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.
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| 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.
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| Departing for Clifton South |
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| Looking back towards Nottingham |
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.
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| 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.
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| Transport for Wales 175 011 at Newport platform 4 |
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| View down the platforms, extensive canopies are provided |
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| A GWR Castle Set (Class 255) at Newport |
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| GWR 158 766 |
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| Old buildings and canopies plus new catenary |
Birkenhead Park is a stop on the Merseyrail Wirral Line on the Wirral between Conway Park and Birkenhead North.
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| 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.
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| 508 130 stands at Birkenhead Park |
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| Station frontage |
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| A view of the ramp up to the station building level |
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| 507 002 arrives |
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| View down the platform |
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.
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| 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.
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| This way to the Central Line |
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| Preparing to go |
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| View down the platform |
Whitrigg was a stop on the Solway Junction Railway in Cumbria between Abbey Junction and Bowness.
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| 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 is a stop on the North Downs Line in Surrey between Dorking Deepdene and Reigate.
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| 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.
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| View down the platform |
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| Former station building |
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| Level crossing |
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| Preparing to depart |
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| GWR 165 106 arrives |
Rice Lane is a stop on the Merseyrail Northern Line Kirkby Branch in Liverpool between Kirkdale and Fazakerley.
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| 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.
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| View down the line towards Liverpool |
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| Merseyrail 507 002 arrives with a Liverpool bound service |
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| Station view from the footbridge, the ticket office is to the right |
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| Rice Lane footbridge |
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| Merseyrail 507 003 departs for Kirkby |
Longton is a stop on the Crewe-Derby Line in Staffordshire between Stoke-on-Trent and Blythe Bridge.
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| 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.
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| View down the platform, the usual bus shelter can be seen |
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| Station sign |
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| The cantilever bridge |
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| Down the platform in the other direction, towards the bridge |
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| EMR 156 917 departs |
Dudley Street Guns Village is a stop on the West Midlands Metro in West Bromwich between Black Lake and Dartmouth Street.
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| 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.
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| Bridge carrying Dudley Street over the line |
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| Foot crossing |
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| Platforms with their standard shelters |
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| The other side of the Dudley Street bridge, approaching the stop |
Barking is an interchange station in east London between West Ham and Dagenham Dock on the London, Tilbury & Southend Line. It is between Woodgrange Park and Barking Riverside on the London Overground and between East Ham and Upney on the London Underground.
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| London Overground 710 273 at Barking |
| Information | |
|---|---|
| Type: | National Rail
(London, Tilbury & Southend Line) Transport for London (London Overground GOBLIN, District Line and Hammersmith & City Lines) |
| Station code: | BKG |
| Opened: | 1854 |
| Platforms: | 9 |
The station was opened by the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway in 1854. The station was rebuilt in 1889 due to the increased demand with the existing platforms extended and a new third platform added. District Railway trains started using Barking in 1902 [1], the line being electrified in 1908. In 1932 the Metropolitan Line also began to use the station.
In the 1950s the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway was electrified (overhead instead of the Underground's fourth rail). The station was rebuilt in 1961 [2] as part of the electrification and upgrade of the LTSR line, the current booking hall dates from this rebuild. The goods yard was replaced by sidings used by London Underground trains [3]. London Overground GOBLIN (Gospel Oak to Barking Line) services were electrified in 2018.
The station is managed by c2c. The station is the eastern terminus of the London Underground's Hammersmith & City Line.
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| An S7 Stock train stands at Barking |
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| View across the platforms, the station retains extensive canopies |
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| BR era signage alongside trains of more recent vintage |
Shildon is a stop on the Tees Valley Line in County Durham between Newton Aycliffe and Bishop Auckland.
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| Back in Pacer days, Northern 142 014 waits at Shildon |
| Information | |
|---|---|
| Type: | National Rail (Tees Valley Line) |
| Station code: | SHD |
| Opened: | 1842 |
| Platforms: | 2 |
Shildon has been described as the "cradle of the railways" as it was located on the pioneer Stockton & Darlington Railway (indeed was one of the line's termini), the first train was hauled by Locomotion No. 1 (the first locomotive to haul a passenger carrying train on a public line) at Shildon in 1825 [1]. However, the current station dates from 1842 when it was re-located from the original site at Masons Arms [2].
Shildon was the engineering hub of the Stockton & Darlington Railway and home to the Soho Locomotive Works where the early steam locomotives were built for the S&DR and elsewhere. Later Shildon became an important centre for wagon construction and repair through into the British Rail era, the works finally closing in 1984.
The current station is located next to the National Rail Museum's Shildon outpost and was re-built in 2003 at the same time the museum was built on land formerly used by the Shildon Railway Works. The station is managed and served by Northern. Access between the platforms is via a footbridge and ramps.
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| View from the footbridge |
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| Modern bus shelter style accommodation |
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| Semaphore signal, the signalbox controls access to the museum site |
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| The APT-E, one of the exhibits at NRM Shildon |
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| Station entrance |