Stations which have declined/increased in importance

[William3000]

When I was young I used to travel to Dorset to see my grandparents. At the time, Poole appeared to be a more important station than it is today being the terminus of long distance services to Manchester and Birmingham. At the same time many trains didn’t stop at Winchester or Basingstoke. Fast forward 30 years and virtually everything stops at Winchester and many at Basingstoke and Poole has lost its long distance service.

I can recall other examples of stations that seem to be relatively less important today than they were 30 years ago:
Harwich International
Huntingdon (used to have some long distance services)
Alfreton (perhaps because it lost its Parkway status)
Luton
Wellingborough

and others that seem relatively more important than they were 30 years ago:
Chelmsford
Stratford (London)
Whittlesford Parkway
University (Birmingham)
Birmingham Moor Street
London Marylebone
Manningtree

It would be interesting if anybody has any other examples and the reasons why this might be the case. Sometimes it’s obvious things like towns have grown or in the case of Selby the main line rerouted, but others don’t appear to have an obvious explanation.

 

[AM9]

Huntingdon Station was the northern limit of Network South-East services on the ECML in the '80s so it was necessary for one Inter-City services to call there. With the completion of
wiring throughout, Peterborough became the northern limit of Kings Cross, (and now Thameslink) services.
Chelmsford, on the other hand has in some ways become relatively less important in the service structure despite its increasing footfall. Pre the electrification to Norwich, Chelmsford was a stop for all off-peak services except the odd-hour down Norwich trains, (and the corresponding up services), which were non-stop to Colchester. Chelmsford to London passengers are now served by the increased numbers of outer suburban EMUs all of which call there.

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

Manchester Victoria used to have 17 platforms and have lots of other services until they moved to Piccadilly

 

[daodao]

Stations (still open) that have declined in significance include:

• Former junctions, such as Chinley and Hellifield on the former Midland Railway, Leominster and Pontypool Road on the Marches line, and Penrith.
• Spalding and March, on the old GN/GE joint line, with the former also served by the M&GNR and the ex-GN line from Peterborough to Grimsby.
• Barnstaple, King's Lynn and Merthyr Tudful, which are now just the terminus of a single secondary/branch line.

 

[Falcon1200]

Carstairs, whose importance declined hugely when the route to Edinburgh was electrified and trains no longer had to stop there anyway to change locos, and divide in many cases.

 

[Ianno87]

Manchester Victoria used to have 17 platforms and have lots of other services until they moved to Piccadilly

And has had it's importance now restored with TPE back to using it again on their core route.

 

[yorksrob]

This is an interesting subject for a thread looking at some of the changes to travelling patterns.

Charing Cross and London Victoria have probably lost some of their prestiege to HS1 from my younger days - similarly Canterbury East has swapped places with Canterbury West as the main London station for that City. Only one train an hour in each direction now, although still well patronised.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Lincoln Central. Before the Beeching cuts it was the main station in the city, with routes to Chesterfield, Sheffield (and Manchester via Woodhead), Doncaster (and Newcastle), South Humberside, Louth, Boston, March (continuing to Norwich or Harwich), and Grantham (for connections to London). The other station, St Marks, only served a bucolic branch line from Nottingham calling at every lamppost

By 1970 the London connections had been transferred to St Marks (via a new spur at Newark), with most Grimsby services also running from St Marks. Closure of the lines to Chesterfield, Retford(direct), Louth, Boston and Grantham, and the connection between Spalding and March, meant Central was left with only the Sheffield services (now running via Gainsborough) and a local Doncaster-Peterborough service. However, when St Marks closed in 1985 all its services were diverted to Central, so it has regained some of its earlier importance. Direct services to Newcastle, Norwich, Harwich or Manchester are unlikely to reappear any time soon though

Another with changing fortunes is Blackfriars - very much a backwater (along with Holborn Viaduct) in pre-Thameslink days when I used to commute through it.

 

[Ianno87]

Another with changing fortunes is Blackfriars - very much a backwater (along with Holborn Viaduct) in pre-Thameslink days when I used to commute through it.

I'd also say City Thameslink is more "on the map" than it used to be as well.

 

[Brissle Girl]

Albeit slightly resited, Filton Abbey Wood is massively more important than Filton was.

 

[Barnsley]

Normanton, used to be a stop on the Midland Mainline between Leeds and Sheffield, with a very long island platform, now downgraded to an unstaffed halt, remaining services use a fraction of the Leeds end of the platform

 

[70014IronDuke]

Alfreton (perhaps because it lost its Parkway status)
Luton
Wellingborough

It depends a lot on how you measure it. You appear to be taking long-distance intercity services as your yardstick. In that case, Appleby and Settle have a grossly inferior service these days, having lost restaurant car and sleeping car expresses to Glasgow/Edinburgh - Leeds & St Pancras (ok, a bit more than your designated 30 years ago). But while this is true, they are now both served by 7-9 (I forget exactly) trains a day that, while only carrying folks to Carlisle and Leeds, I'd suggest if a far more useful service to the majority of punters.

Alfreton arguably (not sure about Covid timetable) has a far better service now than 30 years ago in terms of trains per hour - just that they are short DMUs and not long, shiny 125 mph HSTs going once every two hours to St Pancras.

As for Luton and Wellingborough (and Bedford), which have two fast trains per hour, but they only go to Corby for most of the week - although I consider this "development" a serious disincentive for said passengers to use the train, other than to London. (Lutonians, of course, only need to go south one mile and they have the enhanced Luton Airport Parkway [LTN] service.)

One station that has lost out over the years in relative terms is Rugby, which I would posit used to see far more trains stop (as a proportion of the services run) 50 years ago, while Milton Keynes Central (formerly Bletchley) has gained enormously - Bletchley barely counting as an "inter-city" station up to 1966, and even in the first years of WCML electrification still had a very intermittent main-line service.

 

[Western Sunset]

Moving west along the line from Poole, Weymouth has lost much of its importance and railway infrastructure. Once through trains to Paddington (as well as those still to Waterloo), plus branch services to Portland and Abbotsbury, as well as the (now lifted) tramway to the quay from where boat trains ran. Once sidings full of freight wagons are now no more. The loco shed, full of pacifics and standard classes in its later days, now obliterated too.

Alfreton arguably (not sure about Covid timetable) has a far better service now than 30 years ago in terms of trains per hour - just that they are short EMUs and not long, shiny 125 mph HSTs going once every two hours to St Pancras.

Think you mean DMUs, unless I've missed something...

 

[70014IronDuke]

Think you mean DMUs, unless I've missed something...

Ah. Thks. Corrected.

 

[Purple Orange]

And has had it's importance now restored with TPE back to using it again on their core route.

Which will eventually be lost again to Piccadilly, it’s role needs to change.

 

[Iskra]

Normanton, used to be a stop on the Midland Mainline between Leeds and Sheffield, with a very long island platform, now downgraded to an unstaffed halt, remaining services use a fraction of the Leeds end of the platform

It was also very important as a railway catering stop before on-train catering. Of course back in those days it was also an important junction.

My suggestion for the thread is Penistone, due to losing the Woodhead and Wath lines.

 

[D6130]

Skipton - back in the 'eighties one train per hour to/from Leeds (later increased to two), two trains per day to/from Carlisle, four trains per day to/from Lancaster or Morecambe and Bradford passengers having to change at Keighley. Now two tph to/from Leeds, two tph to/from Bradford, six/seven tpd to/from Carlisle/Ribblehead, six tpd to from Lancaster/Morecambe and one tpd to/from London Kings Cross. Going back further to the 'sixties, it had through restaurant car and/or sleeping car trains to/from London/Sheffield/Nottingham/Glasgow/Edinburgh - plus a virtually hourly direct service to/from Manchester Victoria via Colne, Accrington and Bury and a sporadic local DMU service twice or three times a day to/from Carlisle, calling at all the remaining local stations. Therefore it has seen a trough of decline followed by a rapid rise to its current status.

Hebden Bridge - at the time of my first visit in 1975, it was served by one train per hour in each direction on weekdays....from Manchester Victoria to Leeds, with some trains extended to/from Harrogate. Now it has four tph in each direction - two between Leeds and Manchester Victoria via Bradford, one of which runs through to/from Chester on most hours; one between Leeds and Manchester Victoria via Dewsbury and one from York to Blackpool North. It must be one of the few stations outside the London area where both platforms are equally crowded during the morning peak, with approximately equal numbers of commuters to both Leeds and Manchester.

 

[paddy1]

Coventry. Importance has wavered up and down over the years in terms of frequency and destinations. Line electrified to London and Birmingham in the 1960s, but lost through trains to Leamington and Nuneaton at same time by closure, and to East Anglia by closure of line beyond Rugby, leaving it only as a stop on direct trains to London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.

Line to Leamington re-opened 1977 giving through trains to Banbury, Oxford, Paddington, Bournemouth, Poole etc, and to Yorkshire/North East/Hull via Birmingham/Derby which it never had before. At one point it even had a daily service to Charlbury via the Cotswold line (that continued to Paddington).

For a period, London to North Wales and Blackpool services were combined with the London to West Midlands services, which gave Coventry regular direct trains to these places, but at the expense of longer journey times to North Wales/Blackpool.

Line to Nuneaton re-opened in 1987, initially with through trains to Trent Valley and Leicester. In 1988, new hourly service to Leicester and Nottingham introduced, some of which were eventually extended to Skegness/Grimsby/Lincoln. The service was cut back to a Coventry to Nuneaton shuttle in 2004 due to track changes at Nuneaton, coinciding with introduction of Virgin VHF Pendolino services that also gave Coventry a new 20 minute frequency Virgin service to London.

One of the three Virgin London trains was subsequently extended to Scotland, giving Coventry all day hourly services to WCML stations beyond Crewe through to Glasgow/Edinburgh. For a year or so, Coventry also gained direct hourly services through to Walsall and the Chase line to Rugeley, and to Liverpool once again, though this did not end well reliability wise and both were axed as part of timetable revisions. The Intercity London service is also now only twice an hour, and some trains run to Blackpool instead of Glasgow.

Prior to Covid, Coventry became the fastest growing station in the UK with annual passenger numbers increasing to over 8 million a year, overtaking both Leicester and Nottingham

 

[PTR 444]

Surely the obvious one is Bletchley which used to be an Intercity station until Milton Keynes Central opened in 1982. Now it is a fraction of its former self but could once again regain its importance with the onset of EWR.

 

[D6130]

Surely the obvious one is Bletchley which used to be an Intercity station until Milton Keynes Central opened in 1982. Now it is a fraction of its former self but could once again regain its importance with the onset of EWR.

I don't recall Bletchley ever being an Inter-City station. When I first started travelling around the network on my own in the mid-1970s, it was served by an hourly terminating local service from Euston - which was extended to MKC when that opened in 1982 - and an hourly Euston-Northampton-Rugby-Birmingham service, which was semi-fast South of Bletchley; both worked by class 310 EMUs....plus, of course the local DMU service to Bedford.

 

[zwk500]

The obvious one for increasing in importance is St Pancras, I'd have thought. Nearly got demolished as Surplus to requirements, now hosts what is probably London's premier train service.

 

[Western Sunset]

The obvious one for increasing in importance is St Pancras, I'd have thought. Nearly got demolished as Surplus to requirements, now hosts what is probably London's premier train service.

Though lost its Midland suburban services, and through trains to Glasgow and Edinburgh are but a memory. Current Inter-City stuff to the East Midlands and Sheffield relegated to an elongated shed...

 

[Ianno87]

Though lost its Midland suburban services,

Lost them but regained them in 2007 (downstairs). Now a key Cross-London Hub.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Exeter Central was an important main-line station, with much splitting / joining of trains to and from the 'Withered Arm'. It was severely rationalised by the WR, with the main booking hall closed and only accessed by a side entrance, with often just one member of staff on duty. Over the last 20 years it has roared back thanks to its excellent city-centre location and the success of the 'Devon Metro' , with passenger numbers approaching that of St. David's. There is a case for reinstating the centre roads and scissor crossings to give more flexibility as services are further expanded - Okehampton, Axminster, Wellington / Cullompton etc.

 

[Mikey C]

The London Overground has had a massive impact on what had previously been rundown and poorly used suburban stations. Stations like Gospel Oak and Highbury & Islington are major interchanges now

 

[Western Sunset]

Nottingham Midland.
Once on an Anglo-Scottish route, now rather a railway backwater. Though, in fairness, train frequencies have increased, so probably a bit of a draw with this one.

 

[Ianno87]

The London Overground has had a massive impact on what had previously been rundown and poorly used suburban stations. Stations like Gospel Oak and Highbury & Islington are major interchanges now

West Croydon, Canada Water and Crystal Palace too.

 

[Iskra]

The obvious one for increasing in importance is St Pancras, I'd have thought. Nearly got demolished as Surplus to requirements, now hosts what is probably London's premier train service.

Marylebone was rumoured to be at risk of closure in the 1980’s, it’s had quite a renaissance since then with the Chiltern commuter network.

 

[Western Sunset]

Great Yarmouth. Once had three stations (Beach, South Town and Vauxhall) plus lines to the quay. Only the latter station remains; basically a branch from Norwich nowadays.

 

[Bertie the bus]

Blackburn has increased in importance. It used to be the terminus of Manchester via Bolton services and a stop on Preston – Colne services. With the reintroduction of services to Yorkshire via Copy Pit, Clitheroe and East Lancs via the Todmorden curve it is now more of an East Lancs interchange. Whether that many use it as an interchange is another matter but it is one.

Crewe has decreased in importance as an interchange. Liverpool locals used to start there, they now run from Birmingham, many South Wales services started there, they now all run from Manchester, and North Wales services started there, there are now many more through services to Chester and North Wales from London (or there were up until Covid). Also Anglo – Scottish expresses no longer stop at Crewe.