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Trivia: Rail Services which have been withdrawn since Privatisation

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ANDREW_D_WEBB

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The daily return service from the Chiltern Line to Paddington closed in December 2018.

Virtually withdrawn is the Paddington Greenford servic, only the first down service and last up service venturing east of West Ealing.

Services from Wandsworth Road to Victoria diverted to Clapham Junction (except one to Battersea Park).

Bournemouth to Brighton services no longer run

Eurostar from Waterloo.
 
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ANDREW_D_WEBB

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Manchester Piccadilly-London Waterloo??????? What was the point in that? I had heard this before it was introduced by Wales and West?
Probably 'operational convenience' by joining up two services. Also the ability to tap into (very) marginal flows such as Basingstoke, Warminster and Trowbridge to areas north of Newport without having to change
 

Steve Harris

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If not before then, class 31 plus 4 carriages.
I think you might be getting confused with the Birmingham New Street - Norwich's which ran roughly 2 hourly in the 1980's ( on the other hour they ran to Cambridge), which were indeed Class 31/4 and Mark II coaches.

Which stopped in ????
 
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xotGD

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Huddersfield to Wakefield Westgate. Stopped last May.
 

tbtc

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Nostalgia is a funny old beast. The fact that Marathon and Opal Fruits changed name become touchstone cultural references for people of a certain generation, despite hundreds of other products changing their name.

It's similarly interesting to me which services become similarly remembered whilst others fade away. Of the services introduced post-privatisation and subsequently withdrawn, Leeds - Settle - Glasgow seems to have had a huge impact, for a service that was just a daily 156. Anything involving Liverpool seems to be much higher profile than services scrapped from other cities. London - Tonbridge - Kent. But plenty of other services slip off the radar without anyone demanding they be reinstated.

Did the Liverpool Lime Street [LIV] to Norwich [NRW] service exist under British Rail?

Liverpool-Norwich has been roughly in the form of the current hourly service since about 1991/1992.

There was a roughly hourly "core" from Ely to Stockport (some from Ipswich/ Stansted/ Cambridge/ Norwich... some via Nottingham and some via Loughborough... some avoiding Sheffield... some through Manchester Piccadilly to Liverpool, some through Manchester Victoria to Blackpool/ Cumbria).

Over the years it solidified into a fairly clock face hourly service from Norwich to Liverpool (via Nottingham and Sheffield).As with many other lines, there's a trade off between a simple reliable clock face service to limited destinations and a complicated service to a variety of destinations.

If I remember correctly the Waterloo -South Wales service reversed at. Newport to head for Manchester Piccadilly.

Certainly not all of them - there were some Waterloo services to/from West Wales and I have a memory of one Waterloo service running onto a "Valley Lines" station (I mean Valley Lines in terms of the original franchise, not just the lines through Queen Street... it could have been Maesteg?)
 

Bishopstone

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Brighton to Ashford International (2018)
Uckfield to London Victoria (when the Thumper DEMUs were replaced - 2004?)
 

Saperstein

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Brighton to Ashford International (2018)
Uckfield to London Victoria (when the Thumper DEMUs were replaced - 2004?)

Yep, of course the Ashford train is now Eastbourne to Ashford instead of coming all the way from Brighton.

But as the 171s are based at Selhurst TMD, and have to come from there anyway I’m surprised they didn’t make it a Haywards Heath or Lewes to Ashford service but then there I guess it’s all about pathing.

I understand the 171s never used London Victoria due to exhaust fumes?

Saperstein
 

WesternLancer

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Yep, of course the Ashford train is now Eastbourne to Ashford instead of coming all the way from Brighton.

But as the 171s are based at Selhurst TMD, and have to come from there anyway I’m surprised they didn’t make it a Haywards Heath or Lewes to Ashford service but then there I guess it’s all about pathing.

I understand the 171s never used London Victoria due to exhaust fumes?

Saperstein
Think at one time due to the selhurst home depot issue the trains started / ended one run of the day from an earlier point, but that may have been Brighton or just eastbourne, then spent the rest of the day on hastings - ashford shuttle.

I think re Victoria use they did not want to spend money on changing the extraction equipment in the low roofed ex LBSCR side area for the start of 171 operation, IIRC.

Used the route the other day - I was on a 10 car service to Uckfield. Who'd have thought that would come to pass back in the days of the 1st generation DEMU services and the era when the line was very run down i the 80s / 90s. Pretty clear there would be plenty of people on a re-opened stretch to Lewes IMHO
 
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Think at one time due to the selhurst home depot issue the trains started / ended one run of the day from an earlier point, but that may have been Brighton or just eastbourne, then spent the rest of the day on hastings - ashford shuttle.

I think re Victoria use they did not want to spend money on changing the extraction equipment in the low roofed ex LBSCR side area for the start of 171 operation, IIRC.

Used the route the other day - I was on a 10 car service to Uckfield. Who'd have thought that would come to pass back in the days of the 1st generation DEMU services and the era when the line was very run down i the 80s / 90s. Pretty clear there would be plenty of people on a re-opened stretch to Lewes IMHO

Think some Class 171s are based at St Leonard's Depot, near Hastings, but there is one diagram that runs ECS to/from Selhurst to Eastbourne (presumably a set swap).

Both the Uckfield & Marshlink lines are victims of their own success. Since direct services to London Bridge started, passenger numbers grew massively and trains/platforms have had to be lengthened multiple times (6 car -> 8 car -> 10 car), stretching the 171 fleet further, whilst the Marshlink line was cut back to Eastbourne to reduce overcrowding, and the fast services from Brighton to Hastings were then operated with 4 car 377s instead of the wholly inadequate 2 car 171s. There was talk of bringing some 4 car 171s from Selhurst down for summer saturdays, but not sure if this actually occurred.

Maybe the only solution to this is electrification of these diesel islands. Perhaps the perfect new home for the displaced class 379s from GA?
 

WesternLancer

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Think some Class 171s are based at St Leonard's Depot, near Hastings, but there is one diagram that runs ECS to/from Selhurst to Eastbourne (presumably a set swap).

Both the Uckfield & Marshlink lines are victims of their own success. Since direct services to London Bridge started, passenger numbers grew massively and trains/platforms have had to be lengthened multiple times (6 car -> 8 car -> 10 car), stretching the 171 fleet further, whilst the Marshlink line was cut back to Eastbourne to reduce overcrowding, and the fast services from Brighton to Hastings were then operated with 4 car 377s instead of the wholly inadequate 2 car 171s. There was talk of bringing some 4 car 171s from Selhurst down for summer saturdays, but not sure if this actually occurred.

Maybe the only solution to this is electrification of these diesel islands. Perhaps the perfect new home for the displaced class 379s from GA?
Thanks - all good points

Yes, given the national DMU shortage that this would help by releasing a fair few 171's you would think even DfT would be able to justify the spend on 3rd rail on these 2 short islands of diesel route. NSE would have managed it years ago no doubt.
 

bramling

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Think at one time due to the selhurst home depot issue the trains started / ended one run of the day from an earlier point, but that may have been Brighton or just eastbourne, then spent the rest of the day on hastings - ashford shuttle.

I think re Victoria use they did not want to spend money on changing the extraction equipment in the low roofed ex LBSCR side area for the start of 171 operation, IIRC.

Used the route the other day - I was on a 10 car service to Uckfield. Who'd have thought that would come to pass back in the days of the 1st generation DEMU services and the era when the line was very run down i the 80s / 90s. Pretty clear there would be plenty of people on a re-opened stretch to Lewes IMHO

In DEMU days the Ashford-Hastings service was effectively worked from Selhurst. There were workings in service from/to Eastbourne at the extremes of the day, and I can definitely remember an ECS to Selhurst in the mid evening - not sure if it ran every day or as required, but I certainly remember it coming through Lewes in a regular basis.

Open to being corrected, however I think the more regular use of St Leonards came much more latterly. I seem to remember the DEMUs used to disappear off to Chart Leacon between some trips. Not sure if this was to simply clear the Ashford platform or whether they were fuelled there?

On a different note, Peterborough to London via Hertford North is another service which has dried up. At least some timetables offered this combination of route to a greater or lesser extent during the 1990s.
 
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Journeyman

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Manchester Piccadilly-London Waterloo??????? What was the point in that? I had heard this before it was introduced by Wales and West?

Lots of services ran into Waterloo from the north and west to connect with Eurostar. Intended as prelude for north-of-London services, but ended up with about three people on them - they were barred for non-Eurostar travelers.
 

RichJF

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Strood/Maidstone West to London via Tondbridge & Redhil (Southeastern)l:
Used to catch them semi-regularly.

Caterham/Tat Corner to Charing Cross (Southern).

T Wells to Horsham. (Southeastern).
 

Taunton

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In DEMU days the Ashford-Hastings service was effectively worked from Selhurst. There were workings in service from/to Eastbourne at the extremes of the day, and I can definitely remember an ECS to Selhurst in the mid evening - not sure if it ran every day or as required, but I certainly remember it coming through Lewes in a regular basis.

Open to being corrected, however I think the more regular use of St Leonards came much more latterly. I seem to remember the DEMUs used to disappear off to Chart Leacon between some trips. Not sure if this was to simply clear the Ashford platform or whether they were fuelled there?
I actually recall the opposite, for before the main Hastings line was electrified, and East Grinstead too (late 1980s) the diesel depot was St Leonards, which covered them all, including the East Grinstead/Uckfield trains. Each day after the morning peak a huge ECS formation was assembled at Selhurst or New Cross, 9 cars at least and sometimes 12, which thump-thumped all the way via Haywards Heath to St Leonards, and the same or replacement units came back in the afternoon. It made a real racket opening up through Lewes station. There may have been a comparable one through the night as well. For trains which had done just one peak working from East Grinstead to London they put in more miles in the day ECS than in service.
 

bramling

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I actually recall the opposite, for before the main Hastings line was electrified, and East Grinstead too (late 1980s) the diesel depot was St Leonards, which covered them all, including the East Grinstead/Uckfield trains. Each day after the morning peak a huge ECS formation was assembled at Selhurst or New Cross, 9 cars at least and sometimes 12, which thump-thumped all the way via Haywards Heath to St Leonards, and the same or replacement units came back in the afternoon. It made a real racket opening up through Lewes station. There may have been a comparable one through the night as well. For trains which had done just one peak working from East Grinstead to London they put in more miles in the day ECS than in service.

You may well be thinking even further back than myself. I’m thinking Connex days.
 

WesternLancer

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This thread is for Rail services which have been withdrawn since privatisation. When did they cease?

I’ll start with a few examples:

  • Liverpool-Stansted Via Birmingham (Cut at New Street in 200?)
  • Coventry to Skegness (Until 2004; replaced by Coventry to Nuneaton service)
  • Manchester Airport to Skegness (Until 2008; cut back to Crewe)
  • Lincoln to Birmingham?? (until early 2000?? Cut back at Nottingham?)
  • Worcester to Birmingham New Street (Central Trains: ceased in 2004)
  • Chase Line to Stafford (ceased in 2005)
  • Worcester to Gloucester (December 2008 to December 2009)
  • Manchester Airport to London Euston (until 1999)
  • Rochdale to London Euston (until 2000)
  • Birmingham to Nottingham via Leicester (cut back to Leicester in 2004)
  • Blackpool to Scarborough (cut to York in early 2000’s)
  • Bristol to Oxford (stopped in 2000 by SRA)
This includes services that were stopped but later reintroduced for example:

  • Shrewsbury to London Euston (stopped in 1992; Reintroduced in 1998 stopped in 1999; Reintroduced to Marylebone in 2008; Stopped in 2011; Reintroduced to London Euston in 2014)
Occurs to me to ask if you intended the thread to be
a) BR services that existed at or near privatization that then ceased after it became franchised TOC operation
or
b) TOC services that started after privatisation but have since been stopped

or indeed a mix of both?
 

Jorge Da Silva

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Occurs to me to ask if you intended the thread to be
a) BR services that existed at or near privatization that then ceased after it became franchised TOC operation
or
b) TOC services that started after privatisation but have since been stopped

or indeed a mix of both?

Both. Services which have been axed since privatization or near to it.
 

delt1c

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how about the Manchester to Euston service using 322, cant remember the TOC
 

Dr_Paul

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Eurostar from Waterloo.

And the short-lived connecting service from Edinburgh to Waterloo. It was odd to see an HST in Waterloo. Did it have intermediate stops, such as Newcastle or York?

Re the moving of Eurostar from Waterloo, I told a French pal that it was moved to St Pancras because nobody in North London likes to go 'south of the river', so it made economic sense to build a new station for it at St Pancras and thereby attract more passengers. She didn't quite know whether to believe me.
 

Aictos

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On a different note, Peterborough to London via Hertford North is another service which has dried up. At least some timetables offered this combination of route to a greater or lesser extent during the 1990s.

2P99 ;)

Used that service quite frequently years ago!
 
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