Trivia: Settlements without a station where the two nearest stations are on different lines

[Mcr Warrior]

Nearby Ballater could be similar with Stonehaven and Kintore.

Maybe Insch is the nearest station to Ballater? Certainly does seem to be a fair way (25+ miles?) from Ballater to the nearest station, possibly even slightly further than Bude is from its nearest station (Okehampton?)

 

[D6130]

Denholme nearest are Bingley and Crossflatts.

Midhurst nearest are Haslemere and Liphook.

.....but those stations are on the same lines. According to the OP, the idea of this thread is to find settlements that are approximately equidistant between two stations on different lines! For Midhurst, I suppose you could have Haslemere and Chichester.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Ossett in West Yorkshire's nearest two stations are Dewsbury and Batley on the Trans-Pennine main line, and are roughly equidistant from the town depending where in Ossett you are... the next nearest however is Wakefield Westgate on the Leeds branch of the East Coast Main line.

Edit- already mentioned on page 1, apologies!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

.....but those stations are on the same lines. According to the OP, the idea of this thread is to find settlements that are approximately equidistant between two stations on different lines! For Midhurst, I suppose you could have Haslemere and Chichester.

Nearest two stations to Midhurst are indeed Liphook and Haselmere. Then probably Liss and Petersfield.

Pulborough and Amberley stations on the Arun Valley line are next furthest away and both arguably slightly closer than Fishbourne/Chichester.

 

[zwk500]

I'm not sure if it's already been mentioned, but it may be of interest to this thread to know that if you right click on a location in Google Maps there is a 'measure distance' option at the bottom of the list that will automatically measure a straight-line distance between the next point(s) that you left-click. And you can move the points around as you like.

 

[InOban]

Actually the original poster didn't define 'nearest'. As the crow flies or by road? If we're discussing how the residents might actually access a train service, we should stick to realistic routes. Of course you could spend a couple of days hiking through the Cairngorms from Braemar to either Aviemore or Blair Atholl but...

 

[Magdalia]

I thought it might be interesting to find some examples of places where the two nearest stations are on completely separate lines (ideally with the settlement halfway between the two).

This is what the OP said, with my highlights. I agree that the method of measuring distance was not specified. I have taken it as the crow flies, because that's the easiest to do. Being halfway is desirable but not essential, though in practice it becomes essential when the stations involved have near neighbours. The OP says nothing about routes, or how the train services are used, it is simply the two nearest in terms of distance.

 

[NoRoute]

Some of the towns around the middle of the Ivanhoe line, between Leicester and Burton on Trent are in this position, so Ashby de la Zouch where the closest stations either Burton or Loughborough.

If HS2 to East Midlands goes ahead, Ashby will also have the dubious honour of being a town with two railways and no station on either.

 

[Jessicas Dad]

Fort Augustus: nearest are Tulloch, Roy Bridge and Spean Bridge.
Appin: nearest are Connel Ferry, Oban and Taynuilt.
Grantown on Spey: nearest are Aviemore and Carr Bridge.
Aberlour: nearest are Elgin and Keith.
Kelso and Peebles: nearest are Tweedbank and Galashiels.

A few places around Lockerbie do work, because there are no nearby stations on the same line. I think Moffat is also Lockerbie then Dumfries.

Depending on what is classed as a settlement, Corran (on Loch Hourn) is roughly equidistant from Kyle of Localsh and Mallaig.

 

[WY Bus Spotter]

Rodley in Leeds is an interesting one. Pretty much slap bang in the middle of New Pudsey and Horsforth stations, yet the Airedale/ Wharfedale line runs through Rodley without a station. (Nearest being Kirkstall Forge).

 

[D6130]

Rodley in Leeds is an interesting one. Pretty much slap bang in the middle of New Pudsey and Horsforth stations, yet the Airedale/ Wharfedale line runs through Rodley without a station. (Nearest being Kirkstall Forge).

Until 1965 it was served by Calverley & Rodley station, hard by the present day Leeds outer ring road. You would think that it would be a good location for a 'Park and Ride' Station (Rodley Parkway?), but Kirkstall Forge won the funding instead, on the basis of a planned large retail, office and residential development which has still to really get off the ground.

 

[WY Bus Spotter]

Until 1965 it was served by Calverley & Rodley station, hard by the present day Leeds outer ring road. You would think that it would be a good location for a 'Park and Ride' Station (Rodley Parkway?), but Kirkstall Forge won the funding instead, on the basis of a planned large retail, office and residential development which has still to really get off the ground.

A reopening of the station there would be fantastic. Especially as they have built a load of new houses right next to it! As you say, Kirkstall Forge is still a bit of a ghost town with one dystopian looking metal and glass office block plonked there. I believe it gets a good amount of use as a park and ride serving the bottom end of Horsforth though.

 

[Par]

Oldham (another GM Borough of a similar size) is in a similar situation since its main railway got converted to Metrolink, with nearest stations being Greenfield on the Huddersfield line and Mills Hill on the Rochdale line

Oldham (the town not the Borough - which consists of several towns) has many light rail stops (6) so doesn’t qualify under the OP’s criteria.

Royton on the other hand, a town with a population of 21,000 within the Oldham Borough does, with stations in question being those mentioned.

 

[InOban]

By Road, Strathyre is halfway between Crianlarich and Dunblane. I'm not interested in the crow flies, not being a crow.

 

[kieron]

I agree that the method of measuring distance was not specified. I have taken it as the crow flies, because that's the easiest to do. Being halfway is desirable but not essential, though in practice it becomes essential when the stations involved have near neighbours.

To be fair, the opening post referred to the Trainline app. If anyone knows how that decides which stations to suggest, then they'll know what PTR 444 intended. I don't, and I don't. Based on "as the crow flies" distances (calculated with freemaptools.com), I suggest:

Mostyn in Flintshire is 5.4 miles from West Kirby and 5.9 miles from Prestatyn. The next closest stations on each line are Hoylake (6.5 miles) and Flint (7.1 miles).

Bagillt in Flintshire is 3.4 miles from Flint and 7.6 miles from Neston. The next closest stations are Shotton (10.8 miles, on both lines) and Hawarden Bridge (very slightly closer).

Belton in Norfolk is 3.2 miles from Berney Arms and 4.9 miles from Haddiscoe. The next closest stations are Somerleyton (6.3 miles) and Great Yarmouth (6.8 miles).

The web page mentioned above also calculates road distances, but the stations are in a different order in each case.

 

[Andyjs247]

Hunstanton, Norfolk used to have its own station. The nearest station is at King’s Lynn 13.2 miles away as the crow flies. The next nearest is Havenhouse 15.1 miles away on the other side of The Wash (67.2 miles by road).

 

[London Trains]

Molesey in SW London/Surrey - depending on the starting point the nearest stations are Hampton Court and Hampton.

 

[mlambeuk]

Loftus, nearest stations Whitby and Saltburn.
Stokesley, nearest stations Great Ayton and Yarm

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Molesey in SW London/Surrey - depending on the starting point the nearest stations are Hampton Court and Hampton.

There's an issue with Hampton though... in order to access it from Molesey you need either a kayak or a walk to Hampton Court bridge to get over the Thames. Once you've walked there you may as well just use Hampton Court station.

 

[30907]

Mytholmroyd (next station along the Calder Valley line towards Leeds from Hebden Bridge) might just be closer to Oxenhope than Keighley, but there's not much in it.

But Bingley is closer than both (by road anyway).

 

[King Lazy]

Milnthorpe would meet this criteria. It’s is between Arnside around 3 miles away and Oxenholme around 7 miles away. It also sits on the direct road journey between the two stations.

Of course it once had 3 stations just outside the town It’s own on the WCML as well as stations at Sandside and Heversham on the Arnside-Hincaster branch.

A little further away the villages around the Southern tip Of Windermere (Newby Bridge, Backbarrow, Staveley, Lakeside, Haverthwaite) are all roughly midway between Cark, Grange-over-Sands, Kents Bank and Ulverston as well as Windermere.

From Newby Bridge it’s about 9 miles to Windermere, 9 miles to Ulverston, 9 to Kents Bank, 8 to Cark and 7 to Grange.

Although it does have its own nearby preserved stations where it would technically be possible to still start a rail journey with a ferry and bus ride between lines.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Milnthorpe would meet this criteria. It’s is between Arnside around 3 miles away and Oxenholme around 7 miles away. It also sits on the direct road journey between the two stations.

Wouldn't Silverdale be the next nearest station to Milnthorpe (after Arnside station which probably is the nearest)?

 

[Traveller54]

Barrmill, North Ayrshire, 3.3 miles to Dunlop; 3.8 to Glengarnock

It once had its own station on a different line from the other two.

 

[King Lazy]

Yes, you’re right. Silverdale would be nearer to Milnthorpe on checking. It’s 3.2m to Arnside, 5.1m to Silverdale and 6.5 to Oxenholme.

Heversham a mile up the road from Milnthorpe and only separated by a few fields from each other would count though.

It’s 4.6m to Arnside and 5.6 to Oxenholme. Silverdale is 6.4. And Heversham once had its own station.

 

[nw12398]

Blandford Forum (population estimate 12,200) is about even to 3 lines

Wareham on SW main Line
Gillingham on Salisbury-Exeter line
Maiden Newton on Castle Cary-Weymouth line

It used to have its own station on Somerset and Dorset line

I think you've made a mistake with Maiden Newton. Blandford is a little under 20 km from Wareham (and Holton Heath, Hamworthy and Poole are similar distances) and a little over 20 km from Gillingham (with Templecombe and Tisbury not much further away). Maiden Newton is about 30 km away, Dorchester West on the same line is much closer, Chetnole is also closer and most parts of Blandford also seem to be closer to Yetminster than they are to Maiden Newton.

Langport in Somerset goes one better, it's 3 closest stations are on 3 different lines, Bridgwater, Crewkerne and Yeovil Pen Mill.

This is particularly impressive as none of those stations are on the Taunton-Reading line, which goes through Langport! Taunton isn't too far behind Crewkerne in terms of distance, and it is worth noting that the Taunton-Castle Cary stretch is (I'm pretty sure) the longest section of rail between consecutive stations in England.

Not yet mentioned is Bridport, which is closest to Maiden Newton and then Crewkerne.

 

[Tivvy]

I feel sure someone would have mentioned this, but re-reading the thread it seems that Bude hasn't come up, which by my reckoning has its four nearest stations on different lines:
Okehampton (24.9m), Gunnislake (25.8m), Chapelton (26.2m) and Liskeard (26.5m), all distances as the crow flies.
(I'm not as hot on rail geography as most people here, but I assume that we consider the Okehampton and Barnstaple branches to be separate lines?)
With the distances this tight, it might depend on where in Bude you measure from. With the next-closest stop along the Okehampton line (Crediton) being some 15 miles away, you have all stations from Yeoford to Barnstaple, as well as all stations on the Gunnislake, Looe and Newquay branches, and all mainline stations from Ivybridge to St Austell closer than Crediton!

 

[nw12398]

Here's a more abstract one: Watchet is < 24 km from Rhoose Cardiff International and Taunton, but > 24 km from Barry, Bridgwater and Highbridge and Burnham. I originally looked at Minehead but quite a few in South Wales are nearer than any in England.

 

[LickeyIncliner]

For the 40-something years up to last December, Soham would have qualified - nearest stations (by road) Ely and Newmarket

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Here's a more abstract one: Watchet is < 24 km from Rhoose Cardiff International and Taunton, but > 24 km from Barry, Bridgwater and Highbridge and Burnham. I originally looked at Minehead but quite a few in South Wales are nearer than any in England.

Surely Taunton and Bridgwater are the two nearest stations to Watchet (Somerset)? Could be wrong, though!

 

[nw12398]

Surely Taunton and Bridgwater are the two nearest stations to Watchet (Somerset)? Could be wrong, though!

Rhoose is nearer than Bridgwater as the crow flies - completely impractical of course! Reminds me of the tale of the WWII soldier from northern Shetland who when asked for his nearest station, gave the answer of Bergen (as far as I can tell this story is quite likely to be true, although the soldier was wrong if so).