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Warwick Parkway ownership

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toby_farman

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Is Warwick Parkway the only National Rail railway station owned by a franchised TOC?

I know some London Overground stations are owned by TfL (not franchised) and some other National Rail stations are owned privately (like Fishguard Harbour) - but I know Warwick Parkway is owned by Chiltern Railways - (what happens when they lose the franchise?)
 
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Jorge Da Silva

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Is Warwick Parkway the only National Rail railway station owned by a franchised TOC?

I know some London Overground stations are owned by TfL (not franchised) and some other National Rail stations are owned privately (like Fishguard Harbour) - but I know Warwick Parkway is owned by Chiltern Railways - (what happens when they lose the franchise?)

owned by Chiltern Railways I think.
 

toby_farman

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Might be the only one. I had heard Cardiff Parkway was set to be privately funded. I know Chester-le-Street isn't owned by Network Rail and instead Chester-le-Track

Cardiff Parkway will be owned by Transport For Wales (The welsh govt) and not Transport For Wales Rail Services (Keolis Amey, the franchised TOC). There is a difference.

Also Chester-le-Track ceased trading in 2018 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester-le-Street_railway_station#Operator_and_facilities
 

pdeaves

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Is Warwick Parkway the only National Rail railway station owned by a franchised TOC?
No. It's not actually owned by Chiltern, it is owned by M40 Trains that is Chiltern's owning company; both are now part of Arriva. In the event of the franchise being awarded to someone else, M40 Trains will still own Warwick Parkway.

http://www.railwaycodes.org.uk/stations/station0.shtm (and linked pages) give owners. As a matter of interest, the core valley lines (stations and routes) have just passed to TfW ownership (last Saturday).

I know Chester-le-Street isn't owned by Network Rail and instead Chester-le-Track
Chester-le-Track only ran the booking office; they did not own the station.
 

SeanG

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No. It's not actually owned by Chiltern, it is owned by M40 Trains that is Chiltern's owning company; both are now part of Arriva. In the event of the franchise being awarded to someone else, M40 Trains will still own Warwick Parkway.

http://www.railwaycodes.org.uk/stations/station0.shtm (and linked pages) give owners. As a matter of interest, the core valley lines (stations and routes) have just passed to TfW ownership (last Saturday).

On a cynical note, if they lost the franchise, could they charge (extortionate?) fees to stop there?
 

toby_farman

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On a cynical note, if they lost the franchise, could they charge (extortionate?) fees to stop there?

Perhaps, or Network Rail could compulsory purchase the station?

It is the only TOC owned National Rail station in the country, right?
 

pdeaves

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On a cynical note, if they lost the franchise, could they charge (extortionate?) fees to stop there?
Agreement between owner and TOC (and between TOCs where one stops at a station managed by another) is overseen by the ORR to prevent unreasonable/extortionate demands.

Perhaps, or Network Rail could compulsory purchase the station?
There would need to be some form of legislation to allow any company to compulsorily purchase something belonging to another. Mutual agreement would be more likely if NR were to take ownership.
 

Parallel

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Isn’t Fishguard Harbour owned by Stena Line, or is it just managed by them? I know they permit smoking on the platform.
 

CyrusWuff

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I believe a similar situation applies to both Aylesbury Vale Parkway and Coleshill Parkway, both of which were originally Laing Rail projects.

Looking at Chiltern's franchise agreement, both Aylesbury Vale Parkway and Warwick Parkway are on a "licence to occupy" basis, rather than the lease agreement that applies to the other stations Chiltern manage.
 

Gathursty

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Hypothetical question: Could one of these companies legally physically block a train going through a station that they own? eg: a barrier being put on the line at Southend Airport station.

Don't ask me why they would want to do it, but are they legally allowed to?
 

PG

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Hypothetical question: Could one of these companies legally physically block a train going through a station that they own? eg: a barrier being put on the line at Southend Airport station.

Don't ask me why they would want to do it, but are they legally allowed to?
Ahhh but do they own the tracks or just everything else? i.e. Do NR own the tracks?

Maybe if they don't own the tracks they could prevent a train stopping there but not block it from passing through.
 

alistairlees

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Hypothetical question: Could one of these companies legally physically block a train going through a station that they own? eg: a barrier being put on the line at Southend Airport station.

Don't ask me why they would want to do it, but are they legally allowed to?
No, they don’t own the railway route. Just the station.
 

MarkyT

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It's likely adjacent access and car parking land is fully owned freehold by the TOC parent company, but they will have a long term agreement have their platforms and buildings on NR land within the alignment. The 'license to occupy' mentioned upthread will be the legal instrument; I'd guess all interested parties will have negotiated a complex set of clauses therein to protect their interests in any envisaged future scenario. I believe the extra platform at Princes Risborough was provided and paid for by the TOC under similar terms.
 

thenorthern

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Horwich Parkway is owned by Transport for Greater Manchester but it's operated by Northern.

Warwick Parkway is indeed owned by Chiltern Railways though.
 

Bald Rick

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Hypothetical question: Could one of these companies legally physically block a train going through a station that they own? eg: a barrier being put on the line at Southend Airport station.

Don't ask me why they would want to do it, but are they legally allowed to?

They could, but they’d be swiftly charged with endangering the safety of the railway.
 

BantamMenace

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Chiltern sold the new platforms to NR on completion of the project at Marylebone according to Chiltern's announcement at the time.

Do you know if this was preagreed as a means of speeding up a project, i.e. you just do it, we'll buy them off you for £x once complete?

If so, sounds an interesting method to get small improvements done without NR timescales and with cost risk moved to the privatised operators away from NR.
 
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