Trivia: Stations that primarily serve business parks

[MP33]

A closed station Ackrow Halt, named after the business similarly to IBM.

 

[Western 52]

Treforest Estate

 

[mailbyrail]

Stanlow & Thornton served Stanlow oil refinery and nothing else
Port Sunlight was built as a private station for Lever's soap works until becoming a public station with its own direct private access to the factory until the 1960s
Cold Meece station was built for a Second World War munitions factory, separate from the freight lines serving it

 

[Western 52]

Ty Glas serves a mainly business area.

 

[gg1]

If we're allowing historic examples:

Longbridge station on the Halesowen branch, open between 1915 and 1964, was built specifically to serve the old Austin works.

 

[rapmastaj]

Kirkstall Forge didn’t appear to have any completed housing when I last visited, so only served a few offices on the site, but that was likely 5 years back so I expect a lot of the residential development is now there.

Kirkstall Forge is well used by Horsforth residents (I know some of them). I'd be amazed if the bulk of its 250,000 passengers per year were commuters to the lone office building next to the station.

And once CEG get around to actually building the planned homes, there'll be even more future station users nearby.

 

[NeilCr]

These are great, thanks.

Are there any in the south east? Thanet Parkway is said to be built for the Discovery Park but wouldn't Sandwich station be better for the Discovery Park?

There are a number of reasons why Thanet Parkway was built. There’s a thread about it on this forum

Access to Discovery Park was one - others were to service new housing, access to Cliffsend, improved journey times to London and to provide a station with good parking in the area- etc etc

Tbh Discovery Park is slightly weird as there are no bus services from the station. AIUI Discovery Park provide a mini bus service for “guests”

It’s still work in progress but if the main reason for the new station was access to Discovery Park I tend to agree with you about Sandwich Station. That’s about a ten minute walk to the bus stop. OTOH Sandwich isn’t perhaps the best station for visitors

I use the bus service from Ramsgate to Sandwich via Discovery Park and - tbh - it isn’t heavily used by staff etc. From pure observation a lot of people drive there. My next door neighbour does for one!

 

[Bald Rick]

Crewe and Swindon.

 

[Shimbleshanks]

Hawarden Bridge seemed to serve Shotton steel works pretty much exclusively

 

[twpsaesneg]

Barry Docks certainly used to be mainly industry and the... err... docks!

 

[Llanigraham]

How do you define Industrial Estate? Taking it to an extreme how about the now closed Wrafton station on the line from Bideford to Ilfracombe?
I can remember being on an Air Cadets Special to there from West Wales for our annual camp in the late 60's.

 

[urpert]

It’s a slightly odd suggestion but what about Lower Sydenham? It’s surrounded by a surprisingly industrial area for an outer London suburb and a fair hike from anything residential.

 

[richard1976]

Lympstone Commando.
Would they count as business

 

[JKF]

I doubt St Andrews Rd gets any ‘residential’ use! I suspect there isn’t a single house for which that would be the closest station.

(thinking about it, possibly a few farms towards Hallen might count - until Henbury opens!)

 

[Roger1973]

Winnersh Triangle springs to mind

I was about to say the same. Takes me back to the days when we frequently travelled on the Reading- Waterloo service. I only ever used the station once and that was to collect a jug kettle I'd won in a prize draw (in those days, the Royal Mail sorting office was located there).

The other splendid thing about Winnersh Triangle was singing 'Looking at it from my angle' when you passed it...

Yes - think that was at least part of the justification for it, although Winnersh is quite a long settlement, so the station serves the west end of Winnersh and the Loddon Bridge area residents, and to some extent it's a 'Woodley and Lower Earley Parkway' station, as there's no room even to stop a car to pick up / set down at Winnersh Station (or Halt as it used to be known.)

Not sure how the inward / outward passenger flows are post covid.

It’s a slightly odd suggestion but what about Lower Sydenham? It’s surrounded by a surprisingly industrial area for an outer London suburb and a fair hike from anything residential.

more industrial than some, but 1897 OS map shows the station was there before the industrial development (apart from the gas works, that is)

the closed stations of IBM Halt, Uralite Halt, Ampress Works, Sinfin North and Sinfin Central

If we're getting in to older industrial sites rather than 'business parks', then Grain was there mainly for oil refinery workers, Beckton for gas works employees, and the Connaught Road - Gallions line mainly for dock workers.

 

[Djgr]

Hawarden Bridge seemed to serve Shotton steel works pretty much exclusively

For some time in the 1970s, Merseytravel (in some form) had a cheap fare for young people that stretched as far as Hawarden Bridge. So we would all get off there and walk across the bridge to go to the Deeside Ice Rink!

 

[Bill57p9]

I believe Singer in Glasgow was originally built to serve the Singer sewing machine works it is named after. The works are long gone, though the station survives now serving a largely residential clientele.

 

[LickeyIncliner]

I thought that was a large element of the original justification for it, though as a regular user (and personally using it to commute to the Science Park), I don't think it has ended up as such - probably because it is a bit too far away from the Science Park, via one of two very uninspiring (and increasingly poorly-lit, with quite a number of street lights out at the moment) paths.

Most users just seem to be using it as a (leisure) alternative to the main Cambridge station, probably because they live closer and/or because it is easier to get to. And it is increasingly popular and doing rather well. But I'm not convinced it gets the amount of Science Park traffic originally envisaged.

Just to add - likewise from personal experience and local knowledge - Cambridge North also serves as an alternative to Waterbeach station for people living north of Cambridge; and in addition to fairly close to Cambridge Science Park and several other business/innovation parks; there is a major mixed business/residential development slowly going up adjacent to the station. This seems to me a rather good example of getting the public transport provision (which also includes a bus interchange and link to the Cambridge Busway) in first.

 

[Shimbleshanks]

You could make a case for Edenbridge (the station on the Redhill-Tonbridge line, not Edenbridge Town.) It's a way out of the centre and has an industrial park adjacent, along with a council estate.

 

[zwk500]

Milton Keynes Central

 

[Western 52]

Many city centre stations could be said to be there mainly for business purposes.

 

[Rescars]

Yes - think that was at least part of the justification for it, although Winnersh is quite a long settlement, so the station serves the west end of Winnersh and the Loddon Bridge area residents, and to some extent it's a 'Woodley and Lower Earley Parkway' station, as there's no room even to stop a car to pick up / set down at Winnersh Station (or Halt as it used to be known.)

Not sure how the inward / outward passenger flows are post covid.



more industrial than some, but 1897 OS map shows the station was there before the industrial development (apart from the gas works, that is)



If we're getting in to older industrial sites rather than 'business parks', then Grain was there mainly for oil refinery workers, Beckton for gas works employees, and the Connaught Road - Gallions line mainly for dock workers.

In like vein, Waddon Marsh was never much of a residential hotspot, but very convenient for Croydon's gasworks and power stations. Today's Tramlink serves the same patch, transformed into business and retail areas.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

An individual office building, factory or warehouse (or even army barracks) in my book does not a "business park" make.

Otherwise almost any station would qualify, apart from maybe the likes of Corrour and Dovey Junction. A friend of mine lives next door to Outwood station, does that one qualify on the days he's working remotely?

 

[Rescars]

An individual office building, factory or warehouse (or even army barracks) in my book does not a "business park" make.

Otherwise almost any station would qualify, apart from maybe the likes of Corrour and Dovey Junction. A friend of mine lives next door to Outwood station, does that one qualify on the days he's working remotely?

Re Outwood - clearly not! What business has your chum to be taking train trips if he's meant ro be working at home?!!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Re Outwood - clearly not! What business has your chum to be taking train trips if he's meant ro be working at home?!!

I was clearly pointing out the absurdity of such a suggestion... one place of employment being present does not make any particular site a "Business Park".

 

[bishdunster]

Holton Heath, originally to serve the R.O.F. cordite factory, these days a large "Industrial Estate" .

 

[MP33]

On the E-W route there were a couple of work halts. When the line was to be re-opened, no doubt some re-instaters would have insisted that the stations re-opened in the same places as before. Although the business premises are long gone.

 

[William3000]

I'm doing some research into stations that are primarily built for business purposes. Reading Green Park springs to mind. What other stations are there like this?

Holton Heath in Dorset?

 

[MontyP]

I can think of a good few business parks that I have worked in where a station would be useful! For example Stockley Park - a station to serve it between Hayes&Harlington and West Drayton would be very useful.

 

[DJ_K666]

Hilsea Halt

Hornbeam Park, Harrogate

I'd say Bournville but that was even more specific, to serve the chocolate factory and the workers' town which was built around it (with no pubs, since John Cadbury was a Quaker and hence teetotal) so I'm not sure that counts.