pitdiver
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Post by pitdiver on Nov 16, 2011 21:26:27 GMT
To settle an argument can anybody tell me what is now considered to be the quietest station on the Network based on the number of "Passengers" using it. When I worked on the Met, Croxley was considered the quietest then but that was back in 1991. But that was only the Met obviously things may have changed.
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Post by tedbarclay on Nov 16, 2011 21:54:14 GMT
Unless things have changed dramatically I recall that Roding Valley was recognised as the quietest station. In fact until the advent of modern ticketing systems, I believe tickets were issued from a Gibson type ticket machine (generally used by conductors) on loan from the bus side! To settle an argument can anybody tell me what is now considered to be the quietest station on the Network based on the number of "Passengers" using it. When I worked on the Met, Croxley was considered the quietest then but that was back in 1991. But that was only the Met obviously things may have changed. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2011 22:05:06 GMT
Unless things have changed dramatically I recall that Roding Valley was recognised as the quietest station. In fact until the advent of modern ticketing systems, I believe tickets were issued from a Gibson type ticket machine (generally used by conductors) on loan from the bus side! To settle an argument can anybody tell me what is now considered to be the quietest station on the Network based on the number of "Passengers" using it. When I worked on the Met, Croxley was considered the quietest then but that was back in 1991. But that was only the Met obviously things may have changed. I'd say Roding Valley as well. Lovely quiet station, although not as picturesque as Chigwell and despite my support for progress, nowhere near as nice since they dumped the 60TS.  Nowadays, when driving down to Dagenham from Scunthorpe, I often stop and look over the bridge at what's left of Blake Hall station, easily the worst attended station on the network in its day. Now a private house called, imaginatively "Blake Hall Staion", the platform's long gone and it's not got the "fish out of water" atmosphere it had when I was a lad. I actually alighted from a 4-car 62TS at Blake Hall station in 1978 or thereabouts. Stood there freezing with a mate of mine until the train returned from Ongar. For history's sake I'm pleased I did it! |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2011 23:54:03 GMT
Roding Valley it is.
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SE13
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Post by SE13 on Nov 17, 2011 9:22:14 GMT
I did read somewhere once that Roding Valley caters for about 500 people a day... (No idea where I read it though, sorry)
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pitdiver
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Post by pitdiver on Nov 17, 2011 11:37:21 GMT
Thanks guys for the info. Very much appreciated. Further to the comment re ticketing and passengers. I heard that when Blake Hall was operating the tickets were sold by the station foreman from a dining room table along with newspapers etc. Being someone who only worked with UTS I can imagine this would have been quite interesting. As a matter of interest does anybody have any idea how many Passengers would have used Blake Hall when it was in operation.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2011 11:40:22 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2011 11:46:24 GMT
200,000 ish people use Roding Valley annually. Small change for a tube station but a fairly decent number if you compare it with the quietest NR stations.
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pitdiver
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Post by pitdiver on Nov 17, 2011 13:14:16 GMT
Further to the last post are there any statistics relating to NR stns. If there are what is considered to be their quietest station.
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Post by dagdave on Nov 17, 2011 15:01:10 GMT
Talking about Blake Hall remined me that when we used to operate the Weed Killing Train on the Epping - Ongar branch (the converted 38 stock languishing at Ruislip Depot) we used to only spray the track coming back from Onger because if we sprayed going in we struggled badly with wheelspin on the gradient back towards Epping
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Oracle
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Post by Oracle on Nov 17, 2011 16:01:22 GMT
This has been dicussed on RUK [Rail UK Forums]. In England Wiki says: According to the 2007/8 National rail figures, Reddish South had only 47 entries and exits in a 12 month period, making the it the UK's least used railway station. (2 stations were ranked lower than this but they were newly opened, and thus did not gain patronage for the whole year.)
In Scotland: Golf Street station, Carnoustie, was used by fewer than 20 travellers last year, despite annual running costs of around 33,000 and a 60,000 refurbishment.
A train pulls in to the Angus ‘ghost’ station early in the morning and another calls late at night. But despite being on the main line to Aberdeen, it is rare for more than one passenger a fortnight to make use of the service.
From The Scotsman: However, details of the list have been obtained by Scotland and Sunday and they show that, as well as chronic under-use at Carnoustie, three stations attract fewer than 50 passengers a year.
One of them, Barry Links, is near Carnoustie and on the same line. The others are neighbouring Tyndrum Upper and Tyndrum Lower in the West Highlands. Despite being a Mecca for walkers, the vast majority of people still prefer to get to the area by car.
Beaulieu Road station is our local 'ghost station' with until recently very few trains stopping SSuX, but with a good one SuO. 2435 used it in 2004-5 but that has gone up to 5178 in 2009-10 because of a new late morning stop. Trouble is it is miles from Lyndhurst and Beaulieu and no buses go past it. It is ideal for walkers, and one Sunday I saw a Scout troop got on which was possibly the largest usage in one go for some time! |
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Post by Tubeboy on Nov 17, 2011 16:22:34 GMT
I would imagine Polesworth Station has very few passengers, One train in one direction only every saturday.
According to Wiki, most recent stats are 276, Reddish is a fair bit quieter!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2011 16:52:00 GMT
I'd say Pilning has to be the quietest station in this part of the world; only one train in each direction per week, and that's on Saturdays. According to Wikipedia it actually had a rise in passenger numbers from the 13th least-used in 2005-06 to the 18th in 2006-07! It's quite popular with spotters though!
I should think it's only kept open for "parliamentary reasons", although it is the closest station to the Severn Tunnel on the English side, so might be useful for safety reasons; the most people I've ever seen there at one time was when a HST failed in 2008, and another HST (going in the opposite direction) was stopped to pick up the passengers.
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Chris M
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Post by Chris M on Nov 17, 2011 17:38:33 GMT
HSTs at Pilning!? I've seen them at Patchway (which is not infrequently used when there are problems at Parkway) but never thought of them at Pilning. The platforms can only be long enough for about 3 cars surely?
Pilning of course used to be a junction station with a line down to Avonmouth. I think the car trains through the tunnel called here as well before the Severn Bridge opened in the 60s.
There were plans at one point to build up the area around the station with an expansion of the industry in Avonmouth/along the M49, but these fell through during (I think) the last recession. I think there was also talk of building a park and ride near there, but they decided against it when they rebuilt Parkway.
I guess it's kept open partly for parliamentary reasons and in case they ever do decide to build anything around it - it's a lot easier to increase the trains stopping there than it is to reopen a closed station (even a mothballed one).
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2011 19:14:48 GMT
Pilning of course used to be a junction station with a line down to Avonmouth. It's actually a lot more interesting than that: The original course of the line, prior to the building of the Severn Tunnel, took it north of the current Pilning (High Level) station through Pilning (Low Level) to New Passage Pier. It was this line that the loop around to Severn Beach branched off from, and it looks (from aerial photographs) as if a pair of river bridges still remain, showing the site of the junction, in the triangle formed by the M4, Severn Road, and Redwick Road. The approach roads to the Second Severn Crossing have wiped out a lot of the former formation in the area, though. It's definitely somewhere I'd like to inspect in person at some point. You cross the low-level formation on the approach to Pilning station, and I believe one of the crossing gates still remains, another gate post (at 45 degrees!), and a short section of check rail. |
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Post by norbitonflyer on Nov 17, 2011 22:22:25 GMT
I recall Gainsborough central (no trains except on saturdays) and Tyndrum Upper both have very low counts. Croxley green had a few for several years after the the line was lifted!
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castlebar
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Post by castlebar on Nov 18, 2011 11:12:04 GMT
Pilning/Patchway/ etc were all part of a long term development prospect for Filton Airport. For MANY years there has been talk about re-instating Filton as a top-notch commercial airport, (It has one of the longest runways in Europe). It is also allegedly less fog prone than the current Bristol airport (Lulsgate) which is way south of Bristol and has no possibility of future rail access.
It seems that only very recently, the idea of re-vivifying Filton Airport has been dropped. This opens the possibility of greater residential development in the area one day, but it is not all that far from the notorious "Bradley Stoke" which had the biggest fall in house prices anywhere in the UK in one of the many recessions we have had of late. Memories of this are very strong in the area. Not many housebuilders would want to get burned twice in the same area.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2011 13:48:14 GMT
It seems that only very recently, the idea of re-vivifying Filton Airport has been dropped. This opens the possibility of greater residential development in the area one day... I was under the impression that the Filton Airport plans were dropped because of the residential development in the area. a.k.a. "Sadly Broke"! |
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castlebar
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Post by castlebar on Nov 18, 2011 13:58:48 GMT
@ 81stock
Difficult to get at the truth. (See my previous comments about Ernest Marples, and the proposal to turn MArylebone into a coach park). Filton proposals were very poular in some parts of Bristol, especially with the prospect of rail access. But as always, where there's muck there's money and this also applies to development and building land. It might take a generation at least for the real story to see daylight. Italy had "bunga bunga", but we just have "bungs".
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Post by ruislip on Nov 19, 2011 6:56:25 GMT
Isn't it true that Lancaster Gate is the quietest station in Zone 1?
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pitdiver
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Post by pitdiver on Nov 19, 2011 11:28:14 GMT
I think you will find that Regent's Park is quieter than Lancaster Gate. So much so that when I joined LUL in 89 Regent's Park Booking Office was a class 2 position. Didn't work there myself only worked at Morrgate (MET), Aldgate and Liverpool St,( I think it was called "C" office).
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2011 22:32:23 GMT
Holland Park is quite quiet
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