Reading is one of the busiest stations outside of London. It is a major transport interchange at the junction of a number of busy lines such as the Great Western Main Line to London Paddington and lines to London Waterloo and Oxford, with an adjacent bus station too.
Reading has AC and DC electric services, on the latter is SWR 450 117
Information
Type:
National Rail (Great Western Main Line and others)
Station code:
RDG
Opened:
1840
Platforms:
15
The station was originally opened by the Great Western Railway in 1840 [1] and was the a terminus of the Great Western Main Line for a few months until the line was continued onto Bristol.
The station was renamed Reading General in 1949 to distinguish it from Reading Southern however the name reverted back to Reading when the other station closed and was merged into Reading General in the early 1970s.
The station has had a number of redevelopments over the years, the latest was finished in 2014, this added five new platforms, new footbridges and access routes and some track layout modifications including flyovers to try and alleviate the bottleneck the station had become by the 2000s.
Over twelve million people use Reading per annum on services (16 million pre Covid) operated by Great Western Railway, Cross Country and South Western Railway. Reading has also become the Western terminus of the Crossrail Elizabeth Line.
GWR 165 110 on one of the bay platforms, it will soon depart for Basingstoke
GWR 387 157 waits at Reading
GWR 802 109 arrives with an express
A Cross Country service arrives at Reading
GWR 166 202 prepares to head down the North Downs Line
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Reading to Guildford (Middleton Press, 1988) p. 2
Overpool is a stop on the Ellesmere Port branch of the Merseyrail Wirral Line in Cheshire between Ellesmere Port and Little Sutton.
Merseyrail 508 128 arrives at Overpool
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Merseyrail Wirral Line Ellesmere Port Branch)
Station code:
OVE
Opened:
1988
Platforms:
2
The station was opened by British Rail in 1988 to serve new housing developments [1] on the line from Hooton to Helsby. In 1994 the line from Hooton was electrified as far as Ellesmere Port and through services to Liverpool began.
Access to the platforms is via ramps from the road level bridge which crosses the railway lines. Overpool is one of a small number of Merseyrail stations which are unstaffed. There is a half-hourly service in each direction.
View down the platform, facilities are fairly basic
Platform shelter
Another platform view
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Chester to Birkenhead (Middleton Press, 2012) Fig. 98
Morden Road is a stop on the London Tram network in south west London between Merton Park and Phipps Bridge.
The two types of tram operated by London Trams pass at Morden Road
Information
Type:
London Trams
Opened:
2000
Platforms:
2
The tram stop was opened in 2000, it is on the site of the former Morden Road railway station which closed in 1997. The tram line is singled between Morden Road and Phipps Bridge.
The tram stop is less than a kilometre away from Morden and South Wimbledon underground stations on the Northern Line (the tram stop is more or less inbetween them).
Camberley is a stop on the Ascot-Guildford Line in Surrey between Frimley and Bagshot.
South Western Railway 450 003 at Camberley
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Ascot-Guildford Line)
Station code:
CAM
Opened:
1878
Platforms:
2
The station was opened as Camberley & York Town by the London & South Western Railway in 1878. The station was originally on a single track with a single platform. The line was doubled in 1893 and a second platform added to the station. The station later became part of the Southern Railway who electrified the line in 1938. British Rail rebuilt the station in 1975 [1] in the D70 style using steel beams and glass [2].
The station is managed by South Western Railway typically with two trains an hour in each direction between Ascot and Aldershot. Some peak hour services also extend to London Waterloo. Access between the platforms is via a footbridge.
View down the platform
Main station building view from the footbridge
Footbridge
Station entrance
SWR 450 003 arrives
[1] David Lawrence, British Rail Architecture 1948-97 (Crecy, 2018) p. 143
[2] David Lawrence, British Rail Designed 1948-97 (Ian Allan, 2016) p. 98
Duddeston is a stop on the Cross-City North Line between Birmingham New Street and Aston, and also the Walsall Line between New Street and Witton. It is Birmingham's oldest railway station.
West Midlands Railway 323 205 stands at Duddeston
Information
Type:
National Rail (Cross-City Line & Walsall Line)
Station code:
DUD
Opened:
1837
Platforms:
2
Duddeston was opened by the Grand Junction Railway as 1837 as Vauxhall and was the terminus of the line from the North (and thus Birmingham's first railway terminus) for 2 years until the opening of Birmingham Curzon Street.
After the opening of Curzon Street, Duddeston (still known as Vauxhall) closed to passenger services, being used for freight only until it was rebuilt by the London & North Western Railway in 1869. In 1889 it was renamed to Vauxhall & Duddeston. The final renaming to Duddeston came in 1974 [1]. The station has suffered destruction a number of times. The station was hit by a German bomb in 1941 which destroyed the main station building. The replacement building burned down in the 1950s!
Duddeston used to be adjacent to the Grand Junction Railway's engine shed (which opened in 1840) and a sizeable goods yard though these have now gone. The lines through the station were quadrupled in 1891 though only one island platform is in use now (the other has become a buddleia plantation!)
As part of the Cross-City and Walsall Lines, the route through Duddeston has been electrified. However, not all of the services on these busy lines stop at Duddeston. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway.
Station entrance
View down the platform
The other platform, the old engine sheds beyond
WMR and London Northwestern Railway meet
LNWR 350 127 prepares to depart
[1] Vic Mitchell, North of Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2014) fig. 75
Goostrey is a stop on the Crewe-Manchester Line in Cheshire between Holmes Chapel and Chelford.
Northern 323 235 departs for Manchester
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Crewe-Manchester Line)
Station code:
GTR
Opened:
1891
Platforms:
2
Although the line was built by the Manchester & Birmingham Railway in 1842, the then-owners the London & North Western Railway did not open a station at Goostrey until 1891. The station was a simple two platform affair with a small goods yard, this was closed in 1964 [1]. The line was an early part of the West Coast Main Line electrification and the wires went up in 1959. At Goostrey this meant some rebuilding of the bridge and the main station building to facilitate the electrical equipment.
The station is managed by Northern, who also operate an hourly service in each direction. Access between the platforms is via the road bridge.
Road bridge
BR era signage
Down the platform
Main station building, no longer in railway use
331 015 arrives with a Crewe bound service
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Crewe to Manchester (Middleton Press, 2014) Map. IX
Stanley Junction was at the junction of the Scottish Midland Junction Railway and Perth & Dunkeld Railway in Perthshire between Strathord and Cargill or Murthly.
Stanley Junction [1]
Information
Type:
Scottish Midland Junction Railway
Opened:
1848
Closed:
1956
Platforms:
3
The original station was opened as Stanley by the Scottish Midland Junction Railway in 1848, in 1857 it was replaced by a new station (called Stanley Junction) for the junction with the Perth & Dunkeld Railway. It was later absorbed into the Caledonian Railway. The station was closed in 1956.
[1] R.E. Charlesworth, "Twenty four hours at Carlisle", Railway Magazine (November 1907) p. 382
Cheddington is a stop on the West Coast Main Line in Buckinghamshire between Leighton Buzzard and Tring.
LNWR 350 265 departs for London Euston
Information
Type:
National Rail
(West Coast Main Line)
Station code:
CED
Opened:
1838
Platforms:
4
The station was opened by the London & Birmingham Railway in 1838 as Aylesbury Junction to link up with the Aylesbury Railway [1] which opened the following year. The station was renamed Cheddington Junction in 1850, it lost the Junction suffix twenty years later. The line to Aylesbury High Street was closed to passengers in 1953, though freight continued to use the line until 1964. The line has now been lifted. In 1963 the Great Train Robbery took place just over a mile north of the station at Bridego Bridge.
Cheddington has platforms for both the slow and fast lines of the WCML though only the platforms on the slow lines are in regular use, and fast services by Avanti West Coast do not stop at the station, only London Northwestern Railway services on the slow lines. The fast line platforms tend to be only used during engineering works.
The station is unstaffed and has a footbridge for access between the different platforms. The station is managed by LNWR. The current station buildings date from a rebuilding in 1956.
Station building, no longer staffed
View from the footbridge
Brick shelter
Footbridge
Looking back north
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Watford to Leighton Buzzard (Middleton Press, 2004) Fig. 72
