• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

TRIVIA: Pairs of stations that nobody has ever made a journey between

Status
Not open for further replies.

PTR 444

Established Member
Joined
22 Aug 2019
Messages
2,278
Location
Wimborne
It's easy to find out what the busiest and least busiest stations in the UK are, the latter even more so thanks to Geoff Marshall's All The Stations YouTube channel. With most of the rail community aware of annual passenger figures, it would be more interesting to find out if there are any stations on the national rail network that have received zero ticket sales to a certain other station. I'm sure there are bound to be a fair few, such as somewhere on the Cornish branch lines to a remote station in the Scottish Highlands, or a journey between two of the quietest stations such as Shippea Hill to Redcar British Steel.
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Ianno87

Veteran Member
Joined
3 May 2015
Messages
15,215
Unlikely parings I've personally bought tickets between:

Cambridge North to Romsey
Horwich Parkway to Epsom
Northampton to Morchard Road
Lostock to Bath Spa
New Beckenham to Windermere
 

Jamesrob637

Established Member
Joined
12 Aug 2016
Messages
5,205
Two which are ridiculously close together such as Davenport and Woodsmoor?

Edit: St Budeaux Ferry Road to St Budeaux Victoria Road :D
 

tsr

Established Member
Joined
15 Nov 2011
Messages
7,400
Location
Between the parallel lines
I can't image Coombe Junction Halt having many ticket sales beyond the Devon and Cornwall area. When I visited, I was on a Rover ticket for the local patch, and I should imagine many enthusiasts would opt for the same - although longer-distance tickets have probably increased after the limited station calls moved towards the middle of the day, allowing a same-day journey from much of the South.

There must be quite a few little-used stations in the same vein.

As for personal journeys, one of my weirdest tickets has to have been Godstone to Pembroke Dock.
 

Ianno87

Veteran Member
Joined
3 May 2015
Messages
15,215
Two which are ridiculously close together such as Davenport and Woodsmoor?

Adjacent stations that have no/limited direct services are probably a good shout - such as Merdian Water/Angel Road to Ponders End.

Or stations where the only rail route is circuitous, such as Dove Holes to Whatstandwell.
 

PTR 444

Established Member
Joined
22 Aug 2019
Messages
2,278
Location
Wimborne
Despite both being on the same mainline, i’d imagine Holton Heath to Beaulieu Road would be a strong contender due to the former being closed on Sundays and the latter having only a skeleton service on all other days of the week.
 

Helvellyn

Established Member
Joined
28 Aug 2009
Messages
1,995
Sugar Loaf Halt to Teesside Airport? There will be lots like that.

On a tangent I wonder if there are any station pairings where no fare exists, and if so what are the closest and furthest apart.
 

route101

Established Member
Joined
16 May 2010
Messages
10,594
Used to do Busby to York etc , few didnt know where Busby was . There advances from East Kilbride now
 

gg1

Established Member
Joined
2 Jun 2011
Messages
1,893
Location
Birmingham
Adjacent stations that have no/limited direct services are probably a good shout - such as Merdian Water/Angel Road to Ponders End.

Or stations where the only rail route is circuitous, such as Dove Holes to Whatstandwell.

Yep, I'm sure there are hundreds of pairs of stations which qualify, however most pairs will consist of at least 1 small town/village station.

What's more interesting is any parings where both station are reasonable sized towns or cities, some possible candidates are:
Northampton to Kettering, Corby or Wellingborough (ie the largest town in the county to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th largest)
High Wycombe to Maidenhead.
Bedford to Hitchin
 

Journeyman

Established Member
Joined
16 Apr 2014
Messages
6,295
It's easy to find out what the busiest and least busiest stations in the UK are, the latter even more so thanks to Geoff Marshall's All The Stations YouTube channel. With most of the rail community aware of annual passenger figures, it would be more interesting to find out if there are any stations on the national rail network that have received zero ticket sales to a certain other station. I'm sure there are bound to be a fair few, such as somewhere on the Cornish branch lines to a remote station in the Scottish Highlands, or a journey between two of the quietest stations such as Shippea Hill to Redcar British Steel.

Well, the Penzance to Wick First Class Open Return, famously used in the media as an example of how expensive train tickets are, has equally famously never been sold.
 

Journeyman

Established Member
Joined
16 Apr 2014
Messages
6,295
Tickets from Reddish South to Denton have always been available, but until May 2018, the journey was impossible to actually carry out.
 

wyddfa

Member
Joined
1 Jun 2016
Messages
5
Upper Tyndrum to Lower Tyndrum? So much quicker to walk than go to Crianlarich and back.
 

Journeyman

Established Member
Joined
16 Apr 2014
Messages
6,295
Upper Tyndrum to Lower Tyndrum? So much quicker to walk than go to Crianlarich and back.

I used to work at Bank/Monument tube station, which although sort-of two stations, is linked together and managed as a single complex. It's pretty huge, so the entrances are quite a long way apart, but it's not far to walk from one end to the other at street level.

I was at the Monument gateline one day, when a guy came up to me rather flustered, and asked how to get to Bank by tube. I explained he could walk there in a fraction of the time it would take to get there by tube, as it was all technically part of the same station and only a few minutes away at street level, but he insisted he was in a hurry and was determined to take the train. I told him to change at Liverpool Street, which I'm pretty sure he did. Somewhat later, I was strolling past the Bank exit on my break, and saw him emerge onto the street, looking even more flustered.
 

Starmill

Veteran Member
Fares Advisor
Joined
18 May 2012
Messages
23,224
Location
Bolton
Couple of weeks ago I bought a ticket from Bank Hall to Penyffordd. It certainly set me to wondering if anyone else had bought one yet this year! I also have an Advance ticket from Carmyle to Wool which strikes me as a very unusual journey to be making by rail.

Years ago I once bought a ticket from Peartree to Tal-y-Cafn and that set me to thinking the same thing.

Even fairly major pairings are probably likely to be sold never or almost never, where the railway service is entirely uncompetitive. For example, Fort William to Inverness, Whitby to Scarborough, Epsom to Epsom Downs or Porthmadog to Bangor. I think cases where no fare is available (e.g Warrington Central to Warrington Bank Quay) should certainly be excluded.
 
Last edited:
Joined
31 Aug 2019
Messages
341
Location
IW
HOw would you find out if such a ticket has ever been bought.

New Mills Central to Buxton is an unlikely trip as its via Man Picc when you can just do a 15 minute walk to New mills newtown and catch a direct train
 

61653 HTAFC

Veteran Member
Joined
18 Dec 2012
Messages
17,623
Location
Another planet...
Strangest tickets I've bought were.
Marsden (Yorks) to Bordesley
Hampton Court to Berry Brow
Chapeltown (Yorks) to Strood (due to a ticketing error that allowed me to make that return journey for something like £8.50)
 

Trainfan2019

Member
Joined
9 Aug 2019
Messages
450
I wonder which would be the least made ticket purchase between the following:

Derby to Peartree or Peartree to Derby?
 

adrock1976

Established Member
Joined
10 Dec 2013
Messages
4,450
Location
What's it called? It's called Cumbernauld
One that is unlikely to be sold is Teesside Airport to any of the limited service stations between Knottingley and Goole.

This is due to there being a Sundays Only service at Teesside Airport, and No Sunday Service between Knottingley and Goole.

In Scotland, it would also be unlikely for tickets to be sold between either Balmossie - Golf Street inclusive to Coatbridge Central or Carstairs especially on a Sunday, as all those stations have No Sunday Service.

According to the main screen on the machine at Crookston station that lists the popular destinations, I was rather surprised to find IBM Halt still listed, as that station has now been mothballed.
 
Last edited:

randyrippley

Established Member
Joined
21 Feb 2016
Messages
5,075
when it was open............Weymouth Harbour to Weymouth Town
Dorchester West and Dorchester South?
Giggleswick and Settle?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top