Stations not centrally sited where previous central ones were closed

[swt_passenger]

I think it had far more to do with geography. To get any further into town would have required a deep cutting, very steep gradients or tunnel. Wasn't Greenfield replaced by Gateshead East so as to serve both the London line (via Leamside in those days) and the line towards Dunston when the High Level Bridge opened?

Probably also have to think about what was considered the city centre in the 1850s when the decisions were being made. I think local geography also decided the route north had to be via Heaton and Benton as well, so with only the High Level approach there had to be a reversal, and with the Carlisle terminus in the same building it probably chose itself.

As edwin_m said though, it isn’t really on the edge anyway.

 

[Farmer1997]

Northampton St. John’s Street was probably marginally closer to the town centre than Northampton Castle (now Northampton) although it was a terminus.

 

[noddingdonkey]

Pudsey. (Although I accept that none of the stations it replaced were too central they were convenient for people.

 

[james60059]

Leicester Central a good contender?, it's nearer to High Cross Shopping Centre anyway

 

[CalderRail]

Leicester is odd because the City Centre has moved away from the sole remaining Railway Station over time. Most other places the City Centre moves towards the transportation.

 

[Chris M]

Leicester is odd because the City Centre has moved away from the sole remaining Railway Station over time. Most other places the City Centre moves towards the transportation.

It's not unique. This happening in Swansea and Nottingham has been mentioned already in this thread,

 

[CalderRail]

It's not unique. This happening in Swansea and Nottingham has been mentioned already in this thread,

Oh very few things are unique. In both Leicester and Nottingham the driver is a major shopping centre development on the opposite side of town from where the station is. Ironically in Nottingham that's built on the site of Nottingham Victoria Railway Station.

 

[xotGD]

Oh very few things are unique. In both Leicester and Nottingham the driver is a major shopping centre development on the opposite side of town from where the station is. Ironically in Nottingham that's built on the site of Nottingham Victoria Railway Station.

Leicester has the bonus feature of 'integrated' public transport, with the bus station on the opposite side of the city to the railway station.

 

[Trackbedjolly]

I'm surprised nobody else has mentioned York; the original station was inside the city walls. You can't get much more central than that...

 

[CalderRail]

I'm surprised nobody else has mentioned York; the original station was inside the city walls. You can't get much more central than that...

Yes, but the current station is highly convenient for the National Railway Museum, which is the important part

 

[Trackbedjolly]

Yes, but the current station is highly convenient for the National Railway Museum, which is the important part

Yes now it is but for many years there was no footbridge from the station platform.
It was also convenient for the Old Biscuit Warehouse where I used to work-is that building still extant?

 

[pieguyrob]

The station in Poulton Le Fylde went the opposite way. It moved from the outskirts to the centre! So doesn't count here.

 

[kevjs]

No city in the UK has made an edge-of-city station work for long-distance trains, unless there's some other factor such as airport access.

Preston is right at the edge of the city. The surrounding towns have merged since thanks to the train line to Southport being converted to a main road...

Much better in my view to have the main station close to the centre and provide good public transport to serve it. Nottingham is interesting in that respect, as the railway is effectively becoming the southern edge of the city centre. When the developments I mentioned above are complete, there will be good walking access from the north side of the station to the city centre and good road access into the car park on the south side. Unfortunately many of the bus routes don't get any closer than Victoria.

The tram also gets rather close to the station! The residential area to the south will iterally back onto Platform 7 too.

 

[johnnychips]

Yes now it is but for many years there was no footbridge from the station platform.
It was also convenient for the Old Biscuit Warehouse where I used to work-is that building still extant?

This is intriguing. Why would you want to store old biscuits?

 

[Merthyr Imp]

This is intriguing. Why would you want to store old biscuits?

Well, you wouldn't want to eat them would you?

 

[AndyW33]

Leicester has the bonus feature of 'integrated' public transport, with the bus station on the opposite side of the city to the railway station.

Even better, there are two bus stations - Haymarket and St Margarets. They aren't too far apart - but nowhere near the current solitary railway station. However St Margarets is reasonably close to the remains of Leicester Central railway station.

 

[greyman42]

I'm surprised nobody else has mentioned York; the original station was inside the city walls. You can't get much more central than that...

The original station was right beside the present one so its location has barely moved.

 

[John Griffiths]

Even better, there are two bus stations - Haymarket and St Margarets. They aren't too far apart - but nowhere near the current solitary railway station. However St Margarets is reasonably close to the remains of Leicester Central railway station.

Exactly the same situation in Newcastle.

 

[randyrippley]

Preston is right at the edge of the city. The surrounding towns have merged since thanks to the train line to Southport being converted to a main road...

What are you talking about? Preston station is next to the city centre, its not at the city edge

 

[Scouseinmanc]

Also, the West Lancs line to Southport was not converted into a road.
The CLC line from Southport down to Woodvale was converted though & is the Coastal Road.

 

[edwin_m]

The A444 in Coventry follows the former Coventry Loop Line.

 

[jonty14]

Didn't Thirsk have a more central station?

 

[kevjs]

What are you talking about? Preston station is next to the city centre, its not at the city edge

It's both - the river to the south of the station is literally the edge of the city! Neighbouring villages have sprawlled along the old line to Southport to extend the South Ribble urban area to join the city.

 

[Scouseinmanc]

It's both - the river to the south of the station is literally the edge of the city! Neighbouring villages have sprawlled along the old line to Southport to extend the South Ribble urban area to join the city.

Actually, on thinking about it. Golden Way is the road built on the old trackbed from Penwortham to the Ribble bridge/s. Apols - I've literally just remembered!!

 

[grumpyoldman01]

Leicester has the bonus feature of 'integrated' public transport, with the bus station on the opposite side of the city to the railway station.

Leicester has two bus stations - Haymarket and St Margaret's.

St Margaret's is indeed on the opposite side of the city centre to London Road station (about 15 minutes walk), but is close to the former Central station - which also happens to be much closer to High Cross shopping centre than is London Road! Haymarket is closer to London Road than St Margaret's (and further than it from High Cross!)

Derby was mentioned in an earlier post.

Indeed, at the time of its closure Friargate was much closer to the main shopping centre than Midland; and if you take the Council House as being the centre, Nottingham Road was the most central of Derby's three stations. However, since the opening of the Eagle Centre in 1975 and its Westfield extension in 2007 (all now intu Derby), the main shopping area has moved considerably closer to Midland station, and an urban village - Castleward - is being constructed between the two; this includes some shops along Castleward Boulevard.

However, if you look at the situation in Derby in a wider context, much of the city's commercial activity is situated on Pride Park, immediately adjacent to the railway station but on the opposite side of it to the shopping centre; consequently, whereas - even as recently as the early 1970s - the closed Friargate station was better located for the shopping/commercial centre than was Midland, Midland is now better placed to serve the current, larger, shopping/commercial centre, and Friargate would have been very much on the city centre's western fringe. However, much of Derby Uni (and its halls of residence) are closer to Friargate than Midland.

 

[grumpyoldman01]

Lancaster; the station approach to Green Ayre ended somewhere near the Cable Street/Parliament Street junction, and this is closer to the city centre than is Castle.

Morecambe. Promenade was right on the promenade, and (from childhood memory) Euston Road was closer to the shops - there was a Ribble bus station adjacent to Euston Road, and a walk through the shops was necessary to get to the beach; the current station seems to be in the middle of nowhere.

Sutton in Ashfield; the present Parkway station on the Robin Hood line replaced others closer to the town centre.

Hucknall; the former GNR Hucknall Town station was adjacent to, but on the town side of, the present Hucknall (ex MR) station/NET tram stop. The former GCR Hucknall Central station was on the opposite side of Hucknall to the GNR/MR ones, and I THINK it was slightly further from the town centre than both the GNR and MR ones.

Long Eaton; not sure if this one counts, as the present station with this name was called Sawley Junction, and there was a Long Eaton station - right in the town centre - which closed in the 1960s. If HS2's eastern leg is built, Toton will be closer to Long Eaton centre than the present station with the town's name.

Ilkeston; the present (new) station is built on the site of Ilkeston Junction, and there were two more centrally located stations which closed years ago (the former MR station is now a Tesco Extra, and a police station is on the site of the former GNR North station)

 

[grumpyoldman01]

Loughborough Central

There was a third station in Loughborough - Derby Road - which was much closer to the town centre than both Central and Midland; it was where the lidl now stands, and until quite recently some former railway buildings were still visible on the site