Trivia: Ceremonial Counties with the most Stations?

[J-2739]

Moderator note: definition of counties is as provided here http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/uklocalgov/whtsacty.htm :

• 48 Ceremonial Counties (areas for which a Lord Lieutenant acts as the Queen's deputy). Every County Council area has a Ceremonial County of the same name, but the Ceremonial County is in many cases larger as it takes in areas served by Unitary Authorities. The other 15 Ceremonial Counties do not have an County Council of the same name. Insofar as there is an official definition of "Geographical" county I believe this is it. Everywhere in England falls within one (and only one) Ceremonial County. The term "Lieutenancy" is also sometimes used for these areas. (The City of London is a separate Ceremonial County from Greater London - it is too small to show on the adjoining map).

If anyone wishes to discuss counties further, this must be done in General Discussion ( see: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/discussion-regarding-counties.195293/ )

Good Morning,

I know that Greater London has over 300 National Rail stations within its boundaries, but is there any other counties with similarly high numbers?

Thanks.

 

[J-2739]

I'm guessing Surrey has a high number of stations within its boundaries, considering that only one line (?) was closed during the Beeching cuts.

 

[PTR 444]

If we're going by current administrative boundaries, I would imagine Hampshire and Kent are among those in the top 10.

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

What about Lancashire? how many stations does that have?

 

[oglord]

What about Lancashire? how many stations does that have?

Using station data from https://datashare.is.ed.ac.uk/handle/10283/2560 (slightly out-of-date) and border data from http://county-borders.co.uk/UKDefinitionA_WG84_Full_Resolution.zip there are 208 stations in Lancashire.

 

[Train jaune]

Are you including Barrow, Roose, Bootle and Manchester Piccadilly in that 208? hahaha, can't resist stiring that pot

 

[oglord]

Are you including Barrow, Roose, Bootle and Manchester Piccadilly in that 208? hahaha, can't resist storing that pot

Of course. Mossley station falls on the Lancashire side of the town too.

 

[oglord]

The answer is Lancashire.

Here is the full list:

Spoiler

Aberdeenshire: 5
Anglesey: 6
Angus: 9
Argyllshire: 11
Ayrshire: 27
Banffshire: 1
Bedfordshire: 16
Berkshire: 33
Brecknockshire: 5
Buckinghamshire: 35
Caernarfonshire: 17
Caithness: 5
Cambridgeshire: 19
Cardiganshire: 2
Carmarthenshire: 18
Cheshire: 99
Clackmannanshire: 1
Cornwall: 36
Cumberland: 28
Denbighshire: 11
Derbyshire: 36
Devon: 47
Dorset: 19
Dumfriesshire: 6
Dunbartonshire: 28
Durham: 22
East Lothian: 5
Essex: 99
Fife: 19
Flintshire: 12
Glamorgan: 88
Gloucestershire: 24
Hampshire: 72
Herefordshire: 4
Hertfordshire: 47
Huntingdonshire: 2
Inverness-shire: 19
Kent: 170
Kincardineshire: 2
Lanarkshire: 77
Lancashire: 208
Leicestershire: 11
Lincolnshire: 42
Merionethshire: 21
Middlesex: 142
Midlothian: 17
Monmouthshire: 13
Montgomeryshire: 5
Morayshire: 2
Nairnshire: 1
Norfolk: 31
Northamptonshire: 8
Northumberland: 19
Nottinghamshire: 29
Oxfordshire: 17
Pembrokeshire: 14
Perthshire: 11
Radnorshire: 7
Renfrewshire: 54
Ross-shire: 19
Rutland: 1
Shropshire: 19
Somerset: 20
Staffordshire: 39
Stirlingshire: 8
Suffolk: 24
Surrey: 169
Sussex: 83
Sutherland: 10
Warwickshire: 57
West Lothian: 6
Westmorland: 8
Wigtownshire: 1
Wiltshire: 16
Worcestershire: 34
Yorkshire: 177

 

[bb21]

If you'd done that all by yourself then you can have the compliment of my amazement sir.

 

[J-2739]

Wow, well that's the end of my thread...

 

[greatkingrat]

If you go by the current ceremonial counties then I believe the winner is Kent with 105 stations (if you exclude Greater London).

 

[hwl]

If you'd done that all by yourself then you can have the compliment of my amazement sir.

The Authority and constituency data is in the ORR station usage figures spreadsheet...

 

[oglord]

The Authority and constituency data is in the ORR station usage figures spreadsheet...

But not the lieutenancy area, police area, postcode area, telephone area, NHS area....

 

[J-2739]

I am quite surprised that there is a high number of stations in Cheshire, a middle sized county. Merseyrail perhaps?

 

[urbophile]

I am quite surprised that there is a high number of stations in Cheshire, a middle sized county. Merseyrail perhaps?

Most of those are in Merseyside!

 

[oglord]

Most of those are in Merseyside!

Which is split between Lancashire and Cheshire (but you already knew that).

 

[snookertam]

If anyone wants the answer to the authority in Scotland with the most stations - the answer is City of Glasgow with 61. If we consider the old county of Lanarkshire to include the current North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and City of Glasgow boundaries, you would have 109 stations.

But even that definition of Lanarkshire would be disputed, as parts of Glasgow are historically considered as Renfrewshire, other parts Dunbartonshire.

 

[oglord]

If anyone wants the answer to the authority in Scotland with the most stations - the answer is City of Glasgow with 61. If we consider the old county of Lanarkshire to include the current North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and City of Glasgow boundaries, you would have 109 stations.

But even that definition of Lanarkshire would be disputed, as parts of Glasgow are historically considered as Renfrewshire, other parts Dunbartonshire.

Lanarkshire has 77, including those parts of Glasgow in the county. See the full list in post 20

 

[Roose]

Are you including Barrow, Roose, Bootle and Manchester Piccadilly in that 208? hahaha, can't resist stiring that pot

You mustn't forget Roose!

 

[Pat Figg]

Doesn't the (historic) county of Monmouthshire have at least 15 stations rather than 13?

Pye Corner, Rogerstone, Risca, Crosskeys, Newbridge, Llanhilleth, Ebbw Vale Parkway, Ebbw Vale Town, Newport, Cwmbran, Pontypool & New Inn, Abergavenny, Severn Tunnel Junction, Caldicot, Chepstow.

I might have to check the Glamorgan figure now.

 

[oglord]

Doesn't the (historic) county of Monmouthshire have at least 15 stations rather than 13?

Pye Corner, Rogerstone, Risca, Crosskeys, Newbridge, Llanhilleth, Ebbw Vale Parkway, Ebbw Vale Town, Newport, Cwmbran, Pontypool & New Inn, Abergavenny, Severn Tunnel Junction, Caldicot, Chepstow.

I might have to check the Glamorgan figure now.

Yes I did point out that the station data was slightly out of date. If anyone has any more recent data I can revisit the calculation.

 

[Pat Figg]

Fair enough, I hadn't spotted that. Probably compiled before Pye Corner and Ebbw Vale Town opened?

 

[oglord]

Fair enough, I hadn't spotted that. Probably compiled before Pye Corner and Ebbw Vale Town opened?

Indeed, those are the two missing from the station data, which was dated 2017.

 

[oglord]

Caernarfonshire? 17 ? There hasn't been a Caernarfonshire since the 80's maybe even the 70's!!

Where is Conwy, Gwynedd etc?

It is a list organised by counties, not local government areas. If you want a list organised by local government area, see the ORR spreadsheet.

Do not conflate counties with local government areas. The Index of British place names helpfully categorises places by both for your convenience. See, for instance, http://geoportal.statistics.gov.uk/...0_0/data?geometry=-4.155,53.224,-4.097,53.233

 

[Mojo]

Surely, you can only use the current administrative groupings to arrive at an answer?

Surely that would lead to some problematic results, as going by that counties like Bedfordshire and Berkshire would not exist, and major population centres would not be within their respective counties (eg. Southend would not be in Essex, Nottingham would not be in Nottinghamshire and Leicester would not be in Leicestershire)?

I'm of the opinion that the only sensible way of dividing the list would be into Ceremonial Counties.

 

[deltic08]

Yes, Yorkshire is now those four counties. Out of them, North Yorkshire must have the most stations, but West Yorkshire with the highest density.

I don't think so. North Yorkshire is the largest geographically but has very few railways since Beeching. I would say it is very close between South Yorkshire and East Riding being the least with West Yorkshire top.

 

[delt1c]

how about Strathclyde, covers a large area

 

[Millisle]

There are three mainland counties in Scotland with now no railway: Kirkcudbrightshire, Peeblesshire and Kinross-shire, and one with a railway, but currently no station, Berwickshire. Are there any counties in England or Wales with no stations?

 

[oglord]

There are three mainland counties in Scotland with now no railway: Kirkcudbrightshire, Peeblesshire and Kinross-shire, and one with a railway, but currently no station, Berwickshire. Are there any counties in England or Wales with no stations?

Amazingly no!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

There are three mainland counties in Scotland with now no railway: Kirkcudbrightshire, Peeblesshire and Kinross-shire, and one with a railway, but currently no station, Berwickshire. Are there any counties in England or Wales with no stations?

Amazingly no!

Though Rutland (dons tin hat, ducks for cover!) comes close with just one (Oakham).