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

[Magdalia]

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!

But it is comparable with other speeds in 1963. For example the fastest Cambridge Buffet Express time in 1963 was 85 minutes for 58 miles, an average speed of 41mph.

 

[marshlinker]

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

We are hoping that Rye, capital station of Marshlink will pass through the half a million entries and exit barrier this year. Despite the complete lack of interest by GTR and Network Rail.

 

[Bishops]

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.

Wow that far ahead in teh process - never knew that .

 

[yorksrob]

We are hoping that Rye, capital station of Marshlink will pass through the half a million entries and exit barrier this year. Despite the complete lack of interest by GTR and Network Rail.

It wouldn't surprise me. Me and the family have spent many a happy afternoon wandering round the town and the station is always busy.

 

[Kite159]

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.

In my mind it is probably worthy of getting served hourly again, with the other stopping service calling at Warrington West. But that line is a complete and utter mess timetable wise.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

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.

For the record the Serpell Report was commissioned by the Thatcher government, not by the BR Board. As such it was the work of civil servants, not railway managers. It received so much criticism in Parliament, especially from Tory backbenchers, that Thatcher realised it could be a significant vote loser and she ensured it was not taken forward as policy.

 

[LittleRedTrain]

I believe a number of halts on the Cambrian Coast were proposed for closure, including Llandecwyn.
From the wiki page:

British Rail requested the permission of the Secretary of State for Transport to close Llandecwyn and three other Cambrian Coast stations (namely Abererch, Tygwyn and Tonfanau) during the mid-1990s.[4] Their winter 1995/96 timetable featured only two northbound and three southbound trains Mondays to Saturdays, with a note that the service may be withdrawn before 1 June 1996.[6] All four however, remained open.

 

[Dr Hoo]

For the record the Serpell Report was commissioned by the Thatcher government, not by the BR Board. As such it was the work of civil servants, not railway managers. It received so much criticism in Parliament, especially from Tory backbenchers, that Thatcher realised it could be a significant vote loser and she ensured it was not taken forward as policy.

Well, yes, but the whole point was that the BR Chairman and Board had been asking for a review. Obviously they couldn’t do one themselves. This is well explained in Gourvish’s official history of BR in this period.
Sir Peter Parker is completely open about how things didn’t work out as intended in his excellent autobiography.

 

[Altnabreac]

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.

That one was my fault. I wrote the case for upgrading it rather than closing it without necessarily fully believing my arguments and then the SG gave in to my arguments!

 

[John R]

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.

IIRC, somewhat bizarrely, the intermediate stations were reopened before Portillo refused closure.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

IIRC, somewhat bizarrely, the intermediate stations were reopened before Portillo refused closure.

Yes, reopened by 'double agent' Ron Cotton - BR manager ostensibly tasked with closure of the line!

 

[Bahnopa]

The intermediate stations were, indeed, opened earlier on a very limited basis for the Dalesrail Service which ran only in the Summer months at weekends. Ribblehead station at that point was in a very strange position - in order to facilitate the reopening of a quarry's rail siding BR had bulldozed the down platform. Therefore only Skipton-bound trains could pick up and set down passengers. That situation pertained until well after the full reopening.

 

[EYFanatic]

Wasn't it the case that when BR reopened Dent, there was the slight issue of passengers having to commit trespass to go to and from the station as BR had sold the station along with the land around it

 

[michael769]

A public consultation on a proposal by Network Rail to close Briech station on the Shotts line resulted in it eventually being given an hourly service!

 

[The exile]

The intermediate stations were, indeed, opened earlier on a very limited basis for the Dalesrail Service which ran only in the Summer months at weekends. Ribblehead station at that point was in a very strange position - in order to facilitate the reopening of a quarry's rail siding BR had bulldozed the down platform. Therefore only Skipton-bound trains could pick up and set down passengers. That situation pertained until well after the full reopening.

Subsequent to the Summer only Dalesrail service, the currently open intermediates were reopened on a full time basis in (?) 1986, despite the ongoing closure proposals.

 

[Lloyds siding]

Liverpool-Southport. I remember the closure notices going up. Local gossip is that the closure notices were never officially withdrawn, could happen any day!

 

[saismee]

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.

Careful what you wish for in regards to closures. A development around any of those stations could mean a jump in traffic (and more calls), followed by NR actually finally upgrading the route for more trains per hour. I know those peak services along that route can be very crowded, and NR is planning to upgrade it.

 

[faltskog36abba]

British Rail wanted to close Manchester Victoria in the 80s but wasn't followed through. They just allowed for it to be run down for 20 years. Beeching wanted to close many local stations in Manchester but they were saved, He also listed Blackpool north to close/But Blackpool council closed Central Station instead, Because the land value was higher.

 

[Kingston Dan]

Prestonpans, Longniddry, Drem and North Berwick were slated for closure - did they get a formal closure notice?

 

[uglymonkey]

I think Exmouth- Exeter was listed for closure. Beeching? But remains open

 

[Bodiam]

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.

In the late 1960s I would quite often catch the 20.36 from Liverpool Street to Cambridge on a Sunday evening, which continued most stations to Norwich. There always seemed a fair service contingent on board

 

[The exile]

I think Exmouth- Exeter was listed for closure. Beeching? But remains open

There were quite a few examples of that. Whether any /all of them actually got as far as formal closure procedures is another matter.

 

[GoneSouth]

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.

And what a triumph that was! Thank goodness the line and stations thrive these days.

 

[Western Lord]

Thrive as in require a large subsidy? If the Midland had been able to do a deal with the LNWR over access to the Ingleton route the Settle & Carlisle would never have been built and today we might have bi mode Leeds to Glasgow trains via Ingleton and Low Gill. Amazingly this route survived into the mid 1960's.

 

[Bahnopa]

On recent trips over the S and C I was very pleased to see how well-loaded the trains are, and how well-used some of the intermediate stations are.

 

[70014IronDuke]

It is in what was the Royal Liberty of Havering.

Ah. OK. I'd better google for that. New one on me. Thanks.

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.

Ah, was the direct service possible? Funny not running it on to Cambridge while they were at it. No wonder if didn't pay. Not much point in taking the train from Soham if you had to change and hang around at Newmarket - I expect the service on the 'main line' as it were was pretty sparse back then.

Still, the good Sohamites must have been miffed to lose their station when Manea was still all go. Well, relatively.

When did the curve avoiding reversal at Bury close?

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.

Alas, how the might are fallen.
So they used Shippea Hill, not Lakenheath station?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Sep 2026 ==

Thrive as in require a large subsidy? If the Midland had been able to do a deal with the LNWR over access to the Ingleton route the Settle & Carlisle would never have been built and today we might have bi mode Leeds to Glasgow trains via Ingleton and Low Gill. Amazingly this route survived into the mid 1960's.

But the Midland - theoretically - had a deal with the LNWR, but the latter screwed them over. Once they got the parliamentary bill through, the local population insisted on the line being built - as I've read the story.

 

[yorksrob]

Thrive as in require a large subsidy? If the Midland had been able to do a deal with the LNWR over access to the Ingleton route the Settle & Carlisle would never have been built and today we might have bi mode Leeds to Glasgow trains via Ingleton and Low Gill. Amazingly this route survived into the mid 1960's.

Yes, lines requiring subsidy can thrive. It's a good job too, as if that weren't the case, barely any of our railway would be thriving.

 

[70014IronDuke]

Thrive as in require a large subsidy? If the Midland had been able to do a deal with the LNWR over access to the Ingleton route the Settle & Carlisle would never have been built and today we might have bi mode Leeds to Glasgow trains via Ingleton and Low Gill. Amazingly this route survived into the mid 1960's.

Following up - this is a good subject for a separate, speculative thread.

Would the Ingleton route actually have been suitable as a main line?

And what about the wars? Weren't both the WCML and the S&C heavily used in both world wars? There were those huge munitions works near Annan. I presume they produced bombs, which would have been transported to Lincolnshire and East Anglian bases. They would have needed a lot of trains, surely?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

There were those huge munitions works near Annan. I presume they produced bombs, which would have been transported to Lincolnshire and East Anglian bases. They would have needed a lot of trains, surely?

HM Factory Gretna, near Annan, produced cordite mostly, used in WW1 artillery shells, especially during the 2nd half thereof. Think the site was mainly used for ammunition storage during WW2.

 

[chris_in_salop]

I'm not sure how far along the process the 1980s' closure proposals for Wootton Wawen station (and the line south of Henley-in-Arden to Bearley Junction) got to before the line was reprieved. I used to have a 1986 timetable leaflet for the line (sadly lost in a house move) that included some text along the lines of "Closure of Wootton Wawen station is expected within the lifetime of this timetable, and if it happens will be announced through posters at stations".