• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Trivia - stations with too many platforms

Status
Not open for further replies.

HST274

Member
Joined
3 Mar 2020
Messages
710
Location
Worcestershire
Platform 3 used to be used for the West country locals that terminated at Shrub hill before most of them extended to Malvern and the short lived Gloucester service that London Midland ran for a year or so. I've seen a Turbo in there years ago when the evening halts train ran to Malvern (it had been cancelled past Shrub Hill and the return restarted from P3). The actual useable platform face is quite short, I assume for signal sighting so it's local door only.
Interesting. I thought it was completely abandoned but clearly I was wrong. Any idea of any services might stop there again?
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

AY1975

Established Member
Joined
14 Dec 2016
Messages
1,748
Vauxhall - Platforms 5 and 6 (on the fast tracks used by trains to places like Exeter, Weymouth, Portsmouth, Alton etc) are very rarely used (and have never been in regular use for at least 40 years and probably a lot longer than that).

Queenstown Road (Battersea) - the platform opposite the Up side of the island platform hasn't been used for several years, though I believe that there is talk of bringing it back into use.

New Malden - the centre island platform (on the fast tracks) hasn't been used for years AFAIK.

East Putney - AFAIK no train has called at the platform on the spur line used by ECS trains to and from Wimbledon depot for many years.

Finsbury Park main line station has at least one island platform that's not in regular use.
 

Kite159

Veteran Member
Joined
27 Jan 2014
Messages
19,157
Location
West of Andover
The bay at Exeter Central, is that used anymore?
In a pre Covid world used to see some Exeter Central - Exmouth shuttle services on Sundays.

Vauxhall - Platforms 5 and 6 (on the fast tracks used by trains to places like Exeter, Weymouth, Portsmouth, Alton etc) are very rarely used (and have never been in regular use for at least 40 years and probably a lot longer than that).

Those platforms at Vauxhall see use on some Sunday mornings if platforms 7/8 are closed for track inspections
 

Techniquest

Veteran Member
Joined
19 Jun 2005
Messages
21,674
Location
Nowhere Heath
Strictly speaking, Hereford is over-platformed these days. Platform 4, the bay platform on the northbound side, hasn't had much use in quite some time.

I believe during engineering works south of Hereford it does get used a little, we could work without it if needed I reckon. Quite, during most of the day we could manage with just 2 platforms! Although we would then lose a lot of flexibility as platform 1 is used a lot by WMR and GWR. At other times we'd manage reasonably well otherwise
 

Scotrail314209

Established Member
Joined
1 Feb 2017
Messages
2,346
Location
Edinburgh
Does platform 0 at Haymarket have any use?

Very useful for additional services during an event at Murrayfield. Means it doesn’t block the line at Haymarket for services towards Waverley. As someone else has said, it’s also good for disruption as you can turn trains back in it without causing too much hassle at Waverley.
 

Welly

Member
Joined
15 Nov 2013
Messages
498
Lincoln's remaining bay platforms see little use. It used to have eight - four east-facing bays and four through platforms, but now has five, of which two are bays. These see little use these days, as they face east but nearly all terminating trains come from the west (Nottingham, Sheffield, London) and return the same way. Services to/from the east included the direct Grantham line (for connections for London),which went in 1966, and the extensive network of branch lines in Lincolnshire which mainly disappeared in 1970. Conversely, services from London, Newark and Nottingham which used to use St Marks station have all added to those entering and leaving at the west end.
I disagree, the bay platforms do get used for the Lincoln - Sleaford - Peterborough services.

Oh, if you think that some stations in the UK have too many platforms, it struck me that many stations on the Continent have an awful lot of platforms for the population of the town served!
 

nw1

Established Member
Joined
9 Aug 2013
Messages
6,865
Vauxhall - Platforms 5 and 6 (on the fast tracks used by trains to places like Exeter, Weymouth, Portsmouth, Alton etc) are very rarely used (and have never been in regular use for at least 40 years and probably a lot longer than that).

Does the 01:05 Waterloo to Southampton still stop at Vauxhall? I know it did for many years, beginning in the CIG era, so presumably that would use the fast platform.
 

Nunners

Member
Joined
19 Oct 2018
Messages
248
Does the 01:05 Waterloo to Southampton still stop at Vauxhall? I know it did for many years, beginning in the CIG era, so presumably that would use the fast platform.
It does stop but I can't remember which platform it uses
 

David Goddard

Established Member
Joined
8 Aug 2011
Messages
1,502
Location
Reading
Does the 01:05 Waterloo to Southampton still stop at Vauxhall? I know it did for many years, beginning in the CIG era, so presumably that would use the fast platform.
Saturday mornings only. It called at platform 3 last Saturday and this morning.
 

swt_passenger

Veteran Member
Joined
7 Apr 2010
Messages
31,267
It does stop but I can't remember which platform it uses
I think 0105 Waterloo to Southampton would normally be booked via East Putney and so use a Windsor side platform. It starts from P20 at Waterloo for this reason.
 

galwhv69

Member
Joined
27 Dec 2020
Messages
215
Location
Putney, London
A thought - are there any where more than one platform could be removed?
Wandsworth Common, Balham, Streatham Common, Norbury & Thornton Heath P3 & P4. Nothing ever calls on these platforms (I believe) as they're on the fast lines used by GX and SN, which only stop at CLJ and ECR. Out of curiosity, when was the last time those platforms saw regular use?
 

Scotrail314209

Established Member
Joined
1 Feb 2017
Messages
2,346
Location
Edinburgh
Wandsworth Common, Balham, Streatham Common, Norbury & Thornton Heath P3 & P4. Nothing ever calls on these platforms (I believe) as they're on the fast lines used by GX and SN, which only stop at CLJ and ECR. Out of curiosity, when was the last time those platforms saw regular use?

I'd imagine they'd see use if they had to close the slow lines for any reason at all.
 

Failed Unit

Established Member
Joined
26 Jan 2009
Messages
8,857
Location
Central Belt
Barnetby could easily manage with two platforms, with generally an hourly TPE and two hourly EMR service (as well as some freight, but they don’t need platforms).

Also, a lot of smaller stations on mainlines have platforms on the fast lines which aren’t generally used, but are useful for when the slow lines are closed.
Barnetby extra platforms are useful if a service doesn’t make it to Grimsby. Not sure if EMR turn heavily delayed services at Barnetby any more.
 

GatwickDepress

Established Member
Joined
14 Jan 2013
Messages
2,284
Location
Leeds
Wandsworth Common, Balham, Streatham Common, Norbury & Thornton Heath P3 & P4. Nothing ever calls on these platforms (I believe) as they're on the fast lines used by GX and SN, which only stop at CLJ and ECR. Out of curiosity, when was the last time those platforms saw regular use?
The down fast line is occasionally booked for stoppers, such as this late-night train to East Croydon. Don't recall ever seeing a stopper on the up fasts.
 

MotCO

Established Member
Joined
25 Aug 2014
Messages
4,085
Are there two platforms at Bromley North? If so, are both required?
 

SteveyBee131

Member
Joined
28 Oct 2017
Messages
651
Location
Grimsby Town
Barnetby extra platforms are useful if a service doesn’t make it to Grimsby. Not sure if EMR turn heavily delayed services at Barnetby any more.
They do turn short at Barnetby occasionally.

Also, with the latest timetable change, the East Midlands and TransPennine services are quite close together (sometimes only 5 minutes apart). So in the event of delays or other problems with one or other, the extra platforms could prove useful.
 

stuu

Established Member
Joined
2 Sep 2011
Messages
2,729
Taunton seems to have quite a few for the amount of services that call there. I know some trains do terminate there but again, it could probably get by with fewer.
The layout is quite restrictive so the local trains most easily use p3 to turn. Westbound trains can then only use p2, which although there are 4 tph west at most, manages to cause further delays if either XC or GWR are running late
 

MotCO

Established Member
Joined
25 Aug 2014
Messages
4,085
Twickenham has two up (east-facing) bays, one of which has been disused for years and the track half-lifted, the other has been fairly recently been relaid. The latter is odd as it can't be accessed from the down line except by way of a couple of reverses. I've never seen anything in it, including on the days a year of heavy additional traffic for the rugby ground. I guess that it might be used for overnight stabling.

I think the up lines used to hold the Kingston / Strawberry Hill rounders for main line trains to pass (I'm going back to the 80's) anywhere between Twickenahm and St Margarets, where the three lines became two lines.

I guess you could close Platform 1 at Orpington and the world would carry on.

Pre-Covid, there was a train stabled there most of the day.

Platforms 2 - 5 are through lines, Platform 6,7 and 8 are for the Victoria, Charing Cross and Thameslink services. Not sure if there is any spare capacity, unless you push the all-day platform 1 train back into the sidings.
 

LancasterRed

Member
Joined
21 May 2018
Messages
291
Lancaster could shed Platform 1 and still be fine, however similar to Platform 4C at Preston is integral in specific situations.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top