Stations which have declined/increased in importance

[Shimbleshanks]

Before the completion of electrification to Chester, Hooton had half-hourly services to Helsby and a news stall which did very well out of the number of people changing between Merseyrail and the Chester/Helsby units - not least in the afternoons when the Liverpool Echo and the Chester Chronicle arrived.

In similar vein, Rock Ferry used to be a busy interchange when that was as far as the Merseyrail electrics got. Now it's just another stop on the way to Chester, though I believe the bay platforms still survive.

 

[Watershed]

In similar vein, Rock Ferry used to be a busy interchange when that was as far as the Merseyrail electrics got. Now it's just another stop on the way to Chester, though I believe the bay platforms still survive.

Yes, and they are used to stable units every night (a handful of services start or finish in passenger service there).

 

[John Luxton]

St Erth - now that it has become the principal park and ride station for St Ives replacing Lelant Saltings. Passed through there several times in September and it appeared busier than Penzance.

 

[Shimbleshanks]

I've no figures to back it up one way or the other but, pre-covid, Clapham Junction seems to have got a lot busier than when I first moved to london in the mid-1980s.

 

[urbophile]

The rejuvenation of the South London Line and its extension through to Dalston must have revived Clapham High Street and Wandsworth Road, which I remember as semi-derelict and barely used.

I remember Wandsworth Road in the 1950/60s. There was a half-hourly (or maybe every 20mins) two-coach EMU; the station was staffed, with a ticket office on the Victoria-bound platform and a little phone-box-sized kiosk on the other, which the staff member unlocked a few minutes before each train was due to sell tickets for London Bridge. Although the trains are now more frequent and passenger numbers have risen, when I last visited it seemed very forlorn, with no staff presence. Plus the trains no longer run to Victoria which was the main destination of people in those days.

I would be very, very surprised if Ormskirk did not get massively more passengers now (mostly on Merseyrail) than it got when it had Scottish expresses.

Did the Scottish expresses ever stop at Ormskirk?

 

[Shimbleshanks]

Shoreditch is another station that must be seeing massively more passengers compared with when it was a pokey little terminus served only at peak hours (and Sunday mornings for Brick Lane market). The new station is not on the same site, though.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Shoreditch is another station that must be seeing massively more passengers compared with when it was a pokey little terminus served only at peak hours (and Sunday mornings for Brick Lane market). The new station is not on the same site, though.

Not quite the same name, either. The current station is "Shoreditch High Street".

 

[Shimbleshanks]

Hampton-in-Arden (on the Birmingham-Coventry line) used to have Birmingham to London trains stop there - presumably as it was the nearest station to Birmingham Elmdon Airport - and the long platforms to allow that are still extant. That all stopped when Birmingham International opened.

I remember that the Hampton calls on inter-city trains lingered on for a while after Birmingham International opened. I was told it was because BR got a lot of first class revenue to London, though clearly not enough as the calls all stopped a couple of years later.

 

[mlambeuk]

Sherburn In Elmet. Originally served only by a couple of York to Sheffield trains per day, Now served (almost hourly) by trains between York and Selby/ Hull

 

[APT618S]

For those who don't know Newcastle distance on the map can be deceptive thanks to the proximity of the central motorway and the gradient down to the river.

Don't know how relevant it would have been for interchange purposes but before the Central Motorway was built, it was just a short walk between Manors Station and the old Worswick St Bus Stn.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Spondon, my old haunt when I was a lad, used to have three platforms and extensive sidings for the adjoining Celenase works and Spondon power station. Regular services on the Derby - Nottm - Lincoln line; even the occasional holiday train to Paignton and the like.

Now all that's gone; just a few peak hour trains and an occasional bus.

At the risk of drifting slightly off topic, I used Spondon in August 1989 en route to Borrowash Victoria to watch Bradford's first game in the Central Midlands League Supreme division (sic). This was the revived club's first game at a semi-decent level after a season in the West Riding County Amateur League Division 3. I remember almost missing the train home as it left 2 or 3 mins early, the crew obviously not expecting to pick up passengers for the short run to Derby. Having begun to move off, the driver stopped again after seeing me running towards the platform and making a frantic hand signal.

 

[cle]

Nobody has mentioned Watford Junction, that I've seen. But again, it's usage is higher than ever. So has it declined, or evolved? Frequencies on the WCML Slow line are higher than ever (and to further-flung places), Overground is now 4tph, the WLL service is hugely popular, and it still has the hourly Birmingham 'inter city' - plus peaks to Manchester and other places. But the bi-hourly loss of the others in standard time (vs MKC on the opposite hour, as was) - does make it feel like less of a long distance railhead.

Chester seems to have done well. Covid aside, it has gained hourly services to London (and more to Holyhead), lately the Liverpool Halton services, the Leeds service (and a second fast to Manchester), more between Cardiff and North Wales including Gerard - and talk of more Stockport extras/Manchester via Alty. Plus future Liverpool to Wrexham, Shrewsbury and Cardiff extensions too. So incrementally, it's diversified a lot and gained a lot of frequency. No wires though!

 

[Class800]

Watford Junction has grown as a suburban hub, and declined as a long-distance interchange location

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Thought Watford Junction only has the one through train direct to Manchester Piccadilly, at 0651 (SuX) if I rightly recall.

 

[A S Leib]

Thought Watford Junction only has the one through train direct to Manchester Piccadilly, at 0651 (SuX) if I rightly recall.

On weekdays there's also the 05:46 to Liverpool Lime Street, the 05:50 to Glasgow Central, the 21:25 to Preston, the 18:37 to Shrewsbury and the Caledonian Sleepers.

Southbound, there's four trains a day from Manchester, four from Liverpool, one from Blackpool North, one from Edinburgh, one from Glasgow (not counting the Sleeper) and a LNW service from Crewe.

 

[Class800]

Compared to the days when almost everything called there for pick up northbound and set down southbound at least

 

[The_Van]

Newton Abbot

 

[Class800]

Newton Abbot - has it become more important? I've only been in the west country a short time - i.e. 4 years - it seems a key station

 

[The_Van]

Newton Abbot - has it become more important? I've only been in the west country a short time - i.e. 4 years - it seems a key station

Big decline. Used to have sidings, carriage sidings, motive power depot, locomotive works, motor rail bay, through roads, more platforms etc

 

[Class800]

interesting - everything currently stops there. I suppose there has been a lot of rationalisation of freight facilities over the years

 

[Grecian 1998]

There is a big difference at many stations between perception and reality. Take Barnstaple. Once a large junction of five lines (to Exeter, Bideford, Ilfracombe, Lynton and Taunton) with many through trains to London, Birmingham and the North, now a single track terminus at the end of a long branch line from Exeter. It looks quite sorry compared to its glory days.

And yet... probably busier than it's ever been with a consistent hourly service to Exeter St Davids for mainline connections and Exeter Central for the city centre. A route which was served 25 years ago by a largely 2 hourly service frequently consisting of single 153s, which is now generally served by 3 car 158s and 166s. More of a daily southbound commuter, student and shopper flow into Exeter, but usually plenty of northbound folk as well.

It also has a fairly well integrated bus network with services every 15 minutes to Bideford and 30 minutes to Ilfracombe. Buses in North Devon also seem much cheaper than other parts of the Westcountry.

Of those stations which have been mentioned, Weymouth and Exmouth are also examples of stations which may be much smaller, but the (pre-COVID) frequency is the best it's ever been (albeit in the former case only the Waterloo route; the frequency on the Heart of Wessex has been the same for the last 30 years).

It's easy to look at stations serving seaside resorts through rose-tinted spectacles and assume that the photos from their heyday are typical. They were only typical of summer Saturdays; a Tuesday in March or a Thursday in November would be rather different.

Poole was mentioned at the start, but pre-electrification in 1988 Poole had a whopping 1 train an hour to Waterloo, compared to 3 pre-COVID. A fast train too calling only at Southampton and London beyond Bournemouth - useful for many, but anywhere else would require a change. Poole did have a fair few XC services but I don't recall there being a massive outcry when XC stopped serving it compared to many other destinations.

Of stations which haven't been mentioned:

Tiverton Parkway sees a rather better service than Tiverton Junction ever did, similar to how Filton Abbey Wood was a major upgrade on Filton.

Clifton Down used to have Bristol Zoo specials calling there, albeit the zoo is closing soon enough anyway.

Digby & Sowton has seen major passenger number increases since more housing was built there and Sandy Park opened.

Pinhoe has gone from seeing 3tpd each way 30 years ago to an hourly service now, more frequent than either Feniton or Whimple which used to be served by more trains. Again this is probably due to the relentless eastward expansion of Exeter.

 

[Mikey C]

Bicester Village

Closed when the Varsity Line shut, reopened (as Bicester Town) in 1987 as the most basic of single track stations for the sleepy shuttle to Oxford, now a busy 2 platform station on the Marylebone to Oxford service, serving the shopping outlet centre, and soon to be on EWR as well

 

[Class800]

Pinhoe was closed between 1966 and 1983 - until recently there were only calls every 2 hours, but sometimes it had to wait there anyway due to passing. So, it now calls hourly

 

[cle]

Bicester Village

Closed when the Varsity Line shut, reopened (as Bicester Town) in 1987 as the most basic of single track stations for the sleepy shuttle to Oxford, now a busy 2 platform station on the Marylebone to Oxford service, serving the shopping outlet centre, and soon to be on EWR as well

Was Bicester Town then, and only barely used. It is now Bicester Village but in addition to said mall, ironically for its name change, it has become the main station for the town itself - which has grown immensely. And EWR will cement this further.

 

[fat_boy_pete]

Stratford is certainly busy these days. Did the Braintree / Clacton trains not stop there either?

I only reviewed off peak services. I am sure some peak services to other destinations called. My point is now everything calls except some of the Norwich services in the peak. And there are effectively 8 route lines instead of 4.

Plus, it's now a major destination in its own right, as well as the massive interchange that it has become.

 

[Class800]

When I last lived in London - albeit a couple of years ago - alternate Norwich services i.e. one an hour did not stop at Stratford

 

[Parallel]

Morfa Mawddach (previously known as Barmouth Junction) used to have 4 platforms and direct services towards London Paddington, and Ruabon via Bala. Now it has one platform and is a request stop only with the line via Dolgellau and Bala having closed.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Morfa Mawddach (previously known as Barmouth Junction) used to have 4 platforms and direct services towards London Paddington, and Ruabon via Bala. Now it has one platform and is a request stop only with the line via Dolgellau and Bala having closed.

A shadow of its former self, certainly, but has this rationalisation happened in the last 30 years?

 

[swissrailpassion]

Scarborough and Bridlington were once deluged with summer trains but in the months between September and Easter a rather thin service. Today regular hourly long distance services with earlier and later trains and good connections make rail more attractive. Passenger numbers before covid increased strongly.

 

[Taunton]

Sorry, I can't think of a single decent treatment of the subject in English — though of course there's a really extensive literature in German covering all aspects. If there's anyone here who does know of a good English-language book dealing with the history of the Berlin railways and the city's stations, I too sshould be really interested to hear of it.

Off topic, but there was a very useful (in English) book published by Thomas Cook in 1986 specifically about rail travel through Berlin, giving history of the lines and details of their operation past and present (up to then). "Berlin Transit", written by John Price, the long term editor of Cooks Continental Timetable, as well as a serial tram buff, for which he sneaked a section in. Covers main line, S-Bahn and U-Bahn. Written primarily for travel trade staff to answer the innumerable questions they got about rail travel through the city. The "Transit" in the title is reference to passing through into the DDR, rather than the USA term for urban rail systems. I still take mine when I go there.

Here it is. You get an odd secondhand one turn up

berlin transit book 1980 thomas cook - Google Search