Trivia: Stations that don’t have a direct service to their largest market

[PTR 444]

Generally, the purpose of running a rail service is to link places where people want to go, and prioritise frequencies between those places which have the most demand. Using the SWML west of Southampton as an example, the primary off-peak market is to Bournemouth, therefore it is served by all trains on the line from SOU and necessitates longer trains than the local stopping services on the same line.

On the other hand, stations such as the two Lymingtons are situated on a branch line which isn’t as big of a market from Southampton as Bournemouth, and hence their only direct service is a shuttle from Brockenhurst. Even so, the market for journeys simply hopping between the three stations on the branch will be tiny, with the majority from Lymington wishing to change and travel onwards to Southampton or London.

So basically this thread is to list stations which do not have a direct service to the destination that its passengers want to go to the most, or in other words its largest market. I would expect a lot of branch line stations, like the Lymington example, to do well on this, but it will be interesting to see if there are any main line stations that fall into this category as well.

 

[jfisher21]

Bromley North and Emerson Park come to mind ....

 

[paddy1]

Skegness to Lincoln or Grimsby? Nearest big city/town shopping, employment centre etc. Majority of traffic on Skegness-Nottingham trains would be Nottingham originating.

 

[AlterEgo]

Greenford
Fenny Stratford
Bedford St John's

Off the top of my head.

 

[The exile]

Generally, the purpose of running a rail service is to link places where people want to go, and prioritise frequencies between those places which have the most demand. Using the SWML west of Southampton as an example, the primary off-peak market is to Bournemouth, therefore it is served by all trains on the line from SOU and necessitates longer trains than the local stopping services on the
On the other hand, stations such as the two Lymingtons are situated on a branch line which isn’t as big of a market from Southampton as Bournemouth, and hence their only direct service is a shuttle from Brockenhurst. Even so, the market for journeys simply hopping between the three stations on the branch will be tiny, with the majority from Lymington wishing to change and travel onwards to Southampton or London.

So basically this thread is to list stations which do not have a direct service to the destination that its passengers want to go to the most, or in other words its largest market. I would expect a lot of branch line stations, like the Lymington example, to do well on this, but it will be interesting to see if there are any main line stations that fall into this category as well.

Arguably, the intended “ principle market” for the Lymington branch (and probably the reason for its survival) was / is the Isle of Wight ferry.
Most of the Cornish branches would apply (not Falmouth or Gunnislake, maybe)

 

[paddy1]

Corby to Northampton or Leicester?

 

[PTR 444]

Arguably, the intended “ principle market” for the Lymington branch (and probably the reason for its survival) was / is the Isle of Wight ferry.

Although I would imagine most passengers for the Lymington Ferry would be travelling from further afield, requiring a change of train. I doubt the traffic from Brockenhurst and Lymington Town alone would even make 1% of the total market.

 

[D6130]

Staying in SWR territory:

Botley and Hedge End to Southampton
Alton to Winchester
Andover to Winchester

 

[Halish Railway]

Baildon to Leeds.

 

[D6130]

Giggleswick to Settle!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Greenford
Fenny Stratford
Bedford St John's

Off the top of my head.

Anywhere on a branch line vaguely in the South East without a direct central London service, indeed.

 

[Gathursty]

Rainford to St Helens/Ormskirk
Daisy Hill to Westhoughton

 

[RH Liner]

Stations at the northern end of the Robin Hood Line (Shirebrook, Langwith, Creswell, Whitwell) to Sheffield. Change at Worksop and take a good book for the wait.

 

[PeterC]

Anywhere on a branch line vaguely in the South East without a direct central London service, indeed.

St Albans Abbey branch must be high on the list. No London trains and both termini remote from their town centres.

 

[Grecian 1998]

Most of the Cornish branches would apply (not Falmouth or Gunnislake, maybe)

Not St Ives either, given that the majority of passengers (during the summer peak at least) have probably parked at St Erth to take the 'Park and Ride' train into St Ives. I suspect a lot more passengers make their onward journey by car than by train.

Looe and Newquay I'd certainly agree - Par isn't much of a destination.

Stourbridge Town must be one.

Melksham is a possibility - not sure whether there's a bigger demand for travel to Bath / Bristol than Swindon.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Corby to Northampton or Leicester?

I doubt that Leicester is the largest market by any mode. Don’t think there is even a direct bus. Corby has long had the X4 bus to Northampton but not a lot of through passengers in my experience besides the odd student.

 

[Bletchleyite]

St Albans Abbey branch must be high on the list. No London trains and both termini remote from their town centres.

I still think that is the case so much so that they could do with doing the infrastructure work (which would only involve signalling/points or digging up a bit of car park) to allow the Watford shuttles to become Euston-Abbey services, even if they had to leave 4 coaches behind at Watford to pick up on the way back to Euston. You would have to drop to hourly, but to be honest hourly is probably of more value than every 45 minutes because you only have to remember one number, and if you asked most people in the South East if they would take a slight frequency drop to get a through London service they are pretty certainly going to say yes.

 

[Dai Corner]

When the Ebbw Vale branch (re)opened Cardiff was deemed to be a more important destination than Newport so the trains go there. I think the six or seven buses an hour between Newport and Newbridge carry more passengers than the hourly train to Cardiff does. The branch as far as Newbridge is in the Newport Urban area.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Rainford to St Helens/Ormskirk
Daisy Hill to Westhoughton

I don't know about the latter, but I'd reckon on Rainford to Liverpool being the biggest rail demand if it was direct.

 

[Bald Rick]

St Albans Abbey branch must be high on the list. No London trains and both termini remote from their town centres.

The largest market from St Albans Abbey is Watford. No Albanian in their right mind uses it to commute to London, unless they live very close to the Abbey, and work very close to Euston. Even then most will use Thameslink.

 

[Springs Branch]

On the northern part of the Borderlands Line (e.g. Neston, Heswall & Upton) most people will be travelling to Birkenhead or Liverpool.

From Morecambe, I'd guess most people taking the train will be going beyond Lancaster (to Preston, Greater Manchester or Merseyside).

I wonder if more tickets are sold from St Annes, Ansdell & Fairhaven or Lytham to Manchester rather than to Blackpool South, Preston, Blackburn or Burnley?

 

[jfisher21]

When the Ebbw Vale branch (re)opened Cardiff was deemed to be a more important destination than Newport so the trains go there. I think the six or seven buses an hour between Newport and Newbridge carry more passengers than the hourly train to Cardiff does. The branch as far as Newbridge is in the Newport Urban area.

Looked at the map, indeed the Ebbw Vale line almost gets to Newport before heading to Cardiff. I guess there should be a Newport train as well (the track seems to be there) for better connections to the rest of the country without doubling back.

 

[Dai Corner]

Looked at the map, indeed the Ebbw Vale line almost gets to Newport before heading to Cardiff. I guess there should be a Newport train as well (the track seems to be there) for better connections to the rest of the country without doubling back.

The track is indeed there, and trains have run to Newport occasionally during engineering works.

The problem is that there's only capacity to run one train an hour. We're promised capacity enhancements and a Newport service in the next year or so.

 

[Mikey C]

The largest market from St Albans Abbey is Watford. No Albanian in their right mind uses it to commute to London, unless they live very close to the Abbey, and work very close to Euston. Even then most will use Thameslink.

But what about the Kosovans, Serbians and Bosnians?

 

[D6130]

I guess there should be a Newport train as well (the track seems to be there) for better connections to the rest of the country without doubling back.

....or run the Cardiff trains via Newport, if pathing permits.

Change at Worksop and take a good book for the wait.

Alternatively, you could enjoy a leisurely pint in the Mallard....possibly while reading a good book!

 

[Bletchleyite]

The largest market from St Albans Abbey is Watford. No Albanian in their right mind uses it to commute to London, unless they live very close to the Abbey, and work very close to Euston. Even then most will use Thameslink.

From Abbey itself perhaps, but there are other stations.

 

[mister-sparky]

Greenford
Fenny Stratford
Bedford St John's

Off the top of my head.

Greenford does have a direct service to its largest market, the central line!

 

[Bald Rick]

From Abbey itself perhaps, but there are other stations.

Indeed, albeit with the exception of Watford North I suspect the biggest market is Watford.

 

[Llandudno]

Matlock to Chesterfield
Alfreton to Derby
Conwy to Llandudno
Hawarden to Chester
St Helens Junction to St Helens Central
Hartford to Northwich!

 

[Whisky Papa]

Reddish North, Brinnington, Bredbury, Romiley and Marple/Rose Hill to Stockport (and arguably also to Manchester Airport). I worked at all of these, and "polite enquiries" would occur more days than not.