Trivia: Currently-open stations where closure has been mooted post-privatisation

[SeanG]

Both of these appear to be pre-privatisation proposals.

First rule I was taught at school - always read the question

 

[steamybrian]

Consider or ignore the following-

Barlaston and Wedgwood (services suspended)

London Underground- Watford (Metropolitan Line)

 

[DynamicSpirit]

That's an interesting insight. I like Sheffield centre generally, and hadn't realised that it had been damaged by Meadowhall (albeit I prefer architecture to shopping). I don't see why a City would damage itself in that way.

At the risk of drifting further off-topic, it's something that happens over and over again. Look at BlueWater and Dartford. Or Charlton retail park and Woolwich. Or Stratford Westfields and Stratford old shopping centre/Barking/etc. Councillors across the country seem to repeatedly fall for developers' claims about all the new jobs that new retail parks will bring, without it ever occurring to them that, a lot of the shopping trips won't be new ones - they'll be shopping trips diverted from existing shops, causing existing shops and town centres to decline or close.

 

[SeanG]

Interestingly, the creation of the Metro Centre has not appeared to significantly impact upon Newcastle's footfall.

Back on topic, and another station with freight avoiding lines is Darlington North Road. The main line goes through the train shed whilst there is a line outside of it for bypassing trains

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Back on topic, and another station with freight avoiding lines is Darlington North Road. The main line goes through the train shed whilst there is a line outside of it for bypassing trains

There's a separate thread for station avoiding lines, isn't there?

 

[Railwaysceptic]

At the risk of drifting further off-topic, it's something that happens over and over again. Look at BlueWater and Dartford. Or Charlton retail park and Woolwich. Or Stratford Westfields and Stratford old shopping centre/Barking/etc. Councillors across the country seem to repeatedly fall for developers' claims about all the new jobs that new retail parks will bring, without it ever occurring to them that, a lot of the shopping trips won't be new ones - they'll be shopping trips diverted from existing shops, causing existing shops and town centres to decline or close.

Stratford's original shopping mall is still busy. What has suffered are the shops along Stratford Broadway, but that damage was done ages ago by the mall, not by Westfield.

 

[xotGD]

Interestingly, the creation of the Metro Centre has not appeared to significantly impact upon Newcastle's footfall.

Back on topic, and another station with freight avoiding lines is Darlington North Road. The main line goes through the train shed whilst there is a line outside of it for bypassing trains

On the same route, Bishop Auckland.

And on the first point, I'm sure that Gateshead council wouldn't have had any problems with the Metrocentre poaching shoppers from Newcastle!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

In the early stages of the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade planning, I believe Ravensthorpe closing was one of the options on the table. Another option was to close both Ravensthorpe and Mirfield and replace them with a new station somewhere in between the two sites. Thankfully this second option was ruled out fairly quickly as it would have massively inconvenienced most Mirfield passengers, and would suffer from the same location issues that Ravensthorpe does.
I could see a case for closing the existing RVN station, but if Breich gets to survive then pretty much everywhere should be safe. There's potential for RVN to grow with the ability to also serve Wakefield services, along with future housing developments likely on the nearby brownfield sites.

 

[geordieblue]

All of the stations Carlisle to Skipton were famously proposed for closure, along with the line.

Most of them actually closed under Beeching, except Appleby.

 

[MadMac]

One that I've heard mooted is closing Shieldmuir (between Motherwell and Wishaw) and replacing it with a reopened Flemington.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

All of the stations Carlisle to Skipton were famously proposed for closure, along with the line.

Most of them actually closed under Beeching, except Appleby.

Didn't Settle also stay open throughout?

 

[Hardcastle]

Most of them actually closed under Beeching, except Appleby.

Yes Settle stayed open.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Yes Settle stayed open.

Thanks for confirming. But pre-privatisation, of course, as bluenoxid has pointed out, upthread.

 

[Kilopylae]

The self-declared 'North Devon Public Transport Users' Group' called for Newton St Cyres, Yeoford, Copplestone, Morchard Road, Lapford, Eggesford (particularly stupidly given the token system), Kings Nympton, Portsmouth Arms, Chapleton and Umberleigh to be closed in 2012: in other words, every Tarka Line station other than Barnstaple and Crediton. The Tarka Rail Association, not surprisingly, opposed this, and it went nowhere.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Dec 2020 ==

Just had a look on their website and they still call for it (with the Eggesford mistake corrected). Their logic is that you could run an hourly service on the line with two trains if you closed all the stations bar Crediton, Eggesford and Barny. Source: http://www.ndptu.org.uk/

 

[YorksLad12]

No-one's mentioned the possibility of East Garforth closing, with Garforth's platforms being relocated slightly eastwards. The stations are 2 minutes apart, if that, and closing East Garforth will make it easier to open Thorpe Park, or East Leeds Parkway, or whatever. About the same distance as Cottingley and White Rose...

 

[geordieblue]

Thanks for confirming. But pre-privatisation, of course, as bluenoxid has pointed out, upthread.

Yes, I know...