[trivia] furthest town or village from a station but with railway line beside or through it

[infobleep]

What is the furthest town or village from a railway station to have a railway line running through or beside it?

I think hamlets are too small but I'm not sure what the correct definition should be for a village size

 

[Midnight Sun]

Village of Essendine between Grantham and Peterborough

 

[Mag_seven]

Beattock

 

[CaptainHaddock]

I'll go for Garstang.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Somewhere like Coalville might be in with a chance.

 

[Scotrail84]

Newburgh or Stanley

 

[Scotrail84]

Abington, Crawford?

 

[adamello]

collumpton?

 

[apk55]

Shap or Tebay

 

[Statto]

Golbourne, railhead think is Wigan, but nearest station is i think Newton Le Willows[Bryn might be nearer] which is still some distance from the town, & that brings me to Leigh for the same reasons

 

[cuccir]

Taking driving distances, a few of the answers so far have missed that the locations may be closer to stations on a different line. For example Essendine is a long way from anything on the ECML, but under 5 miles from Stamford station. Tebay's nearest station is also on a different line (Kirkby Stephen), though it is still quote far at 10 miles. Another I thought of was Grantshouse on the ECML in the Scottish Borders, which is 12 miles from Dunbar.

However in terms of absolute distance, the Scottish examples on the WCML are the furthest given so far - Abington is 20 miles from its nearest station in Carstairs. Although in terms of size, Coalville at just over 10 miles to Loughborough or Rothely and Garstang at just under 11 miles to Lancaster (further on the way back due to the city's one-way system!) might be more notable.

 

[Ianno87]

The furthest distance between stations in the UK is Lockerbie to Carstairs.

Logic would therefore dictate the answer is whatever village that lies closes to half-way along this stretch.

 

[bramling]

Taking driving distances, a few of the answers so far have missed that the locations may be closer to stations on a different line. For example Essendine is a long way from anything on the ECML, but under 5 miles from Stamford station. Tebay's nearest station is also on a different line (Kirkby Stephen), though it is still quote far at 10 miles. Another I thought of was Grantshouse on the ECML in the Scottish Borders, which is 12 miles from Dunbar.

However in terms of absolute distance, the Scottish examples on the WCML are the furthest given so far - Abington is 20 miles from its nearest station in Carstairs. Although in terms of size, Coalville at just over 10 miles to Loughborough or Rothely and Garstang at just under 11 miles to Lancaster (further on the way back due to the city's one-way system!) might be more notable.

Somerton in Somerset is on a fairly long stationless stretch, although it won't be the greatest being about 12 miles from Castle Cary by road.

 

[nr758123]

Abington, Crawford?

Crawford - 18.1 miles by road from Sanquhar, 12.7 miles straight line distance from Sanquhar, about 20 miles from Carstairs Jn - looks promising. Unless the Leadhills & Wanlockhead Railway is taken into account.

 

[Taunton]

Somerton in Somerset is on a fairly long stationless stretch, although it won't be the greatest being about 12 miles from Castle Cary by road.

There are a whole string of sizeable such places in the area. Somerton and Langport to the east of Taunton, and Wellington and Cullompton to the west, are all significant sized settlements (Wellington is certainly a town, and Somerton and Cullompton are close to being so) with a passenger railway running right through the middle of them but no station. If the line had been run by the same management as do the old Southern Exeter to Salisbury line I'm sure they would have stations, either retained or reopened.

Ironically Castle Cary, mentioned, is nowhere near the actual town of Castle Cary, but is in the middle of fields and not practically walkable from the town.

 

[Mikey C]

Since Wantage Road station closed, Wantage and Grove (which are virtually one conurbation now) are a significant distance from Didcot Parkway

 

[Glenn1969]

Maybe these places and Coalville and Ashby actually should have stations given how big they are

 

[InOban]

I think we need definitions for town, village and hamlet.

 

[NorthOxonian]

Before the opening of Oxford Parkway (on a different line), Kidlington would have a decent claim, being a fair distance from Hanborough, Tackley, and Oxford.

Uffington is too perhaps too small and too far from the railway, but is 12 miles away from Swindon (16 from Didcot). The problem is the line doesn't really go through many villages but passes some way away from them. That's a problem with Shrivenham and Grove (both would be decent distances, Grove has been already mentioned). If the railway had been built closer to the villages, perhaps the intermediate stations could have survived.

Royal Wootton Bassett is fairly close to Swindon, but must be one of the few cases where a junction goes through a major town, but there are no stations for several miles.

 

[Taunton]

Maybe these places and Coalville and Ashby actually should have stations given how big they are

The issue is whether there is any suitable passenger service on the line. Coalville and Ashby are on a freight-only line, which I believe is no longer continuous from Leicester to Burton. And other proposals need to take account of the type of service. The Somerton and Langport examples I give would be impractical with the current service, which is only Inter-City trains running down to Devon and Cornwall, although there is certainly scope for an intermediate stations service from Paddington to Taunton or Exeter, allowing the through service to be speeded up. Village station proposals on main lines often fall foul of this. Stopping an existing stopping service is far more straightforward than starting a new service which has to generate a trainload from scratch. Regarding say Somerton, consideration of where the travel demand is to is also key - the nearest significant town is Yeovil, and the nearest major urban area is Bristol, both of which will have developed links to the town but are not served by any rail service to the new station.

 

[DerekC]

I think Okehampton (about 20 miles from Exeter and on the freight line to Meldon Quarry) would be in the running, but it does have a seasonal heritage railway service so probably doesn't count.

 

[Starmill]

I think Okehampton (about 20 miles from Exeter and on the freight line to Meldon Quarry) would be in the running, but it does have a seasonal heritage railway service so probably doesn't count.

And indeed national rail services...

 

[433N]

In a few years when HS2 is built, Brackley (Northants) may well have the title ; certainly a step change from Abington

 

[61653 HTAFC]

The issue is whether there is any suitable passenger service on the line. Coalville and Ashby are on a freight-only line, which I believe is no longer continuous from Leicester to Burton. And other proposals need to take account of the type of service. The Somerton and Langport examples I give would be impractical with the current service, which is only Inter-City trains running down to Devon and Cornwall, although there is certainly scope for an intermediate stations service from Paddington to Taunton or Exeter, allowing the through service to be speeded up. Village station proposals on main lines often fall foul of this. Stopping an existing stopping service is far more straightforward than starting a new service which has to generate a trainload from scratch. Regarding say Somerton, consideration of where the travel demand is to is also key - the nearest significant town is Yeovil, and the nearest major urban area is Bristol, both of which will have developed links to the town but are not served by any rail service to the new station.

I've long favoured reopening stations at Langport, Somerton, Wellington and Cullompton. There should be room for hourly DMU services from Taunton:

• to Exeter calling at Wellington, Tiverton Parkway, Cullompton and St. David's, extending to Central if possible.
• to Yeovil Junction calling at Langport, Somerton, Castle Cary (reverse), Yeovil Pen Mill.