Closed stations with open lines running through

[Drsatan]

Smethwick West station on the Smethwick Junction - Stourbridge Junction line closed in 1996 (it was replaced by Smethwick Galton Bridge station located to the east), but the platforms are still intact (albeit heavily overgrown), and the platform lampposts remain in situ.

Also intact is the old Blaenau Ffestiniog station located to the north of the existing one. Last time I passed through that station (in July 2005), the platforms were still intact.

Finally, another station which has closed on an open railway line is Radpole Halt on the outskirts of Weymouth which closed in 1983.

 

[seagull]

There's a few on the Cambrian:

Yockleton (can't see any need for this to ever re-open unless Shrewsbury doubles in size and needs a park and ride much further away!);

Forden (still with signalbox and platform, privately owned)

Montgomery (still has platform)

Moat Lane (still has platform)

Carno (still just about has platform)

Llanbrynmair (still has platform)

Cemmaes Road (still has platform)

With all the above the single line has been slewed across so as to avoid the platform by a hefty margin, nothing that couldn't be undone should the case arise. But looking at old steam-era Cambrian timetables with all those stops and some more in like Westbury, Talerddig and Bow Street, it took about half a year to get from Shrewsbury to Aber.

 

[rich.davies]

Beeston Castle station at Tarporley should be looked at for re-opening, and have the Crewe - Chester shuttle call there.

Taxi drivers at both Crewe and Chester have told me on more than one occasion that their busiest single destination ( excluding the immediate local areas within each town ) is the Wild Boar Hotel; this place is very popular and is more or less equidistant from both stations and the local area seems to pull in quite a few visitors as well.

Wasnt there talk of getting the station re-opened a few years back?

 

[AlterEgo]

Castlethorpe, just north of Wolverton on the WCML, has platforms intact.

This link documents the doomed fight to save it in the early 1960s...

http://www.mkheritage.co.uk/cv/docs/railway/closure.html

 

[JoeGJ1984]

Castlethorpe look like it would be relatively easy to reopen and I'm sure would be well used - the village would probably be in Milton Keynes's 'commuter belt'.

 

[imagination]

There's been some talk of the possibility of reopening the railway station at Wootton Bassett.

 

[TheJRB]

Folkestone East on the South Eastern Main Line has very little left and shut in 1965.

 

[fairysdad]

Cullompton and Wellington on the GWML are a couple of stations that are closed and are often said that they should be reopened. Not sure about Wellington, but I know that Cullompton's platforms are still in situ, the only problem being that the site is now mostly a motorway service station...

I recall reading somewhere somebody's thoughts on why these two stations couldn't be reopened, mostly down to the afore-mentioned timetabling of that stretch of track which is surprisingly busy really.

 

[paulb1973]

Does Ditton between Runcorn and Liverpool qualify? Outside my area - but I remember catching a sight of a disused station on a YouTube clip between those stations.

 

[Donny Dave]

Beeston Castle station at Tarporley should be looked at for re-opening, and have the Crewe - Chester shuttle call there.

Taxi drivers at both Crewe and Chester have told me on more than one occasion that their busiest single destination ( excluding the immediate local areas within each town ) is the Wild Boar Hotel; this place is very popular and is more or less equidistant from both stations and the local area seems to pull in quite a few visitors as well.

Wasnt there talk of getting the station re-opened a few years back?

It would also be quite handy for Oulton Park, could be a bit of a money spinner for bus/taxi firms on race weekends there.

 

[VideozVideoz]

Norton Bridge, but it would have to be a single line platform on the slow lane in both directions.

Heh not trying to be pedantic but Norton Bridge is technically still open, it just has a permanent replacement bus service!

My suggestions for closed stations are:

Buxworth (Hope Valley Line)
Godley East (Manchester - Glossop Line)

 

[LE Greys]

Almost all the closed stations on the ECML were wiped out completely by electrification. There were also some nice ones on the WCML between Carlisle and Glasgow, but they are gone completely as well. I can think of a few on the Settle and Carlisle, Little Salked, Long Marton and Crosby Garratt. However, I haven't been there for ages, so I'm not sure whether there is much left.

 

[sheff'd victoria]

I was thinking that there are lots of closed stations around with the line still running through and open. And I wouldn't have thought it would be difficult at all to reopen these stationso me!).

If your including freight lines then

Sheffield Victoria
Wadsley Bridge
Oughtibridge
Deepcar

Most important for me is getting Dore back to two platforms.

If the fools at SYPTE or Network Rail had any brains then they would know that putting the 4 platforms back like it was pre 1980's would make better sence

 

[flymo]

Are the platforms at the two former Gateshead stations still there?, Gateshead East & Gateshead West at the southern end of the High Level Bridge. I seem to recall there being some platform there last time I headed through. Not much chance of those ever opening up again.

 

[krus_aragon]

On the North Wales Coast, Holywell Junction is still stood there: station building, platforms, and platform loops (possibly signalled). Mostyn has some extant platforms.

Further on, Gaerwen still has its station building and platforms standing, and is the junction for the to-be-reopened Amlwch branch. Other than Amlwch and Holland Arms, all other stations and platforms remain intact (most buildings are now private homes)

 

[142094]

Are the platforms at the two former Gateshead stations still there?, Gateshead East & Gateshead West at the southern end of the High Level Bridge. I seem to recall there being some platform there last time I headed through. Not much chance of those ever opening up again.

They are still there, and I'm sure the last time I went past there are signs saying "Do not alight here". Probably would be quite easy to reinstate the stopping service at least at Gateshead East, and perhaps run the Newcastle - MetroCentre trains to stop at Gateshead West. In a prime location for the amount of redevelopment that has happened in that area.

 

[Trog]

Castlethorpe look like it would be relatively easy to reopen and I'm sure would be well used - the village would probably be in Milton Keynes's 'commuter belt'.

No it would be a difficult one.

The platforms are too short, and there are overbridges at both ends that would make lengthening them difficult. The US platform has been removed, and there are now various S&T buildings on its site. The moving of which as with all things S&T would cost the earth.

 

[Adam_Harrison]

Greatham, just south of Hartlepool. The platforms are still there although I don't see a need to re-open it seeing as the village is up the road and the factory is closed :P

 

[Boothby97]

Brocklesby, between Habrough and Barnetby. The freight line from Immingham Docks, Ulceby and Barnetby also runs through. The signal box on the platform is still in use and I think there is still access to the platforms.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Reopening a station is actually quite a hard thing to do. It might seem easy enough to reinstate a couple of platforms with minimum amount of effort and expense, but it takes years planning, doing cost-benefit analysis, applying for funding then getting the ball rolling after that, as anyone who has dealt with planning applications before will tell you.

In the Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire areas, there were moves to open lightly constructed stations not so long ago that came to fruition as part of thinking of rail as being only one facet of a total review of transportation links within large Metropolitan conurbations.

In the Greater Manchester area, I can think of Mills Hill, Hag Fold and Smithy Bridge as examples of this.

In the Lancashire County Council area, the line from Blackburn to Clitheroe was re-opened to passenger traffic, providing station use at Ramsgreave and Wilpshire, Langho, Whalley and to Clithoeroe, where a new transport interchange was constructed.

It may well be that large conurbations with local authority transport committes, having a county-wide transportation overview and the will to finance station re-openings will achieve far more than rural area bodies who seem not to have the finance (or will) to achieve such re-openings.

 

[RPM]

Chiltern Railways looked at reopening Ardley station back in 1999 as a parkway station for the M40 but it never proceeded beyond the feasibility study stage. Some thought was also given to reopening West Wycombe but there were problems with finding anywhere to put in a car park as it is in a conservation area. There are loads of other closed stations and halts on the Chiltern route but none of them really have any reopening potential.

 

[Boothby97]

Norton Bridge, Wedgewood and Barlston near Stoke-on-Trent. These are served by a replacement bus.
Primrose Hill in North London.
Rotherham Masborough and Brightside in South Yorkshire.
Derby Baseball Ground Halt (can't remember the name)
Boothferry Park in Hull

 

[142094]

In the Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire areas, there were moves to open lightly constructed stations not so long ago that came to fruition as part of thinking of rail as being only one facet of a total review of transportation links within large Metropolitan conurbations.

Looking at West Yorkshire, some stations seem to have been built like this (such as Eaast Garforth), but they require a lot of maintenance. Some of the platform surfaces at these stations are terrible.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Looking at West Yorkshire, some stations seem to have been built like this (such as Eaast Garforth), but they require a lot of maintenance. Some of the platform surfaces at these stations are terrible.

Thanks for quoting the West Yorkshire area as I did not put any in my post, just mentioned them with the three that I named in Greater Manchester.
There was quite a will in the Greater Manchester to look at strategic re-opening. Mills Hill and Smithy Bridge both have residential areas and are on the same line from Manchester to Littleborough. Hag Fold (nothing to do with local witchcraft) serves a mixed residential area near Atherton

The question of platform surfaces, as you state, will be part of the planned maintenance agreement that will be there in some official documentation. But try to do a Sherlock Holmes, track down the department in question them or get your local councillor to earn his crust on your behalf. I am sure that the safety of stations is a point well worth pursuing, especially at local election time!!

 

[tirphil]

Almost all the closed stations on the ECML were wiped out completely by electrification. There were also some nice ones on the WCML between Carlisle and Glasgow, but they are gone completely as well. I can think of a few on the Settle and Carlisle, Little Salked, Long Marton and Crosby Garratt. However, I haven't been there for ages, so I'm not sure whether there is much left.

Also on the S&C you have Scotby, Cumwhinton (platforms intact) Cotehill, Culgaith, Ormside, New Biggin (some platform standing)

 

[justinsteam]

Chiltern Railways looked at reopening Ardley station back in 1999 as a parkway station for the M40 but it never proceeded beyond the feasibility study stage. Some thought was also given to reopening West Wycombe but there were problems with finding anywhere to put in a car park as it is in a conservation area. There are loads of other closed stations and halts on the Chiltern route but none of them really have any reopening potential.

The Chiltern Main Line runs through the following closed stations:

West Wycombe
Ilmer Halt
Haddenham (Haddenham and Thame Parkway opened in 1987, half a mile to the north west)
Dorton Halt
Brill and Ludgershall
Blackthorn
Ardley
Ayno Park
Cropredy
Fenny Compton
Southam Road & Harbury

As RPM says, West Wycombe is the only one with any potential for reopening.

 

[WL113]

There are a couple on the Cannock line that were not reopened when the line saw passenger services return. Great Wyrley and Cheslyn Hay would be a popular station now, the area has expanded greatly. Also in Cannock Chase there is Brindley Heath Station, this is right in the middle of the Cannock Chase mountain bike trail and would also be popular with walkers and other visitors to the chase. The Station saw thousands of recruits tramp up Kitbag Hill to RAF Hednesford in the forties and fifties..

 

[Lampshade]

Dixon Fold between Manchester and Bolton.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Miles Platting (once the Ordsall Chord is established)

 

[tempests1]

Crawley station (old) platforms sill in situ. New station 400 yards beyond on the Londonside