Line names that are no longer used.

[Springs Branch]

The Styal Line is a name which is not completely obsolete but probably gets used much less frequently these days than it did before the Manchester Airport branch opened in the early 1990s.

Back in the day, Class 304s would come bouncing along every half hour through the day displaying either Alderley Edge via Styal, or Altrincham via Styal on the destination roll. Then for a time, after the Airport traffic became the main focus of the line, Styal station itself was relegated to a very sparse, almost parliamentary level of service. The Engineers Line Reference has remained as STY.

 

[12C]

What do people mean saying I can’t use Midland Main Line (North) for the Settle-Carlisle line?

The Settle-Carlisle was always referred to as ‘The Midland’ by older staff.

 

[lyndhurst25]

https://projectmapping.co.uk/Reviews/Resources/West%20Riding%20BR%20map%201972%20.jpg

shows some of the line names in Yorkshire that never really took off e.g. Three Rivers, Castervale, Minster.

 

[yorkie]

Is the Glasgow subway still the 'Clockwork Orange'

Still? It has never been called that, outside of a very small group of (mostly older) rail enthusiasts from nowhere near Glasgow who have come up with this myth.

 

[AY1975]

Still? It has never been called that, outside of a very small group of (mostly older) rail enthusiasts from nowhere near Glasgow who have come up with this myth.

It was also officially known as the Glasgow Underground from about I think 1936 until 2003 when it reverted to being branded as the Subway. Many Glaswegians have always referred to it as the Subway, though (or colloquially as the "Shoogle" at least in the days of the original pre-modernisation trains, i.e. until their withdrawal in 1977).

A couple of other examples that I don't think have been mentioned: the Euston to Watford DC lines were branded the Harlequin Line under Network SouthEast in the late 1980s and early 90s, and the Marks Tey to Sudbury branch was branded the Lovejoy Line for a time in the early 90s under BR, and in the early days of privatisation under Anglia Railways it was branded the Gainsborough Line after 18th century painter Thomas Gainsborough who was born in Sudbury. Not sure if Greater Anglia still calls it that now: that name could be a bit misleading to the uninitiated who might think it referred to a line serving its namesake town in Lincolnshire!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

... other examples that I don't think have been mentioned: the Euston to Watford DC lines were branded the Harlequin Line under Network SouthEast in the late 1980s and early 90s

See the opening post #1 by @stadler at very top of this thread.

 

[DaventryRabbit]

Ely to Norwich is/was sometimes referred to as the Breckland Line. Not sure if it has ever been used in any official capacity.

 

[Gloster]

I never heard the Berks & Hants called the Desert and I worked on it.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I never heard the Berks & Hants called the Desert and I worked on it.

Likewise. Pre-Beeching there were many stations so was never a desert. There is still plenty to look for now.

 

[Mollington St]

Just sorted out a big batch of Eastern Region Pocket Tables for the late 1970s & 1980s ,

Here is a selection from the Airedale Line through to the Wolds Coast Line

I will try and get them all scanned up and listed on my site - Transport Past Times

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

The 'Withered Arm' for SR lines west of Exeter. Apparently coined by some sarcastic, younger management at Waterloo who wanted to focus on developing electrification in the SE. Reduced to a stump, but has recently sprouted a new finger to Okehampton!

 

[John Griffiths]

Not official, sadly, but the Bedpan line for what is now Thameslink between Bedford and St Pancras.

 

[Rescars]

Have we mentioned the Picc/Vic - the line that never was?

 

[Helvellyn]

Have we mentioned the Picc/Vic - the line that never was?

Given that funding was given for tunnelling in Merseyside for Merseyrail and Tyne & Wear for Metro the Pic-Vic tunnels are a great 'what if?' lost opportunity.

Sticking with tunnelled routes and lost names I don’t think the Jubilee Line has been mentioned yet, which was to be the Fleet Line pretty much until opening.

 

[matchmaker]

Still? It has never been called that, outside of a very small group of (mostly older) rail enthusiasts from nowhere near Glasgow who have come up with this myth.

Exactly! As a Glaswegian I have never called it anything other than The Subway.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Mar 2025 ==

And Green Wet & Rusty by LMS men.


Not sure whether the OP was looking for examples from ancient history (in railway timeframes), but there was the Sprat and Winkle Line in Hampshire.

And, after its 1930s 1500 V DC electrification, the workaday, suburban Manchester, South Junction & Altrincham Railway (MSJ&AR) line had "Many Short Journeys & Absolute Reliability". This was more a clunky advertising tagline dreamed up by some marketing bod than a common name ever adopted by the public - so a bit like Harlequin Line decades later.

Sprat and Winkle lives on as a form of model railway coupling!

 

[GB&K Joint]

In the early 1970s the North Tyneside Loop and the South Shields services came under the Tynerail or Tyneriders branding. It was a local marketing venture to increase ridership. Some of the DMU cars gained names of local characters, with stickers affixed. During a visit to Tyneside, I remember riding in “Coffy Johnny” from Newcastle Central to Benton. The branding vanished as the Metro system gradually took over.

 

[Bungle158]

The 'Withered Arm' for SR lines west of Exeter. Apparently coined by some sarcastic, younger management at Waterloo who wanted to focus on developing electrification in the SE. Reduced to a stump, but has recently sprouted a new finger to Okehampton!

With perhaps some inspiration from the Thomas Hardy short story of the same name

 

[Brent Goose]

I think I’ve heard the New Guildford Line refer to as such only once and that was in the context of disruption where it was an alternative route but the driver hadn’t signed for it.

 

[Mag_seven]

Provost of Glasgow, Michael Kelly gave it the Clockwork Orange moniker, but according to the Glasgow Herald at the time, most referred to it as the Electric Worm

Regards

Ian

I've never heard of The Glasgow Subway referred to as "The Electric Worm". Not surprising to see that even then newspapers were inclined to make things up.

Whilst we are on the topic of the names of circular lines in Glasgow, does the term Cathcart Circle still get used?

 

[Gloster]

I think I’ve heard the New Guildford Line refer to as such only once and that was in the context of disruption where it was an alternative route but the driver hadn’t signed for it.

I was brought up on it and have moved back to South Western territory: over the years I have frequently heard it called the Guildford New Line or, possibly more often, just the New Line. It was not just staff but also some passengers that knew it as such.

 

[DJS76]

The winner of this March 1988 BR competition was a Mr. Simon Gurevitz, from Harrow. Apparently, 'Harlequin' line was actually a combination of three of the line's stations' names, namely Hatch End, Harlesden and Queen's Park. Mr. Gurevitz won a weekend 'Golden Break for two' for his efforts and a number of TV / radio personalities (including the "Saint and Greavsie") were there at the publicity / naming ceremony at Wembley Central station in June.

Having said that, does the renaming of Crossrail as the 'Elizabeth Line' in 2016 count for the purposes of continuing this thread?

I thought it was named after the Harlequin shopping centre in Watford.

 

[stadler]

I thought it was named after the Harlequin shopping centre in Watford.

No it was the other way round. They named the Harlequin Centre shopping centre after the Harlequin Line railway line. They opened the Harlequin Centre four years after the Harlequin Line was named. I am almost certain i remember reading or hearing somewhere at the time that the Harlequin Centre management liked the Harlequin Line name and chose to name the shopping centre after the railway line.

 

[LowLevel]

One still used currently is "The Joint Line" for the loop off the ECML between Peterborough and Doncaster, through Spalding and Lincoln. In the last year I have seen, written up on a public whiteboard notice at Kings Cross "trains diverted via the Joint Line". Now you really have to know your history for that one, the name became irrelevant over 100 years ago.

Funnily that one really is lodged into the railway. Whether it's by the Intercity operators as a diversion or the time honoured practice amongst train crew meeting with "what you on with?" "Joint line today" it has managed to hang on.

Another one that definitely was overtaken by progress is the 1980s Midland Electrics branding for the Bed Pan line.

 

[Revaulx]

Given that funding was given for tunnelling in Merseyside for Merseyrail and Tyne & Wear for Metro the Pic-Vic tunnels are a great 'what if?' lost opportunity.

Sticking with tunnelled routes and lost names I don’t think the Jubilee Line has been mentioned yet, which was to be the Fleet Line pretty much until opening.

I haven't got any evidence to back this up, but I reckon a lack of enthusiasm from BR killed Picc-Vic. The "lack of money" excuse really doesn't wash give what was available for the two others you mention.

Both Merseyrail and T&W enabled BR to divest themselves of pesky non-London suburban services, or a least to get them out of the way of their important Inter-City traffic. Picc-Vic would have done the opposite and increased the number of suburban stoppers on the lines into Piccadilly. I'm really not sure they would have wanted that, even with a flyover at Slade Lane.

 

[Rescars]

A more general name perhaps, but inflation did for the "Tuppenny Tube" (and the "Penny Post" for that matter) a long while ago. Perhaps it felt like bit of a bargain while it lasted!

 

[Tomos y Tanc]

The "Heart of Wales Line" was the "Central Wales Line" until about half a century ago. The name-change was an attempt to market the line to tourists. I believe the original name is still used internally by Network Rail.

 

[leytongabriel]

We had the Fleet Line undergound before Horace Cutler renamed it the Jubillee Line ( though I don't think that any trains actually ran before renaming) and then Boris Johnson did the same thing of course with Crossrail becoming the Elizabeth Line.

There was the Bedpan Line (St Pancras - Bedford service) prior to Thameslink which was one of quite a few 'links' when it was a fad.

I believe the Southbury loop (part of the London Overgound Weaver Line) was called the Churchbury loop when the station had that name
before it was closed and reopened.

Then there was the Northern City Line or Branch, Finsbury Park to Moorgate when it was a tube service. And the 'Barking Line' ( local NE London name) or GOBLIN (rail campaigners name) which has become the Suffragette line. Also some tube line names have evolved - the Central London Raliway (Central Line) , City and South London Railway (Northern Line Bank Branch). Great Northern,Piccadilly and Brompton
(Piccadilly Line) etc.

 

[Strathclyder]

Still? It has never been called that, outside of a very small group of (mostly older) rail enthusiasts from nowhere near Glasgow who have come up with this myth.

It's certainly never referred to by that name amongst us Glaswegians or officially by SPT themselves beyond mentioning nicknames that have been used for the system over the years in publicity material. Just another one of those myths that's taken on a life of it's own. It'll always be the Subway to me.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Mar 2025 ==

I've never heard of The Glasgow Subway referred to as "The Electric Worm". Not surprising to see that even then newspapers were inclined to make things up.

This is the first I'm hearing of this too. No doubt the newpapers is partly how the Clockwork Orange name managed to get itself rooted into the vernacular in certain groups based anywhere but Glasgow in reference to the system.

Whilst we are on the topic of the names of circular lines in Glasgow, does the term Cathcart Circle still get used?

By enthusiasts definitely (I certainly still refer to it by that name), but I couldn't tell you how common it's usage is amongst the travelling public these days.

 

[birchesgreen]

Nuckle is now known as the Elephant & Bear Line

North Warwickshire Line is now the Shakespeare Line

 

[midland1]

The Great Western called the Oxford to Worcester, Kidderminster, etc. the West Midlands line. The line to Birmingham the North line.