Railways that were built in the 20th century (pre HS1)

[racyrich]

Elsenham to Thaxted. Opened 1913, closed 1953
Kelvedon to Tollesbury. Opened 1904, full closure 1962

 

[d9009alycidon]

1915, NBR Lothian Lines, relief freight lines around Portobello
1905, GSWR Dalry and North Johnstone Line, also known as the Lochwinnoch Loop Line or Kilbarchan Loop Line

 

[Rescars]

Although most of the Chipstead Valley Railway opened in the 1890s, the section from Kingswood to Tadworth opened in July 1900 and the final stretch between Tadworth and Tattenham Corner did not open until June 1901. Happily all still with us today!

 

[Railcar]

For London Overground, a spur was built from the New Cross Gate Up Slow platform. It crossesr a bridge over the Brighton main Line, then links to Surrey Quays station. Also from Surrey Quays, the link line to Queens Road, Peckham, completing the route to Clapham Junction

Then, of course there is the Bermondsey Diveunder (21st Century).

Has the reinstated link between Kingscote and East Grinstead on the Bluebell been mentioned?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Has the reinstated link between Kingscote and East Grinstead on the Bluebell been mentioned?

Shouldn't think so. Wasn't re-opened until March 2013, so not 20th century.

 

[D6130]

The line from Stonehouse via Blackwood and Lesmahagow to Alton Heights Junction, in South Lanarkshire, was opened by the Caledonian Railway in June 1905....and closed to passengers a mere sixty years later. Coal traffic survived until the closure of Auchlochan Colliery, near Coalburn, at the end of 1968.

 

[billio]

Another late line is the Selby to Goole railway opened in 1910, closed in 1964 though a small part is used for access to Drax power station and a long siding existed from the Selby to Doncaster line to near the former bridge over the A1041. (A lone semaphore signal remained at the eastern end of this siding for many years.)

 

[Eyersey468]

Another late line is the Selby to Goole railway opened in 1910, closed in 1964 though a small part is used for access to Drax power station and a long siding existed from the Selby to Doncaster line to near the former bridge over the A1041. (A lone semaphore signal remained at the eastern end of this siding for many years.)

I thought the stub to access Drax was ex Hull and Barnsley?

 

[Gloster]

I thought the stub to access Drax was ex Hull and Barnsley?

The line to Drax P.S. was Hull & Barnsley, as was the connection up from Hensall Junction to Gowdall Junction; Hensall Junction was on the Lancashire & Yorkshire. Goole-Selby was opened to goods in 1910 and passengers in 1912 according to Wikipedia.

 

[Dr_Paul]

Also from Surrey Quays, the link line to Queens Road, Peckham, completing the route to Clapham Junction

Strictly speaking, this was the rebuilding of a line that was closed around the time of the First World War. What amazes me is that a disused trackbed in inner London lasted nearly a century without being built upon.

 

[urbophile]

Liverpool City underground loop via Moorfields opened 1977

and link - north of Moorfields to Central via the Northern Line.

 

[LickeyIncliner]

... Did rerouting the Newcastle-Hexham service via Metrocentre require any new track?

No, but according to RailScot, MetroCentre station is on a 1904 deviation of the original line - so a bit of the route counts!

Blaydon - RAILSCOT

Blaydon is a two platform station with a small car park, just a lane, to the south. Just to the east at Blaydon East Junction was the point of division between the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway^s

www.railscot.co.uk

 

[yorksrob]

The Crayford spur.

 

[d9009alycidon]

Although not a new line, the Airdrie to Bathgate line, opened in 1861, was not doubled throughout until 1904. The section between Airdrie and Drumgelloch is surely unique, opened as single track 1861, doubled 1904, singled in 1979, closed and lifted in 1985, relaid as single track in 1989, doubled again in 2010!

 

[Ken H]

No, but according to RailScot, MetroCentre station is on a 1904 deviation of the original line - so a bit of the route counts!

Blaydon - RAILSCOT

Blaydon is a two platform station with a small car park, just a lane, to the south. Just to the east at Blaydon East Junction was the point of division between the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway^s

www.railscot.co.uk

Isnt it a bit complicated? Newcastle-Carlisle trains used to leave Central on the north bank of the river. Then they diverted them over the river using The King Edward VII Bridge then through Dunston. Since 1980 I think.

 

[steamybrian]

Has anyone mentioned the Hertford Loop line between Enfield Chase and Stevenage which was opened in stages between 1910 and 1924.

 

[LickeyIncliner]

Isnt it a bit complicated? Newcastle-Carlisle trains used to leave Central on the north bank of the river. Then they diverted them over the river using The King Edward VII Bridge then through Dunston. Since 1980 I think.

1982, according to the RailScot link in post #72. But I was answering the question in post #44 about whether diversion of Newcastle-Hexham-Carlisle to the route via Dunston required any new track - answer no, but a bit of the line was new at the beginning of the 20th century and thus relevant to the OP. Sorry if I'm missing the complication you're referring to!

 

[Mr. SW]

Diversions at Shawfair and Galashiels on the Borders Line 2015.
Chord at Lincoln to allow St Marks station to be closed 1985.

 

[d9009alycidon]

Talking of new Chord lines I can think of a few in Scotland.
Kelvinhaugh Junction to Finnieston(SEC)
Cowlairs Chord.
Two Chord Lines linking the NBR line through Yoker and Clydebank to the parallel CR line to retain access to industrial sidings and slow complete closure of the CR through Kilbowie station
Two Chord lines linking the CR Hamilton Circle to the NBR Hamilton branch at Burnbank and Allenshaw, again to retain access to industrial sidings and allowing closure of the central section of the NB line including the Clyde Viaduct which needed expensive repairs

 

[Merthyr Imp]

Chord at Lincoln to allow St Marks station to be closed 1985.

Similar and not too far away (if they've not been mentioned before):

The chord at Newark from the GN main line to the Nottingham - Lincoln line.

The connection from the Nottingham - Lincoln line to the Grantham line near Netherfield which helped towards the closure of Nottingham Victoria.

 

[Class15]

The curve between Acton Canal Wharf and Willesden No7

 

[Harvester]

The chord at Newark from the GN main line to the Nottingham - Lincoln line.

The connection from the Nottingham - Lincoln line to the Grantham line near Netherfield which helped towards the closure of Nottingham Victoria.

And also the chord from the GC to the Midland mainline at Loughborough, which was installed not long afterwards!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The chord at Newark from the GN main line to the Nottingham - Lincoln line.

The connection from the Nottingham - Lincoln line to the Grantham line near Netherfield which helped towards the closure of Nottingham Victoria.

And also the chord from the GC to the Midland mainline at Loughborough, which was installed not long afterwards!

When were these?

 

[Harvester]

When were these?

The former in 1967, which allowed the closure of Nottingham Victoria. The latter IIRC was constructed 1973/74, and allowed access to Ruddington from the MML, rather than via Weekday Cross.

 

[Merthyr Imp]

The chord at Newark was opened in 1965 which allowed Lincoln to retain a link to the main line with the closure of the Lincoln - Grantham line.

 

[DJ_K666]

HS1 could fairly be described as the first major railway since the GCR in 1901.

The Fawley branch and the present routing through Ramsgate are both 1920s, and there are numerous short connecting lines, often resulting from rationalisation.

I thought that was 1899

 

[Irascible]

Strictly speaking, this was the rebuilding of a line that was closed around the time of the First World War. What amazes me is that a disused trackbed in inner London lasted nearly a century without being built upon.

Old trackbed in London is wildly variable - from one of the areas I lived, Finsbury Park-Highgate is nearly all intact as is I think a fair bit of the line to Alexandra Palace itself, but you'd never know ( and indeed I didn't until long after! ) the Palace Gates line ever existed.

If you're still talking about small bits of track, the line that let Paddington trains ( and I guess technically Marylebone ones ) into Birmingham New St.

 

[Gloster]

If you're still talking about small bits of track, the line that let Paddington trains ( and I guess technically Marylebone ones ) into Birmingham New St.

Grand Junctions-St Andrews Junction opened 1841. Bordesley Junction-Bordesley South Junction opened 1861.

Source: Birmingham & West Midlands Railway Atlas (Brown, Ian Allan, 2016).

 

[matchmaker]

The Mound to Dornoch - opened 2nd June 1902. Wick and Lybster Light Railway - opened 1st July 1903. In Northern Ireland the Greenisland Loop opened 22 January 1934.

 

[Dr_Paul]

The curve between Acton Canal Wharf and Willesden No7

The history of this curve is interesting. In Volume 13 of the British Railways: Past and Present (Silver Link, 1992), there is a photograph taken from the Acton Wells to Cricklewood line's bridge over the Grand Union Canal which shows an abandoned bridge abutment, and the more recent shot shows the bridge carrying the connection between that line and the former LNWR line. I thought that there may have been a connection that had been removed but later reinstated (as at Gospel Oak), but looking at old maps, it turns out that the original bridge carried a line that took a seemingly impossibly sharp curve on to a wharf by the canal, as on this map. Later maps, into the 1950s, show the bridge and wharf as having gone and the line to them truncated, until one issued in 1969 which shows the connection to the former LNWR line. As the Acton Wells to Cricklewood line has always been important as a freight connection across West London, I wonder why it took so long to install this useful connection, thus avoiding a reversal at Willesden Junction.