The Axe's worst closure - poll

[higthomas]

Whoops, I didn't see you could only vote for 5. I picked ten.

 

[SprinterMan]

No Sudbury to Cambridge via Haverhill?! I am sickened and disgusted :P

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

There were a host of individual terminal closures as well.
Probably there's no regret about Manchester Central, but I think Liverpool Central (High Level) was a mistake, possibly Leeds Central as well.
All we've done is over-complicate the remaining terminals which are at bursting point.
Birmingham Snow Hill luckily came back from the dead.
I think there would have been a fight today over closing Cheltenham St James.
Probably a good thing Edinburgh Princes St and Glasgow Buchanan St have gone, and Sheffield Victoria. But Glasgow St Enoch?

There are plenty of others: eg Lincoln St Marks, Chester Northgate, Bath Green Park (and routes via Mangotsfield to Bristol), Swansea Victoria.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Whoops, I didn't see you could only vote for 5. I picked ten.

So it's not just me who has over-voted then!

Shouldn't the polling software prevent this from happening?

 

[backontrack]

There's been an upset hock:

I know it's being reopened, but did any other railway closure cause as much degeneration and economic strife as the Waverley Route did? It saddens me that lines like Woodhead and GCR - which are helpful strategically, but don't serve anywhere not served already, except for Lutterworth - are ahead despite not cutting off any communities like Hawick and Galashiels.

 

[miami]

There's been an upset hock:

I know it's being reopened, but did any other railway closure cause as much degeneration and economic strife as the Waverley Route did? It saddens me that lines like Woodhead and GCR - which are helpful strategically, but don't serve anywhere not served already, except for Lutterworth - are ahead despite not cutting off any communities like Hawick and Galashiels.

I voted for woodhead as my mother-in-law lives in dunford bridge, which means a bus to penistone, train to shefield, train to stockport, train to altrincham, bus to home (or bus/bus/train/metro/bus). Or a 90 minute 60 mile round trip to pick her up.

 

[Western Lord]

There are plenty of others: eg Lincoln St Marks, Chester Northgate, Bath Green Park (and routes via Mangotsfield to Bristol), Swansea Victoria.

What possible use would Lincoln St. Marks be? Its services were diverted to Central and closing it eliminated one of two level crossings within half a mile of each other. It also had very short platforms which could not take more than about four coaches.

 

[sciisfun]

So it's not just me who has over-voted then!

Shouldn't the polling software prevent this from happening?

I didn't see the 5, I only picked one!

 

[Harbornite]

There's been an upset hock:

I know it's being reopened, but did any other railway closure cause as much degeneration and economic strife as the Waverley Route did? It saddens me that lines like Woodhead and GCR - which are helpful strategically, but don't serve anywhere not served already, except for Lutterworth - are ahead despite not cutting off any communities like Hawick and Galashiels.

I nearly voted for the GCR but I had selected 6 options so I had to drop it. As you say, the areas it served are already quite well served.

 

[FordFocus]

Woodhead should be in the top 3.

 

[Andrewlong]

For the record, Beeching never proposed Woodhead for closure. In fact, he selected for further development.

Government incompetence and BR mismanagement saw to that one.

And it was closed in 1981 so shouldn't be included in the poll.

Not sure what this poll proves other than bringing up well rehearsed opinions and conspiracy theories. The majority of these lines won't be reopened and I would rather we look forward than back.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Woodhead should be in the top 3.

Though there's conflict over whether it should be included at all: whilst closure to passengers resulted from the Doc's 1963 report, the closure overall took another 18 years.

 

[Parallel]

Looking into the present day, from Barnstaple, there are six double decker buses an hour to Braunton, of which three continue to Ilfracombe. I think it would be a popular service if the towns still retained their rail link.

I can understand why the whole line between Bath Green Park and Bournemouth was closed, as there were relatively few services, and they were very slow. The current station at Bath Spa can get very overcrowded and due to where it is situated, only has two platforms and can't easily be expanded. The result of the line closure is commuter towns like Radstock and Midsummer Norton have been left without stations, and the road congestion through both Bath and Bristol is dreadful. Since the other part of the line was also closed (Bath Green Park towards Yate), journeys from Bath to Yate/ Cam & Dursley/ Gloucester/ Cheltenham/ Birmingham & The North take considerably longer with passengers travelling to (and often changing trains at) Temple Meads. Bath gets a fair amount of tourism from the midlands.

 

[ac6000cw]

And it was closed in 1981 so shouldn't be included in the poll.

Not sure what this poll proves other than bringing up well rehearsed opinions and conspiracy theories. The majority of these lines won't be reopened and I would rather we look forward than back.

I fully agree.

Lines like the GCR London Extension made (some) commercial sense when the railways had a near-monopoly of long/medium distance transport (even though that was as much a 'vanity' project as anything else when built). By the time everything was merged together in 1948, that wasn't the case - paying the costs of a parallel route couldn't be justified when all the traffic could be carried on one i.e. the better connected ex-Midland route.

The Woodhead route was electrified and rebuilt for freight traffic - the loss of that effectively condemned it in the end (not worth renewing the electrical equipment for the traffic that remained), together with it's poor connectivity at the Sheffield end for passenger purposes.

 

[yorksrob]

And it was closed in 1981 so shouldn't be included in the poll.

Not sure what this poll proves other than bringing up well rehearsed opinions and conspiracy theories. The majority of these lines won't be reopened and I would rather we look forward than back.

The OP mentions "the axe" but it doesn't mention who's axe, so thres no reason not to include it. It should also be mentioned that Dr Beeching proposed closure of the Hope Valley instead, which probably would have been worse in terms of communities deprived of a railway service.

 

[DarloRich]

is this just a list of every closed line? What are the criteria for deciding the worst? Is it just opinion?

BTW some of those listed above didn't close under "the axe". I went along the Leamside line in the 80's and spent many happy hours watching the coal trains form my grandparents.

 

[Harbornite]

is this just a list of every closed line? What are the criteria for deciding the worst? Is it just opinion?

BTW some of those listed above didn't close under "the axe". I went along the Leamside line in the 80's and spent many happy hours watching the coal trains form my grandparents.

Quite a few of the listed examples closed after Beeching. I assume that the OP is referring to all "axes" that we've had since the '60s.

 

[yorksrob]

Personally I would take the thread as referring to the whole motor-centric era which lasted until the mid 1980's.

 

[backontrack]

is this just a list of every closed line? What are the criteria for deciding the worst? Is it just opinion?

BTW some of those listed above didn't close under "the axe". I went along the Leamside line in the 80's and spent many happy hours watching the coal trains form my grandparents.

See the first post.

 

[matchmaker]

The results will be revealed.

Also, HOW DID I MANAGE TO FORGET LEVENMOUTH AND ST ANDREWS???????

And Dunblane to Crianlarich!

 

[backontrack]

Wow THIS IS CLOSE. Only 8 minutes left and the lead is tied! hock:
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Well, that was close! Too close...

1ST PLACE Varsity Line & Great Central Railway (both 78%)
3RD PLACE Woodhead Line (75%)
4TH PLACE Waverley Line (62%)
5TH PLACE Bakewell Line (41%)

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

I'm a little disappointed more voted for Spalding to March as if it was more important than Boston to Grimsby, there's only Wisbech there as opposed to Louth & Mablethorpe. And Wisbech would still use the X1 bus to get to Peterborough to get the train if it did happen.

 

[meridian2]

I read somewhere that the closure of the Varsity was not part of the original cuts. Is that apocryphal or was it indeed officially excluded?

 

[TBY-Paul]

I'm curious, If the rules were you could only vote for 5, how did 1 member manage to vote for all of them?

 

[The Planner]

I'm a little disappointed more voted for Spalding to March as if it was more important than Boston to Grimsby, there's only Wisbech there as opposed to Louth & Mablethorpe. And Wisbech would still use the X1 bus to get to Peterborough to get the train if it did happen.

Stops freight from having to cross Peterborough and would save us grade seperating Werrington.

 

[6Gman]

I'm bemused by the level of support for Woodhead. What - exactly - does it offer?

 

[Harbornite]

I'm curious, If the rules were you could only vote for 5, how did 1 member manage to vote for all of them?

We should ask @RichardCommu about that.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I'm bemused by the level of support for Woodhead. What - exactly - does it offer?

I think both it and the Great Central are overrated.

 

[RichmondCommu]

We should ask @RichardCommu about that.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I'll think you'll find it's Richmond Richard is a close cousin of Dick. Please remember it's Richmond. Thanks

 

[DerekC]

Bit disappointed it's all over in 24 hours - what was the hurry? Didn't get to vote!

 

[Harbornite]

I'll think you'll find it's Richmond Richard is a close cousin of Dick. Please remember it's Richmond. Thanks

My bad.