Note that the Hokkaido Railway Company is losing huge amounts of money, and heavily reliant on subsidy. There's a plan to close around half the surviving track mileage, already a fair way down from the time of (nominal) privatisation (the Hokkaido Railway Company is one of the JR Group companies whose shares remain 100% state owned).
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IBM (Halt) Closure & Possible Re-opening
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Bletchleyite
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One more genuine passenger than IBM Halt probably has... 
ForTheLoveOf
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I'll have you know I'm a genuine passengerOne more genuine passenger than IBM Halt probably has...
WideRanger
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That's actually quite an old story, which the Mirror has only just latched on to. They closed the station immediately after the girl graduated school. The Japanese trainspotter community got wind of it and large numbers descended on the station for the last few weeks. Lots of pictures were taken of both the station and the girl, who apparently was pretty distressed by it all (lots of slightly socially awkward middle aged men taking pictures of and asking for autographs from a 17-year old girl). If I remember correctly, JR Hokkaido put out a general plea not to harrass her.
Could the bus/taxi acceptance be restricted to holders of a valid IBM ID card?
But there is no IBM staff at that site anymore, so what need would IBM staff have to visit such site? It'll just be another waste of public money when it's clear the only market for IBM station in its current state is the enthusiast.
A Challenge
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Exactly the point I think.
AFAIK IBM still have offices in Greenock just not at the old Spango Valley site so in theory there will be people in Greenock with valid IBM identification.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
"A taxi will be provided on demand to any IBM employee or contractor who can prove that they have Company business at the site"?
(The Company will of course be contacted to verify any such evidence)
"A taxi will be provided on demand to any IBM employee or contractor who can prove that they have Company business at the site"?
(The Company will of course be contacted to verify any such evidence)
That would do it
And anyone else requiring the ScotRail taxi service can get the one with the big blue light on the top.
I wonder if they'll bring the station back as IBM or
Clearly you haven't ever come across some of the neds that frequent that part of the World!
Doesn't Strathclyde Passenger Transport (SPT) specify services in its area? Hence it was an item on their agenda.
Esker-pades
Established Member
A lot of articles mention Transport Scotland as a party to the decision.
MadMac
Member
There's a (sort of) precedent for this. Back in the early 90s, the entire service was withdrawn (save for a few peak hour trains), from Romford-Upminster due to vandalism running at 60 grand a month. Personal opinion: the IBM approach is a common-sense solution. Withdraw calls due to the station's "raison d'etre" no longer existing, with a commitment to maintain it pending the situation in the area becoming clearer.
Altnabreac
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SPT haven’t specified rail services since 2006. They are still a statutory consultee in the same way as SESTran or TACTran are but they aren’t the franchising authority anymore.
Journeyman
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I went there yesterday, and had a good nose around. The site was completely deserted, I didn't even see any security patrols, and there is literally nothing there.
The station's entire raison d'etre has vanished, and its continued existence is causing problems. I conclude this is probably the best case for closure I've ever seen.
The station's entire raison d'etre has vanished, and its continued existence is causing problems. I conclude this is probably the best case for closure I've ever seen.
Given what people who have visited are saying closure or mothballing make sense but it is extremely strange that there's been no official statement from Transport Scotland, SPT, ORR or any other competent authority. This really is unacceptable.
There's probably a notice on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.
Journeyman
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I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, to be honest. It's not really that different to things like Newhaven Marine or the Croxley Green branch, which have ended up closing by default.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
It's a whole lot more acceptable than closing Croxley Green, which wasn't particularly busy but wasn't really any more of a basket case than a goodly number of branch lines "up North", and mainly lost out in the end because somebody decided to plonk a road through it but couldn't be bothered building a bridge.
But at least at Croxley Green they went through a consultation process. My worry is not the loss of IBM, but the closure of a station with no clarification from the authorities. Is it being closed or mothballed. What exactly is going on?
The loss of IBM is not an issue but it might be next time they decide to do this.
A station with c 50 passengers per year just got rebuilt at a cost of £2M. Station closure in Scotland isn't something you need to lose sleep over.
On the other hand given that Transport Scotland didn't get the result they wanted from the Briech consultation perhaps they've just decided not to consult any longer.
This is a dangerous precedent.
stantheman
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Met an enthusiast on SAt who said he got off there , and on , no problem and was sold a ticket
Even better , he got 314216
Even better , he got 314216
Altnabreac
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Transport Scotland are a Scottish Government agency. The Scottish Government Transport Minister made the decision to keep Breich open. They're effectively the same thing.
Baxenden Bank
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But the council promised to pay for a bridge, as and when necessary, were the line / service to be re-instated.
pdeaves
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Was that a real promise or a political promise (i.e. one that no one will keep)
gingerheid
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https://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk...station-has-been-taken-out-of-action/?ref=rss
Piece in the local paper. Quotes involve interesting uses of words other than "closed".
I'm surprised a station notclosure was seen as a photo op!
Piece in the local paper. Quotes involve interesting uses of words other than "closed".
I'm surprised a station notclosure was seen as a photo op!
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Very interesting - so it's not antisocial behaviour at the IBM site that was an issue, rather it was people using it to avoid Police attention at other local stations!
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