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Forgotten post-Beeching station closures

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SprinterMan

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All the stations that were closed during the WCML uprgrade:
Eritrea
Norton Bridge
Barlaston
Wedgwood
Polesworth (well basically....)

Norton Bridge is still in situ and is quite spooky now:
4395670242_185e6c74db_z.jpg


Adam :D
 
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Ascot

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Smethwick West closed in 1996 not long after Galton Bridge closed. Most of the station is still visible and IIRC there is an old style street lamp still standing.
 

12CSVT

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I think that the closure of the Cheltenham to Stratford route in 1976 (or was it 1977?) was a rather strange decision although hindsight is a wonderful thing.

No stations were closed as they were all long gone by 1976 anyway but the line if open now would provide a useful alternative to the Lickey route. The Glos/Warks railway are doing their best to reinstate the line but its doubtful the line will ever be rebuilt all the way through.

This line was closed as a result of a derailment, and landslips on this route were as much a problem then as it is now.

Cefn Onn in South Wales closed in the mid 80s.
This was replaced by the more conveniently located Lisvane & Thornhill, the old station was effectively cut off from the area it served by the M4.
 

LE Greys

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King's Cross Thameslink, probably the busiest station ever to be closed and the only one I remember using that has.
 

MrPosh

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The March - Spalding line closed in 1982. Great shame as it would be very useful now.
Along with the Sleaford and Lincoln avoiding lines (although the Sleaford one remained in situ and is used as an ECML diversion now and is due to be upgraded).

Lincoln would have benefited enormously if the line was still in use.
 

swcovas

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This line was closed as a result of a derailment, and landslips on this route were as much a problem then as it is now.


This was replaced by the more conveniently located Lisvane & Thornhill, the old station was effectively cut off from the area it served by the M4.

And to be fair Cefn Onn saw very little use.
 

steamybrian

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Coulsdon North closed in 1983- Services diverted to Smitham (now Coulsdon Town) sited about 100 yards away..!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
King's Cross Thameslink, probably the busiest station ever to be closed and the only one I remember using that has.

A direct replacement with St Pancras International (Low Level) --a bigger, better and more convenient station.
 

LE Greys

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A direct replacement with St Pancras International (Low Level) --a bigger, better and more convenient station.

Of course, but it's still a bit strange to think of a station that one has used (and was packed last time) no longer being there, especially after passing through it recently and it all still being there - almost spooky. Still, no more delays due to exploding pigeons.
 

MikeWh

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A direct replacement with St Pancras International (Low Level) --a bigger, better and more convenient station.

Not if you want the south side of Pentonville Road! I'm one of many who believe that it should have remained as an additional station but renamed to disuade people changing there for Kings Cross. However, the advent of 12 car trains means it'll never happen now.
 

Netto

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The real blinder in my local area (West Oxfordshire) was the closure of the Witney line in 1970. Beeching had already axed the remainder of the line from Witney to Fairford 8 years previously.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford,_Witney_and_Fairford_Railway

Ironically, the two key commuter towns in west Oxon serving Oxford and others, are Carterton and Witney. Both towns have sizeable populations who now only rely on the single carriageway A40 for connections to Oxford and the rest of the South East. This route is generally heavilly congested from around 0630-0930 most weekdays.

The local development plan has now pencilled in a feasibility study for the installation of a light rail link into oxford with stations at Carterton, Brize Norton, Witney and Eynsham. Not far off the same route the old line ran on!

They're looking at reporting back before 2018; with a proposed start (if approved) of around 2030. Just in time for my retirement then!

:lol:

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/yo...reinstating_rail_link_a_track_to_the_future_/
 

RPM

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Gloucester Eastgate closed December 1975. I believe there was considerable external pressure to rid Gloucester of four of its five level crossings and BR saw an opportunity to cut infrastructure costs. Big mistake.
 

jha4ceb

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All the stations that were closed during the WCML uprgrade:
Eritrea
Well to be fair, Eritrea was quite the diversion off the WCML and required that inconvenient trip through Sudan. Etruria station, on the other hand... :D ;)
 

SprinterMan

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Well to be fair, Eritrea was quite the diversion off the WCML and required that inconvenient trip through Sudan. Etruria station, on the other hand... :D ;)

Oh dear :P
For some reason I thought the station had the same name as the small East African country, but it actually has the same name as a region of Italy in Roman times. Alas, I should have checked ;). I checked how to spell Wedgwood as I couldn't remember if it had a second "e" in it but I should have checked Etruria also. How embarrassing....:P

Adam :D
 
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There was also Kings Cross York Road. Not quite a station, but the platform was a different entity from the remainder of the station.
 

317666

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Six Mile Bottom station, between Dullingham and Cambridge, closed in 1967. As an aside, whilst not a Beeching closure, the line from Six Mile Bottom to Great Chesterford closed as early as 1851 after the line via Cambridge was opened.
 

DynamicSpirit

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Not that I would ever advocate stealing, but that lot will be disposed of pretty quickly once the new Croxley works start, so if you're local and like NSE memorabilia, perhaps a trip by cover of darkness would be fruitful?

It'll end up on the scrap heap anyway.

That sounds rough. I wouldn't advocate stealing either, but surely it'd be better for Network Rail to a quick round of identifying stuff that might be collectable and have it auctioned off? The income raised would be probably be negligible by the standards of NR's revenue (but then with some thought, the costs of doing it would probably be made to be negligible too), but the nonmonetary value in terms of preserving part of the UK's heritage would I think be far greater.
 
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All the stations that were closed during the WCML uprgrade:
Eritrea
Norton Bridge
Barlaston
Wedgwood
Polesworth (well basically....)

Norton Bridge is still in situ and is quite spooky now:
4395670242_185e6c74db_z.jpg


Adam :D

The WCML stations aren't closed, they have rail replacement services.
 

Mojo

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East Brixton, closed in 1976 after the fall in customer numbers following the opening of Brixton LUL and the high cost of repairs to the wooden platforms precariously perched on the high viaducts.
 

Drsatan

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Newhaven Marine station isn't technically 'closed', since one train a day departs there, but the platform's been closed off since the canopy is now collapsing and the station has been removed from the fares database.
 

David Goddard

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That sounds rough. I wouldn't advocate stealing either, but surely it'd be better for Network Rail to a quick round of identifying stuff that might be collectable and have it auctioned off? The income raised would be probably be negligible by the standards of NR's revenue (but then with some thought, the costs of doing it would probably be made to be negligible too), but the nonmonetary value in terms of preserving part of the UK's heritage would I think be far greater.

Of course we used to have Collectors' Corner.
Imagine the volume of stuff that would go through a place like that nowadays, given the number of times TOCs have replaced station signs etc compared to the life expectancy of such pieces in BR days
 

A0wen

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Don't think anyone's mentioned Corby - which opened and closed in the 80s and 90s before finally reopening properly a couple of years back.

Also - has anyone mentioned the Sinfin branch in the Derby area?
 

PrestonPark

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Do all the stations on the local line between Birmingham Snow Hill and Wolverhampton Low Level fall into this category? I think they closed around 1972, or are they a very late Beeching closure?
 

6Gman

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Oh dear :P
For some reason I thought the station had the same name as the small East African country, but it actually has the same name as a region of Italy in Roman times. Alas, I should have checked ;). I checked how to spell Wedgwood as I couldn't remember if it had a second "e" in it but I should have checked Etruria also. How embarrassing....:P

Adam :D

There is - of course - a very strong connection (non-railway!) between Etruria and Wedgwood.

Wedgwood (the potter) built his works at Etruria, which moved much, much later to the Barlaston area. The nearby station was named Wedgwood as it served the works.

Incidentally, I would nominate Etruria as one of Britain's grimmest railway station, bounded as it was by a trunk road, various semi-derelict pottery works, and a gas works!
 

Bevan Price

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Pendleton, previously Pendleton Broad Street, lost most of its traffic when Salford Crescent was opened. It survived for a few years with a handful of daily trains, until arsonists set fire to it, and it became impossible to access the platforms, and it was closed "temporarily". Although not served by any trains, official / final closure only took place 2-3 years after the fire. There was another Pendleton station, on the Manchester - Bolton line that closed in 1966. A few Manchester - Bolton line trains ran via Pendleton (Broad St.) and the connection from Brindle heath Jn to Agecroft Jn.

Several of the stations listed in other posts closed because they served areas where the local population had declined due to redevelopment, or the industries they served had closed or declined (e.g. Miles Platting, Park). Others closed because they were replaced by stations located more conveniently for local populations (e.g. Royton Jn, replaced by Derker, and Godley East (formerly Godley Jn) replaced by Godley.

A list of known station closing dates can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_closed_railway_stations_in_Britain
 

Batman

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Does Sutton Park count?

The station closed to passengers (along with all the others on the line) in 1965 but there was a Royal Mail parcels depot on the same sight that remained open till the mid 1990's (can't remember the exact date of closure), with mail trains calling there so that mail bags could be transferred from road to rail and vice verse. I think it only had one platform by the time it closed on the line heading towards Walsall, so trains coming from Walsall had to use cross-overs at either end to call there. I think one of the cross-overs is still in place, although now disused.
 

VTPreston_Tez

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Haltwhistle to Alton and Maiden Newton to bridport both close din 1975 didn't they? And by a strange coincidence I was looking at Balloch Pier (closed 1986) at lunchtime today. Not literally, just on Wikipedia!

However, West Bay station remains open as a cafe with track ending at the new park.
Track should really be relaid and FGW start services again, but that's just a dream that due to many reasons can never come true.
 
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