Railways that were built in the 20th century (pre HS1)

[blueberry11]

Excluding the London Underground, Channel Tunnel and tramways, were there any railways that were built in the 20th century (1900 to 2000)?

I have heard that High Speed 1 was the first new railway in the UK in over a century which is why I made this post but is it actually true.

This includes railways that were built in the 20th century which were then closed. (edited per post 12)

 

[Railsigns]

Some quite lengthy lines in Scotland opened in the 1900s, e.g. to Mallaig, Fort Augustus and Ballachulish.

 

[Senex]

Some of the Great Western cut-offs. Harecastle Deviation. Selby Deviation.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Some quite lengthy lines in Scotland opened in the 1900s, e.g. to Mallaig, Fort Augustus and Ballachulish.

Think the Mallaig line was actually mostly built in the late 19th century, the build date for Glenfinnan Viaduct seems to bear this out, albeit with a line opening date of April 1901.

Fairly sure the nine or so mile "Styal line" (Manchester (London Road) -> Wilmslow via East Didsbury and Styal) wasn't built until the late 1900s (= 1909 opening date?).

 

[Wandering Pom]

In the late 1980s / early 1990s: the Windsor Link in Manchester, and the Stansted Airport branch.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

Excluding the London Underground, Channel Tunnel and tramways, were there any railways that were built in the 20th century (1900 to 2000)?

The Great Western & Great Central Joint would qualify

Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It's parallel to HS2 for much of its length.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Various lines in London suburbia, such as the Wimbledon - Sutton "Wall of Death" and the Chessington branch.

Various "Colonel Stephens" lines, such as the North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway berween Torrington and Halwill Junction (now part of the Tarka Trail) opened in 1925

 

[The exile]

Limply Stoke - Camerton (immortalised in the Titfield Thunderbolt) opened in 1908, closed permanently to passengers in 1925 and entirely in 1951 - which is why it was available for filming.

 

[snowball]

Manchester Airport branch

Hazel Grove chord and probably numerous other short chords - Lincoln, Rotherham

diversion of the line at Colwyn Bay to accommodate the A55 road

 

[sh24]

Airport Junction to Heathrow T1/2/3 and T4

 

[yorksrob]

The Bexhill West line was opened in 1902 I think.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The Bexhill West line was opened in 1902 I think.

Believe you're right. Opened privately on Saturday 31st May 1902, with the first train available for use by the general public, the following day, on Sunday 1st June 1902.

@blueberry11. Are you also wanting UK railway lines that have subsequently closed, since they were built sometime in the 20th century?

Or, just those that still remain open / in use in 2024?

 

[martinsh]

Wombourne branch (Oxley - Kingswinford) opened 1925 - closed to passengers 1932 !

 

[30907]

HS1 could fairly be described as the first major railway since the GCR in 1901.

The Fawley branch and the present routing through Ramsgate are both 1920s, and there are numerous short connecting lines, often resulting from rationalisation.

 

[Magdalia]

The Mid Suffolk Light Railway opened in 1904 and closed in 1952.

Various links were put in during World War II including Palace Gates to Bowes Park and Sandy North Curve.

Various links were put in following line closures, such as the Themelthorpe curve in Norfolk to maintain access to Lenwade after closure of the M&GN.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Penmanshiel Diversion, Hertford Loop and some other minor ECML realignments.

 

[steamybrian]

A few more from the South
Allhallows branch opened 1932 closed 1961
Queenborough- Leysdown opened 1900 closed 1952
Robertsbridge- Headcorn (K&ESR) opened between 1900-1905
Shepherds Well- Wingham (EKR) opened between 1912-1925
Basingstoke- Alton opened 1901 closed 1932
Axminster- Lyme Regis opened 1903 closed 1965
Alton-Fareham (Meon Valley Line) opened 1903 closed 1955
Totton-Fawley opened 1925 closed 1966
Lydd (Dungeness Jn)- New Romney- new alignment opened 1937 closed 1966

 

[paul1609]

Still on the Col. Stephens theme the Callington branch opened in 1908. The section between Bere Alston and Gunnislake is the only Col. Stephens Railway to be operated by Network Rail

 

[steamybrian]

Blackfriars- Farringdon Thameslink - new alignment via City Thameslink opened 1990

Liverpool City underground loop via Moorfields opened 1977

 

[Taunton]

The GWR built a huge number of main line reroutings in 1900-1910. The way the Board of Trade required assets to be financed, they must have made a significant share issue for the capital.

- Old Oak Common to Banbury
- Pewsey to Westbury
- Castle Cary to Cogload
- Wootton Bassett to Stoke Gifford to Avonmouth
- Port Talbot to Llanelli
- Whitland to Fishguard
- Tyseley to Cheltenham
- various diversions in Cornwall on the main line

The majority of GWR expresses were impacted in some way..

The key one that didn't get done, fully designed, was the Exeter to Plymouth diversion, avoiding the Dawlish sea-edge and the South Devon banks. Dawlish had been falling into the sea almost since it was built. Grierson, the chief civil engineer, on a roll with all the above, and Churchward, chief mechanical engineer, presented alternatives to the board (new route-vs-more powerful locos), Churchward won, the two hardly spoke again.

 

[Rescars]

Does the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch count?

 

[Beebman]

The Cotgrave Colliery Branch was completed in 1960 by BR, it ran for 2 miles from the Nottingham-Grantham line and closed in 1993.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Plenty of connections were made after mergers or grouping, or during wartime, between lines that crossed each other without connecting before.
The one at Calvert LNE Junction on the Oxford-Bletchley line was one of those, allowing LMS/LNER trains to interchange there.
The big junctions at Chislehurst/Bickley etc were a result of the LCDR/SER cooperation (short of a merger) in 1902-04.
In the 1960/70s BR built several connections which allowed duplicate terminals to be closed in a number of cities.
One of those was at Wolverhampton North Junction around 1967 which allowed Shrewsbury line trains to reach Wolves High Level (with Low Level closing).
That restored the position of 1854 when the Stour Valley line opened; subsequently the connection was blocked for many decades with Shrewsbury served via Birmingham Snow Hill rather then New St.

 

[Kingston Dan]

Abbeyhill to Leith Central 1902.

HS0 - the Selby Diversion 1979ish?

 

[The exile]

HS0 - the Selby Diversion 1979ish?

Think it was more like 1983 by the time it was finished.

 

[D6130]

New branch Lines to the WW2 emergency ports on the West Coast of Scotland - Castle Kennedy-Cairnryan off the Stranraer line and Faslane Junction-Faslane Bay off the West Highland - both opened in 1941.

 

[Mr. SW]

Oil terminals served by new lines in Milford Haven area.

 

[blueberry11]

Believe you're right. Opened privately on Saturday 31st May 1902, with the first train available for use by the general public, the following day, on Sunday 1st June 1902.

@blueberry11. Are you also wanting UK railway lines that have subsequently closed, since they were built sometime in the 20th century?

Or, just those that still remain open / in use in 2024?

To address Mcr Warrior in post #12, I am alright with including railways built in the 20th century which were then closed.

Anyway, it seems as though most of the railways that opened or were built in the 20th century were before 1920 (pre big four) or after 1980 (post Beeching) so I am ideally looking for those between those two dates but its fine if no one can find it.

 

[plugwash]

I don't know if it counts as a "new railway" but BR did a major rearrangement in the liverpool area to reduce the number of terminus stations and create what is now merseyrail.

 

[nanstallon]

The Plymouth to Gunnislake service uses a wartime connection at St Budeaux linking the GWR main line to the now closed SR main line into Plymouth.