Trivia: Downsized stations that are shells of their former selves?

[david1212]

Oban & Fort William.
Technically the latter does not count as the current basic station is some distance from the original. While the current stations are not so far from the original / previous the same can be applied to Looe & St Ives.

Weston-Super-Mare certainly had sidings for excursion trains north of the main station but I think although closed before the sidings were removed there were platforms too.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Weston-super-Mare did indeed once have the Locking Road ‘excursion platforms’.

 

[JD2168]

Bridlington. Lost at least 3 platforms & the pub at the station closed around COVID. Thankfully there is a nearby Tesco as the toilets close at around 5pm as well.

 

[D6130]

Bridlington. Lost at least 3 platforms & the pub at the station closed around COVID. Thankfully there is a nearby Tesco as the toilets close at around 5pm as well.

See post #19....although you had more time to post further details than I did at the time. When I first visited in 1972, Bridlington station had no less than eight platforms.

 

[Russel]

Birmingham Snow Hill may have risen phoenix-like from the ashes, but it still has quite a long way to go to recapture its former splendour.

New Street has always been criticized for being a concrete mess, but Snow Hill is just as bad, but on a smaller scale so it gets forgotten about.

It has a strange feeling off peak too, I find, Moor St and New St remain busy all day, but Snow Hill is often deserted.

 

[Dr_Paul]

Willesden Junction is still an important station, but it has lost quite a few platforms. It had until the 1950s four platforms for the main lines (all now gone); three upstairs (now two); two bays (now one) and two through platforms for the DC lines.

 

[Western Sunset]

St Pancras once had seven platforms to serve the Midland mainline. Now it only has four...

 

[gingerheid]

In terms of service Greenock Central may have stood the test of time very well. However in terms of grandeur and facilities, ...

 

[duffield]

St Pancras once had seven platforms to serve the Midland mainline. Now it only has four...

But it's now got a total of 13 platforms "upstairs", plus two for Thameslink so it's hardly been "downsized"!

 

[Western Sunset]

But it's now got a total of 13 platforms "upstairs", plus two for Thameslink so it's hardly been "downsized"!

But only a 4-platform "shed" extension at the end of the great roof is downsizing in my book...

 

[Dr Hoo]

But only a 4-platform "shed" extension at the end of the great roof is downsizing in my book...

I’m not aware that ‘main line’ services (beyond Bedford) have ever needed more than four platforms at St Pancras. ‘Local’ services now have their platforms at a lower level.

 

[Railsigns]

Oban & Fort William.

Oban yes, but the present Fort William station has reasonably good facilities and only one fewer platforms than the old station.

 

[D6130]

Oban yes, but the present Fort William station has reasonably good facilities and only one fewer platforms than the old station.

Oban originally had four platforms....so a fifty per cent reduction nowadays.

 

[xotGD]

St Pancras once had seven platforms to serve the Midland mainline. Now it only has four...

There was also a time where a single platform would have just about been sufficient for the meagre service provision.

Perhaps St Pancras should be the first entry in an alternative thread: Stations that have grown out of all recognition from what they were in the past.

 

[D6130]

There was also a time where a single platform would have just about been sufficient for the meagre service provision.

Perhaps St Pancras should be the first entry in an alternative thread: Stations that have grown out of all recognition from what they were in the past.

Go on....start it. I dare you!

 

[xotGD]

Go on....start it. I dare you!

I can't think of any other than St Pancras!

 

[Class15]

I can't think of any other than St Pancras!

Stratford, Highbury & Islington, Abbey Wood could be examples.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

the present Fort William station has reasonably good facilities and only one fewer platforms than the old station.

and can accommodate more coaches on those two platforms than the old one could on three platforms.

 

[Rescars]

I can't think of any other than St Pancras!

Farringdon is trying hard!

 

[steamybrian]

Farringdon is trying hard!

Farringdon is trying hard!

So is Stratford

 

[devon_belle]

Yeovil Junction - Now only two platforms instead of four.

To be fair, one of those was not a passenger platform, being accessible only via a trailing connection in the down direction. The number of through platforms at Yeovil is the same. Of course, the overall usable track layout has been considerably rationalised.

I suggest Taunton, which once had 9 passenger platforms, now only 5 in use (and that's after having 2 of them reinstated). The station was basically a regional hub for 4+ branch lines, London, Wales, and Cross Country traffic.

 

[Taunton]

Weston-super-Mare did indeed once have the Locking Road ‘excursion platforms’.

These platforms I think were built in the goods yard in the 1930s, and given up in the 1960s. They had a separate name, mainly to ensure returning excursion passengers went to the right entrance, but shared staff. In those times there was a considerable excursion traffic to Weston, often from Birmingham etc, for whom Weston was actually their nearest holiday resort * .

Just down the line was Highbridge, really two stations at right angles, where the S&D side had five platforms, but just five daily departures, so they had the luxury of each one being able to have its own platform.

* : I am excluding Severn Beach from this category

 

[Cricketer8for9]

And Reading in the got bigger competition.

 

[William3000]

Stratford, Highbury & Islington, Abbey Wood could be examples.

I think Reading, Cambridge, Peterborough, Nuneaton, Stevenage, Leeds, Oxford soon to be Darlington all have more platforms than they did pre-Beeching.

 

[CastlebarKeith]

Barnstaple

 

[d9009alycidon]

Ardrossan Town once had two through platforms and a bay, as well as ample carraige sidings and goods facilities. Now just the one track and platform, however it is open after being closed from 1968 to 1987

 

[Taunton]

Barnstaple

Barnstaple has indeed lost it; from four stations all round it is now down to one platform only at the least convenient of them all. In fact any local will tell you this remaining station is not in Barnstaple at all; it's in Sticklepath.

 

[endecotp]

Nice Gare du Sud.

 

[james73]

Ardrossan Town once had two through platforms and a bay, as well as ample carraige sidings and goods facilities. Now just the one track and platform, however it is open after being closed from 1968 to 1987

Largs once had 4 platforms in the two bays, with an escape road in the middle of each bay giving 6 tracks. Plus it had a glazed roof extending part the way along the platforms. Now it's one bay with no overall roof and a small booking office building, partly thanks to 318254 deciding it wanted to have a look at the main street in 1995. Plus the track itself is basically one long siding all the way from just West of Saltcoats station.

 

[d9009alycidon]

Largs once had 4 platforms in the two bays, with an escape road in the middle of each bay giving 6 tracks. Plus it had a glazed roof extending part the way along the platforms. Now it's one bay with no overall roof and a small booking office building, partly thanks to 318254 deciding it wanted to have a look at the main street in 1995. Plus the track itself is basically one long siding all the way from just West of Saltcoats station.

Largs still has two platforms