Trivia: Rail journeys that used to be much quicker

[Malcolmffc]

One that will hopefully be fixed by the end of the next decade:

Oxford to Cambridge

 

[Dr_Paul]

Barnstable to Taunton -- you now have to go via Exeter.

Shoreham to Christ's Hospital -- you now have to go via Ford.

Guildford to Christ's Hospital -- you now have to go via Leatherhead (or Dorking if you walk between the two stations).

East Grinstead to Three Bridges -- you now have to go via East Croydon.

Polegate to Eridge -- you now have to go via East Croydon, Wivelsfield and Lewes.

Bishops Stortford to Braintree -- you now have to go via Liverpool Street.

Sudbury to Cambridge -- you now have to go via Liverpool Street or via Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds.

Bedford to Cambridge -- you now have to go via St Pancras/King's Cross, or Corby, Oakham and Peterborough.

Hitchen to Bedford -- you now have to go via St Pancras/King's Cross, or Corby, Oakham and Peterborough.

Northampton to Wellingborough -- you now have to go via Bletchley and Bedford.

Cheltenham to Banbury -- you now have to go via Swindon, Didcot and Oxford.

Rugby to Aylesbury -- you now have to go via Princes Risborough and Coventry, or Marylebone and Euston.

 

[Altfish]

Altrincham to Manchester
11 then 13 minutes now about half an hour.

When was it ever that quick??

 

[Altfish]

Marple to Stockport

 

[apk55]

Buxton to Matlock.

Also any journey that used that line such as Manchester to Derby or Leicester. Now one has to make a detour via Sheffield and change trains

When was it ever that quick??

The Chester trains only stopped at Sale between Altrincham and Manchester did in 13 min on a good day

 

[gg1]

Stratford Upon Avon to Honeybourne

I can't find any historic timetables but doubt the journey would have been more than 20 minutes. The fastest journey now is over 2.5 hours.

 

[Altfish]

The Chester trains only stopped at Sale between Altrincham and Manchester did in 13 min on a good day

I don't think it was ever 11 minutes. It also only went to Central, so the equivalent journey time would now be 25 minutes by tram.
If you wanted to get to Piccadilly from Altrincham it would take a fair bit longer.
AND if you want to go to Manchester City Centre today's trams are quicker.

 

[LOL The Irony]

When was it ever that quick??

Express services under the 1931 electrics.

 

[Altfish]

Express services under the 1931 electrics.

I stand corrected. Is that 11 minutes from Altrincham to Piccadilly?

 

[LOL The Irony]

I stand corrected. Is that 11 minutes from Altrincham to Piccadilly?

It was Central originally then Oxford Road.

 

[Bensonby]

I believe that the connection was only available to Queen Victoria. The track, single line of course, passed though the centre of the Waterloo (LSWR) concourse and was normally bridged by wooden flooring, and continued over what is now used as a footbridge over the road and onto the SE lines. Royal trains used it to go from Windsor to Kent or the Channel ports.

I expect it had such a severe speed limit and signalling delays that it would have been quicker to walk anyway.

It hasn’t been used as a footbridge since the early 90’s: a newer enclosed footbridge replaced it. It’s still there though and appears to be used for storage.

 

[Altfish]

It was Central originally then Oxford Road.

Not the electrics, they were Piccadilly (or London Road), then Oxford Road

 

[Millisle]

A relatively new one ironically created by a reopening: Tweedbank to Carlisle

That precise journey would have required a nicely timed pulling of the cord followed by a descent into the undergrowth in the old days owing to the absence of Tweedbank station and Tweedbank, except of course in riverine terms.

 

[DesireToFire]

Strood to Charlton used to be direct 2 or 3 changes to get there today!

 

[duffield]

Buxton to Matlock.

As the question doesn't specify 'via National Rail', you could make it a bit longer with Buxton to Rowsley South (Peak Rail), or Buxton to Darley Dale if you don't count Rowsley South because it's not at the original site.

 

[341o2]

Templecombe - Bath

and Templecombe - Bournemouth,

 

[Dai Corner]

Pilning to Severn Tunnel Junction (in that direction only); although that's due to a platform closure rather than a line closure.

 

[341o2]

One of the Beeching casualties was the branch line between Leighton Buzzard, Luton, Welwyn Garden City and Hertford, so any journeys between these towns now via the London terminii.
Mill Hill to Edgware (now LUL) now via Camden Town instead of a direct service

Would virtually any station west of Exeter, including Exmouth on the surviving ex SR lines and London be slower as previously served direct by the ACE, today either from Paddington to Exeter and change or Waterloo (stopping at all stations west of Salisbury) and again change at Exeter?

 

[341o2]

Bere Alston to Okehampton

 

[Dr_Paul]

Dumfries to Stranraer.

 

[341o2]

Pwheli to Bangor
Aberystwyth to Carmarthen (already mentioned)
Barmouth to Llangollen
Newtown to Bluith Wells
Harlech to Blaneau Ffestiniog

 

[delt1c]

Gleneagles to Oban

 

[asw22]

Keighley to Halifax

Skipton to Ilkley
Wetherby to leeds and Harrogate
Otley to Leeds
Cambridge to St Ives
Maltin to Pickering and Whitby

 

[30907]

Would virtually any station west of Exeter, including Exmouth on the surviving ex SR lines and London be slower as previously served direct by the ACE, today either from Paddington to Exeter and change or Waterloo (stopping at all stations west of Salisbury) and again change at Exeter?

Faster from Paddington (and has been for a long time), but not from Salisbury. Though the line concerned has not been closed as per the OP's query.

 

[70014IronDuke]

One that will hopefully be fixed by the end of the next decade:

Oxford to Cambridge

I doubt it, actually. Certainly not 'much quicker' as in the thread title. First of all, for most of the direct route's existence, there were hardly any through trains: you had to change at Bletchley. Even when they introduced a handful of through trains (about 3-4 years before closure), while I think these usually skipped the halts between Bletchley and Bedford, they were hardly fast. I'd guess the direct DMUs would take about 2.5 hours. If you had to change, the trip would take closer to 3 hours. How long would it take today, via KX and PAddington? And with a vastly superior frequency on all lines invovled?

 

[coppercapped]

I doubt it, actually. Certainly not 'much quicker' as in the thread title. First of all, for most of the direct route's existence, there were hardly any through trains: you had to change at Bletchley. Even when they introduced a handful of through trains (about 3-4 years before closure), while I think these usually skipped the halts between Bletchley and Bedford, they were hardly fast. I'd guess the direct DMUs would take about 2.5 hours. If you had to change, the trip would take closer to 3 hours. How long would it take today, via KX and PAddington? And with a vastly superior frequency on all lines invovled?

You are correct! I made that journey, from Cambridge to Oxford, in 1967 or thereabouts. The train was a 2 coach Cravens DMU and it took, as you say, about 2 1/2 hours - but it felt more like five. The train never exceeded about 50mph and vibrated, rattled and lurched the whole way.

Even if the line had not been closed - nobody would have used it with that stock!

 

[341o2]

There was once a direct railway between Banbury, Kingham and Cheltenham, today Banbury to Kingham via Oxford taking about 1hr and Banbury to Cheltenham via Birmingham about 2 hrs, although one journey can be made in 1hr 47m

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Harrow & Wealdstone to Stanmore - 7 minutes by direct train, around an hour via Bakerloo and Jubilee lines or 35 mins by bus.

 

[transmanche]

I doubt it, actually. Certainly not 'much quicker' as in the thread title. First of all, for most of the direct route's existence, there were hardly any through trains: you had to change at Bletchley. Even when they introduced a handful of through trains (about 3-4 years before closure), while I think these usually skipped the halts between Bletchley and Bedford, they were hardly fast. I'd guess the direct DMUs would take about 2.5 hours. If you had to change, the trip would take closer to 3 hours.

Here's a snippet from the 1962/1963 timetable to confirm.

Even the 'fast' service (of which there was just one a day) took two hours, with the 'all shacks' taking about 2 hours 40 mins. There was another 'all shacks' service at about 14:45 and a final through service at about 18:45 which ran all stations to Bletchley and then Bedford and Cambridge only. Just four through trains a day


Source: timetableworld.com

 

[341o2]

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