Linking adjacent stations

[A S Leib]

St. Budeaux Ferry and Victoria Road, looking at a map without having been there myself, is a case which wouldn't be built like that if starting from scratch but is too easy and much too quiet to be worth changing now.

 

[VT 390]

I wonder if the road carriageway and walkway might swap places, so travellers would only have to cross Moor St Queensway in front of the station, which I understand is to be improved as the major pedestrian gateway to the city centre for the Curzon St related developments.

That would be a good start and should be relatively easy to do, as long as the new walkway location had other improvements such as better lighting.

 

[MarkyT]

St. Budeaux Ferry and Victoria Road, looking at a map without having been there myself, is a case which wouldn't be built like that if starting from scratch but is too easy and much too quiet to be worth changing now.

The St Budeaux entrances are right opposite each other on the same road. There's no marked or signalled crossing here, in the middle of a fairly busy though thankfully low-speed junction complex. Moving the branch platform to the Plymouth side of the road bridge, then clearing and leveling the ground between it and the up main platform could effectively form a single island with a shared access from which all Plymouth-bound trains would depart.

 

[birchesgreen]

This photo suggests pedestrian use of the tunnel may be significant. Note also the gent struggling up the stairs with luggage at top right. With the new access ramps at the Moor St end, that staircase is redundant now, so might be removed making some space for a low-level walkway on that side:

St Martin's Queensway - tunnel under the Bullring

From the front of the no 63 bus between Moor Street Queensway and St Martin's Queensway. Passing through the tunnel under the Bullring towards Birmingham New Street Station tunnel under the Bullring X64 bus heading in the other direction along St Martin's Queensway.

flic.kr

A recent Tik Tok video on the subject pulls no punches:

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7609698010766920982

Never found the walk that bad personally, but then again i live in Erdington so am used to urban decay and the smell of urine.

 

[DavidGrain]

Personally I usually walk through the Bull Ring centre on the rare occasions that I transfer between Birmingham New Street and Moor Street but I have the advantage of being able to drive between suburban stations on different lines so I can chose whether to take a train to New Street or Moor Street depending on my onward journey.
The tram from New Street to Curzon Street will take a roundabout route and take you to the back entrance to Curzon Street so I guess it will be quicker to walk to the front entrance of Curzon Street but that will be the same route as the walk to Moor Street. Just to confuse things the front entrance to Curzon Street Station will be in Moor Street and the concourses of the two stations will be connected by a foot bridge.

 

[duffield]

...

I cannot see why that small town has two stations on the same line.

...

If you replaced the two stations on the same line (Deepdene and Dorking West) with one, either it would no longer be a convenient interchange with Dorking (Main) for London services, as Deepdene is, or it would not be nearly as central to the built-up area, as Dorking West is. I'm pretty sure one of them would have been closed, or both closed and replaced by a central station if a convenient and cost effective solution existed.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Feb 2026 ==

Never found the walk that bad personally, but then again i live in Erdington so am used to urban decay and the smell of urine.

It's a bit grim but you're through it in no time so it's no big deal for me. No matter how many times I try the shopping centre route I get a bit confused** and have to look for signs, which delays me and means it takes significantly longer than going through the tunnel.

** I've generally got a reasonable sense of direction but it goes haywire in shopping centres as soon as I change levels via a "backwards facing" escalator or something. I think shopping centres are intentionally designed to disorient so you spend longer wandering around!

 

[Dr_Intoxicated]

There are a lot of suggestions for pedestrian tunnels linking stations in London. However the official policy in London seems to be against these. For example the useful underground links outside Waterloo have all been removed.

 

[frediculous]

There are a lot of suggestions for pedestrian tunnels linking stations in London. However the official policy in London seems to be against these. For example the useful underground links outside Waterloo have all been removed.

And the one linking Charing Cross too, although the last time I used that it felt very creepy with all the closed down businesses

 

[Recessio]

And the one linking Charing Cross too, although the last time I used that it felt very creepy with all the closed down businesses

I think that was actually owned by Coutt's Bank who owned the building above, rather than TfL or Westminster City Council? And Coutt's wanted to use it for additional basement office space (though I can't imagine it's a particularly nice place to work with no natural light...)

 

[WAO]

Talking of the Mersey area, there has been talk of reintroducing the Burscough curves for decades, but more recently, which would take Merseyrail battery trains from Ormskirk to Southport, with Southport hit from two directions by Merseyrail. But merging the two stations, in such a small town as Burscough is, on two different lines, Ormskirk-Preston and Southport-Wigan, would be very difficult.

An interchange halt, where the two lines physically cross would help but not replace the present two stations which offer convenience to local residents. The site for the three platforms required is agricultural land and would need at least pedestrian/single emergency vehicle access from Liverpool Rd. Still a lot cheaper than Baltic and would provide the Southport link long desired without increasing heavily subsided Northern train or track miles.

WAO

 

[MarkyT]

An interchange halt, where the two lines physically cross would help but not replace the present two stations which offer convenience to local residents. The site for the three platforms required is agricultural land and would need at least pedestrian/single emergency vehicle access from Liverpool Rd. Still a lot cheaper than Baltic and would provide the Southport link long desired without increasing heavily subsided Northern train or track miles.

An extra stop adds journey time, and that might be a problem for block occupancy on the single line.

Here's my version of the idea to send some Ormskirks on to Southport, providing cross-platform interchange between Southport and Preston trains at the reconstructed Burscough Junction station. Ormskirk to Wigan is also possible via interchange at Burscough Bridge.

 

[WAO]

I love the double track, the Ormskirk (Rainford Jn!) bay, the idea of 777's batterying their way to sunny Southport via Meols Cop (and your superb graphics!)

I just wonder about affordability. I think a change of train should be reasonable - you expect it on LUL.

WAO

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Mar 2026 ==

Moving from the ridiculous to the sublime, the HS2 terminus, Moor Street and New Street are all relatively near but uncomfortably far for pedestrian interchange. What suggestions do posters have for easing this?

WAO

 

[duffield]

I love the double track, the Ormskirk (Rainford Jn!) bay, the idea of 777's batterying their way to sunny Southport via Meols Cop (and your superb graphics!)

I just wonder about affordability. I think a change of train should be reasonable - you expect it on LUL.

WAO

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Mar 2026 ==

Moving from the ridiculous to the sublime, the HS2 terminus, Moor Street and New Street are all relatively near but uncomfortably far for pedestrian interchange. What suggestions do posters have for easing this?

WAO

A very expensive high level travelator would get you from New St. to Moor St. in about 2 minutes.

 

[Mikey C]

And the one linking Charing Cross too, although the last time I used that it felt very creepy with all the closed down businesses

The closed section connecting to Adelaide Street wasn't especially useful as it's a lot easier (and nicer) to cross the roads on the surface, but they have kept open the long passageway connecting the station to the old Bakerloo Line Trafalgar Square station.