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.
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Has the government ever consulted on closing a station and then NOT closed it?
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marshlinker
Member
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
Member
Wow that far ahead in teh process - never knew that .
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
Veteran Member
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
Established Member
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
Member
I believe a number of halts on the Cambrian Coast were proposed for closure, including Llandecwyn.
From the wiki page:
From the wiki page:
Dr Hoo
Established Member
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
Established Member
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!
IIRC, somewhat bizarrely, the intermediate stations were reopened before Portillo refused closure.
Sir Felix Pole
Established Member
Yes, reopened by 'double agent' Ron Cotton - BR manager ostensibly tasked with closure of the line!
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
Member
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
Established Member
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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!
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
Member
Liverpool-Southport. I remember the closure notices going up. Local gossip is that the closure notices were never officially withdrawn, could happen any day!
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
Member
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
Member
Prestonpans, Longniddry, Drem and North Berwick were slated for closure - did they get a formal closure notice?
uglymonkey
Member
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I think Exmouth- Exeter was listed for closure. Beeching? But remains open
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
There were quite a few examples of that. Whether any /all of them actually got as far as formal closure procedures is another matter.
And what a triumph that was! Thank goodness the line and stations thrive these days.
Western Lord
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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.
70014IronDuke
Established Member
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Ah. OK. I'd better google for that. New one on me. Thanks.
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?
Alas, how the might are fallen.
So they used Shippea Hill, not Lakenheath station?
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
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.
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
Established Member
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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
Veteran Member
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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
Member
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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".