Bordesley railway station proposed closure

[flitwickbeds]

I'm also in the "do something" camp. For the majority of the stations we're talking about, closure would have pretty much zero negative impact, but would save money and simplify training and driver routes. There are a handful which I would save for future potential reopening - mostly the recently-mothballed ones like IBM - but otherwise what's the point in keeping a one-train-in-one-direction-only service like Polesworth?

Sort the list of stations into "close immediately", "introduce a regular service again", or "mothball for potential future use" piles, then just get on with it. If usage doesn't improve at the stations in the middle pile, then close them.

 

[The exile]

I just don't really see the point. I guess it makes sense for some mothballed stations, such as IBM, Stanlow & Thornton and Redcar British Steel, as these have been closed for years and serve no settlements.

Two of these present very good arguments for why keeping a station technically open has a point. The original raison d’etre for both IBM and BS Redcar has disappeared and as you say, they currently serve nothing,but both parcels of land are likely to become redevelopment (ie growth) areas and having a station already there is a big plus point.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Feb 2026 ==

Sort the list of stations into "close immediately", "introduce a regular service again", or "mothball for potential future use" piles, then just get on with it. If usage doesn't improve at the stations in the middle pile, then close them.

So just out of interest, what would you put in which category?

 

[Farigiraf]

Two of these present very good arguments for why keeping a station technically open has a point. The original raison d’etre for both IBM and BS
Redcar has disappeared and as you say, they currently serve nothing,but both parcels of land are likely to become redevelopment (ie growth) areas and having a station already there is a big plus point.

Yes, I was going to add that (and even Stanlow has potential, I'd argue - see the Merseyrail to Helsby speculative threads) but that was already quite off-topic.

Sort the list of stations into "close immediately", "introduce a regular service again", or "mothball for potential future use" piles, then just get on with it. If usage doesn't improve at the stations in the middle pile, then close them.

I'd agree with you on that, but in many cases, introducing a regular service again is not an easy thing to do - the Chathill-Morpeth halts and Polesworth are good examples, being on busy mainlines. There are actually very few stations which would fall into the 'close immediately' pile because, as previously stated, most of them do have potential, it's just unmet. To name three stations that I think nobody (other than enthusiasts) would miss if they were closed: Coombe Junction Halt, Berney Arms and Havenhouse. But all three of these are on relatively quiet lines - closure wouldn't make much of a difference.

I'd question that where other stations are close by. Why slow down everyone else's journey to provide a park and ride, when whoever might use it could just drive a bit further and park at a station that also has other reasons to exist?

Chathill is the nearest station to Seahouses by far, Acklington is the nearest station to Amble (also by quite a distance) and Elton & Orston is well located for a few villages (though Aslockton is nearby). What services could call there is another matter, and much more complicated (and not for this thread).

 

[duffield]

Yes, I was going to add that (and even Stanlow has potential, I'd argue - see the Merseyrail to Helsby speculative threads) but that was already quite off-topic.


I'd agree with you on that, but in many cases, introducing a regular service again is not an easy thing to do - the Chathill-Morpeth halts and Polesworth are good examples, being on busy mainlines. There are actually very few stations which would fall into the 'close immediately' pile because, as previously stated, most of them do have potential, it's just unmet. To name three stations that I think nobody (other than enthusiasts) would miss if they were closed: Coombe Junction Halt, Berney Arms and Havenhouse. But all three of these are on relatively quiet lines - closure wouldn't make much of a difference.


Chathill is the nearest station to Seahouses by far, Acklington is the nearest station to Amble (also by quite a distance) and Elton & Orston is well located for a few villages (though Aslockton is nearby). What services could call there is another matter, and much more complicated (and not for this thread).

Isn't Berney Arms quite well used by walkers and birders at certain times of year?

 

[Ian Hardy]

Isn't Berney Arms quite well used by walkers and birders at certain times of year?

On 09/04/2023, I caught the 1417 service from Great Yarmouth to Norwich via Berney Arms and at least 20 people boarded at Berney Arms having been out walking.

 

[edwin_m]

Chathill is the nearest station to Seahouses by far, Acklington is the nearest station to Amble (also by quite a distance) and Elton & Orston is well located for a few villages (though Aslockton is nearby). What services could call there is another matter, and much more complicated (and not for this thread).

I'd argue Chathill should stay open as the next nearest stations are distant, and ideally there should be some way of giving it a train at least every 2hr. Less so for Acklington, and Elton & Orston is midway between the two villages and theoretically walkable, but only along a road with no footway and probably no speed limit, so I doubt many would want to try it.

So these stations are essentially only accessible by car. Once you have to drive to get there, driving a bit further to a different station doesn't make that much difference.

 

[The exile]

So these stations are essentially only accessible by car. Once you have to drive to get there, driving a bit further to a different station doesn't make that much difference.

Though, as the railhead idea in the 60s showed, once people are driving more than a token distance to the station, they’re more than likely to stay in their car and drive the whole way.

 

[flitwickbeds]

So just out of interest, what would you put in which category?

Slightly off-topic for this thread, but I imagine the vast majority would end up in the "close immediately" pile.

I don't know what Polesworth's figures are, but it's very difficult to imagine it being useful to a huge amount of people who are happy to get on a very early train, and not be able to return back on the railway. If the capacity situation is never going to be resolved, or is realistically 20+ years away, then why not close it now and - if there is some kind of scheme to free up capacity to the point where it could have, say, a 1tp2h service in the future - then rebuild and reopen it as part of those works. It's very unlikely such a scheme would not require a complete overhaul of the station anyway. And then you've saved 20+ years of costs.

Tbh I'm more upset that these communities had their stations removed by stealth and no one has apologised or taken accountability.

 

[The exile]

Slightly off-topic for this thread, but I imagine the vast majority would end up in the "close immediately" pile.

I don't know what Polesworth's figures are, but it's very difficult to imagine it being useful to a huge amount of people who are happy to get on a very early train, and not be able to return back on the railway. If the capacity situation is never going to be resolved, or is realistically 20+ years away, then why not close it now and - if there is some kind of scheme to free up capacity to the point where it could have, say, a 1tp2h service in the future - then rebuild and reopen it as part of those works. It's very unlikely such a scheme would not require a complete overhaul of the station anyway. And then you've saved 20+ years of costs.

Tbh I'm more upset that these communities had their stations removed by stealth and no one has apologised or taken accountability.

Agree with that last sentiment entirely. However, you’re overlooking all the various bureaucratic and legal (and thus costly) hurdles involved in both closing and reopening a station which can be set against maintenance in the intervening period, much of which would have to take place anyway to ensure the safety of passing trains.

 

[SargeNpton]

Possibly controversial but I'd support a limited program of closures of stations similar to Bordesley, for example Pilning, stations that no longer serve a purpose but we're paying to keep open for no real reason.

I have heard it said that Pilning has a purpose (albeit one that nobody hopes will happen) for emergency evacuation of passengers stuck in the Severn Tunnel.

 

[zwk500]

Slightly off-topic for this thread, but I imagine the vast majority would end up in the "close immediately" pile.

I don't know what Polesworth's figures are, but it's very difficult to imagine it being useful to a huge amount of people who are happy to get on a very early train, and not be able to return back on the railway. If the capacity situation is never going to be resolved, or is realistically 20+ years away, then why not close it now and - if there is some kind of scheme to free up capacity to the point where it could have, say, a 1tp2h service in the future - then rebuild and reopen it as part of those works. It's very unlikely such a scheme would not require a complete overhaul of the station anyway. And then you've saved 20+ years of costs.

Tbh I'm more upset that these communities had their stations removed by stealth and no one has apologised or taken accountability.

Polesworth is one I'd put in the 'just b****y fix it' pile to be honest. It's on a 4-track section of the Trent Valley Line, and has a sizeable town adjacent to the railway. Ideally a joined-up plan would rebuild the road overbridge to the south to provide 2 traffic lanes and a footpath, then a gentle ramp to the Up slow platform, but failing that NR have a standard design of footbridge that could easily be craned in during the regular 2-track possession plan of the Trent Valley Line.

Wedgwood I'd close immediately (in anticipation of a station reopening a bit further north), Barlaston is more borderline - would depend what service could be provided. Pilning I would close properly as the capacity constraint on that primary line to South Wales is going to outweigh the potential benefit to the village given the station isn't actually in the settlement (Severn Beach is about as far away from the centre of Pilning). The various 'factory' stations would be properly mothballed until redevelopment is seriously on the table.

I have heard it said that Pilning has a purpose (albeit one that nobody hopes will happen) for emergency evacuation of passengers stuck in the Severn Tunnel.

If the train can run as far as Pilning, chances are it could run to Bristol Parkway (or Temple Meads) where a much better response could be organised for the passengers being evacuated. If they're evacuating on foot, then the access point would be retained even if the platform copers are taken away (and there's a vehicle access point at the tunnel portal anyway).

 

[30907]

Acklington is the nearest station to Amble (also by quite a distance)

Googlemaps says Widdrington is only 2min further, though I suspect commuters will drive to Ashington or Bedlington at the moment.

 

[Cross City]

Yes, Chiltern do sometimes call on match days.

Chiltern don't stop at Bordesley.

 

[Kite159]

Chiltern don't stop at Bordesley.

Unless RTT is telling lies:

Realtime Trains | Departures from Bordesley all day on 15/02/2026

Train information at Bordesley all day on 15/02/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[Sprinter107]

Chiltern don't stop at Bordesley.

Chiltern trains do stop at Bordesley. I was travelling on one on Tuesday that stopped. And a good load of passengers alighted

 

[edwin_m]

Though, as the railhead idea in the 60s showed, once people are driving more than a token distance to the station, they’re more than likely to stay in their car and drive the whole way.

I doubt driving to a station say five miles away instead of two would change that decision either way.

Googlemaps says Widdrington is only 2min further [than Acklington, from Amble], though I suspect commuters will drive to Ashington or Bedlington at the moment.

 

[Cross City]

Chiltern trains do stop at Bordesley. I was travelling on one on Tuesday that stopped. And a good load of passengers alighted

I’ve lived in Brum almost all my life and travel this line regularly and honestly this is news to me.

Even the usually reliable wiki page for the station has no mention of Chiltern stopping there.

I’ve only ever known WMR (and its predecessors) stopping there.

 

[Russel]

I’ve lived in Brum almost all my life and travel this line regularly and honestly this is news to me.

Even the usually reliable wiki page for the station has no mention of Chiltern stopping there.

I’ve only ever known WMR (and its predecessors) stopping there.

I'm with you on this one, I never knew either until it was posted in this thread!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Even the usually reliable wiki page for the station has no mention of Chiltern stopping there.

I’ve only ever known WMR (and its predecessors) stopping there.

Presumably that's because when the station only receives its normal, very limited, 'parliamentary service', that's provided solely by West Midlands Trains, and so it's only on Birmingham City FC match days that the station has the additional calls (both by West Midlands Trains and also by Chiltern Railways). This, however, begs the question as to when Chiltern did start calling there?

 

[Sprinter107]

It was around 19.40 ish when it stopped on Tuesday. 2 x class 168s. It's easily checked. It was a healthy number that alighted. The train originated from Marylebone.

 

[Merthyr Imp]

It was around 19.40 ish when it stopped on Tuesday. 2 x class 168s. It's easily checked. It was a healthy number that alighted. The train originated from Marylebone.

Birmingham City were at home - there'd just about be enough time to get there for the 8pm kick-off.

 

[150219]

Presumably that's because when the station only receives its normal, very limited, 'parliamentary service', that's provided solely by West Midlands Trains, and so it's only on Birmingham City FC match days that the station has the additional calls (both by West Midlands Trains and also by Chiltern Railways). This, however, begs the question as to when Chiltern did start calling there?

Whilst I can't confirm the actual date, I can confirm with authority that it has been for some years now (in excess of 20).

 

[flitwickbeds]

Are there any other stations which receive zero (or very limited) service on a 'normal' day, but then an influx of trains on random days when a football team happen to be playing?

Reminds me of a "free" retail park car park I got a fine at once, as the maximum length of stay was severely reduced when the local football team were playing at home. How anyone who doesn't follow football is supposed to know that, I have no idea, but the appeal on that basis was rejected as well!

 

[Cross City]

Are there any other stations which receive zero (or very limited) service on a 'normal' day, but then an influx of trains on random days when a football team happen to be playing?

Reminds me of a "free" retail park car park I got a fine at once, as the maximum length of stay was severely reduced when the local football team were playing at home. How anyone who doesn't follow football is supposed to know that, I have no idea, but the appeal on that basis was rejected as well!

South Bermondsey (Millwall) springs to mind. Not as quiet as Bordesley obviously but it’s quiet for London standards.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

South Bermondsey (Millwall) springs to mind. Not as quiet as Bordesley obviously but it’s quiet for London standards.

Not quite comparable. South Bermondsey has over a hundred trains calling there each and every weekday and annual patronage estimated at well over half a million. I'll grant you that it's rather busy there on a Millwall FC home matchday.

 

[centraltrains]

Why hasn't and why wouldn't Bordesley work as a hub to the south? Like Five Ways is to the West and Jewellery Quarter is to the North?
With all the housing developments and regeneration going on in the area one would think it's only a matter of time before demand increases. Both have midland metro stops too!

 

[SCDR_WMR]

Why hasn't and why wouldn't Bordesley work as a hub to the south? Like Five Ways is to the East and Jewellery Quarter is to the North?
With all the housing developments and regeneration going on in the area one would think it's only a matter of time before demand increases. Both have midland metro stops too!

It absolutely could given the huge redevelopment of the south Digbeth area.

But the chords need doing, so could the solution be platforms on the south chord?

 

[DynamicSpirit]

It absolutely could given the huge redevelopment of the south Digbeth area.

But the chords need doing, so could the solution be platforms on the south chord?

If by 'South chord' you mean the new one that will be used by Moor Street -> Camp Hill line trains, that would sound tricky, since the chord will presumably be on an incline AND sharply curved.

My thought was rather the opposite: Couldn't you at least provide platform(s) on the existing line towards Small Heath? Perhaps a bit further SE of the existing station so it doesn't get in the way of the new junction, with an entrance on Small Heath Highway and a footbridge across Bordesley Middleway to give access from the area of the existing station. And the new chords therefore by-passing the station.

I agree though that getting rid of a station in the middle of such prime development land seems a short termist decision that we'll badly regret in 20 or so years' time.

 

[edwin_m]

From posts above it sounds like the station would have to be totally demolished to make room for the chords. So it would be a question of building a brand new station at some future time if development in the area made it worthwhile. As that development isn't certain, it probably isn't worth committing to spend several million on a new station speculatively.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

From posts above it sounds like the station would have to be totally demolished to make room for the chords. So it would be a question of building a brand new station at some future time if development in the area made it worthwhile. As that development isn't certain, it probably isn't worth committing to spend several million on a new station speculatively.

That would make some sense. In that case, the immediate issue would be, making sure that the design of the chords allows for passive provision for a new station. (Which probably means, deciding now where the station would be if it's later decided to actually build it).