TRIVIA - current stations which were originally two separate stations

[kevjs]

Was Preston not two stations at one time? North Union and East Lancs?

Not sure if any of the EL bit survives within the current station.

Platform 7 was a former East Lancs platform. AIUI while the platforms were operated under different management although it was a single station. Not sure what that meant in practice mind!

I don't think so.

There was a separate station, Manchester Mayfield, just across the Fairfax Street from Platforms 13-14 whose passenger services were moved to Manchester London Road (renamed as Manchester Piccadilly) in 1960.

The Network Rail site said otherwise

After railway nationalisation in 1948, Manchester London Road was operated by the London Midland Region of British Railways (LMR) and the London Eastern Region of British Railways (LER). They continued to operate Manchester London Road as two separate stations.

Would it be fair to say both Preston and Manchester Piccadilly neé London Road were both one station operated by multiple companies?

 

[John07]

Platform 7 was a former East Lancs platform. AIUI while the platforms were operated under different management although it was a single station. Not sure what that meant in practice mind!

The Network Rail site said otherwise

Would it be fair to say both Preston and Manchester Piccadilly neé London Road were both one station operated by multiple companies?

Certainly in the case of London Road Station. I am not sure that the division was between the through platforms (13/14) and the terminus platforms. The division of the station appeared to predate the construction of those platforms.

 

[30907]

Certainly in the case of London Road Station. I am not sure that the division was between the through platforms (13/14) and the terminus platforms. The division of the station appeared to predate the construction of those platforms.

Correct : the "London Eastern Region" (sic) side was the old GCR part. The MSJA platforms were never managed as a separate station, though they were operated separately for a number of years following the original electrification.

 

[Sunset route]

Wasn't Birmingham new street built as two separate stations, one half midland railaway and the other half London & North Waetern Railway, that weren't properly amalgamated today until the 1960s rebuild for electrification?

 

[robbeech]

Retford. Built as two separate stations served by the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway and the Great Northern Railway.

Interestingly, Google maps indicates Retford (ECML Platforms 1 and 2) and Retford Low Level (Platforms 3 and 4 for Lincoln / Sheffield) separately, and many Northern guards will announce Retford Low Level and indicate a walk to Retford High level or Retford, main station is necessary for EMCL travelling. Of course, this is officially 1 station called Retford, but its understandable how there may be some confusion. It catches a lot of people out to this day, the Walk from 1st Class on a Northbound VTEC train to a Sheffield bound service is a good one and the minimum connection time of 10 minutes is certainly justified!

 

[The_Engineer]

One where there were two separate stations very close to each other was Oswestry. The main station was Cambrian Railways, the branch from Gobowen was GWR and had its own single platform passenger station and goods facilities. After grouping the Gobowen branch auto train/dmu used the former Cambrian station's bay platform.

 

[6Gman]

Shotton LL was originally Chester & Holyhead, later LNWR.
Shotton HL was MS&L, later Great Central.

Manchester Victoria is essentially a merger of the old Exchange and Victoria.
There were many such mergers in the 1960s/70s, eg Chester Northgate into Chester General, Liverpool Central into Lime St, even (for a time) Birmingham Snow Hill into New St, Manchester Central into Oxford Road or Piccadilly.

But they're not "mergers". They're closures (of one station) with services diverted (into the other station).

 

[D365]

It catches a lot of people out to this day, the Walk from 1st Class on a Northbound VTEC train to a Sheffield bound service is a good one and the minimum connection time of 10 minutes is certainly justified!

I've seen it done in four, courtesy of a late running VTEC and a Northern driver ushering us along...

Might as well still be two separate stations!

 

[satisnek]

Didn't Tamworth used to be separate LNWR and MR stations?

 

[Spartacus]

I think Batley might deserve a mention, the original platforms which are still there are far removed from the next ones to be build for the Chickenley route, which was a rival company, so had to have been operated as a different station, before the Dewsbury Loop was built to fill in the gap.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Morpeth

 

[Ianno87]

I understand York very early on was two terminal stations arranged in an 'L' shape before being joined into a through station (hence the current platform curvature).

Similarly, wasn't Edinburgh originally two seperate terminal stations back-to-back?

 

[backontrack]

Inverness may not fulfil the exact criteria, but the Highland Railway built the station in two halves; which is why Platforms 5, 6 and 7 are the ones used for services to Tain, Thurso, Wick and Kyle of Lochalsh.

 

[snowball]

I understand York very early on was two terminal stations arranged in an 'L' shape before being joined into a through station (hence the current platform curvature).

I thought the original station at York was south-west-facing only, and inside the city walls, unlike the present station which is outside. I thought two arches were cut in the walls to connect the lines to it; they can be partially seen here.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.9...4!1skP-gxEcXVO2D7mW0gm5Ugg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

[backontrack]

I thought the original station at York was south-west-facing only, and inside the city walls, unlike the present station which is outside. I thought two arches were cut in the walls to connect the lines to it; they can be partially seen here.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.9...4!1skP-gxEcXVO2D7mW0gm5Ugg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

As a Yorkensian, I can confirm this to be true.

 

[rich r]

For a few years around 1840 Selby had two adjacent stations, the Hull and Selby Railway going one way and the Leeds and Selby Railway going the other. Then the Swing Bridge was constructed and the Hull line joined onto the Leeds line. The former station became a goods shed with the rails still being there until I think the 1980s (certainly they'd gone by 1990).

Maybe not the biggest merged station, but possibly a candidate for one of the older mergers with no real changes since?

 

[thejuggler]

Shipley? Originally a station just south of the town centre and also Shipley Windhill.

Now a single triangle station.

 

[takno]

Similarly, wasn't Edinburgh originally two seperate terminal stations back-to-back?

There were effectively three stations on the site. IIRC the Caledonian's North Bridge merged quite quickly with the North British terminus. Canal Street (which was the terminus of the tunnels to Leith) hung around for a bit longer, with platforms where Princes Mall is now, and an insanely tight curve onto the main lines.

 

[backontrack]

Carlisle Crown Street, perhaps? Or was that station just shared between operators?

 

[Bookd]

I had it in mind to suggest Clapham Junction but having checked the history I would have been wrong. It was built jointly by the London & South Western (now SWR), London Brighton & South Coast (now Southern) and the West London Extension (now LO) railways.
So it would always have been one station from the passenger viewpoint but it was, and really still is, three separate stations operationally (although they may have had their own ticket offices).
LU use platforms 1 and 2, which also used to lead to The Kensington Milk Sidings, which were only removed with the recent LO rebuild.
SWR use platforms 3 to 11 after which these are separated by the carriage sidings from the Southern side at platforms 12 - 17.
Although Kensington trains can and do reach platform 17 via Latchmere Junction there is no connection between the sides, and it is really three stations which happento be attached.

 

[Spamcan81]

Hope Exchange High Level was WM&CQR, then GCR and then LNER. The Low Level station was LNWR and then LMS.

 

[Lucan]

Epsom.

Leatherhead has been mentioned, where LBSC and LSWR diverged in the Down direction from shared track into formerly separate stations; but a few miles up the line Epsom is where they converged. At Epsom the arrangement until the 1920s (as I understand it) was rather stange. In the Down direction the LBSC lines passed westwards through their own station (Epsom Town) and a few hundred yards later converged with the LSWR line from Wimbledon and crossed its Down track with diamond crossings. The LBSC tracks then ran in between the LSWR tracks through the LSWR station (Epsom) without stopping, it having side platforms for the LSWR outer tracks only. The two sets of tracks, by now veering south-westwards, then joined into shared double track just south-west of the LSWR station.

In 1929 Epsom was re-arranged as two island platforms serving all four tracks, as it is today, and Epsom Town was closed.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I'm not sure that Epsom counts as the distance between the two ( the old Epsom Town station can still be seen ) is over a quarter of a mile - it's more a case of one closing completely and the services being accommodated in the other.

 

[contractador]

Ealing Broadway was 2/3 separate stations:
The Great Western Railway
The district railway
The central London railway

The GWR and district were definitely separate stations. Does anyone know about the Central?

 

[Warwick]

Peckham Rye?

 

[JW16]

Romford (today's platform 1 was a separate station to today's platforms 2-5).

 

[swaldman]

Aberdeen. I forget the details of what came before, but the current building was constructed as the "Joint Station"...

 

[peaks222]

Interestingly, Google maps indicates Retford (ECML Platforms 1 and 2) and Retford Low Level (Platforms 3 and 4 for Lincoln / Sheffield) separately, and many Northern guards will announce Retford Low Level and indicate a walk to Retford High level or Retford, main station is necessary for EMCL travelling. Of course, this is officially 1 station called Retford, but its understandable how there may be some confusion. It catches a lot of people out to this day, the Walk from 1st Class on a Northbound VTEC train to a Sheffield bound service is a good one and the minimum connection time of 10 minutes is certainly justified!

http://signalboxes.com/construction-of-retford-dive-under-1963-to-65.php

 

[robbeech]

http://signalboxes.com/construction-of-retford-dive-under-1963-to-65.php

Thanks for posting. A great read. Every day is indeed a school day.