Ruddington Lane NET

Ruddington Lane is a stop on Line 2 of the Nottingham Express Transit in Wilford. It is located between Compton Acres and Southchurch Drive North.

Tram 216 arrives at Ruddington Lane



Information
Type: Nottingham Express Transit
Opened: 2015
Platforms: 2

The stop was opened in 2015 as part of the Line 2 extension of the NET. 

The stop (and line) is built on the former route of the Great Central Railway between Nottingham and Sheffield.

Departing for Clifton South

Looking back towards Nottingham


Newport / Casnewydd (NWP)

Newport is a major railway interchange in south Wales and is Wales' second busiest station. On the Great Western Main Line the station is between Cardiff Central and Bristol Parkway. On the Welsh Marches Line the station is between Cardiff Central and Cwmbran.

GWR 802 112 stands at Newport



Information
Type: National Rail (Cardiff - Nottingham Line, Great
Western Main Line, Welsh Marches Line and others)
Station code: NWP
Opened: 1850
Platforms: 4

The station was opened as Newport High Street in 1850 by the South Wales Railway. It has been expanded and rebuilt a number of times since such as in 1928 and 2010 when the platforms were extended to support Great Western Railway's new IEP trains. The original station had two broad gauge platforms and a single bay. The broad gauge lines were converted to standard gauge in 1872 [1]. The station gradually expanded as more lines and services reached Newport. 

By the 1910s the station had eight platforms and a complicated layout. This has been simplified over time. The station now has four through platforms only. The station was renamed to just Newport in the 1960s when Newport's two other stations were closed. The Great Western Main Line was electrified through Newport in 2019.

The station is managed by Transport for Wales who also operate a number of services to the station along with GWR and Cross Country.

Transport for Wales 175 011 at Newport platform 4

View down the platforms, extensive canopies are provided

A GWR Castle Set (Class 255) at Newport

GWR 158 766

Old buildings and canopies plus new catenary



[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Gloucester to Cardiff (Middleton Press, 2005) Fig. 91

Birkenhead Park (BKP)

Birkenhead Park is a stop on the Merseyrail Wirral Line on the Wirral between Conway Park and Birkenhead North.

Merseyrail 777 011 departs for Liverpool Central


Information
Type: National Rail (Merseyrail Wirral Line)
Station code: BKP
Opened: 1888
Platforms: 2

The station was opened in 1888 as a joint station [1] and interchange between the Wirral Railway's line to West Kirby and the Mersey Railway's line to Liverpool Central. The station takes it's name from a nearby Victorian municipal park.

When it was opened Birkenhead Park consisted of two island platforms, one for each railway operating from it. Trains bound for Liverpool often had their locomotives changed to those with condensing equipment for opration through the Mersey tunnel. Through trains on the Mersey Railway ended in 1903 with the electrification of the line. Wirral Railway trains (by now operated by the LMS) were electrified in 1938. Merseyrail trains still use the LMS third-rail electrification.

The station was badly damaged during a bombing in 1941 during the Blitz, the main building was destroyed and the line closed for eleven days. The station was rationalised in the late 1980s with just one island platform used nowadays, the other platform was demolished in 1992 [2]. The station is managed by Merseyrail.

508 130 stands at Birkenhead Park
Station frontage

A view of the ramp up to the station building level

507 002 arrives

View down the platform

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Birkenhead to West Kirby (Middleton Press, 2014) Fig. 8
[2] Ibid. Fig. 14

Holborn (ZHO)

Holborn is an interchange station in central London on the London Underground. It is between Tottenham Court Road and Chancery Lane on the Central Line, and between Covent Garden and Russell Square on the Piccadilly Line.

A Piccadilly Line train arrives at Holborn


Information
Type: Transport for London (London Underground
Central & Piccadilly Lines)
Station code: ZHO
Opened: 1906
Platforms: 4

The station was opened by the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway in 1906, this later became the Piccadilly Line of the Underground. A branch line to Aldwych opened in 1907 (Holborn being one of the branch's termini), the Aldwych branch line closed in 1994 though the line and the platforms are still extant.

Although their line passed very close by the Central London Railway (later Central Line) did not open platforms at Holborn until 1933 when the nearby station at British Museum closed. The station was modernised in the 1930s with escalators added to the existing lifts and stairs to aid passenger flow between street and platform levels. The station was renamed Holborn (Kingsway) in 1933 though the suffix never caught on and gradually faded out of use.

Work is due to start in the mid-2020s on a number of improvements to the station which frequently suffers from congestion.

This way to the Central Line

Preparing to go

View down the platform



[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 133

Whitrigg

Whitrigg was a stop on the Solway Junction Railway in Cumbria between Abbey Junction and Bowness.

Whitrigg station [1]


Information
Type: Solway Junction Railway
Opened: 1870
Closed: 1921
Platforms: 1

The station was opened by the Solway Junction Railway in 1870. The station was a request stop with a single platform and a wooden shelter and was never heavily used. The station has a single goods siding. Next to the station was a level crossing, which was later controlled by a signal box.

The station's passenger service was suspended in 1917 as a wartime economy measure. Although it was reinstated in 1920, passenger services stopped again the following year and the line was closed.

[1] G.J. Aston & D.S. Barrie, "The Solway Junction Railway", Railway Magazine 70 (415) p. 30

Betchworth (BTO)

Betchworth is a stop on the North Downs Line in Surrey between Dorking Deepdene and Reigate.

GWR 165 116 departs the station


Information
Type: National Rail (North Downs Line)
Station code: BTO
Opened: 1849
Platforms: 2

The station was opened by the Reading, Guilford & Reigate Railway in 1849. The station was located close to the Betchworth Quarry Railway which operated an extensive multi-gauge network which was linked to the North Downs Line by an exchange siding next to the station [1]. The quarry railway was closed in 1960.

The station is now unstaffed though retains it's original South Eastern Railway station house on the platform which is now a private residence. Access between the platforms is via a level crossing at the Reigate end of the platforms. The station is managed by Great Western Railway with a train an hour in each direction most of the week.

View down the platform

Former station building

Level crossing

Preparing to depart

GWR 165 106 arrives



[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Guildford to Redhill (Middleton Press, 1989) Fig. 85

Rice Lane (RIL)

Rice Lane is a stop on the Merseyrail Northern Line Kirkby Branch in Liverpool between Kirkdale and Fazakerley.

A Merseyrail Class 777 prepares to depart


Information
Type: National Rail (Merseyrail Northern Line Kirkby Branch)
Station code: RIL
Opened: 1848
Platforms: 2

The station was opened as Preston Road in 1848 and is the first station on the Kirkby Branch, being just north of Walton Junction. The station was opened by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway on the railway's main line from Liverpool to Manchester [1]. The line was electrified in 1977. The station was renamed Rice Lane in 1984.

The station has a staffed ticket office. Access between the two platforms is a via a footbridge. Merseyrail trains between Kirkby and Liverpool Central call at Rice Lane at up to fifteen minute intervals during the day.

View down the line towards Liverpool

Merseyrail 507 002 arrives with a Liverpool bound service

Station view from the footbridge, the ticket office is to the right

Rice Lane footbridge

Merseyrail 507 003 departs for Kirkby

[1] Jonathan Cadwallader & Martin Jenkins, Merseyside Electrics (Ian Allan, 2010) p. 42

Longton (LGN)

Longton is a stop on the Crewe-Derby Line in Staffordshire between Stoke-on-Trent and Blythe Bridge.

East Midlands Railway 170 511 arrives at Longton


Information
Type: National Rail (Crewe-Derby Line)
Station code: LGN
Opened: 1848
Platforms: 2

The station was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway in 1848. The station is built at one end of a cantilever bridge over a road, the platforms being on an embankment. The platforms once had canopies but these have now gone. A ticket office was situated at street level below the station but this was closed in the 1990s. The station is now unstaffed.

A bus station was built next to the station in 2003 called Longton Transport Interchange [1]. The station is managed by East Midlands Railway who usually operate an hourly service in both directions.

View down the platform, the usual bus shelter can be seen

Station sign

The cantilever bridge

Down the platform in the other direction, towards the bridge

EMR 156 917 departs



[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Derby to Stoke-on-Trent (Middleton Press, 2016) Fig. 62

Dudley Street Guns Village Metro

Dudley Street Guns Village is a stop on the West Midlands Metro in West Bromwich between Black Lake and Dartmouth Street.

Tram 17 arrives at Dudley Street Guns Village


Information
Type: West Midlands Metro
Opened: 1999
Platforms: 2

The stop is one of the original stops on the West Midlands Metro which opened in May 1999. The stop serves the residential area Guns Village and is an interchange for buses to Great Bridge and Dudley.

The stop is on what has now been called Line 1 of the West Midlands Metro between Edgbaston Village and Wolverhampton St George's or Wolverhampton Station.

Bridge carrying Dudley Street over the line

Foot crossing

Platforms with their standard shelters

The other side of the Dudley Street bridge, approaching the stop