Trivia: places where another line runs through without a station

[PLY2AYS]

How about good ol' Coombe Junction? The GW main line passes close by at right angles and doesn't stop: possibly because it's a couple of hundred feet higher and on a viaduct. And nit-pickers may say that Coombe Junction might not strictly qualify as a "place"...

Problem with Coombe junction is it’s nowhere near the Mainline, easily 200-300m away and technically services do still call there… despite it being the branch.

 

[izvor]

...services do still call there… despite it being the branch.

But that's the whole point of the thread, surely: trains pass close by without stopping while those on another line do stop. Ok point taken, a couple of hundred metres apart may or may not disqualify, plus the vertical separation.

 

[PGAT]

Got to be up to 400 metres separation between the two lines though, in more than one place, hasn't there? What's the distance that Coulsdon South and Merstham are, from the 'Quarry Line'?

Coulsdon South and Merstham are probably around 50m away from the Quarry Line. Redhill is quite a bit further but under 400m I’d say

 

[cadder toad]

High St has ecs trains passing not far from the end of the platforms. Pollokshields East has trains from both Pollokshields West and Pollokshaws West passing the station on lines without platforms. Have we had Cathcart? Ashburys?

 

[JohnRegular]

Westbury has the Westbury Avoiding Line with no station.

A bit of a cheeky answer because it's still the same 'line' as the route through Westbury station (Reading-Taunton), however it is notable for getting about 1/4 mile closer to Westbury town centre than Westbury station does.

 

[William3000]

This one is an accident of railway history. There is a clue in the name of the junction where the two lines meet.

The Liverpool Street line came first, built by the Eastern Counties Railway and opened in 1845. The line to Shepreth, opened in 1852, was also built by the Eastern Counties Railway, hence the name Shepreth Branch Junction. The Eastern Counties Railway already had a station on the Liverpool Street line and would have seen no need for another on the branch.

Foxton wasn't always the first station on the branch, there was a station at Harston until 1963.

You are right that Cambridge South will make it easier for people to travel between Shelford and stations on the Kings Cross line.

Finally, strictly speaking there is no place called Shelford, though it is in common local usage. Great Shelford and Little Shelford are the proper names of what were originally two separate villages. If ever there was a station on the Kings Cross line, then that could be Little Shelford. I don't know why the existing station wasn't named Great Shelford, after all the Eastern Counties Railway had no trouble with having a station called Great Chesterford not far away.

It will also provide links for people between Royston and Foxton wishing to get to Stansted Airport

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 Jun 2025 ==

Oulton Broad North has two platforms on the Lowestoft to Norwich line but none on the East Suffolk line. There is a station at Oulton Broad South about 2km to the south.

 

[LadyVee]

New Cross Gate - Thameslink passes through without stopping which is infuriating. Especially as the now redundant platforms 3 and 4 were rebuilt with step free access. And the Southern train to Brighton via Gatwick Airport used to stop there, before the franchise passed to Thameslink.

 

[MadMac]

High St has ecs trains passing not far from the end of the platforms. Pollokshields East has trains from both Pollokshields West and Pollokshaws West passing the station on lines without platforms. Have we had Cathcart? Ashburys?

Cathcart was the one that came to my mind. Barassie? Whifflet? Craigendoran? Could an argument be made for Barnhill with the Cumbernauld line?

 

[leedslad82]

What about ambergate? Platform on branch line but not on the main line. If coming from north you have to travel past it to derby and then double back

 

[FenMan]

Not sure if it meets the OP's criteria, but this would be fun.

Opening "Blackwater Valley Parkway" on the SWML east of Farnborough Main, where, in the space of 640 metres, the SWML runs above the North Downs and the Ascot-Aldershot lines and the A331 Blackwater Valley Relief Road.

The nearest current station is Farnborough North on the North Downs, approx. 400 metres from the intersection with the SWML.

Link to local map:- https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.2...try=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDYyMi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw==

 

[Sad Sprinter]

Not sure if it meets the OP's criteria, but this would be fun.

Opening "Blackwater Valley Parkway" on the SWML east of Farnborough Main, where, in the space of 640 metres, the SWML runs above the North Downs and the Ascot-Aldershot lines and the A331 Blackwater Valley Relief Road.

The nearest current station is Farnborough North on the North Downs, approx. 400 metres from the intersection with the SWML.

Link to local map:- https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.2995998,-0.7403223,16z/data=!5m1!1e2?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDYyMi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw==

That definitely counts

 

[chefchenko]

Dosent Stockport to altrincham line pass through wythenshawe???

 

[Sealink]

Millbrook on the Romsey Salisbury line, with the South Western Mainline zooming past.
Also can't see if it has been mentioned, the C2C line from Fenchurch Street passes by what are now District Line stations but which have unused platforms on the C2C side.

 

[delt1c]

what about Cambridge Heath and London Fields between Bethnal Green and Hackney Downs , has 2 fast lines by passing the stations

 

[Pnerick81]

a few in Lancashire come to mind . Garstang between Preston and Lancaster, and lostock hall chord towards Leyland . I always thought that would be a useful junction for Blackburn to Liverpool or Wigan rather than going via Preston or Manchester . Like the current headbolt lane service which goes everywhere

 

[Zomboid]

Oulton Broad North? The Ipswich line runs through the remains of a platform.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Aldgate? Clearly visible from both the District and the H&C, neither of which call there

 

[John Luxton]

Though closed now Mary Tavy and Brentor had both GWR (Plymouth - Launceston) and SR (Plymouth - Exeter) lines. Mary Tavy had a GWR station and Brentor an SR one.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

Millbrook on the Romsey Salisbury line, with the South Western Mainline zooming past.
Also can't see if it has been mentioned, the C2C line from Fenchurch Street passes by what are now District Line stations but which have unused platforms on the C2C side.

Adding to the LTS, the Central Line passes right underneath Bow Road, without stopping. Ditto for Pudding Mill Lane.