Trivia: Any lines that were built but never used?

[32475]

I think part of the East Kent Railway into Richborough Port was built, but never used due to a bridge not being strong enough
There was a line in Wales, which I can't recall the name of, which had one train then closed.

The EKR line to Richborough Port was used but it saw little traffic. A station halt was built at Richborough Port but it never opened to passengers; passenger trains never getting beyond Sandwich Road. If any tickets to / from Richborough Port should ever come to light then they are the holy grail of tickets - none ever have.
As for the bridge mentioned, this is the one that crossed Richborough Road, the main line between Minster and Sandwich and the River Stour. There are stories of footplate crew letting their trains cross the bridge unmanned very slowly while they made the crossing on foot and jumped back on the footplate on the other side. One of the bridge abutments is still there.

 

[steamybrian]

In the London area you have the Northern Height's lines (particularly from Edgware up to Bushy Heath) and the rebuilt but never served Northern Line platforms at Highgate High Level.

No track was ever laid between Edgware and Bushey Heath as the infrastructure was not completed before work stopped in 1940.
The Highgate High Level lines were in use for passenger services by services between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace until 1954. The only rails unused were the conductor rails for planned electrification which never took place. Between Finchley Central and Edgware a second track was laid for part of the route which was unused and subsequently removed.

 

[Ashley Hill]

For a UK example, is it true that a small part of the Pic-Vic tunnel in Manchester was built and remains unused, or is that an urban myth?

From the Manchester Evening News.

From Wiki.
In 2012 researchers from the Manchester School of Architecture at the University of Manchesterconducted an investigation under the Arndale Centre in the city centre and discovered a long-forgotten subterranean void around 30 feet (9.1 m) below the surface. The void area had apparently been included in the construction of the shopping centre in the 1970s to enable a link to be built to a new Royal Exchange underground railway station when the planned Picc-Vic tunnel came into service.

 

[rick pike]

They built a viaduct over the ECML at Joan Croft junction to carry coal trains from Immingham docks, which opened in 2014, just in time for Ferrybridge to cease operating.

Not built for coal but for biomass traffic between Immingham and Drax. It is still used for that and other traffic including the Jarrow tank trains and Scunthorpe - Lackenby steel

 

[Falcon1200]

The Paisley and Barrhead line was built with a number of stations which never opened-

Another waste of the Caledonian Railway's money was the Muirkirk and Spireslack line which never opened, at all;

Mid Lanark, Spireslack and Muirkirk Branch (Caledonian Railway) - RAILSCOT

RailScot, a history of Railways with an emphasis on Scottish Railways. Photographs, maps, news, queries and more.

www.railscot.co.uk

 

[Ashley Hill]

Did the South Marston freight terminal near Swindon ever see any traffic?

 

[rick pike]

Did the South Marston freight terminal near Swindon ever see any traffic?

Isn't the Didcot Railway Centre rail locked? Sure I've seen a pic of a steam engine been tripped to there to be loaded onto a lorry for further movement.

 

[Snow1964]

Not a line, but there was the Dorchester South Broad gauge which might never have been used.

When the standard gauge tracks were added to the GWR line to Weymouth, the agreement was Broad Gauge had to be added the same distance in opposite direction, so basically was 7 miles of broad gauge added to middle of nowhere east of Dorchester.

 

[172007]

Leith Central must hold the record for shortest operating large terminus station - opened 1903 (I think) closed in 1951 to passengers - less than 50 years. Is there a shorter lived terminus?

Birmingham Snowhill reopened 1987 ceased as a Terminus 1995 when the line was extended to Galton Jct.

 

[daodao]

The Cardiff Railway's link to the Taff Vale Railway line at Treforest over Rhyd-y-Felin viaduct was used by one ceremonial train in May 1909, but the temporary junction was then removed and the line never used again for through traffic. The unused track north of Rhyd-y-Felin halt was not lifted until the mid 1920s. Passenger services beyond Coryton to Rhyd-y-Felin were withdrawn in 1931, but the section of the Cardiff Railway through the north Cardiff suburbs survived the Beeching axe (despite being proposed for closure) and is still open for passenger trains as part of the Valley Lines network.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Felin Fran to Gwaun Cae Gurwen via Pontardawe - partly completed from Felin Fran to Trebanos , and from Cwmgorse Branch Junction to Nantygasseg - former used for a local colliery and the latter festered until 1958 when it was refurbed for a new "superpit" known as Abernant.

The middle section had a tunnel and some hefty viaducts etc at GCG as well as 2 "ghost" stations ........not one of the best investments on the part of the GWR.

 

[james60059]

A line was constructed from Hinckley to Stoke Golding but never got used, some remains can still be seen alongside the A5 just as you pass under the current Nuneaton - Leicester line and also the trackbed is still visible alongside the Tesco RDC at Hinckley.

 

[d9009alycidon]

Another waste of the Caledonian Railway's money was the Muirkirk and Spireslack line which never opened, at all;

Mid Lanark, Spireslack and Muirkirk Branch (Caledonian Railway) - RAILSCOT

RailScot, a history of Railways with an emphasis on Scottish Railways. Photographs, maps, news, queries and more.

www.railscot.co.uk

Yet another Caledonian example is the two spurs from Clarkston East Junction to Clarkston West Junction and Muirend Junction. One lasted only three years, the other was only used for carriage storage.

 

[D6130]

And yet another Caledonian example....the so-called 'Queen's Curve' at Carstairs, between Float Junction and Lampits Junction - opened in 1848 and closed in 1860. It's main use seems to have been for stabling the Royal Train overnight....hence it's unofficial name.

 

[Bertone]

Not sure that ever got to the track-laying stage, though.

Agreed

No track was ever laid between Edgware and Bushey Heath as the infrastructure was not completed before work stopped in 1940.

Interestingly, the track bed from Edgware station towards the A41, was clearly allocated between the suburban house development together with partially constructed brick piers to take the line across the A41 Watford By Pass.
The piers and arches on the east side of the By Pass were still evident until a relatively few years ago.
They possibly survived for over 70 + years.
I also recall the cutting to take the line into Hertfordshire under Elstree hill was partially excavated, even the tunnel mouths constructed.
This cutting disappeared with the M1 extension works south to Brent Cross and also used as a land fill site.
However, what was very prominent for many years, was the proposed train depot at Elstree, which was almost completed before WW2, but then altered to be subsequently used for the construction of aircraft needed for the war effort.
Sometime after the war, it became Aldenham LT bus maintenance depot for many years before becoming now a business park.
There is a interesting book titled “ By Tube Beyond Edgware” by Tony Beard which is a comprehensive account what would have been built until Adolf Hitler stopped it!

 

[Beebman]

A recent edition of 'Secrets of the London Underground' on Yesterday TV visited the long overrun tunnels east of Charing Cross which were to have been pat of the eastward continuation of the Jubilee Line. However some other short sections of tunnels beyond Aldwych were constructed in the 1970s. The following video made with a LiDAR drone shows a shaft constructed at Bouverie Street (just off Fleet Street) with a short section of what might have become a running tunnel at the bottom:

A 2006 thread on District Dave's forum has some info on a trial tunnel which was constructed at New Cross:

https://districtdavesforum.co.uk/thread/6282/experimental-tunnel-new-cross

There's also some info on the following page from London Reconnections about other preliminary work such as a station box at Cannon Street:

https://www.londonreconnections.com/2015/diving-into-the-fleet-a-look-at-londons-lost-tube/

 

[Roger1973]

Think this is the list of unused railways on Wikipedia that someone else mentioned - most seem to be junctions or spurs that were put in and never used, or lines that were partly built, rather than lines that were completed then not used.

I'm not sure how much of the Chessington South - Leatherhead line was completed but not used, as there was a coal depot south of Chessington South station. The 'up' platform at Chessington South has (as far as I can gather) never been used by passenger trains.

 

[YorksLad12]

On the termini sub-question: Leeds Hunslet Lane opened in July 1840 and closed to passengers in January 1849 (they were using Wellington by this point).

If we're allowed to cheat a bit, Leeds Marsh Lane opened in September 1834 and closed in November 1840 when the line was bought out and all trains diverted. All the stations reopened in 1850; Marsh Lane eventually closed for good in September 1958.

 

[steamybrian]

Think this is the list of unused railways on Wikipedia that someone else mentioned - most seem to be junctions or spurs that were put in and never used, or lines that were partly built, rather than lines that were completed then not used.

I'm not sure how much of the Chessington South - Leatherhead line was completed but not used, as there was a coal depot south of Chessington South station. The 'up' platform at Chessington South has (as far as I can gather) never been used by passenger trains.

Nearly a mile of infrastructure beyond Chessington South was completed towards Leatherhead. The first short section was laid and used to serve the coal depot. Beyond that temporary track was laid to undertake construction of the embankments. During WW2 these embankments were built up using rubble from war damaged buildings. The temporary track and one undertrack bridge was later removed.
The remainder of the route between Chessington South and Leatherhead was fenced and some sections of Southern Railway concrete fencing may still be in situ alongside the A243. The planned route through Leatherhead was later used for the M25.

 

[Efini92]

Manchester (Liverpool Road), the original terminus of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, opened September 1830 and was closed to passengers relatively shortly thereafter, in April 1844, so I make that just thirteen-and-a-half years.

Crown street at the other end only lasted 6 years for passengers.

 

[Irascible]

Still in London there were those stations built under the Northern line as shelters, but I'm not sure if they were ever linked together. Obviously never used as platforms,

That connection at St Pancras from the MML to HS1, has that seen any use?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Manchester (Liverpool Road), the original terminus of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, opened September 1830 and was closed to passengers relatively shortly thereafter, in April 1844, so I make that just thirteen-and-a-half years.

Crown street at the other end only lasted 6 years for passengers.

Even shorter lived than the Manchester end!

However, both terminii, and the line between them, were of course used, and so are not quite the precise subject of this thread.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 May 2022 ==

In 2012 researchers from the Manchester School of Architecture at the University of Manchesterconducted an investigation under the Arndale Centre in the city centre and discovered a long-forgotten subterranean void around 30 feet (9.1 m) below the surface. The void area had apparently been included in the construction of the shopping centre in the 1970s to enable a link to be built to a new Royal Exchange underground railway station when the planned Picc-Vic tunnel came into service.

Never any line built though. Just room left, for if the Picc-Vic project in Manchester had ever gone ahead.

 

[pdeaves]

Did the South Marston freight terminal near Swindon ever see any traffic?

I think there has been just one or two revenue-earning uses. It's basically disused, though.

Also in Swindon, the predecessor to the Midland & South Western Junction Railway started tunnelling though Queens Park to reach today's station, then abandoned the work in favour of a route west of the town.

 

[Efini92]

Even shorter lived than the Manchester end!

However, both terminii, and the line between them, were of course used, and so are not quite the precise subject of this thread.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 May 2022 ==


Never any line built though. Just room left, for if the Picc-Vic project in Manchester had ever gone ahead.

Didn’t they build a platform down there?

 

[Ashley Hill]

Also in Swindon, the predecessor to the Midland & South Western Junction Railway started tunnelling though Queens Park to reach today's station, then abandoned the work in favour of a route west of the town.

This on YouTube from the lovely Rebecca Whitewick and her husband.

 

[matchmaker]

The Cromarty and Dingwall Light Railway. Six miles of track laid but never opened.

Some of the earthworks are still visible.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 May 2022 ==

Fort Augustus Pier Station wasn't particularly blessed with longevity: 3 years of passenger services (although remained opened longer for freight). As far as overly-optimistic railways go the I&FA is right up there with the best of them.

There is a museum at the former Invergarry Station and a short length of track has been relaid.

Invergarry

 

[Jon_jpwh]

Central Croydon station opened in 1868 and closed in 1871. It reopened in 1886 and closed permanently in 1890

 

[Doctor Fegg]

Felin Fran to Gwaun Cae Gurwen via Pontardawe - partly completed from Felin Fran to Trebanos , and from Cwmgorse Branch Junction to Nantygasseg - former used for a local colliery and the latter festered until 1958 when it was refurbed for a new "superpit" known as Abernant.

The middle section had a tunnel and some hefty viaducts etc at GCG as well as 2 "ghost" stations ........not one of the best investments on the part of the GWR.

Looks like someone's been in the tunnel with a camera...

Report - - Virgin (Pontardawe) Train Tunnel, South Wales, Jan 2012 | Underground Sites

Explored with Mike A (non member AFAIK) and Brandy, the semi cunning corgi. I'm sticking this up as I have never seen a report on this tunnel and indeed, there is very little information about it anywhere. If deemed Pit worthy, please move. HISTORY I have been trying to track this one down...

www.28dayslater.co.uk

 

[topydre]

The SER's Chatham Extension only lasted for about 20 years, with it's terminus, Chatham central, opening in 1892 and closing in 1911

 

[U-Bahnfreund]

On Hamburg's U1 metro line, an extension from Großhansdorf one-stop to Beimoor was all but finished in 1918 apart from electrification. Station building, tracks, everything was there (the missing electrification wouldn't have been a problem per se, some other lines of the Hamburg U-Bahn at the time opened as steam lines). A planned residential area for workers of an ammunition factory and a mental health institution were never built after the war (ammunition production was limited by the Versailles treaty; and no money for the institution) , so the station and the line to it never opened. Today there are still remnants of the track bed and the platform. Some links about it: Wikipedia, news article (pictures), history website

I also recently read André Brett's book about the history of New Zealand railways and there was an instance of finished passenger railway stations on a line that in the end only opened for freight services. Can't find the book right now to find it again though