What does "Parkway" mean?

[Taunton]

Contrary to much belief, Bristol Parkway is not particularly straightforward to get to from the M32 motorway any longer. It used to be more so, but a range of road diversions and additional roundabouts have been inserted into what initially was a straighter run, and as the area has built up substantially and major new employers moved in, there can now be considerable traffic congestion. It is generally much quicker at peak periods now to turn the opposite way from the M32 to that signposted, and thread round through Stoke Gifford.

 

[syorksdeano]

Wonder why Meadowhall is not called a parkway then, or is it to do with car park size?

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[Parallel]

Contrary to much belief, Bristol Parkway is not particularly straightforward to get to from the M32 motorway any longer. It used to be more so, but a range of road diversions and additional roundabouts have been inserted into what initially was a straighter run, and as the area has built up substantially and major new employers moved in, there can now be considerable traffic congestion. It is generally much quicker at peak periods now to turn the opposite way from the M32 to that signposted, and thread round through Stoke Gifford.

Sounds like another station may be needed... 'Bristol Parkway Parkway'...

 

[Bletchleyite]

Wonder why Meadowhall is not called a parkway then, or is it to do with car park size?

Is longer term parking permitted in the shopping centre car park? If not this might be the issue.

I always thought "Horwich Parkway" was oddly named - to me it should really have been called Middlebrook.

 

[syorksdeano]

Is longer term parking permitted in the shopping centre car park? If not this might be the issue.

I always thought "Horwich Parkway" was oddly named - to me it should really have been called Middlebrook.

The train station bit has its own parking area

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Wonder why Meadowhall is not called a parkway then, or is it to do with car park size?

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Isn't one of its names Meadowhall Interchange? Meadowhall Interchange Parkway is a bit of a mouthful

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Wonder why Meadowhall is not called a parkway then, or is it to do with car park size?

I would have thought that the main purpose of Meadowhall station is to serve the adjacent shopping centre. Providing park-and-ride facilities may be a useful subsidiary role (along with providing interchange to people who arrive by bus or tram) but it's not the main reason for the station, and is likely to only be a relatively minor source of passengers. So calling it a Parkway doesn't seem so appropriate.

 

[Ianno87]

Is longer term parking permitted in the shopping centre car park? If not this might be the issue.

I always thought "Horwich Parkway" was oddly named - to me it should really have been called Middlebrook.

Middlebrook is the brand name for the retail park (only opened about 2 years before the station, so not very 'recognised' at the time) so possibly some trademark issues? Plus the Horwich name emphasises the fact that the station is not part of the retail park and serves a much wider catchment (Bolton folk need stuff spelling out for them sometimes).

The retail park gets it's name from the Middle Brook stream, which parallels the railway all the way to Bolton, so another potential source of confusion.

Ask for a ticket at Bolton for 'Middlebrook' and you'll get what you want anyway.

 

[QueensCurve]

I am just wondering what does "Parkway" mean?

It denotes a station with a large car park a long way from the town in the station name.

 

[Ianno87]

It denotes a station with a large car park a long way from the town in the station name.

Which in the case of Didcot (for example), it is not (see upthread debate).

My interpretation is "station with large car park (which may or may not be near the town) to significantly enhance its catchment area, usually with good access from the strategic road network and direct access to a service to a major centre with an attractive journey time".

 

[Ianno87]

I am just wondering what does "Parkway" mean?

So far we have 20 stations with "Parkway" in their name.

Aylesbury Vale Parkway
Bodmin Parkway
Bristol Parkway
Buckshaw Parkway
Coleshill Parkway
Didcot Parkway
East Midlands Airport Parkway
Ebbw Vale Parkway
Haddenham & Thame Parkway
Horwich Parkway
Liverpool South Parkway
Luton Airport Parkway
Oxford Parkway
Port Talbot Parkway
Southampton Airport Parkway
Stratford Upon Avon Parkway
Sutton Parkway
Tame Bridge Parkway
Tiverton Parkway
Warwick Parkway

I have looked online but cant seem to find a definition for what "Parkway" means. Does it mean it is mainly meant to be used by passengers travelling by car? Does it mean it has a larger than usual car park? Does it mean it is a sort of park and ride station? Or does it mean something else?

Lostock, when it opened in 1988, was semi-officially known as Lostock Parkway. But it has been dropped to plain Lostock for many years, particularly since Horwich Parkway has opened is much better equipped to perform the function (larger car park, straight off M61, etc.).

Lostock did however, serve the extensive housing development on the area in the 1980s.

 

[swt class 450]

Thanks for all the info. I didnt realise that the use of the word "Parkway" was so complicating! I wonder why no stations have ever had "Park & Ride" in their name instead which might be more clear for passengers?

 

[TrainfanBen]

I agree with the car parking theory. I suppose its good for the environment getting people onto the train.
I'd be interested in finding out how much revenue they create for the TOCs, given that they mostly seem to be at stations with only one operator, although not always.

Also, for reference, the two closest Parkway's to each other seem to be Buckshaw Parkway and Horwich Parkway.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Also, for reference, the two closest Parkway's to each other seem to be Buckshaw Parkway and Horwich Parkway.

By rail, yes. By road or as the crow flies it appears as though Warwick and Stratford are slightly closer. Tame Bridge and Coleshill are further apart than both of the above pairs, but not by much.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Looking further, the closest as the crow flies is Aylesbury Vale Parkway to Haddenham & Thame Parkway, little over five miles apart.

(If we count archaic ones too, Sutton Parkway to Alfreton & Mansfield is slightly shorter than the above.)

 

[joncombe]

Worle station near Weston-super-Mare is often called Worle Parkway. Even the station signs outside gives the name as "Worle Parkway".

 

[euryalus]

I think the name was copied from the very first such "parkways", and it was supposed to imply a main line railway station with ample car parking for motorists. Bristol Parkway was one of the first (although I don't think it was the very first one).

 

[Dr Hoo]

Thanks for all the info. I didnt realise that the use of the word "Parkway" was so complicating! I wonder why no stations have ever had "Park & Ride" in their name instead which might be more clear for passengers?

Lelant Saltings is commonly (if unofficially) suffixed by "Park & ride".

(Unable to attach image or screenshot but just try searching for the full term on the internet.)

 

[coppercapped]

I think the name was copied from the very first such "parkways", and it was supposed to imply a main line railway station with ample car parking for motorists. Bristol Parkway was one of the first (although I don't think it was the very first one).

See my post #18.

Bristol Parkway was the first to be so called, but there were other park-and-ride stations earlier.

As Bristol Parkway was successful in attracting motorists to use the train the name was adopted by BR for other stations, newly built or adapted, which fulfilled a similar function.

 

[70014IronDuke]

See my post #18.

Bristol Parkway was the first to be so called, but there were other park-and-ride stations earlier.
... .

I think we are in danger of mixing up 'parkway' with 'park-and-ride' here, aren't we?

Surely they are the kind of inverse of one another? As (I think you) stated earlier, Bristol Parkway was originally intended for Inter-city passengers, to attract them to the trains with ample parking facilities but without the need to drive into Bristol TM or Bath.

The term Parkway (like, eg the GWR term 'road') was also meant to imply 'foot passengers for eg Bristol, do not get off here because you are miles from the town named and there may not be a bus!'

Park-and-Ride was a means to attract commuters or shoppers onto the train INTO the LOCAL town - not Inter-City travellers.

I have no idea really when the term Park-and-Ride came into use.

 

[70014IronDuke]

Yeah, I think it was sort of "Alfreton, and Mansfield Parkway" that was implied.


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I think you are correct: only it wasn't called "Alfreton, and, sort of, Mansfield Parkway".

Perhaps it should have been; it would have saved a lot of later anguish

 

[bradford758]

New Pudsey (1967) predated the naming convention but was designed as a Parkway station, it being situated just off the A647/A6120/B6157 junction.
It's a short walk to the bus stops and walkable to the nearby areas of Farsley and Stanningley (whose station it replaced) but not that convenient for Pudsey itself, as there is no dedicated linking bus.
The later Owlcotes shopping centre is nearby but not next door, and there has been a suggestion to move the station nearer to the shops, but nothing seems to have become of this.

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[QueensCurve]

Which in the case of Didcot (for example), it is not (see upthread debate).

True, and I will say I always thought the rename was pointless [and slightly irritating].

At least Alfreton and Mansfield Parkway smuggles a historical novel.

 

[Chris999999]

I am just wondering what does "Parkway" mean?


I have looked online but cant seem to find a definition for what "Parkway" means. Does it mean it is mainly meant to be used by passengers travelling by car? Does it mean it has a larger than usual car park? Does it mean it is a sort of park and ride station? Or does it mean something else?

Parkway was originally an American term but in England its use was expanded by Professor Patrick Abercrombie in his Open Space and Park System in his 1943/44 County of London Plan. He defined it as follows:

All forms of open space need to be considered as a whole, and to be co-ordinated into a closely-linked park system, with parkways along existing and new roads forming the links between the larger parks. It becomes possible for the town dweller to get from doorstep to open country through an easy flow of open space from garden to park, from park to parkway, from parkway to green wedge and from green wedge to Green Belt. A great advantage of the linking parkway is that it extends the radius of influence of the larger open spaces and brings the latter into more intimate relationship with the surrounding areas.’ Abercrombie defined the connecting links in the system as ‘parkways’ and placed them in seven categories: linear strips of open space; riverside walks; footpaths through farmland; bridle tracks and green lanes; bicycle tracks; motor parkways; express arterial roads. The last two categories date from the time when driving a horseless carriage through a park or along a tree-lined street was a recreational activity. The original, American, use of the term ‘parkway’ was to describe routes of this type.

 

[coppercapped]

Parkway was originally an American term but in England its use was expanded by Professor Patrick Abercrombie in his Open Space and Park System in his 1943/44 County of London Plan. He defined it as follows:

All forms of open space need to be considered as a whole, and to be co-ordinated into a closely-linked park system, with parkways along existing and new roads forming the links between the larger parks. It becomes possible for the town dweller to get from doorstep to open country through an easy flow of open space from garden to park, from park to parkway, from parkway to green wedge and from green wedge to Green Belt. A great advantage of the linking parkway is that it extends the radius of influence of the larger open spaces and brings the latter into more intimate relationship with the surrounding areas.’ Abercrombie defined the connecting links in the system as ‘parkways’ and placed them in seven categories: linear strips of open space; riverside walks; footpaths through farmland; bridle tracks and green lanes; bicycle tracks; motor parkways; express arterial roads. The last two categories date from the time when driving a horseless carriage through a park or along a tree-lined street was a recreational activity. The original, American, use of the term ‘parkway’ was to describe routes of this type.

All good and intriguing stuff! But the British use for station names derives from Bristol Parkway which took its name from the adjacent motorway spur towards central Bristol from the M4 - and this motorway, the M32, was called 'The Parkway'. I can only assume the road name was taken from the sources you mention as it runs through green spaces until just before the central built-up area.

 

[Chris999999]

All good and intriguing stuff! But the British use for station names derives from Bristol Parkway which took its name from the adjacent motorway spur towards central Bristol from the M4 - and this motorway, the M32, was called 'The Parkway'. I can only assume the road name was taken from the sources you mention as it runs through green spaces until just before the central built-up area.

You are correct.

 

[Matt_pool]

Liverpool South Parkway is a bit of a strange one. The car park isn't all that big (the one at Runcorn station holds 100+ more cars) which probably explains why it's always full by 9am.

It's also a bus interchange but hardly anyone catches the bus from there. The Virgin Pendolinos where supposed to stop there, but the platforms aren't long enough so they can't, so it's a bit of a white elephant.

And it's only the 8th busiest station on Merseyside in terms of passenger numbers. Kirkby station gets 450,000 more passengers a year than South Parkway!

 

[Phil.]

I think the name was copied from the very first such "parkways", and it was supposed to imply a main line railway station with ample car parking for motorists. Bristol Parkway was one of the first (although I don't think it was the very first one).

See my post #16 for the origin of this portmanteau word.

 

[Chris999999]

See my post #16 for the origin of this portmanteau word.

Yes I have seen it. It says:
You PARK your car there and take the railWAY to your chosen destination.

Where are your references to support this definition as pre-dating those I supplied?

 

[Phil.]

Yes I have seen it. It says:
You PARK your car there and take the railWAY to your chosen destination.

Where are your references to support this definition as pre-dating those I supplied?

I can clearly recall that when the station was opened I read - can't remember if it was in Modern railways or Railnews - that this (Bristol Parkway) was the name of the first of a number of planned "Parkway "stations. The name/term Parkway was chosen as it was a combination of a station where you drive to and park your car end then use the railway.