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Trivia: Direct trains to London then and now

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Llandudno

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Since 1980, which I guess is when the rail network was at its lowest ebb?

Which stations, say at least 30 miles from the capital have gained a direct train to London?

Also which stations have actually lost through trains to London since 1980?

There are some stations which temporarily had through trains to London introduced since 1980, only for them to be subsequently withdrawn, Matlock, Burton on Trent and Barnsley spring to mind, any others?
 
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One of the Pembrokeshire lines has/is about to regained a direct train to London due to the class 800s.

Aberystwyth last had a direct train to London in around 1992, I think.
 

Ianno87

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Rochdale, Euxton Balshaw Lane, Leyland, Alderley Edge, Sandbach, Newton-le-Willows, Manchester Victoria and Manchester Airport had through London trains introduced in May 1998 and subsequently withdrawn.

Likewise for the 'minor' stations served by Wrexham & Shropshire e.g. Cosford (served 2008-2011).

Tame Bridge and the bigger stations) had through trains introduced by WSMR, withdrawn, then reintroduced by LNWR/Virgin!
 

Master29

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Why would the network have been at it lowest ever ebb in 1980? Just curious?
 

Ianno87

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Why would the network have been at it lowest ever ebb in 1980? Just curious?

Presumably places like Middlesbrough, Stranraer, Barrow-in-Furness etc. still had through London trains then.

Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft are other examples.
 

rogercov

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The short-lived "Wrexham and Shropshire" ran between Wrexham and London Marylebone, also serving Shrewsbury.

Shrewsbury itself used to have regular services from Euston in the 70s/80s. These have only recently been reinstated by Virgin.

I'm not sure if this counts, but in the recent timetable change LNW linked their Walsall and Rugeley (via Birmingham) services to their Euston services so you can now get trains direct to London from many stations in the North of Birmingham, probably for the very first time. However, it takes ages and often involves a 10 minute wait at Birmingham and/or Northampton.
 

Master29

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Presumably places like Middlesbrough, Stranraer, Barrow-in-Furness etc. still had through London trains then.

Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft are other examples.
I remember the summer Saturdays Great Yarmouths.
 

MarlowDonkey

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Also which stations have actually lost through trains to London since 1980?

The Greenford branch (although that's in London), the Marlow branch (to Bourne End) and the Henley branch have all lost through trains to and from Paddington in the recent past due to Crossrail and electrification.
 

Llandudno

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Why would the network have been at it lowest ever ebb in 1980? Just curious?
I guess service levels, quality of rolling stock, run down stations plus Travellers Fayre Station buffets were at the worst in the early 1980’s!
 

jfollows

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Congleton and Hartford both had through trains to London in 1980.

Mind you, Hartford has regained its direct service this year, hasn't it? Shame it takes almost three and a half hours (07:49 Euston - 11:11 Hartford, for example in the down direction).

The 1980 Hartford service took slightly more than two hours from Euston in the same direction and was sometimes non-stop in the 1980s from memory.
 
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Mag_seven

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LNW-GW Joint

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A whole set of smaller stations on the LNWR network have gained through hourly services to London, after the TOC joined its local and regional services together.
Places like Liverpool South Parkway, Acton Bridge, Alsager, Penkridge and all those on the Walsall-Rugeley line.
Flint gained through services to Euston (BR never stopped fast trains there).
Blackpool and Shrewsbury (and some local stations) lost London services around 2000 but they have been restored in the last 5 years.
Conversely Llandudno gained a service and then lost it, during 2003-8.

Newton le Willows and other NW stations briefly had a London service run by North Western Trains, also Manchester Airport and a few local stations on the Crewe line.
Wrexham gained a London service to Euston from VT around the same time Wrexham & Shropshire started services to Marylebone; the Euston service is still running.
Then there were the round-the-houses services provided by Wales & West and Wessex Trains from Manchester via the Marches, Bristol and Salisbury which offered through services from places like Leominster and Abergavenny to London Waterloo.
These ran in the first round of franchising roughly 1997-2004, when the franchises were remapped.
Abergavenny briefly had a service via Hereford to Paddingon, provided by FGW HST's which ran ECS from Bristol to form peak Hereford-Paddington services.
They didn't last long, though the trains (now IEPs) still run ECS from Bristol to Hereford.

Grand Central have added a number of stations to the departure board at King's Cross, including Bradford Interchange, Halifax and Pontefract, also Hartlepool and other Durham coast stations.
 
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xotGD

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The Cambrian Coast used to have London services on summer Saturdays.
 

PHILIPE

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The short-lived "Wrexham and Shropshire" ran between Wrexham and London Marylebone, also serving Shrewsbury.

Shrewsbury itself used to have regular services from Euston in the 70s/80s. These have only recently been reinstated by Virgin.

I'm not sure if this counts, but in the recent timetable change LNW linked their Walsall and Rugeley (via Birmingham) services to their Euston services so you can now get trains direct to London from many stations in the North of Birmingham, probably for the very first time. However, it takes ages and often involves a 10 minute wait at Birmingham and/or Northampton.

Shrewsbury used to have a 2 hourly service to Paddington until 1967
 

Geswedey

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Sheringham had a through service to and from LST for a while with 150 units

Can't imagine many people doing March (don't remember if the sparse Manea service at the time was on through LST services) to LST via IPS
 

PHILIPE

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One of the Pembrokeshire lines has/is about to regained a direct train to London due to the class 800s.

Aberystwyth last had a direct train to London in around 1992, I think.

Pembroke Dock 800s took over from HSTs on Summer Saturdays in previous years.
 

Marton

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Presumably places like Middlesbrough, Stranraer, Barrow-in-Furness etc. still had through London trains

MIDDLESBROUGH did have the Cleveland Executive until the ECML was electrified north of York in the 80s.

Hartlepool and Sunderland have gained a London service.

Easglescliffe and Thirsk have lost and gained LONDON services.
 

xotGD

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MIDDLESBROUGH did have the Cleveland Executive until the ECML was electrified north of York in the 80s.

Hartlepool and Sunderland have gained a London service.

Easglescliffe and Thirsk have lost and gained LONDON services.
Hartlepool and Sunderland used to have a through sleeper service to KX.
 

dk1

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Didn’t Great Yarmouth have a summer service to London Liverpool Street?

Saperstein.
Obviously it was daily until Crown Point was built in 82 with four Liverpool St services running through to Yarmouth each evening & starting there the following morning. Off the top of my head they where the 1530, 1730, 1810 & 1930 down then 0554, 0712, 0739 & 0858 up. Only two on Sundays then several extras on Summer Saturdays. From 1982 it was just one each way again with extras Summer Saturdays. All bar the dated SO services stopped in the early 90s but in 2004 NX branded as 'one' briefly started the 0705 ex-Norwich back from Yarmouth & extended the 1700 ex-Liv St through to the coast with a class 47 as a franchise commitment but agreed with the DfT later to discontinue this waste of time & instead offered an hourly local service year round on Sundays. This left the two trains a day each way service on Saturdays July-September but even this succumbed in 2015.
 

dk1

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Sheringham had a through service to and from LST for a while with 150 units

Can't imagine many people doing March (don't remember if the sparse Manea service at the time was on through LST services) to LST via IPS
Ironically Anglia re-introduced the through Sheringham service (0620 ex-Liv St/2002 rtn) & it ran until 2000 when class 170s arrived & the branch was one of the only not to be served by direct trains.

The Peterborough to Liverpool St via March/Ipswich where more aimed at through journeys en route rather than end to end.
 

Ken H

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Settle and Appleby used to have the Thames-Clyde Express to from St Pancras in the mid 70's. Think it went while BR was trying to close the S&C.
I suppose Skipton and Keighley also lost their through train, but they have got the through train to KX now
 

High Dyke

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Market Rasen lost its through service when the Cleethorpes service ended, got diverted via Doncaster. Skegness, Boston and Sleaford also used to have a through service to London on a Saturday morning. None of those locations currently have a direct service.

Places like Collingham, Newark Castle and Lowdham have seen a service commence in the last few years; with Lincoln having its direct service re-introduced.
 

Jorge Da Silva

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Market Rasen lost its through service when the Cleethorpes service ended, got diverted via Doncaster. Skegness, Boston and Sleaford also used to have a through service to London on a Saturday morning. None of those locations currently have a direct service.

Places like Collingham, Newark Castle and Lowdham have seen a service commence in the last few years; with Lincoln having its direct service re-introduced.

Cleethorpes lost direct services in 1992 after Electrification has not been a direct service since. Service was reinstated from Kings Cross as far as Lincoln.
 

Ken H

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Glasgow Queen St used to have direct services to KX. They did a round trip from Edinburgh early doors, and of course the return trip went on to KX. Same at night. Idea was to allow more time for push pull set maintenance. On electrification, they diverted the east coast trains to Glasgow Central. I imagine Falkirk High lost out too.
Dont know how Polmont and Linlithgow got on. I think the Highland Chieftan was running then - but did that stop at those stations?
Another justification was to get Glasgow-Newcastle traffic.
 

hexagon789

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Glasgow Queen St used to have direct services to KX. They did a round trip from Edinburgh early doors, and of course the return trip went on to KX. Same at night. Idea was to allow more time for push pull set maintenance. On electrification, they diverted the east coast trains to Glasgow Central. I imagine Falkirk High lost out too.
Dont know how Polmont and Linlithgow got on. I think the Highland Chieftan was running then - but did that stop at those stations?
Another justification was to get Glasgow-Newcastle traffic.

The HSTs out of Queen Street simply ran in the slot of the normal services so served Polmont or Linlithgow in addition to Falkirk High and Haymarket.

As for the Chieftain, none of the timetables I possess has it calling at Polmont or Linlithgow, but it did used to serve Dunblane and Larbert in some years.
 
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