New Stations/Re-Openings

[steamybrian]

Here are mmy top three of lines that I would like to see reopened which have not been mentioned in this thread and the reasons why--

1. Uckfield- Lewes
Closed in 1969 to permit a road to be built at Lewes. Severed a link between London and the Coast. Uckfield- London has seen a huge rise in passenger numbers over the past few years. Expanding towns at Uckfield, Crowborough, etc. Will ease road congestion
2. (Oxford) Bicester- Bletchley(Milton Keynes)
Will provide a good cross-country link line to serve rapidly expanding Milton Keynes, Bletchley, etc.
3. Portishead- Bristol
Severe road congestion in the Bristol area particularly peak hours.

 

[fgwrich]

Swindon Parkway to serve North and West Swindon on the Kemble line. IIRC Swindon is the largest town in England not to have two or more stations. North and West Swindon, in particular, have seen many thousands of new houses built over the last two decades.

No bias here, honestly.

And Wooton Basset (Not exactly in the swindon area i know, but you reminded me of it!)

Yeah, I had a senior moment and forgot about stations west of Coventry ! Other large places with only one station are Cambridge, Norwich, Oxford, Peterborough, Cheltenham & Gloucester.

Both agree with!

My top ten would have to include railway reopenings aswell, and would be something on the lines of:

1. Plymouth - Tavistock - Okehampton - Exeter
- Ive added my proposal on the Tavistock line thread, and considering its size i wont post it here!

2. Exeter to Bideford - Including the upgrading of the Barnstaple Branch to a more Mainline standard - Probably has to be officialy one of the longest branchlines in the country! Proposals would include replacement of most of current track with CWR and Steel sleepers, more longer passing loops, reinstatement and refurbishment of the second platform and sidings at Barnstaple, and the reinstatement of the line to Bideford - Single track with Steel Sleepers and CWR, but with provision for a passing loop en route.

3. Not as hi priority as Skipton to Colne, but Maidenhead to High Wycombe - First Great Western operates Paddington to Maidenhead to High Wycombe service, with Chiltern operating High Wycombe to Bourne End...

Station reopenings would include those reccently listed by Devon County Council, as well as stations such as Plympton for example - ill list a few more when im more awake in the morning!

 

[Toots]

Gaerwen to Almwch and link it it with the reopening of the Caernavon line.The former runs throught he principal town on Angelsey of Llangefni,it then runs up to the well populated parts of the north of the island.In terms of tourism it would be a real boon and in terms of social and commuter traffic it would give access to towns on the mainland such as Bangor and Llandudno.The reopening of the Caernavon line would also make sense because of the congestion in and around the town created both by local and tourist traffic.
The Almwch line would also be a better route for nuclear traffic for the proposed Nuclear power station at Wylfa,certainly in terms of geographical location.

 

[142094]

I am looking for the realistic reopenings but if they are unlikely to happen, I can put them on with a note that they are unlikely to happen. PM or post them.

As with most things in England, they are talked about but probably will never happen for a while.

In the 70s/early 80s there were plans for a station between Jesmond and West Jesmond to be called Osborne (for Osborne Road). This was even on one of the maps that was put forward by the then Tyneside PTE. Another station was suggested between Walkergate and Wallsend, at Stotts Road. This one even had a three letter code allocated to it, although I've never been able to find out much else about it. Would have been located at the road bridge right over Stotts Road.

After the original system was opened, there was also plans for the old Riverside line to be reopened, but from what I can gather this was shelved due to a lack of funds. At the time there was a big economic downturn and it was feared that the original system might have to be abandonded. So that would have seen some of the old stations closed in the 70s at St Peter's, St. Anthony's and Walker reopened (again these were expected to be reopened but probably only initially, and don't think they will be in the future).

There were also plans to extend to Killingworth via the ECML, but electrification of the ECML put paid to this.

Finally, there were also plans to reopen the line between Tyne Dock and Brockley Whins, and a station would no doubt be located in between these two stations.

 

[Class172]

I would like to see these lines reopened:

Round Oak-Walsall-Lichfield
This would allow a new hourly stopping service between Lichfield TV and Worcester operated by LM using class 172s. Also this would provide a useful freight route between the north and the south-west avoiding the heavily congested area in Birmingham. XC could also use this route as an emergency diversion or they could even introduce new services via this line.
Honeybourne-Stratford-upon-Avon
This would allow a competing Birmingham/Stratford UA-London service operated by FGW using class 180 or even loco-hauled units. It would also offer an attractive diversionary route for trains between Birmingham and Oxford/London; it could also be used for new local services between Stratford UA and Worcestershire/Herefordshire.

As for stations I would like to see new stations at Worcester (Norton) Parkway and Henwick.

 

[Tubby Isaacs]

Quote:
Originally Posted by martinsh
Yeah, I had a senior moment and forgot about stations west of Coventry ! Other large places with only one station are Cambridge, Norwich, Oxford, Peterborough, Cheltenham & Gloucester.

Indeed. I don't understand why there isn't a station at Churchdown (which used to have one). Population over 11,000.

 

[snail]

New station at Baguley: http://www.wythenshawerailway.blogspot.com/

I thought this had been binned (the linked website was last updated in 2008) but the campaign leader has just won an award for his work:

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereve...-winning-battle-for-baguley-metrolink-station

A grandad who led a battle to bring a new railway station to his community has been named transport campaigner of the year.

Eugene Ring, 70, persuaded rail bosses that a new station at Baguley, next to Wythenshawe hospital, was desperately needed.

The proposed station, which will serve trams and heavy rail, is now due to be built as part of the Manchester airport Metrolink extension and will open in 2016.

I knew the tram stop was near the railway but didn't realise they were including a station in the plans.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Gaerwen to Amlwch and link it it with the reopening of the Caernarfon line.The former runs thought he principal town on Angelsey of Llangefni,it then runs up to the well populated parts of the north of the island.In terms of tourism it would be a real boon and in terms of social and commuter traffic it would give access to towns on the mainland such as Bangor and Llandudno.The reopening of the Caernarfon line would also make sense because of the congestion in and around the town created both by local and tourist traffic.
The Amlwch line would also be a better route for nuclear traffic for the proposed Nuclear power station at Wylfa,certainly in terms of geographical location.

I did propose this particular re-opening some months ago on a thread, noting that Llangefni is the base for Ynys Mon County Council, but I received so much negative "considered comment" about the shortcomings of this project, that I would never dare to mention it on this forum ever again....until today. :roll:

It did however reveal some interesting statistics, given by a fellow forum member, on the size of the operations of the abbatoir in Llangefni and a very unfortunate side-effect it can give to the residents of that town, which culminated in a prosecution in July of this year..

 

[cle]

I think this would be a good idea, especially with a Caernarfon reopening too.

Ideally that could continue down to the Barmouth line at some point - eventually enabling North Wales - Aberystwyth journeys. I'd love that to be extended back to Carmarthen one day - would be great for freight and N/S Wales connectivity, via Aber.

 

[Trog]

Actually this dubious honour falls to Northampton. That would be one of my recommendations, a second station for Northampton either at Hunsbury, at Kingsthorpe or on the Brackmills Branch. Another would be a suburban station in the east of Coventry.

How about a second station for Northampton at Roade, to serve that side of the town and the surrounding villages. There is land available there, a lot of it already railway owned. You could have platforms on both the Old and New lines for resilience in times of disruption and it is directly off the main road to Milton Keynes.

 

[nr_signaller]

Luton is more populated than northampton and has one station, especially considering nearby dunstable is not served by railway

 

[MK Tom]

How about a second station for Northampton at Roade, to serve that side of the town and the surrounding villages. There is land available there, a lot of it already railway owned. You could have platforms on both the Old and New lines for resilience in times of disruption and it is directly off the main road to Milton Keynes.

There's often talk of giving Roade back its station. It's not really in Northampton; you have to walk alongside the thundering should-be-a-dual-carriageway A508 to get to it. But one there would be a good idea to serve both Roade itself and the villages around it. Likewise for Castlethorpe.

Luton is more populated than northampton and has one station, especially considering nearby dunstable is not served by railway

Luton's only more populous than Northampton if you include Dunstable, which is a bit sticky because they form an urban area together but are separate places in a kind of Stoke/Newcastle-Under-Lyme sort of way. Luton also has three stations but they're all on the same line.

 

[martinsh]

Luton is more populated than northampton and has one station, especially considering nearby dunstable is not served by railway

You've forgotten about Leagrave

 

[PinzaC55]

In the North East Ferryhill and Horden should be reopened and in the west Badminton.

 

[Waverley125]

around my way (i.e. West Yorks)

York & Selby Lines

East End Park
Killingbeck
Thorpe Park (M1 Parkway)
Ulleskelf (to reasonable service pattern)
Colton
Companthorpe
Dringhouses
Hambleton
Thorpe Willoughby

Wetherby Line

Scholes
Thorner
Bardsey
Wetherby
Spofforth
Follifoot

Hallam & Pontefract Lines

Hunslet
Stourton
Methley Junction
New Fryston
Monk Fryston
Allerton Bywater
Kippax
South Garforth
Wolmersley
Norton
Askern
Arksey
Holmfield Park
Calder Grove
Kendray & Stairfoot
Ecclesfield

Wakefield Line

Elland Road
Beeston
East Ardesley
Wrenthorpe
Walton & Crofton
Hemsworth
Kilnhurst
Rawmarsh
Rotherham Masborough
Brightside

Huddersfield Line

Lower Wortley
White Rose Centre
Ravensthorpe (wakefield Platforms)
Thornhill Lees
Horbury Bridge
Horbury Junction

Caldervale Line

New Wortley
Armley Moor
Laisterdyke
Bowling
Low Moor
Wyke
Hipperholme
Skircoat Green
Lindwel
Elland
Luddendenfot

Spen Line

Oakenshaw
Cleckheaton
Liversedge
Heckmondwike
Dewsbury Moor

Airedale & Wharfedale Line

Armley Canal Road
Kirkstall Abbey
Kirkstall Forge
Calverley & Rodley Parkway
Apperley Bridge
Crosshills

Harrogate Line

Woodside
Pool & Bramhope
North Rigton
Flaxy (A1 Parkway)
Bilton
Nidd
South Stainley
Wormald Green
Bishop Monkton
Ripon
Ripley & Kilinghall
Hampsthwaite
Birstwith
Summerbridge
Glasshouses
Pateley Bridge

 

[DavidBrown]

2. Exeter to Bideford - Including the upgrading of the Barnstaple Branch to a more Mainline standard - Probably has to be officialy one of the longest branchlines in the country! Proposals would include replacement of most of current track with CWR and Steel sleepers, more longer passing loops, reinstatement and refurbishment of the second platform and sidings at Barnstaple, and the reinstatement of the line to Bideford - Single track with Steel Sleepers and CWR, but with provision for a passing loop en route.

The estimated cost of reopening the Barnstaple to Bideford line a couple of years ago was put at £80million, which is a LOT for 10 miles of track. Of course a good chunk of the budget would have gone on correcting the short-sighted decision not to have a tunnel ready under the new Barnstaple bypass (which would have been used anyway by the Tarka Trail even if the railway didn't reopen). But I wonder if most of that money would have gone on upgrading the existing railway and Barnstaple station. Installing new passing loops, signalling the entire line and upgrading several stations would have made that £80mil seem much more reasonable.

 

[Toots]

I did propose this particular re-opening some months ago on a thread, noting that Llangefni is the base for Ynys Mon County Council, but I received so much negative "considered comment" about the shortcomings of this project, that I would never dare to mention it on this forum ever again....until today. :roll:

I cannot really understand why you would get such negative comment Paul.Beside Llangefni, you have Almwch which has great potential as a toursist destination and the line runs through another substantial village called Llanerchymedd as well as other smaller villages,and that coupled with the nuclear flask potential would have made a good case to reopen the line.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I cannot really understand why you would get such negative comment Paul.Beside Llangefni, you have Amlwch which has great potential as a toursist destination and the line runs through another substantial village called Llanerchymedd as well as other smaller villages,and that coupled with the nuclear flask potential would have made a good case to reopen the line.

Not wishing to open "old wounds", Llangefni was described by one forum member (who shall remain un-named) as a "village" in a rather sharply-worded posting in response to a posting of mine at the time. I did, at that time, describe how Llangefni was the base of Ynys Mon County Council in my reply and that it was not a "village" by any means. It led to the matter of the livestock market and abattoir there being made a case for discussion. This did bring an acceptance from the member that Llangefni was not a village. I dislike being "belittled" in sarcastically worded postings, which unfortunately was occurring at that time, owing to a clash of personalities, which happily, has now been resolved.

You make a good point with regard to Amlwch and the nuclear flask potential. Has much examination been officially made with regard to the possibilities of this? Of course, the Welsh Assembly would be heavily involved with the main Nuclear bodies in terms of rail transportation of such traffic.

You also make mention of Llanerchymedd, which is a place that I named upon another thread as the most Welsh-speaking place that we had visited in central Ynys Mon when we used to holiday there some years ago at Benllech.

 

[IanXC]

Actually this dubious honour falls to Northampton. That would be one of my recommendations, a second station for Northampton either at Hunsbury, at Kingsthorpe or on the Brackmills Branch. Another would be a suburban station in the east of Coventry.

Yeah, I had a senior moment and forgot about stations west of Coventry ! Other large places with only one station are Cambridge, Norwich, Oxford, Peterborough, Cheltenham & Gloucester.

Depending on how boundaryish you want to be, Hull only has 1 station. Hessle and Cottingham are both in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

My reopening of choice would have to be Beverley-York. Given that its about 30 miles and design studies have shown a double track 90mph route to be realistic, I would have thought about 40 minutes would be a plausible journey time. This takes 1 hour off the current (via Selby) journey times for stations from Beverley to Bridlington and probably 10 minutes off Hull-York.

For 2 cities next to each other such as York and Hull to only have an hourly services is also not ideal. Given the Doncaster/Sheffield services, TPE, HT and freight its hard to see how much more can be added between Hull and Gilberdyke without lots of work either.

 

[ainsworth74]

My reopening of choice would have to be Beverley-York. This takes 1 hour off the current (via Selby) journey times for stations from Beverley to Bridlington and probably 10 minutes off Hull-York.

Not only that but it would do wonders for the A road's leading into York from the area if there was a rail commute option. Shocking that the line was closed in the first place, one of the closures that Beeching got really really wrong.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Not only that but it would do wonders for the A road's leading into York from the area if there was a rail commute option. Shocking that the line was closed in the first place, one of the closures that Beeching got really really wrong.

I totally agree with you over this route and the fact that its closure was wrongly viewed as correct at that time. The area covering Beverley to Bridlington is a very attractive tourist area and difficult to access by rail unless you use the existing peripheral rail routes which take far too long and only encourage visitors to come by car.

 

[Nym]

Do I hear russlings of re-opening the route between Driffeild, Market Weighton and Selby here? Or just reversing at Beverley?

If you where re-opening the route between York and Beverley and ultimately Hull Paragon, how about this for an idea, it's fairly obvious there will end up being 2tph on the route, so why not electrify it at 25KVAC when built, provide a station at Haxby too as that seems to be busy into York. And Hull is reasonably high on the Electrification list anyway (TPE).

And yes I know it isn't that busy between York and Hull now, but it would be if the services where provided, the bus just takes too long and York is a popular 'day out' destination from Hull.

Also with electric traction and a 90mph linespeed, I think we could see sub 40mins from Paragon to York? (Platform 1, the bay on the Scarbrough branch)

 

[ainsworth74]

If you where re-opening the route between York and Beverley and ultimately Hull Paragon, how about this for an idea, it's fairly obvious there will end up being 2tph on the route, so why not electrify it at 25KVAC when built...

Also with electric traction and a 90mph linespeed, I think we could see sub 40mins from Paragon to York? (Platform 1, the bay on the Scarbrough branch)

Well you would certainly see no complaints from me on this idea as it would make getting to/from uni a lot easier if their was a service like this (then again if the lines between Scarborough/Whitby/Saltburn were still open it would be even easier to get back to Middlesbrough ). But ignoring my own personal benefits I do think such a service would have a big positive effect on the local areas it served as well as increasing movement between Hull and York.

I wonder if this route was in Scotland if it would already be well on its way to being reopened...

 

[ole man]

There was talk a few years ago about opening a 2nd station near crewe town centre.
It would be on the Chester line just before Crewe IEMD.
As the town centre is nearly 2 miles away this must be worth looking at.
You could run a PPM on the line and get the Crewe-Chester services to stop there.

 

[martinsh]

There was talk a few years ago about opening a 2nd station near crewe town centre.
It would be on the Chester line just before Crewe IEMD.
As the town centre is nearly 2 miles away this must be worth looking at.
You could run a PPM on the line and get the Crewe-Chester services to stop there.

I'm not sure where you think the centre of Crewe is ! I make it just under a mile from the rail station to the bus station.

 

[ole man]

I'm not sure where you think the centre of Crewe is ! I make it just under a mile from the rail station to the bus station.

Ok my mistake, seems longer than that.
Would a station by the duke of bridgwater be a good idea? or was it when Network Rail was planning on moving crewe station to Basford?

 

[GingerSte]

I've been thinking recently that it would be a good idea to reopen the line between Wakefield Kirkgate and Barnsley through Royston. I would then run a service calling at
Leeds
Elland Road (New station / park and ride)
Thorpe (New station)
Outwood
Wakefield Westgate
Wakefield Kirkgate
Walton (New station) (Population 3,400)
Royston, South Yorkshire (New station) (Population 9,400)
Cudworth (New Station) (Population 11,600)
Barnsley Interchange
(Possibly stations to Huddersfield on Penistone line)

As far as I'm aware, most of the line is intact (albeit probably requiring a fair bit of TLC), but the last bit would prove a challenge. However, I don't believe that it is impossible.

With over 24,000 people brought within walking distance of a railway station (the numbers above are taken from Wikipedia articles on the towns) and an average usage of 10% (I've heard that approx 6-7% of the population use the railways on a regular basis, but I believe that this is higher where good railway links are provided and lower where they're not), this would give approximately 2,000 to 2,500 people possibly using this service on a regular basis, and that is not based on the existing stations. I can see this service being viable in the long term.

I've mentioned stations to Huddersfield, as I think these would benefit from a direct service to Wakefield and Leeds. I imagine that these benefits would be less for those places at the Huddersfield end of the Penistone Line, but for those at the Barnsley end it may prove tempting for passengers.

You will also notice I've mentioned new stations at Thorpe and Elland Road. These could also be served by Leeds - Sheffield/Doncaster services, and the Elland Road station could also be used on match days to provide football services. On other days, the vast area of land used for parking on match days (owned by Leeds City Council I believe), could be used for a park and ride to clear traffic from the city centre. With the above services it would have three trains per hour in each direction, and if you extend the Knottingley-Wakefield Kirkgate services to Leeds, you have a very tempting 4 trains per hour stopping at the local stations on that route.

 

[341o2]

sadly, while speculation has been rife for some time regarding the Hythe branch, the official reaction is that it is not financially viable to restore passenger services

Ringwood seems even more remote given the length of time the branch has been disused and that 1/2 mile of the trackbed now has been turned into a road. Holmsley station is now a tearoom.

Martinsh, the quote attributed to Michael Flanders, one half of the duo with Donald Swann, was relating their flying experience and the statement was made by a little old lady.

The duo usually wrote comic songs with appropriate introductions such as the delightfully tounge in cheek Song of Patriotic Prejudice, but did produce a serious number inspired by the fascinating names of branch line stations axed by Beeching such as

"Noone departs, noone arrives
From Selby to Goole, from St Erth to St Ives
They've all passed out of our lives
On the slow train"

Thankfully, St Erth to St Ives is still with us

 

[lancastrian]

Noticing the thread about Wellington/Cullompton re-opening I was wondering,
aside from the fantasy of returning to a pre-Beeching sized network or opening lines because you like the view, what would you rate as the top ten realistic cases for new stations or re-openings that haven't made it to the drawing board as yet ?

Well for me the top two line reopenings are:

1. Colne - Skipton
2. Poulton - Fleetwood

Stations:

1. Wrea Green (Kirkham - Blackpool South Line)
2. Leigh Parkway (site of Kenyon Junction)
3. Middlewich

Just a few off the top of my head.

 

[Spaceflower]

Has anyone ever looked into what affect a station re-opening has on house prices?