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AFS for Ashford (Surrey) BHC for Balloch (replaced Balloch Central across the road)

EMP - seen it used on occasion for East Midlands Parkway [EMD], when it is officially Emerson Park

This comes up every so often on here. The structure is indeed the reason it is out of use, however I cannot find a date for it (though I am sure it has been said before, I'll have a dig). I suspect the low level platforms at Portsmouth & Southsea could handle any additional capacity demands...

I am certain over the years those closures created every possible combination of origins, destinations and via points on weekends. There's one that sticks in my head after all these years, a Virgin CrossCountry service that did something completely random like Stoke to Bolton non-stop via...

Indeed. XC are rather prolific at it!

Ledbury is staffed on an agency basis if I remember correctly (i.e. not by the rail franchise's own staff; quite a few in Wales are similar and there's a few dotted around England), though indeed there are many quieter. Forster Square is a prime example of a 1980-90s station rebuild...

Last Reading - Birmingham goes that way each weeknight too (though not at present it seems).

Not sure on that one - connects what is a large and rapidly expanding town with several of its closest markets, as well as providing an alternative route to London. It's also realistically the only means of access for freight to Calvert (and perhaps towards East-West Rail in future), and I...

Before anyone gets all upset, I'll put in a disclaimer that I don't endorse anything written below! The first three that came to mind are the Central Wales, Conwy Valley and Far North lines. I suspect you could throw in the line via Berney Arms and arguably something like Newquay too, however...

Most interesting - they are ever-decreasing in number but I love places that have a grandness and scale completely at odds with what purpose they now serve - places like Perth, Skegness, etc. Most nostalgic - the West Coast Main Line, where my interest in all this started all those years ago...

Judging by this, the road in question has no (safe!) pedestrian access: https://www.google.com/maps/@52.6254407,-1.6089352,3a,75y,261.01h,69.07t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s4qsWhfGorkAvBpcMmTFohw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 Out of interest, if they were to build some form of access provision from the...

So it then has only services on the Crewe branch, and anyone from there [or Longport, or Alsager to a lesser extent] wanting Macclesfield, Stockport or Manchester has to go via Stoke or Crewe?

Indeed. In retrospect it's been a decent change - maintaining links from Glasgow and Lanarkshire to North East England and Yorkshire whilst allowing the East Coast franchise to free up resource for their heartlands.

... and XC picked up the pieces with what I gather is now a rather popular extension to their Plymouth-Edinburghs every two hours.

Quintrell Downs on the Newquay branch is similar I think. (Happy to be corrected as I cannot consult the timetable at the moment!)

It was once upon a time, but I am certain it isn't any more, and is advertised locally as such; despite what the most recent version of Schedule 17 says. Could be wrong mind but I am certain it no longer is. Edit - Ignore me, it's no longer 24 hours on Sundays. If it is of any help, when I was...

Indeed - I can remember using that service on occasion and for a train leaving London on the verge of the evening peak it was silent - as you say, much more useful now it slots in as part of the standard train plan. Much better to have a slower train at 80% seat occupancy than the same train...

I will certainly give you that the Glasgow-Eustons are busy at Preston, but how many of those are on at just Glasgow and Carlisle; and not Penrith, Oxenholme, Lancaster, or indeed boarding at Preston; and how many of those from Scotland and Carlisle are still on after Warrington heading full...

Heresy! Next you'll be saying we should run longer trains instead of cramming New St and Piccadilly full of frequent 2-car DMUs ;)

One of them certainly was, calls at Stafford and Crewe got inserted into the Euston-Preston via Trent Valley service behind it to still maintain the connectivity from Birmingham et al. TPE can scarcely cope with the demands placed on it at present, let alone making them even more of a...