Trivia: which railway station is furthest from the town it serves?

[dk1]

Walton on Thames station is about 1.9 miles from the Town Centre, and station is over 2 miles to the Thames (so probably furthest from the river included in station name)

I stayed at the Holiday Inn on the Shepperton side of town & caught a taxi from that station. Decided to walk to Walton on Thames station for the train the next day & missed my intended train as had not figured on it being so far from the centre of town.

 

[ikcdab]

Castle Cary, getting on for 2 miles from the town.

 

[stut]

Ashwell & Morden is 2.6 miles from both Ashwell and the nearest of the Mordens (Steeple Morden). And still it gets a better service than Letchworth or Baldock...

 

[Esker-pades]

Ashwell & Morden is 2.6 miles from both Ashwell and the nearest of the Mordens (Steeple Morden). And still it gets a better service than Letchworth or Baldock...

How does Ashwell & Morden get a better service than the other two you mentioned?

 

[blue sabre]

Brampton in Cumbria. It's about 2.3 miles to the centre of the town. Nightmare when you are trying to get a pint in at every station.

 

[xotGD]

Brampton in Cumbria. It's about 2.3 miles to the centre of the town. Nightmare when you are trying to get a pint in at every station.

Wasn't it formerly Brampton Junction, with a branch into the village?

 

[bramling]

Ashwell & Morden is 2.6 miles from both Ashwell and the nearest of the Mordens (Steeple Morden). And still it gets a better service than Letchworth or Baldock...

This is a bit of a misnomer now. It, arguably, enjoyed a good peak service to and from London immediately post Thameslink in the form of non-stop 387 services, but in reality this was a double-edged sword as going into London Ashwell passengers would be the last on, so stand a slim chance of finding a seat.

All but one of the 387 calls have now disappeared, being replaced by the second Cambridge/Brighton service. So Ashwell now gets 3tph most hours give or take. This compares disfavourably with Letchworth which gets 4tph off-peak and (from memory) at least 7tph peak. One fast service to London per hour is still a pretty good service for a relatively sleepy station.

 

[daveshah]

As it originally opened on the Southampton and Dorchester Railway; before the new route to Bournemouth via Sway; Christchurch Road (later Holmsley, now a tea room) must have been an 8 mile journey or so to Christchurch.

 

[Ianno87]

This is a bit of a misnomer now. It, arguably, enjoyed a good peak service to and from London immediately post Thameslink in the form of non-stop 387 services, but in reality this was a double-edged sword as going into London Ashwell passengers would be the last on, so stand a slim chance of finding a seat.

All but one of the 387 calls have now disappeared, being replaced by the second Cambridge/Brighton service. So Ashwell now gets 3tph most hours give or take. This compares disfavourably with Letchworth which gets 4tph off-peak and (from memory) at least 7tph peak. One fast service to London per hour is still a pretty good service for a relatively sleepy station.

The original Ashwell stops in the fasts were just replicating the stops in the old Royston-King's Cross peak service that got chopped back to Baldock. They were a bit of a nonsense, in my view.

Looking at the local user groups, Ashwell users liked getting on a relatively empty train (only from Royston) that made a few stops into King's Cross, and disliked having a non-stop service on a busy train.

Meanwhile, Letchworth users who liked their non-stop service on a busy train disliked this being replaced by a relatively empty semi-fast service making a few stops...

 

[Bald Rick]

Looking at the local user groups, Ashwell users liked getting on a relatively empty train (only from Royston) that made a few stops into King's Cross, and disliked having a non-stop service on a busy train.

Meanwhile, Letchworth users who liked their non-stop service on a busy train disliked this being replaced by a relatively empty semi-fast service making a few stops...

Indeed! A very well connected Ashwell commuter advises that he got moaned at when the fasts started and seats were rarer, and then moaned at again by the very same people when the fasts were withdrawn and the plentifully seated services returned.

 

[stut]

Indeed! A very well connected Ashwell commuter advises that he got moaned at when the fasts started and seats were rarer, and then moaned at again by the very same people when the fasts were withdrawn and the plentifully seated services returned.

Ah, I'm clearly out of date with my Ashwell prejudices I do get the impression that a number of Ashwell commuters are 'very well connected'...

 

[SWTCommuter]

Beaulieu Road station is 3.8 miles from Beaulieu

 

[LancasterRed]

Decided to bring back this thread because of a current journey I'm undergoing.

Yeovil Junction has no safe walk to the town of Yeovil and even if you want to it's over 2 miles (according to Google. The shuttle to the town doesn't connect with late trains either. Not good.

 

[Kimi]

Cambridge - that is a long walk from city centre.

Also, London Paddington - isn't "London" east of City of Westminster - what we call London isn't London. That's 5 miles..

I presume the criteria is that there is no nearer station (eg. To disqualify Bristol parkway and other further out stations, such as Paddington),

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Heswall always strikes me as poorly sited on the edge of town with fairly limited parking. The original Heswall station, which closed in 1956, was on the Hooton - West Kirby line and much more central. The current station used to be called Heswall Hills.

 

[Taunton]

On the roads, Spaghetti Junction is nowhere near Italy.

(I'm sorry, it's been a long day …)

 

[urpert]

Dent's not just a long walk, but there's also the massive difference in height between village and station to be overcome. I seem to remember reading somewhere that it's about 500'.

While we’re on vertical differences between stations and places served, there’s quite a surprising case almost in Greater London in the case of Upper Warlingham.

 

[Djgr]

Heswall always strikes me as poorly sited on the edge of town with fairly limited parking. The original Heswall station, which closed in 1956, was on the Hooton - West Kirby line and much more central. The current station used to be called Heswall Hills.

In the centre of Heswall there is a sign for the station which I think says one and a half miles.
It was called Heswall Hills because at the time of opening this was regarded as a very distinct place from Heswall, which in Victorian times, was considered to be what is now called the Lower Village. The loss of car parking is relatively recent and was flogged off by Railtrack, I think, and occupied by the inappropriately railway themed name of Pullman Close.

 

[MadMac]

Glenrothes with Thornton is some 3.5 miles from the centre of Glenrothes town by the road. 3.1 miles by foot.

Glenrothes town is actually much closer to Markinch station that it is Glenrothes.

Markinch used to be "Markinch for Glenrothes".

 

[S&CLER]

Dent's not just a long walk, but there's also the massive difference in height between village and station to be overcome. I seem to remember reading somewhere that it's about 500'.

The really killing climb is right at the end up from Lea Yeat to the station. I walked from Sedbergh to Dent one Saturday a few years ago on the Dales Way, taking an early bus from Southport to Preston, train to Oxenholme, bus to Sedbergh, walk to Dent station, then train to Settle, bus to Slaidburn, another bus to Clitheroe, yet another bus to Preston and finally a bus back to Southport. Every bus and train was on time, and I only had to pay for the train fare (using a NW Rover), as my bus pass covered everywhere else. You can't do this now, as there are no buses from Settle to Slaidburn.

 

[Eyersey468]

Including closed lines the old station at Kiplingcotes is some distance from South Dalton. It was built as a condition of the line being built