Department of Transport Categories

TBY-Paul · 12 Jun 2020

I've just been reading a thread about most sparse platform at a major Station, as a consequence I followed a link to a Wikipedia page showing the list of Categories :-

From Wikipedia said:
The 2,520 railway stations on the National Rail network in Great Britain are classified into six categories (two of which are each divided into two subcategories) by the Department for Transport. The scheme was devised in 1996 and there was a review in 2009 when 106 stations changed categories. The categorisation scheme is owned by Network Rail, the site landlord of most of the stations.
Some stations are in more than one category: for instance, at London St Pancras International, the surface platforms are in category A and the Thameslink platforms are in category C1.
Categorisation scheme

Category Number Desricpion Trips per annum Example
A 28 National hub over 2 million Birmingham New Street, London King's Cross
B 67 Regional interchange over 2 million Clapham Junction, Preston
C 248 C1 Important feeder 0.5–2 million Grantham, Plymouth
C2 " Burgess Hill, Tamworth
D 298 Medium staffed 0.25–0.5 million Abergavenny, Penrith
E 679 Small staffed under 0.25 million Boston, Oakham
F 1,200 F1 Small unstaffed under 0.25 million Beccles, Bishop Auckland
F2 " Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, Winchelsea

Category C stations are sub-divided into C1 (city or busy junction) and C2 (other busy railheads). The only exception is Worthing, which has not been given a subcategory; it is listed by DfT as "C".

Category F stations are sub-divided into F1 (over 100,000 journeys per annum) and F2 (others).

I was wondering how accurately the criteria is followed. As an example I find it strange that somewhere like Bishop Auckland (0.155 million passengers) is Cat F1, Yet Thornaby ( 0.591 million) is Cat F2 (probaly a true reflection in 1996). Thornaby Station was rebuilt in 2003, so at the 2009 review I would have thought the station would have changed categories (poss to Cat D in 2009). Are there any other stations that people think are wrongly categorised?

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matchmaker · 12 Jun 2020

TBY-Paul said:
I've just been reading a thread about most sparse platform at a major Station, as a consequence I followed a link to a Wikipedia page showing the list of Categories :-

I was wondering how accurately the criteria is followed. As an example I find it strange that somewhere like Bishop Auckland (0.155 million passengers) is Cat F1, Yet Thornaby ( 0.591 million) is Cat F2 (probaly a true reflection in 1996). Thornaby Station was rebuilt in 2003, so at the 2009 review I would have thought the station would have changed categories (poss to Cat D in 2009). Are there any other stations that people think are wrongly categorised?

As I mentioned on the thread mentioned above, the Wikipedia page doesn't list any Scottish stations. This might be because the DfT isn't involved with most Scottish railway matters, as these are devolved.

AlastairFraser · 12 Jun 2020

TBY-Paul said:
I've just been reading a thread about most sparse platform at a major Station, as a consequence I followed a link to a Wikipedia page showing the list of Categories :-

I was wondering how accurately the criteria is followed. As an example I find it strange that somewhere like Bishop Auckland (0.155 million passengers) is Cat F1, Yet Thornaby ( 0.591 million) is Cat F2 (probaly a true reflection in 1996). Thornaby Station was rebuilt in 2003, so at the 2009 review I would have thought the station would have changed categories (poss to Cat D in 2009). Are there any other stations that people think are wrongly categorised?

My local Reading sees approx. 17 million passengers a year and is classed as Cat B when York is Cat A and sees approx. 12 million passengers a year.

route:oxford · 12 Jun 2020

AlastairFraser said:
My local Reading sees approx. 17 million passengers a year and is classed as Cat B when York is Cat A and sees approx. 12 million passengers a year.

Reading - London Commuter Town
York - Delightful City.

AlastairFraser · 12 Jun 2020

GetTaeFalkirk said:
Reading - London Commuter Town
York - Delightful City.

You what?! York is a overpriced tourist trap. And, I mean, Falkirk isn't much better than Baltimore. I think you'll find we're the county town of Berkshire and we have character and our own industry.

swt_passenger · 12 Jun 2020

AlastairFraser said:
My local Reading sees approx. 17 million passengers a year and is classed as Cat B when York is Cat A and sees approx. 12 million passengers a year.

The differentiation between A and B in the report has nothing much to do with passenger numbers, both the top 2 categories only needed more than 2 million...

AlastairFraser · 12 Jun 2020

swt_passenger said:
The differentiation between A and B in the report has nothing much to do with passenger numbers, both the top 2 categories only needed more than 2 million...

Yep, but York is classed as a national hub and Reading as a regional interchange, when Reading has services to many more destinations than York and is the interchange of 1 more line than York is.

route:oxford · 12 Jun 2020

AlastairFraser said:
You what?! York is a overpriced tourist trap. And, I mean, Falkirk isn't much better than Baltimore. I think you'll find we're the county town of Berkshire and we have character and our own industry.

Aww, Baltimore is lovely! Have you been? If you go down to the stadium, there's a "slow train" to DC - considerably cheaper than taking the Acela and not much slower. The B&O Railroad museum is well worth a visit too.

Only the county town since the 70s! It is famous though... Isn't that where the fraudster that bankrupted HBOS came from?

Ianno87 · 12 Jun 2020

AlastairFraser said:
Yep, but York is classed as a national hub and Reading as a regional interchange, when Reading has services to many more destinations than York and is the interchange of 1 more line than York is.

York is much more of nationally strategically important destination than Reading.

AlastairFraser · 13 Jun 2020

GetTaeFalkirk said:
Aww, Baltimore is lovely! Have you been? If you go down to the stadium, there's a "slow train" to DC - considerably cheaper than taking the Acela and not much slower. The B&O Railroad museum is well worth a visit too.

Only the county town since the 70s! It is famous though... Isn't that where the fraudster that bankrupted HBOS came from?

Grr, only the HBOS offices were here. I'll let you know we have a significant role to play in transport history. We implemented and still have the first contraflow bus lane in the UK. We became the county town in 1869 actually, what you were thinking of was the boundary changes in 1974 when Oxfordshire stole Wallingford and the Vale of White Horse from Berks(Abingdon is in the Vale).

AlastairFraser · 13 Jun 2020

Ianno87 said:
York is much more of nationally strategically important destination than Reading.

How? They're both significant stops on 2 primary mainlines(Great Western Main Line and East Coast Main Line), they both have cross country services passing through them and commuter lines branching off the main line there(Reading to Waterloo,Reading to Basingstoke and the Harrogate line from York).

Skie · 13 Jun 2020

TBY-Paul said:
I was wondering how accurately the criteria is followed.

Not that accurately.

Category E seems to be a bit of a dumping ground. Lots of London and Merseyrail stations for example have >1m passengers but are category E

Ianno87 · 13 Jun 2020

AlastairFraser said:
How? They're both significant stops on 2 primary mainlines(Great Western Main Line and East Coast Main Line), they both have cross country services passing through them and commuter lines branching off the main line there(Reading to Waterloo,Reading to Basingstoke and the Harrogate line from York).

York has an international tourism reputation. Reading doesn't. Reading is basically a massive commuter station with some long distance passengers thrown in.

Might seem silly, but is important in recognising stations as 'Gateways' to global visitors.

CW2 · 13 Jun 2020

I've lived in both Reading and York. York is a city, with a magnificent Minster, an Archbishop (second only to Canterbury in the heirarchy), and numerous old buildings, mostly well preserved. It has a thriving arts scene, and facilities which are the envy of other towns and cities, even those of greater size. Reading has Reading Gaol (of Oscar Wilde fame), a history of Beer Bulbs and Biscuits (of which both the bulbs and the biscuits have long since moved away), and a ruined Abbey. Nowadays it is like Stevenage or Watford - plenty of new buildings, a thriving local economy, but not much "soul".
Having said that, the classification (in terms of railway usage) does seem a little odd.

Skie · 13 Jun 2020

Reading also has a large cluster of technology companies UK HQs so does tend to attract a lot of international business visitors.

Been a few times and it’s a nice “trendy” place.

coppercapped · 13 Jun 2020

Ianno87 said:
York has an international tourism reputation. Reading doesn't. Reading is basically a massive commuter station with some long distance passengers thrown in.

SNIP

Not this old canard again? :frown:

More people travel into Reading to work than travel out of it to work - it is not simply a dormitory town but the commercial and industrial centre of the middle Thames Valley, a thriving and prosperous area. Inward and outward rail flows during the peak periods are nearly evenly balanced, don't forget that there are five rail routes into and out of the town, six if one counts the Swindon and Oxford routes separately. Although the biggest single flow is to Paddington in the morning and return in the evening the pedestrian flows at these times into and out the station are pretty evenly matched.

It's high time this misconception is laid to rest.

Ianno87 · 13 Jun 2020

coppercapped said:
Not this old canard again?

More people travel into Reading to work than travel out of it to work - it is not simply a dormitory town but the commercial and industrial centre of the middle Thames Valley, a thriving and prosperous area. Inward and outward rail flows during the peak periods are nearly evenly balanced, don't forget that there are five rail routes into and out of the town, six if one counts the Swindon and Oxford routes separately. Although the biggest single flow is to Paddington in the morning and return in the evening the pedestrian flows at these times into and out the station are pretty evenly matched.

It's high time this misconception is laid to rest.

So basically ....it's a commuter station (albeit a very busy one), exactly like I said?

Mikey C · 13 Jun 2020

The York Tap is enough to elevate York station to a higher category than Reading

6026KingJohn · 13 Jun 2020

AlastairFraser said:
Grr, only the HBOS offices were here. I'll let you know we have a significant role to play in transport history. We implemented and still have the first contraflow bus lane in the UK. We became the county town in 1869 actually, what you were thinking of was the boundary changes in 1974 when Oxfordshire stole Wallingford and the Vale of White Horse from Berks(Abingdon is in the Vale).

I know this is OT but when did you get a contraflow bus lane? Back in the 1960s in Walsall part of Stafford Street was made one way and, to avoid the cost of moving the overhead wires, a contraflow bus lane was created for the trolleybuses and it is still there.

kieron · 13 Jun 2020

Does anyone know if Network Rail or the DfT (or anyone in the industry, for that matter) uses these categories for anything?

I had a look at the Northern franchise agreement. It does have something in it to say the franchisee should ensure that each station has specific facilities. The agreement does use categories to decide which station needs which facilities, but these categories were based solely on the ORR's station usage figures.

If the categories are not used now, it doesn't matter that Reading was one of the stations which was moved to category B in 2009.

coppercapped · 13 Jun 2020

Ianno87 said:
So basically ....it's a commuter station (albeit a very busy one), exactly like I said?

Yes, but aren't they all? Commuting to one's normal place of work in the south east of England is the main driver of rail travel, no great surprises there!

Comparing York and Reading, according to the ORR's figures both stations recorded about 7.5 million entrances and exits for reduced fare travel in 2017-18 - essentially off-peak and leisure travel. Rather surprisingly in view of York's tourist attractions pretty much identical for both places. Maybe many of York's tourists arrive by car? For full fare travel York recorded 1.2 million entrances and exits and Reading 3.6 million.

Season tickets entrances and exits were 1.2 million for York and 5.7 million for Reading. Taking the percentage of season tickets entrances and exits to the total of entrances and exits as a proxy for the importance of commuting to the station, showed York at about 12% and Reading at about 33%. What the ORR's figures do not show is where these season tickets are purchased - they will be recorded as seasons going through the gates but they may not have been purchased at either Reading or York. In view of the approximate balance of inbound and outbound passengers during the morning and evening peaks at Reading I would suggest that around half the season ticket journeys counted had the tickets purchased at stations other than Reading.

So yes, Reading is a commuter station but both in- and out-bound. The normal interpretation of a commuter station is one where the tidal flow is mornings to the big city and evenings back home — Reading does not fit this model.

It is also used by three times as many full fare passengers every year as York and it is also an important interchange, over 4 million people change trains there every year, some 4 times more than York.

I'm not sure what all this proves - except that the markets for rail travel in both places are very different!

Joseph_Locke · 14 Jun 2020

kieron said:
Does anyone know if Network Rail or the DfT (or anyone in the industry, for that matter) uses these categories for anything?

It's used as an early requirement to specify minimum levels of facilities - that's why the numbers are so low. That said, it all gets value engineered out of the window, normally by DfT, so ...

WAO · 14 Jun 2020

Ianno87 said:
York has an international tourism reputation. Reading doesn't. Reading is basically a massive commuter station with some long distance passengers thrown in.

Might seem silly, but is important in recognising stations as 'Gateways' to global visitors.

Misconceptions. A politician visiting Reading recently commented that Reading was a new town! New to the Saxons, that is.

The Govt recently did a review of historic towns and was surprised to find Reading in the top 8% in Listed buildings (over 800 and higher than many Cathedral cities) and has instituted action in response. If you doubt this, go to its Civic Society's home page and view the "Georgian Reading" images, just one part of its heritage assets.

Reading is not primarily a tourist town, true but it is a major metropolitan centre, among the top 20 in the UK, depending on how that's measured and the centre of "Silicon Valley". It seems small in population only because its boundaries exclude its wealthy suburbs (so that the middle classes could pay rural not urban rates but freeload on the services (buses etc)) paid for by the poorer townies. That St Asaph (where?) was given City status over Reading shows just how shoddy Govt decision making is.

It is unmatched in passenger train services, with direct trains almost everywhere - including Eastern England after Crossrail (although you could occasionally hear the WR station announcer say "this is a Southern Region train and not for public use!)

It is much more a global gateway than York as it is the first stop for many Heathrow and Gatwick arrivals. It is a disgrace that its Gatwick service is not electrified - but perhaps gives foreigners arriving a good idea of what to expect from the UK.

WAO

Ianno87 · 14 Jun 2020

coppercapped said:
Yes, but aren't they all? Commuting to one's normal place of work in the south east of England is the main driver of rail travel, no great surprises there!

Comparing York and Reading, according to the ORR's figures both stations recorded about 7.5 million entrances and exits for reduced fare travel in 2017-18 - essentially off-peak and leisure travel. Rather surprisingly in view of York's tourist attractions pretty much identical for both places. Maybe many of York's tourists arrive by car? For full fare travel York recorded 1.2 million entrances and exits and Reading 3.6 million.

Season tickets entrances and exits were 1.2 million for York and 5.7 million for Reading. Taking the percentage of season tickets entrances and exits to the total of entrances and exits as a proxy for the importance of commuting to the station, showed York at about 12% and Reading at about 33%. What the ORR's figures do not show is where these season tickets are purchased - they will be recorded as seasons going through the gates but they may not have been purchased at either Reading or York. In view of the approximate balance of inbound and outbound passengers during the morning and evening peaks at Reading I would suggest that around half the season ticket journeys counted had the tickets purchased at stations other than Reading.

So yes, Reading is a commuter station but both in- and out-bound. The normal interpretation of a commuter station is one where the tidal flow is mornings to the big city and evenings back home — Reading does not fit this model.

It is also used by three times as many full fare passengers every year as York and it is also an important interchange, over 4 million people change trains there every year, some 4 times more than York.

I'm not sure what all this proves - except that the markets for rail travel in both places are very different!

A huge proportion of the Reading "Reduced fares" will be people buying Off Peak Day Returns to London. Nothing to do with tourism *to* Reading.

WAO said:
Misconceptions. A politician visiting Reading recently commented that Reading was a new town! New to the Saxons, that is.

The Govt recently did a review of historic towns and was surprised to find Reading in the top 8% in Listed buildings (over 800 and higher than many Cathedral cities) and has instituted action in response. If you doubt this, go to its Civic Society's home page and view the "Georgian Reading" images, just one part of its heritage assets.

Reading is not primarily a tourist town, true but it is a major metropolitan centre, among the top 20 in the UK, depending on how that's measured and the centre of "Silicon Valley". It seems small in population only because its boundaries exclude its wealthy suburbs (so that the middle classes could pay rural not urban rates but freeload on the services (buses etc)) paid for by the poorer townies. That St Asaph (where?) was given City status over Reading shows just how shoddy Govt decision making is.

It is unmatched in passenger train services, with direct trains almost everywhere - including Eastern England after Crossrail (although you could occasionally hear the WR station announcer say "this is a Southern Region train and not for public use!)

It is much more a global gateway than York as it is the first stop for many Heathrow and Gatwick arrivals. It is a disgrace that its Gatwick service is not electrified - but perhaps gives foreigners arriving a good idea of what to expect from the UK.

WAO

Are hordes of international tourists flocking to see Reading? No. Is it regularly on coach tours aimed at international travellers? No.

What percentage of Heathrow/Gatwick travellers go through Reading? A tiny one (an hourly or so coach from Heathrow, hourly Turbo from Gatwick - not significant in the grand scheme of things of every flight landing at Heathrow).

The categorisation is, simply, is about far more than just passenger numbers.

WAO · 14 Jun 2020

Ianno87 said:
Are hordes of international tourists flocking to see Reading? No. Is it regularly on coach tours aimed at international travellers? No.

The point is that Reading is a serious international business centre and destination, worth more to the UK than ice cream and postcard sales to tourists.

WAO

coppercapped · 14 Jun 2020

Ianno87 said:
A huge proportion of the Reading "Reduced fares" will be people buying Off Peak Day Returns to London. Nothing to do with tourism *to* Reading.

If you read what I wrote I never suggested that tourism /to/ Reading was the reason. All I wrote was:

Rather surprisingly in view of York's tourist attractions pretty much identical for both places.

I had expected the numbers to be higher for York, hence my question as to whether the tourists arrive by car.

Ianno87 said:
Are hordes of international tourists flocking to see Reading? No. Is it regularly on coach tours aimed at international travellers? No.

What percentage of Heathrow/Gatwick travellers go through Reading? A tiny one (an hourly or so coach from Heathrow, hourly Turbo from Gatwick - not significant in the grand scheme of things of every flight landing at Heathrow).

The categorisation is, simply, is about far more than just passenger numbers.

I really don't know what you are trying to prove. The UK is much more than tourism and Reading and the surrounding area has a range of industrial, financial, technical and commercial activities and therefore both attracts and originates a lot of rail traffic.

Get used to it.

mister-sparky · 15 Jun 2020

So this thread has turned into yet another “my town is better than your town” thread... *sigh*

DarloRich · 16 Jun 2020

TBY-Paul said:
I was wondering how accurately the criteria is followed.

Do they mean anything to anyone?

Ianno87 · 16 Jun 2020

mister-sparky said:
So this thread has turned into yet another “my town is better than your town” thread... *sigh*

Neither are my town. Which means I'm looking at it objectively about the rationale for the categorisations.

Category	Number		Desricpion	Trips per annum	Example
A	28		National hub	over 2 million	Birmingham New Street, London King's Cross
B	67		Regional interchange	over 2 million	Clapham Junction, Preston
C	248	C1	Important feeder	0.5–2 million	Grantham, Plymouth
		C2	"		Burgess Hill, Tamworth
D	298		Medium staffed	0.25–0.5 million	Abergavenny, Penrith
E	679		Small staffed	under 0.25 million	Boston, Oakham
F	1,200	F1	Small unstaffed	under 0.25 million	Beccles, Bishop Auckland
		F2	"		Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, Winchelsea

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