Cefn-y-Bedd (CYB)

Cefn-y-Bedd is a stop on the Borderlands Line in Flintshire between Gwersyllt and Caergwrle.

Transport for Wales 230 008 departs for Bidston

Information
Type:	National Rail (Borderlands Line)
Station code:	CYB
Opened:	1866
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the Wrexham, Mold & Connah's Quay Railway in 1866, later part of the Great Central Railway. The station used to have a goods yard to the west and signal box to the north but both were closed by the 1960s. Staffing also disappeared in 1969.

The station has two brick shelters, the former station building being a private residence. Access between the platforms is via a barrow crossing at the north end of the platforms. The station is managed by Transport for Wales, it is served with a service between Wrexham Central and Bidston up to once an hour in each direction.

Station aproach, the former station building is ahead

Brick shelter

Brick shelter and former station building

Barrow crossing

TfW 230 009 arrives with a Wrexham bound service

Attercliffe Supertram

Attercliffe is a stop on the Sheffield Supertram between Woodburn Road and Arena/Olympic Legacy Park.

Supertram 117 arrives at Attercliffe

Information
Type:	Sheffield Supertram
Opened:	1994
Platforms:	2

Attercliffe was part of the first section of the Sheffield Supertram opened in 1994, it serves a suburb in the north east of the city. It is on the Yellow and Tram-train routes. It is unconnected to the former Attercliffe railway station which was on the Great Central Railway and closed in 1927.

Attercliffe has the usual basic facilities of a Supertram stop

View down the platform

Tram train 399 203 departs for the city centre

Longbridge (LOB)

Longbridge is a stop on the Cross City Line South in the West Midlands between Northfield and Barnt Green.

WMR 323 210 departs Longbridge

Information
Type:	National Rail (Cross City Line)
Station code:	LOB
Opened:	1978
Platforms:	2

The first Longbridge station was opened in 1841 by the Birmingham & Gloucester Railway just to the south of the current station. This station closed in 1849. A second Longbridge station was opened on the Halesowen Railway mainly to serve workers at the Austin factory, this was in operation between 1915 and 1964. The current station was opened in 1978 [1] as part of the WMPTE Cross-City Line scheme. Longbridge was the line's southern terminus until services were extended to Redditch in 1980, some Cross-City Line trains still terminate at Longbridge but nowadays mostly at the start and end of the day's service.

Access between the platforms is via a footbridge and ramps, a lift is also available on Platform 1. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway with four trains an hour in each direction most of the time.

Platform 1 for trains to Birmingham

Footbridge

A WMR 323 stands at Longbridge

The footbridge

Standing on Platform 2

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Bromsgrove to Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2006) Fig. 27

Hall Road (HLR)

Hall Road is a stop on the Merseyrail Northern Line between Hightown and Blundellsands & Crosby.

Merseyrail 507 011 arrives with a Liverpool bound service

Information
Type:	National Rail (Merseyrail Northern Line)
Station code:	HLR
Opened:	1874
Platforms:	2

Hall Road owes its existence to a timber merchant called Joseph Gardner. He lived nearby in an isolated house and wanted a station built for his use. The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, who owned the line, said they would not open a station for just the one house but would if five more houses were built nearby. Gardner had the houses built himself! [1] The station was opened in 1874.

Now part of the Merseyrail network,  the station sees Merseyrail's distinctive yellow trains usually every fifteen minutes between Southport and Liverpool (and beyond). Access between the platforms is via the footbridge or via the road/level crossing at the entrance of the station. The station is manned and has a ticket office. Station buildings are a mixture of brick and bus shelter.

Station sign

507 003 arrives with a Liverpool bound service

General view of the platform, plenty of Merseyrail yellow on show! 

Main station building

Level crossing

[1] Jonathan Cadwaller & Martin Jenkins, Merseyside Electrics (Ian Allan, 2010) p. 22

Farncombe (FNC)

Farncombe is a stop on the Portsmouth Direct Line in Surrey between Guildford and Godalming.

SWR 444 009 at Farncombe

Information
Type:	National Rail (Portsmouth Direct Line)
Station code:	FNC
Opened:	1897
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the London & South Western Railway in 1897. The station is in a northern suburb of Godalming and served a then new residential development [1]. The main station buildings and the footbridge have survived and are now Grade II listed. At either end of the station is a level crossing.

The station is managed by South Western Railway who a two trains per hour service in both direction to/from London Waterloo and Portsmouth & Southsea or Haselmere.

Station view from the footbridge

View down the platform

Station building and footbridge

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Woking to Portsmouth (Middleton Press, 1985) Fig. 35

Brayton

Brayton was a junction railway where the Solway Junction Railway joined the Maryport & Carlisle Railway in Cumbria. On the latter Brayton was between Leegate and Aspatria on what is now the Cumbria Coast Line.

Signal box at Brayton Junction [1]

Information
Type:	Solway Junction Railway
Opened:	1844
Closed:	1950
Platforms:	3

The station was opened by the Maryport & Carlisle Railway in 1844 though was not available for public use until 1848. In 1870 Brayton became a junction station when the Solway Junction Railway arrived, the next stop along the line being Bromfield. The station had extensive sidings for the Solway Junction Railway.

However, passenger traffic on the Solway Junction Railway was never high and was suspended in 1917, though reinstated after the First World War only to cease for good when the Solway Junction Railway closed in 1933. The station remained open on the mainline until 1950 when passenger traffic ceased, goods traffic continued until the mid-1960s.

Coaches stored at Brayton sidings

[1] G.J. Aston & D.S. Barrie, "The Solway Junction Railway", Railway Magazine 70 (415) p. 32

Southwark (ZSW)

Southwark is a stop on the London Underground Jubilee Line in central London between Waterloo and London Bridge.

View along the platform, the platform edge doors to the right

Information
Type:	Transport for London (London Underground Jubilee Line)
Station code:	ZSW
Opened:	1999
Platforms:	2

The station was opened in 1999 as part of the Jubilee Line Extension through to Stratford. The station's platforms have platform edge doors. The station has a concourse on two levels due to the restricted site on which the station was built. The design of the station makes good use of unpolished metal surfaces.

The station is adjacent to, and has an interchange with, Waterloo East railway station [1].

Walkway, quiet at the time

Up to the surface!

One way to funnel crowds

[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 156

Coleshill Parkway (CEH)

Coleshill Parkway is a stop on the Birmingham New Street to Peterborough Line in Warwickshire between Water Orton and Nuneaton. It is located in the Hams Hall industrial estate and serves Coleshill (though isn't especially close to it being a couple of kilometres away).

Cross Country 170 106 arrives at Coleshill Parkway

Information
Type:	National Rail (Birmingham to Peterborough Line)
Station code:	CEH
Opened:	2007
Platforms:	2

The station was opened in 2007 as a parkway station though isn't the first station on the site. The first station on the site was Forge Mills opened in 1842 on the Birmingham & Derby Junction Railway. This later changed its name to Coleshill in the 1920s though was closed in 1968.

The new Coleshill Parkway station opened 39 years [1] later nestled deep in an industrial estate and located next to the Hams Hall Rail Freight Terminal. Naturally being a parkway station it has a 200 space car park. It is managed by West Midlands Railway though all of the stopping services are operated by Cross Country. There is a staffed ticket office but other than that the station just the usual basic amenities of a modern station. Access between the platforms is via a footbridge.

The footbridge has lifts either side for step free access

Platform view from the footbridge

Ticket office

View down the platform

XC 170 621 departs for Birmingham

[1] Vic Mitchell, Birmingham to Tamworth and Nuneaton (Middleton Press, 2014) Fig. 76

Inverness Airport / Port-adhair Inbhir Nis (IVA)

Inverness Airport is a stop on the Aberdeen-Inverness Line at Dalcross in the Scottish Highlands between Inverness and Nairn.

A ScotRail 170 arrives at the station

Information
Type:	National Rail (Aberdeen-Inverness Line)
Station code:	IVA
Opened:	2023
Platforms:	2

The station was opened in 2023 to serve the adjacent Inverness Airport. The station has been built near to the site of the former Dalcross station which closed in 1965. The original plan for the station was for it to have a single platform though in the end a passing loop was provided and a second platform built.

Access between the platforms is via a footbridge which also has lifts available. Other than that the station's facilties are fairly basic, it is unstaffed and has the usual bus shelters and displays.

The station has an hourly service in both directions between Inverness and Elgin, some trains going on to Aberdeen, a small number go as far as Edinburgh Waverley. The station is managed by ScotRail who also provide all of the services stopping at the station.

View down the platform, access between the platforms is via a footbridge, lifts are also available

Bi-lingual signage

Looking down the line

The airport is a walk or short bus ride away