t know if it got to the consultation stage, but they have a more or less usable service for commuting now (and, from experience travelling on the stopping train several times, 5-10 regular passengers each day even with the limited service).

 

[A S Leib]

I'm not quite sure if it got to a formal closure consultation; Watford tube station was proposed for closure and replacement by new Croxley Rail Link stations before the latter was cancelled.

Apart from the Staffordshire ones which I keep forgetting the details of, I don't think any of the stations which are formally open but without any services (IBM, Redcar British Steel, Teesside Airport) have yet gone to formal closure consultations.

 

[MP33]

In a timetable book from 1974. The Liberty Line, has an entry. That it is under review.

 

[furnessvale]

How far into "consultation" was the Serpell report? On that basis it is easier to count back from zero stations surviving.

 

[Magdalia]

Hi all,

I was looking through everylaststation's great list of stations which have closed the past two decades. It struck me that the government has to consult on closing a train station. Have they ever consulted on closing a train station and then NOT done it?

The Beeching Report proposed closure for Cambridge-Oxford and Shelford-Marks Tey. Closure consultations, in each case, were for all of the route, but parts of both routes were not closed, Bedford-Bletchley and Marks Tey-Sudbury remaining open.

 

[Bishops]

There was one for Marylebone in the 80s if i remember correctly

 

[Western Lord]

The Beeching Report proposed closure for Cambridge-Oxford and Shelford-Marks Tey. Closure consultations, in each case, were for all of the route, but parts of both routes were not closed, Bedford-Bletchley and Marks Tey-Sudbury remaining open.

Actually, Beeching did not propose closure of Oxford-Cambridge, BR and the Labour Government came up with that one by themselves. When talking about this line many people seem to be under the impression that it was a fast link between the two University cities, in fact hardly anything ran through from one end to the other.

 

[Magdalia]

Actually, Beeching did not propose closure of Oxford-Cambridge, BR and the Labour Government came up with that one by themselves.

Yes, you are right that Oxford-Cambridge was not in the Beeching report list, though I think that closure was on the agenda before the 1964 general election.

When talking about this line many people seem to be under the impression that it was a fast link between the two University cities, in fact hardly anything ran through from one end to the other.

Historically the route was two separate branches from either side of the WCML at Bletchley. Some faster through trains were introduced in 1962 but these were always going to be difficult to retain after WCML electrification was completed.

The key point for this discussion is that there was a closure process for the whole of Cambridge-Oxford, but Bedford-Bletchley did not close.

 

[CyrusWuff]

There was one for Marylebone in the 80s if i remember correctly

It got as far as closure notices for Marylebone - Northolt Park and withdrawal of BR services South of Amersham being published.

It was cancelled a few months after Chris Green took over as Sector Director for London & South East.

 

[Bahnopa]

Stations between Carlisle and Settle Junction?

Stopping services between Skipton and Carlisle ceased in May 1970, leaving only Settle and Appleby open for the three fast services from Nottingham to Glasgow. Following Portillo's reprieve of the S and C most (but not all, Culgaith for example) closed stations reopened in 1986.

 

[The exile]

How far into "consultation" was the Serpell report? On that basis it is easier to count back from zero stations surviving.

Nowhere - it was just a report with recommendations.

 

[70014IronDuke]

The Liberty line was originally meant to shut under beaching. However this was avoided and now Emerson Park is the least used station on the entire overground.

What's the Liberty Line, please?

Although it could be argued that some of those limited served stations (which get a token service) would be worthy of gaining extra calls due to the areas the station is located in gaining lots of new housing. Just how many residents of Pegswood or Widdrington would love to use the train to head into Newcastle for work/leisure rather than driving to a Metro P&R (or Ashington line station) or using the buses.

Manea has risen from 'orrible service with 'orrible passenger numbers to respectability in the past decade or so, I'd say. It must have been on the brink of closure back in the 60s.

Given Manea survived by the skin of its teeth, it's surprising Soham closed back in the day.

Some stations are no hopers with hardly anything located close by.

Sugar Loaf, Shippea Hill and some on the Far North line fall into that category.
However, we are all mostly rather off topic, since the OP did say in the last two decades.

 

[A S Leib]

What's the Liberty Line, please?

Romford to Upminster.

 

[70014IronDuke]

Romford to Upminster.

Oh, thanks for rapid response!

This, though, begs the question: why so? I admit, not an area I know well, but I'd hardly link either locatiion to anything to do with liberty!

 

[steamybrian]

There were many lines that were refused closure by the Minister for Transport.
Settle- Carlisle (and Blackburn to Hellifield) were refused by Micheal Portillo in the 1980s.

The whole Isle of Wight rail system was proposed for closure in the 1960s but Ryde Pier Head- Shanklin survived.

More local to me - Hurst Green to Lewes also Tunbridge Wells to Eridge went through consultation for closure in the 1960s and only Uckfield to Lewes and Ashurst to Groombridge spur was closed at the time.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I admit, not an area I know well, but I'd hardly link either locatiion to anything to do with liberty!

It is in what was the Royal Liberty of Havering.

Have they ever consulted on closing a train station and then NOT done it?

I can only think of two in the last 20 years:
Breich, they consulted on closing but then ended up redeveloping the station and increasing services to it.
Cottingley, station closure has been ratified but the station has remained open due to the construction delays at the replacement White Rose station.

 

[Magdalia]

Manea has risen from 'orrible service with 'orrible passenger numbers to respectability in the past decade or so, I'd say. It must have been on the brink of closure back in the 60s.

Given Manea survived by the skin of its teeth, it's surprising Soham closed back in the day.

It isn't surprising, because "back in the day" it wasn't the same trains calling at Manea and Soham.

Manea was mainly served by Cambridge/Ely-Peterborough local DMUs, which ran reasonably frequently by "back in the day" standards. The line via Soham only had a small number of long distance loco hauled services, plus a few DMUs that ran between Ely and Newmarket, only for serving Soham and Fordham. Closing those 2 stations meant that those trains did not need to run.

Sugar Loaf, Shippea Hill and some on the Far North line fall into that category.

Until the big expansion of the East Anglian road network in the 1970s, Shippea Hill was a fairly busy station. It had a lot of traffic going to and from the US Air Force bases at Mildenhall and Lakenheath, with military vehicles taking service personnel to/from Shippea Hill.

 

[A S Leib]

Has Sankey for Penketh had any formal closure proposals due to the vastly decreased service since Warrington West opened?

 

[Western Lord]

Yes, you are right that Oxford-Cambridge was not in the Beeching report list, though I think that closure was on the agenda before the 1964 general election.


Historically the route was two separate branches from either side of the WCML at Bletchley. Some faster through trains were introduced in 1962 but these were always going to be difficult to retain after WCML electrification was completed.

The key point for this discussion is that there was a closure process for the whole of Cambridge-Oxford, but Bedford-Bletchley did not close.

In the 1963 timetable there were four through trains in each direction. Of these eight, three were virtually all stations (22/23 stops) taking more than 2 and a half hours. The fastest trains were two Cambridge -Oxford trains which did the trip in 1 hr 56 minutes (one with four stops and the other with seven). As the distance is only 77 miles, not a sparkling average speed!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Has Sankey for Penketh had any formal closure proposals due to the vastly decreased service since Warrington West opened?

Be surprised if it didn't. What "service provision" does 'Sankey for Penketh' receive these days? One morning and one late afternoon call, each way, Mon-Sat, and nothing on a Sunday? Was hourly immediately prior to Warrington West station opening in 2019.