What does "Parkway" mean?

[swt class 450]

I am just wondering what does "Parkway" mean?

So far we have 22 stations with "Parkway" in their name.

Aylesbury Vale Parkway
Bodmin Parkway
Bristol Parkway
Buckshaw Parkway
Callerton Parkway
Coleshill Parkway
Didcot Parkway
East Midlands Airport Parkway
Ebbw Vale Parkway
Haddenham & Thame Parkway
Horwich Parkway
Liverpool South Parkway
Luton Airport Parkway
Oxford Parkway
Port Talbot Parkway
Southampton Airport Parkway
Stratford Upon Avon Parkway
Sutton Parkway
Tame Bridge Parkway
Tiverton Parkway
Warwick Parkway
Whittlesford Parkway

I have looked online but cant seem to find a definition for what "Parkway" means. Does it mean it is mainly meant to be used by passengers travelling by car? Does it mean it has a larger than usual car park? Does it mean it is a sort of park and ride station? Or does it mean something else?

 

[louis97]

See a previous post of mine here:

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showpost.php?p=2010988&postcount=7

 

[Joe D]

The Parkway is these days better known as the M32 motorway spur off the M4 into Bristol.

So "parkway" means "any station tenuously similar to Bristol Parkway in any of 3 or 4 different ways".

 

[edwin_m]

In America it's a road aimed mainly at the private motorist, sometimes even to the extent of having bridges too low for HGVs.

"East Midlands Airport Parkway" should be just "East Midlands Parkway" although the nameboards do also say (misleadingly) "for East Midlands Airport".

There was also "Alfreton and Mansfield Parkway" in the 70s, surely one of the most cumbersome station names. It became plain "Alfreton" when Mansfield was reconnected to the rail network in its own right - was there any other Parkway station that lost that designation?

 

[scott118]

Whittlesford - The station opened in 1845 and was rebuilt between 1877 and 1890.

In May 2007, the station was renamed from Whittlesford to Whittlesford Parkway.

This was NX's attempt to draw customers away from their rivals, by trying to tempt those, who live in the surrounding hamlets, into not having to drive into Cambridge, for the London services. A reduced, combined season/car parking ticket, was the main 'draw'. However the lack of a 40min direct service to the city, was their major flaw.

That said, the car park these days, is very much nearly full to capacity, so perhaps as the 10 year anniversary approaches, their foresight is finally paying dividends..

 

[LAX54]

As far as I recall, it pre-dates what is now Park & Ride, which is mainly bus orientated, and indicates to the public, that you can park at the Station and catch a train into Town

Is there a NORWICH PARKWAY? I know there is a Park & Ride at Postwick

 

[trinityboy]

Isn't it just "Nowhere Near"?

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[MidnightFlyer]

Isn't it just "Nowhere Near"?

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Nope, both Didcot and Port Talbot Parkways are on the doorstep of their respective town centres.

 

[scott118]

Is there a NORWICH PARKWAY?

No there isn't...

 

[island]

Traditionally I think it was intended to mean a station with substantial car parking facilities with the expectation that most passengers would travel to and from the station by private car, with the implication that the station was at a distance from the placename in question.

 

[randyrippley]

Yeovil Junction would probably get more trade if rebranded as Yeovil Parkway.
The car park is big enough, and could be made bigger

 

[47271]

I've always taken it to mean that you PARK to get on the railWAY, but maybe I've been oversimplfying for years.

And yes, it does often also mean that it's miles from the town it's named after. Tiverton being one of the most striking examples.

 

[PaulLothian]

I always equate it with the suffix 'Road', which in Victorian times was an indicator that the station was nowhere near the town name that preceded it!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Traditionally I think it was intended to mean a station with substantial car parking facilities with the expectation that most passengers would travel to and from the station by private car, with the implication that the station was at a distance from the placename in question.

Yes, that's how I see it.


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[didcotdean]

That kind of perception is why the local council bigwigs in Didcot want the Parkway suffix dropped. Although they seem to have got nowhere with that.

 

[Phil.]

You PARK your car there and take the railWAY to your chosen destination.

That was/is the origin of this portmanteau word.

 

[Ianno87]

Whittlesford - The station opened in 1845 and was rebuilt between 1877 and 1890.

In May 2007, the station was renamed from Whittlesford to Whittlesford Parkway.

This was NX's attempt to draw customers away from their rivals, by trying to tempt those, who live in the surrounding hamlets, into not having to drive into Cambridge, for the London services. A reduced, combined season/car parking ticket, was the main 'draw'. However the lack of a 40min direct service to the city, was their major flaw.

That said, the car park these days, is very much nearly full to capacity, so perhaps as the 10 year anniversary approaches, their foresight is finally paying dividends..

It seems to do a decent trade in city commuters from the Newmarket-ey direction who don't want to trapse into/via Cambridge. The (nowadays) 58ish minute peak journey time on a not-thay-busy 12 car train is certainly preferable to the King's Cross route if you're a City Slicker. And traffic congestion in Cambridge is getting increasingly unbearable.

 

[coppercapped]

The first station to receive the suffix 'Parkway' was Bristol Parkway opened in 1972 and was so-called because it is adjacent to the M32, otherwise called The Parkway. It took its name from the road and being easily reachable from the M32 and M4 was intended to attract motorists out of their cars and onto the train for longer distance journeys.

The 'Parkway' suffix has since been used for stations fulfilling a similar function. It's snappy and clearly describes what the station does.

 

[Starmill]

I've heard people unhappy that Didcot is called Didcot Parkway because it is quite convenient for the town. I think the term does have an implication that it's a 'peripheral' station, which is shown clearly at Stratford Parkway and Oxford Parkway (and the location of the proposed Cardiff Parkway). By extension, there is M3 Parkway in the Republic of Ireland. By contrast, some are now calling the proposed Magor station a 'Walkway' - the idea being that people will use active modes (walking and cycling) to connect with trains, where it would generally be by private car at a 'Parkway'.

 

[PHILIPE]

I've heard people unhappy that Didcot is called Didcot Parkway because it is quite convenient for the town. I think the term does have an implication that it's a 'peripheral' station, which is shown clearly at Stratford Parkway and Oxford Parkway (and the location of the proposed Cardiff Parkway). By extension, there is M3 Parkway in the Republic of Ireland. By contrast, some are now calling the proposed Magor station a 'Walkway' - the idea being that people will use active modes (walking and cycling) to connect with trains, where it would generally be by private car at a 'Parkway'.

Port Talbot Parkway is in the town itself and the original Port Talbot station. Not a new build like most of them, just re-designated as in the case of Didcot.

 

[Intercity 225]

As previously mentioned in this thread, the station today known as Alfreton was previously known as Alfreton and Mansfield Parkway when it first opened in 1973. Although it lost the suffix when Mansfield gained a station in it's own town centre in 1995 it can help explain the origin of the term.

When Alfreton and Mansfield Parkway opened it was specifically marketed as a new style of station with a large car park where you could leave your car for free and connect to Intercity services. I suspect that the parkway component of the name was designed to appeal to people from Mansfield as opposed to Alfreton considering that Mansfield is over nine miles away from the station. This is backed up by the fact that the suffix was dropped when Mansfield station opened and it wasn't renamed Alfreton Parkway.

There is much more information on the link below, I recommend that you have a read. As a slight aside it's also interesting to see how the services have changed over time - today it is predominantly a provincial station whereas at launch it had a significant number of high speed intercity services.

http://www.wagonplate9.co.uk/page61.html

 

[Bletchleyite]

Yeah, I think it was sort of "Alfreton, and Mansfield Parkway" that was implied.


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[70014IronDuke]

...

When Alfreton and Mansfield Parkway opened it was specifically marketed as a new style of station with a large car park where you could leave your car for free and connect to Intercity services. I suspect that the parkway component of the name was designed to appeal to people from Mansfield as opposed to Alfreton considering that Mansfield is over nine miles away from the station. This is backed up by the fact that the suffix was dropped when Mansfield station opened and it wasn't renamed Alfreton Parkway.

AIRI, pre 1995 there were regular stories in the local press about foreign tourists/would-be language school students arriving at the station and asking for directions to Mansfield town centre. Quite a long walk, especially with luggage

[/QUOTE] There is much more information on the link below, I recommend that you have a read. As a slight aside it's also interesting to see how the services have changed over time - today it is predominantly a provincial station whereas at launch it had a significant number of high speed intercity services.

http://www.wagonplate9.co.uk/page61.html [/QUOTE]

IIRC, there were only Inter-City services serving the station in the first years - the 1 train per two hours Sheffield-St Pancras via Notts, plus the Harwich NorthCountry Continental boat train.

Or were there Nottingham-Manchester DMUs running in the hours that the Sheffield Inter-City did not run?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Port Talbot Parkway is in the town itself and the original Port Talbot station. Not a new build like most of them, just re-designated as in the case of Didcot.

Yes. so, in effect, the term Parkway has changed its meaning, or rather, had its meaning changed, over time. Presumably the powers at be decided it would get them more traffic from car users (both from quite large catchment areas) to adopt the Parkway term into the station names.

This begs the question, did it work?

 

[noddingdonkey]

There is an area of Seacroft in Leeds with steet names such as South Parkway and Parkway Vale that is nowhere near a railway station, anybody know what that is all about?

 

[Bletchleyite]

There is an area of Seacroft in Leeds with steet names such as South Parkway and Parkway Vale that is nowhere near a railway station, anybody know what that is all about?

A Parkway is a "broad, landscaped highway thoroughfare" according to Wikilies.

 

[D1009]

Yes. so, in effect, the term Parkway has changed its meaning, or rather, had its meaning changed, over time. Presumably the powers at be decided it would get them more traffic from car users (both from quite large catchment areas) to adopt the Parkway term into the station names.

This begs the question, did it work?

Very much so, Bristol Parkway, the first one with its (for the time) very large free car park was a roaring success, with people driving regularly from parts of South and even Mid Wales, and BR picked up on this and used the term Parkway as a kind of brand name at anywhere the investment in large car parks within easy reach of motorways could be justified. Of course these days motoring has become less attractive, and car parking itself is generating an income of its own at Parkway stations.

 

[Bevan Price]

AIRI, pre 1995 there were regular stories in the local press about foreign tourists/would-be language school students arriving at the station and asking for directions to Mansfield town centre. Quite a long walk, especially with luggage

IIRC, there were only Inter-City services serving the station in the first years - the 1 train per two hours Sheffield-St Pancras via Notts, plus the Harwich NorthCountry Continental boat train.

Or were there Nottingham-Manchester DMUs running in the hours that the Sheffield Inter-City did not run?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

?

The 1975/1976 timetable shows very few trains calling at Alfreton & Nottingham Parkway. Just some St. Pancras - Sheffield (or beyond services), a handful of summer saturday services to/from Skegness or other resorts, and one SO service in each direction.

Northbound departures:
09:16 (SO) (08:46 Nottingham - Sheffield)
10:31 (08:00 St. Pancras - Glasgow)
11:00 (08:52 St. Pancras - Leeds)
13:00 (SO) ((10:55 Skegness - Sheffield)
13:30, 15:30 (11;05, 13:05 St. Pancras - Sheffield)
16:59 (SO) ( 10:50 Poole - Sheffield via Leicester)
17:30, 18:24, 20:16 (15:05, 16:20 & 18:05 St. Pancras - Sheffield)
22:31 (20:05 St. Pancras - Sheffield)

Southbound departures:
06:41 (06:10 Sheffield - St. Pancras
07:55 (SO) Sheffield - Skegness
08:16, 09:01 & 09:31 (07:45, 08:30 & 09:00 Sheffield - St. Pancras
09:43 (SO) ( )9:10 Sheffield - Leicester - Poole
11:31, 13:31 & 15:31 (11:00, 13:00 & 15:00 Sheffield - St. Pancras.
17:21, 18:33 & 20:01 (16:50, 18:03 & 19:30 Sheffield - St. Pancras
22:48 (SO, set down only) (20:56 Sheffield - Derby via Long Eaton

Some of the St. Pancras services ran non-stop between Alfreton & Leicester, with very long gaps between Alfreton & Nottingham.

(First SX service to Nottingham was at 09:01; no return services between 17:06 and 22:07.)

The sole Nottingham - Manchester service in 1975 ran via Derby

 

[PeterY]

I've used Tiverton parkway before (by bike) and it's an 8 mile trip into the town.

So some trivia: which is the furthest Parkway station from the town they're meant to serve?

 

[didcotdean]

Port Talbot Parkway is in the town itself and the original Port Talbot station. Not a new build like most of them, just re-designated as in the case of Didcot.

Didcot Parkway is a bit nearer to the historic centre of the village of Didcot than the modern town centre is. Station Road was built to connect with the Farringdon-Wallingford turnpike which bypassed Didcot to the south, along which 'modern' Didcot started to develop half a century later.

 

[Parallel]

I always equate it with the suffix 'Road', which in Victorian times was an indicator that the station was nowhere near the town name that preceded it!

A bit like Llanbister Road on the HOWL is about 5.5 from the village of Llanbister.

Though Llanbister Parkway sounds a little bit extravagant.

I think the 'Road' suffix sounds better for small/minor stations with not many facilities, and Parkway best describes stations with plenty of car park spaces.