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Withdrawal of Services

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55003

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When was the last time a route was closed in the UK for a non-weather related reason? With the threatened closure of Redhill [RDH] - Tonbridge [TON] have we briefly returned to the days of Beeching?
 
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Philip Phlopp

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When was the last time a route was closed in the UK for a non-weather related reason? With the threatened closure of RDH-TON have we briefly returned to the days of Beeching?

What threatened closure ?
 

3141

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That's a lot different from "returned to the days of Beeching".

There have been route closures because of reconstructions of major bridges and similar important items of infrastructure that weren't weather-related but were needed because the existing structure had reached the end of its life.
 

thenorthern

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The last line to close I think was the Walsall to Wolverhampton line in 2008. The only other lines I can think that have closed since 1997 are the Sinfin Branch Line, Croxley Branch Line and part of the the North London Line.
 

yorksrob

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Don't forget Woodside - Addiscombe.

Also, is the Folkestone Harbour branch still soldiering on ?
 

55003

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The route is going to be closed by Southern due to their terrible management of their network. When it will reopen is unknown.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36701300
There are no public transport alternatives between the two towns, so it will be disastrous for all those that use it. It will also make the Southeastern trains from Tonbridge to London busier.
 

PHILIPE

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The last line to close I think was the Walsall to Wolverhampton line in 2008. The only other lines I can think that have closed since 1997 are the Sinfin Branch Line, Croxley Branch Line and part of the the North London Line.

The line hasn't closed, only the train service apart from a Parliamentary.
 

thenorthern

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Don't forget Woodside - Addiscombe.

Also, is the Folkestone Harbour branch still soldiering on ?

Folkestone Harbour has closed yes and also there have been some technical closures since then such as Bathgate's old station and the short line that lead to it from the current station.
 

yorksrob

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Folkestone Harbour has closed yes and also there have been some technical closures since then such as Bathgate's old station and the short line that lead to it from the current station.

Cheers,

Last I heard, they'd sent a loco down there to stop the ownership of the land reverting to the local squire !
 

johnnychips

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Let me get in first to say that forum etiquette requires the full name of stations to be used before reverting to the official abbreviation. I think it means Redhill to Tonbridge.

In a lengthy thread it might be worth repeating the full names, if we are talking about an obscure part of the country (:D); or the abbreviations are not self-evident; or the full names are not in the thread title - putting the full names in the title would be the easiest way of avoiding confusion.
 
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tbtc

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With the threatened closure of RDH-TON have we briefly returned to the days of Beeching?

No.

Nowhere near.

Mentioning the good Doctor's name seems to be the equivalent of Godwin's Law on here.

If "temporarily withdrawing trains from branch lines due to staff shortages" is going to be equated to actually permanently closing lines then there were some examples in the Northern Spirit/ Arriva Trains Northern days when routes like Leeds - Pontefract were "semi permanently" run by replacement buses.

Without wishing to get into an argument about the rights and wrongs of DOO (and why it's seemingly acceptable on some services but not others), if the TOC are faced with a staff shortage then it's pragmatic to chop stock from the quieter branches (like Pontefract) to ensure sufficient resources are available for busier routes.

Redhill - Tonbridge for people like me wondering where these places are :roll:

Thanks (I did wonder!)

There are no public transport alternatives between the two towns, so it will be disastrous for all those that use it

Are there replacement bus services running?
 

thenorthern

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I know this will make me really unpopular but I feel that although many of the decisions by Dr. Beeching were a mistake many of them were necessary as had they not taken place we would be talking about entire lines being used by less that 1000 passengers per year rather than the odd parliamentary station.

Given that nearly all the lightly used lines as well as many well used lines were closed under Dr. Beeching I don't think there is any risk we will ever see a large scale line closure ever again in this country.

You have got to remember as well under British Rail particularly in the 1980s rail strikes were very very common many of which closed down entire lines and occasionally the entire rail network.
 

tsr

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Are there replacement bus services running?

Replacement buses have been on standby in a corner of a car park at Redhill pretty much every day for a number of weeks. If the report is correct about Redhill-Tonbridge being closed, it just means they are going to be used more.

It is not attractive compared to the arrow-straight, fairly fast railway line - in fact it is barely any substitute at all - but that doesn't mean it won't be done!
 
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55003

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Johnnychips what is this forum etiquette to which you refer and where can I find it? I don't visit this site very often.
A bit of googling will provide you with a full list of station codes and perhaps this could appear as a sticky on this site.
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/static/documents/content/station_codes.csv
Southern took over the line in this obscure part of West Kent and Sussex over five years ago and have constantly reduced the service and found any excuse to cancel it.The journey time can be almost triple that of the train and during the rush priod the train can be completely full.
As a short term measure it should be returned to Southeastern who retain route knowledge and run many of th trains.
 
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tsr

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Johnnychips what is this forum etiquette to which you refer and where can I find it? I don't visit this site very often.

Click Forum Rules at the top of the page.

Mojo said:
Please remember many members do not understand rail “jargon” (including acronyms, station codes and specialist terms). Such terms should be correctly defined the first time they are used; codes and abbreviations must not be made up.
 

55003

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I am sorry TSR but I have looked and there is nothing at the top of the page. i normally freqent professional aviation sites where we all know the TLA we use.
 

physics34

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i suspect they are just reducing the service rather than closing the route!!!!!!

The route itself is used as a diversary route for Channel tunnel freight.
 

Freightmaster

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I am sorry TSR but I have looked and there is nothing at the top of the page.
Here you go:

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=27358

(look under 'Accessible')

i normally frequent professional aviation sites where we all know the TLA we use.
This forum is aimed at general/casual enthusiasts, but I doubt that even
rail 'professionals' would know more than a dozen or so station abbreviations
from memory out of the 2,500+ in total; why would they??


MARK
 

lincolnshire

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Let me get in first to say that forum etiquette requires the full name of stations to be used before reverting to the official abbreviation. I think it means Redhill to Tonbridge.

In a lengthy thread it might be worth repeating the full names, if we are talking about an obscure part of the country (:D); or the abbreviations are not self-evident; or the full names are not in the thread title - putting the full names in the title would be the easiest way of avoiding confusion.

Must agree with the above, it does,t take long to put the full name instead of using just the station code, as not everyone on here is a booking office clerk or train conductor. Some people on here are even just the general public with an interest in the railways.
Even if using a phone to access this site it does,t take long to put the proper name in as against the days when 3 letters and a number was on most keys on the phone.
 

thenorthern

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Arriva Trains Northern closed a lot of lines temporarily during their unhappy time as operator of the North East franchise because of Industrial Action so its not that uncommon.
 

Deepgreen

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No closure mooted, and the possible suspension of the passenger service has not materialised as Southern will run a shuttle train service between Tonbridge and Redhill. Even had they not done so, there is a significant amount of freight on the route as well.
 

Philip C

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......A bit of googling will provide you with a full list of station codes and perhaps this could appear as a sticky on this site.
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/static/documents/content/station_codes.csv
Southern took over the line in this obscure part of West Kent and Sussex over five years ago......

The obscure part of Sussex through which this line runs is indeed most obscure. In fact, as a little bit of googling or indeed general knowledge would have confirmed, the line passes through neither East Sussex nor West Sussex. From Redhill to a point approx. 600yds west of where the line crosses the Uckfield line it lies in the county of Surrey; to the east thereof it lies in the county of Kent.
 

Z12XE

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When was the last time a route was closed in the UK for a non-weather related reason? With the threatened closure of Redhill [RDH] - Tonbridge [TON] have we briefly returned to the days of Beeching?

I guess you mean temporarily. Probably last year the various East Anglia routes shut for nearly 3 weeks because the operator didn't have any serviceable trains
 

55003

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I am not sure I would call the amount of freight on the route significant. The line was electrified for Cl92 only to find that they were unable to operate along it. It will be interesting to see how long the temporary timetable remains in effect and whether a full timetable will ever be reintroduced. As to which county the line travels through as mentioned by the pedantic person there are no county boundary markers along the route and the boundaries are very oddly composed in the area.
 

Shaw S Hunter

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This forum is aimed at general/casual enthusiasts, but I doubt that even
rail 'professionals' would know more than a dozen or so station abbreviations
from memory out of the 2,500+ in total; why would they??


MARK

TBF many conductors using Avantix will know a decently long list of such abbreviations covering stations on their route card though there is no formal requirement to do so. In my own case that was something like 70 locations and I knew plenty more beyond my patch. I was certainly no exception. As for why, the limitations of the relatively small screen on an Avantix means that knowing the codes saves a lot of time scrolling through lists that come up when you start typing in the full name. And on busy services time is money (commission).
 
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PR1Berske

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I received a firm but fair private message from a forum admin reminding me not to use three letter codes when did so in a thread title some months ago. I accepted the light wrist slapping; a forum full of abbreviations would look very odd for the casual reader
 

XC90

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