ECML pre-Beeching rationalisation by stealth?

[70014IronDuke]

Management of the ECML in the 1950s did a splendid job of closing wayside stations - places like Essendine, Crow Park and Claypole all closing between 1950-59, long before Beeching was heard of in connection with railways. It seems to me that said management were 'ahead of the curve' in this compared to most of their contemporaries.

Mind, the elegantly named Scrooby (between Retford and Doncaster) went even earlier, in 1931, and Barnby Moor and Sutton (Ditto) in 1949.

This of course enabled the ECML to rid itself of annoyingly unimportant, revenue-short stations and concentrate on more lucrative, and what was later termed 'inter-city', traffic.

My questions: Was this a publicised plan, or was it done surreptiously, by stealth? Indeed, was it a plan, or did management just do the job piecemeal? Did it cause any public outcry, or were these places - mostly small villages as they were - generally uninterested given the rising car ownership levels and, presumably, substitute bus services provided, at least to the 'hub' towns like Peterborough, Grantham and Newark either sides of these closed stations?

 

[thedbdiboy]

There was no publicised plan of action pre-Beeching to closures and indeed many closures in the 1950s proceeded with what today would seem to be indecent haste; although there were objections the overriding impression gained from contemporary accounts was that closures were a shame but progress was progress and Victorian steam railways were obsolete technology in the age of the motor bus and the car.
Part of the reason was no doubt that the breadth and extent of railway coverage post-war was such that there were many hundreds of miles of track and many wayside stations that were by the 1950s of so little relevance to mainstream life that their loss was not regarded as more than of passing interest; the Beeching report set out a much more rigorous/brutal programme that went far beyond rural wayside lines and was ultimately to leave large swathes of the country with no rail provision whatsoever. For that reason the Transport Act 1962 created the closure process whereby the TUCC was required to consider objections and make a recommendation to the Minister of Transport (although naturally this was not binding as the last thing government wanted was a statutory process that tied their hands).

 

[Bevan Price]

The "formal" procedure, giving notice of proposed closure, and giving the public a chance to object, was only introduced in the 1960s. Immediately prior to that, BR just had to get the permission of the Ministry of Transport (or whatever it was then called) to close a line or station. There probably were objections about closures, but those could be ignored by the ministry or railway.

I am not sure of the full legal situation prior to 1948. There was normally no requirement to provide replacement bus services - although numerous bus companies were owned by railway companies, and some bus services were used to replace (mostly local) rail services. As railways needed Acts of Parliament to be constructed, it may have been necessary to obtain an Act of Parliament to abandon a line - I cannot say if the same applied to individual stations on a line thet remained open.

There had always been closures of "unsuccessful" stations since the early days of the railways, but the first biggish batch of service suspensions came during WW1 (1917) - some services never resuming. The financial depression of the 1920s & 1930s led to another steady stream of line & station closures, although some lines were retained for freight only. BR continued to close lines steadily from its beginning in 1948, although never in one single massive closure exercise as started by Marples / Beeching.

 

[Taunton]

It wasn't just the ECML, elsewhere too. The Western removed large numbers of country stations on main lines. At Taunton, which used to have local services radiating in all directions, the very first to go were the stoppers on the main line to Castle Cary, in the 1950s.

The fact was that these local services were something from a past generation, hardly used (some were known for running completely empty). Many of the country stations were sited in pretty useless locations for the communities they supposedly served, whereas bus services were normally routed right through villages and any towns along the way. Buses in the main street every 30 minutes contrasted with trains a few times a day. Even the rural buses however were losing passengers back in the 1950s. The most unsuccessful bus services of all were the official "rail replacement" ones, which continued the rail service's experience of running empty. Any genuine need had been met by other bus operations many decades previously.

It is however notable that the Southern did not do this, which continues to this day. Minor stations in East Kent or through the New Forest, well removed from London commuting, seem to survive with minimal usage.

 

[yorksrob]

It wasn't just the ECML, elsewhere too. The Western removed large numbers of country stations on main lines. At Taunton, which used to have local services radiating in all directions, the very first to go were the stoppers on the main line to Castle Cary, in the 1950s.

The fact was that these local services were something from a past generation, hardly used (some were known for running completely empty). Many of the country stations were sited in pretty useless locations for the communities they supposedly served, whereas bus services were normally routed right through villages and any towns along the way. Buses in the main street every 30 minutes contrasted with trains a few times a day. Even the rural buses however were losing passengers back in the 1950s. The most unsuccessful bus services of all were the official "rail replacement" ones, which continued the rail service's experience of running empty. Any genuine need had been met by other bus operations many decades previously.

It is however notable that the Southern did not do this, which continues to this day. Minor stations in East Kent or through the New Forest, well removed from London commuting, seem to survive with minimal usage.

I'm not sure that any of the surviving wayside stations in Kent or the rest of the Southern are comparable with the likes of Claypole. Certainly the terrain on the Southern seems more heavily populated than large stretches of the ECML.

The Southern was also not immune to station closures during the period. Smeeth, between Ashford and Westenhanger closed to passengers in 1955, and Hothfield between Ashford and Charing, also in the 50's.

There were also quite a few unsuccessful halts along the cost which had been introduced for motor trains in the early 20th C which were thinned out pre Beeching, such as Snailham Halt on the Marshlink, Stone Cross between Hampden Park and Pevensey and one between St Leonards West Marina and Bexhill Central (the name of which escapes me).

 

[edwin_m]

This thread seems to be mainly about closure of minor stations on major routes.

The Southern is rather different from the other regions in having few fast long-distance runs comparable with the WCML/ECML/GWML - probably only the Bournemouth line and the Exeter line before rationalisation really qualify. These routes had long four-track sections and far less freight than other regions, as well as generally higher population density, so it was both possible and worthwhile to run a mix of faster and stopping passenger trains.

 

[Bevan Price]

It wasn't just the ECML, elsewhere too. The Western removed large numbers of country stations on main lines. At Taunton, which used to have local services radiating in all directions, the very first to go were the stoppers on the main line to Castle Cary, in the 1950s.

.

The WCML also lost a lot of the smaller stations north of Wolverton long before the Marples/Beeching era; with a few more not surviving Beeching. The MML line also lost some stations prior to Beeching, although not as many as the WCML.

 

[yorksrob]

It all goes to show that the Regions were steadily getting on with the job without the Beeching sledgehammer.

 

[thewiltog]

The WCML also lost a lot of the smaller stations north of Wolverton long before the Marples/Beeching era; with a few more not surviving Beeching. The MML line also lost some stations prior to Beeching, although not as many as the WCML.

Almost all the intermediate stations between York and Scarborough closed in 1930 - partly because the stopping trains were holding up the increasing number of excursions. The same thing happened in 1954 on the Selby-Driffield line to free up capacity for Leeds - Bridlington traffic.

 

[thewiltog]

It all goes to show that the Regions were steadily getting on with the job without the Beeching sledgehammer.

Between 1947 and the first of the Beeching closures, 2091 stations in England and Wales closed. Since then, 1430 have closed - not all of them Beeching cuts.

Of course, Beeching wanted to close more, but announcing such a large number in one go caused such bad publicity that many were kept open.

I think that if not for Beeching, more stations would have closed than actually did.

 

[yorksrob]

Between 1947 and the first of the Beeching closures, 2091 stations in England and Wales closed. Since then, 1430 have closed - not all of them Beeching cuts.

Of course, Beeching wanted to close more, but announcing such a large number in one go caused such bad publicity that many were kept open.

I think that if not for Beeching, more stations would have closed than actually did.

Well, closures were already underway, and might have continued. However, there's nothing to suggest that the railway would have adopted Beeching's ideas on duplicate routes or railheading for example, or attempted to crystallise railway usage using passenger surveys in the same way.

Perhaps small wayside stations might have continued to be thinned out - the Dolehams and the Shippea Hills may have been consigned to history, along with the Smeeths and the Claypoles. But I doubt whether there would have been such a concerted effort to cut off larger towns and settlements, just because they were on the wrong sort of routes, so maybe we might have still had some of the Bakewells, Seatons and Blandfords.

 

[davetheguard]

The WCML also lost a lot of the smaller stations north of Wolverton long before the Marples/Beeching era; with a few more not surviving Beeching. The MML line also lost some stations prior to Beeching, although not as many as the WCML.

I'm sure I remember reading somewhere that the London Midland Region at the time had a policy of not operating any unstaffed stations on the WCML . They had to be staffed, or they had to close. Whether this was because they thought it was unsafe; or poor customer service; or some other reason, I don't know.

 

[Taunton]

One of the things that impacts closure of wayside stations (and indeed their reopening) on main lines is whether there is an appropriate train service to call there. The ECML has local trains south of Peterborough, but only long distance expresses for much of the mileage north of there. Likewise other routes.

The local intermediate stations on Swindon to Bristol Parkway line (there was one every few miles, generally in the middle of nowhere) long ago were closed, but Badminton station was retained for about another 10 years due to a legal issue. However, with the local train service gone main South Wales expresses had to make the call. The Oxford-Worcester line had to keep a few minor stations in the Cotswolds due to a Ministerial decision, which still require a special train just to handle these small halts (again middle of nowhere), the rest of the service on the line being provided by quite frequent main line trains through from London.

 

[70014IronDuke]

One of the things that impacts closure of wayside stations (and indeed their reopening) on main lines is whether there is an appropriate train service to call there. The ECML has local trains south of Peterborough, but only long distance expresses for much of the mileage north of there. Likewise other routes.

The local intermediate stations on Swindon to Bristol Parkway line (there was one every few miles, generally in the middle of nowhere) long ago were closed, but Badminton station was retained for about another 10 years due to a legal issue. However, with the local train service gone main South Wales expresses had to make the call. The Oxford-Worcester line had to keep a few minor stations in the Cotswolds due to a Ministerial decision, which still require a special train just to handle these small halts (again middle of nowhere), the rest of the service on the line being provided by quite frequent main line trains through from London.

Well, not just west of Swindon - east too, to Didcot. SAme for local stations between Bedford and Leicester, and Ivanhoe line as well - until they re-opened it. I suppose they had some units spare at the time. And of course, if Devizes Parkway or Somerton were locations on the Salsbury-Exeter line, they would almost certainly have been re-opened by now. But to add them onto the already pesky stops like Pewsey, Westbury and Castle Cary would just slow down big trains to Exeter, Plymouth and the west.

 

[30907]

Having taken a quick glance at 50s East Coast timetables:
Grantham-Doncaster and York-Darlington had only 1-2 stoppers a day, whereas south of Grantham as far as Hitchin there were 6-8 that served now-closed stations (not necessarily all of them) - what surprised me was that there was little difference north or south of Peterborough (though of course Peterborough was much smaller then).

On the comparison with the Southern, I can't think of any SR main line that had less than about a 2-hourly stopper in steam days.

 

[edwin_m]

Having taken a quick glance at 50s East Coast timetables:
Grantham-Doncaster and York-Darlington had only 1-2 stoppers a day, whereas south of Grantham as far as Hitchin there were 6-8 that served now-closed stations (not necessarily all of them) - what surprised me was that there was little difference north or south of Peterborough (though of course Peterborough was much smaller then).

This is at least partly explained by London commuting distances being much shorter. Even in the 1970s the ECML electrification was only taken as far as Hitchin (and on to Royston) suggesting that demand from the stations further north including Peterborough was that much lower. There were also stops by some of the slower intercity trains at Huntingdon.

South of Grantham much but not all of the ECML was four-tracked (a section south of Peterborough was actually reduced to two-track quite late on, 70s I think). So it would have been easier to run a mix of faster and slower trains than north of Grantham where there were and still are only two tracks with occasional loops until the short four-track section at Doncaster.

 

[70014IronDuke]

This is at least partly explained by London commuting distances being much shorter. Even in the 1970s the ECML electrification was only taken as far as Hitchin (and on to Royston) suggesting that demand from the stations further north including Peterborough was that much lower. There were also stops by some of the slower intercity trains at Huntingdon.

South of Grantham much but not all of the ECML was four-tracked (a section south of Peterborough was actually reduced to two-track quite late on, 70s I think). So it would have been easier to run a mix of faster and slower trains than north of Grantham where there were and still are only two tracks with occasional loops until the short four-track section at Doncaster.

Indeed - the service for intermediate stations Hitchin - Peterborough (Huntingdon excepted) in the 1960s was dreadful outside the morning and evening 'peaks' - ha ha - which consisted (IIRC) of two trains LHCS each way. Used to be A3s mostly c 1962.

In fact, I think Sandy LNWR side had a better all round service for most of the day when the branch was still open.