Warrington Bank Quay is a stop on the West Coast Main Line and local lines in Cheshire between Crewe and Wigan North Western.
An Avanti West Coast Pendolino departs north, the large Unilever factory is the station's backdrop
Information
Type:
National Rail
(West Coast Main Line)
Station code:
WBQ
Opened:
1868
Platforms:
4
The station was opened by the London North Western Railway in 1868. The station was originally just called Warrington but Bank Quay was added to the name after the opening of Warrington Central in 1873 [1]. The station was originally on two levels, the two existing island platforms on a high-level and three platforms (including a bay) on a low-level for St Helens Railway services. The low-level platforms were closed in 1963 though the lines remain open for freight.
The station has four platforms, two per island. One island has nineteenth century buildings with the other buildings from the 1950s. The station was refurbished in the late 2000s, including a new entrance hall and an extension to the car park. The station is managed by Avanti West Coast and also served by Northern and Transport for Wales.
A Transport for Wales 197 arrives
Island platform and canopies
View down the platform
A TfW 197 prepares to depart
A southbound Pendolino arrives
[1] Adrian Hartness, Crewe to Wigan (Middleton Press, 2017) Map. XIX
LNWR 350 249 prepares to depart, the next train will be tomorrow!
Information
Type:
National Rail
(West Coast Main Line)
Station code:
PSW
Opened:
1847
Platforms:
1
The station was opened by the London North Western Railway in 1847 on what was then known as the Trent Valley Line. The line through Polesworth was originally double track but later quadrupled. Polesworth had a goods yard and a fine Edwardian main station, the far cry from the barest of bones station of today.
Over the last few decades the station has been starved of services with platform 2 closed and the footbridge to it removed as the cost of replacing it did not justify the station traffic. The station now is served by just one Parliamentary service a day between Northampton and Crewe in one direction.
It is no surprise therefore that the station is one of the least used in the country with just 186 passengers using it in 2019. Facilities at the station are the most basic possible, there is a shelter but it is on the disused platform! There are proposals to close Polesworth and replace it with a new station called Polesworth Parkway but this may not happen until the next decade.
Nairn is a stop on the Aberdeen-Inverness Line in the Highlands between Inverness Airport and Forres.
ScotRail 170 403 arrives at Nairn
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Aberdeen-Inverness Line)
Station code:
NRN
Opened:
1855
Platforms:
2
The station was opened by the Inverness & Nairn Railway in 1855. The station was rebuilt and improved in 1885, then owned by the Highland Railway Company. The platforms were also extended and raised and an iron footbridge built over the lines.
The main building is still in use and has a ticket office. The waiting room and shelter on the other platform have a civic use. The station is managed by ScotRail with a regular service in both directions mostly between Aberdeen and Inverness though some terminate at Elgin.
Soho Benson Road is a stop on the West Midlands Metro in Birmingham between Jewellery Quarter and Winson Green Outer Circle.
Tram 43 arrives at Soho Benson Road
Information
Type:
West Midlands Metro
Opened:
1999
Platforms:
2
The tram stop was one of the original stops of the West Midlands Metro and opened in 1999. It is located on the site of the former Soho & Winson Green railway station which closed in 1972.
High Barnet in north London is the terminus of the High Barnet Branch of the London Underground Northern Line.
Northern Line 51666 at High Barnet
Information
Type:
Transport for London (London Underground Northern Line High Barnet Branch)
Station code:
ZHB
Opened:
1872
Platforms:
3
The station was opened by the Great Northern Railway in 1872 as the terminus of a branch line of the GNR route from Finsbury Parkto Edgware. The station later became part of the LNER but in 1940 [1] was taken over by the London Underground as part of the Northern Heights project. LNER services stopped in 1941 though freight traffic continued until 1962.
Most of the original GNR station remains in place though the station has been upgraded to offer step-free access. There is also stabling for Northern Line trains next to the station. Northern Line trains depart up to every three minutes to Morden or Battersea Power Station.
View down the platform, notice the footbridge
A step-free way around the tracks!
Under the canopy
Just arrived
Next to depart
[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 131
Wootton Wawen is a stop on the "Shakespeare Line" (also known as the North Warwickshire Line) in Warwickshire between Henley-in-Arden and Wilmcote.
West Midlands Railway 172 334 departs for Stratford
Information
Type:
National Rail (Shakespeare Line)
Station code:
WWW
Opened:
1908
Platforms:
2
The station was opened in 1908 as Wootton Wawen Platform (which meant it had basic staffing and a parcels facility) by the Great Western Railway. It was renamed in 1974 [1]. The station was threatened with closure in the 1980s but managed to survive.
The station has two through roads on an embankment, platform access is via two ramps down to road level. It is served by the hourly service on the line, for a long time the station was a request stop, meaning that trains may not stop at the station unless a passenger on the train requested it to the guard (or held out their arm to an approaching train). However, recently West Midlands Railway have changed their timetable to always stop at the station.
The station is unstaffed and has basic facilities. Each platform has a single concrete shelter and there is a single information display per platform plus help points. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway.
View down the line
Station view from the road bridge (see in the background of the first photograph)
Station entrance
Ramp down to street level
Platform shelter
[1] Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith, Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham (Moor Street) (Middleton Press, 2006) p.41
South Western Railway 455 702 departs the station for London Waterloo
Information
Type:
National Rail
(New Guildford Line)
Station code:
CLA
Opened:
1885
Platforms:
2
The station was opened by the London & South Western Railway in 1885 on it's route between Effingham Junction and Guildford. The station originally had a head shunt which was extended and then reduced in size a few years later. The original wooden footbridge was replaced by the current concrete one in 1947 [1]. The station's goods yard was closed in 1963.
The station retains it's original LSWR buildings with canopies. The station is managed by South Western Railway with three trains an hour in each direction.
Under the platform canopy
The footbridge
Station view from the footbridge
Station building
SWR 455 903 arrives with a Guildford bound service
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Branch lines around Effingham Junction (Middleton Press, 1990) Fig. 93
Benderloch was a stop on the Ballachulish Branch Line in Argyll and Bute between North Connel and Barcaldine.
Benderloch station [1]
Information
Type:
Caledonian Railway (Ballachulish Branch Line)
Opened:
1903 (Closed 1953)
Re-opened:
1953 (Closed 1966)
Platforms:
2
The station was opened in 1903 by the Callander & Oban Railway, later becoming part of the Caledonian Railway. The station was closed in May 1953 due to flooding washing away a bridge but was re-opened a few months later, however it closed for good in 1966 when the line was closed.
The station had two platforms which were either side of a passing loop. Both the LMS and British Railways positioned camping coaches at the station.
[1] E.B Hutchinson, "Signalmen and their duties", (Railway Magazine) p. 408
Hope / Yr Hob is a stop on the Borderlands Line in Flintshire between Caergwrle and Penyfford.
Transport for Wales 150 217 leaves Hope
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Borderlands Line)
Station code:
HPE
Opened:
1866
Platforms:
2
The station was opened in 1866 as Caergwrle but was changed to Hope Village in 1899 [1]. The station had a small goods yard and cattle dock which were closed in the mid-1960s. The station was renamed to Hope in 1974. The original station buildings have now gone, to be replaced by bus shelter type accommodation. Access between the platforms is via a road that passes underneath the railway just past the Wrexham end of the platforms.
The station is managed by Transport for Wales who serve the station with an hourly service in both direction most days between Wrexham Central and Bidston.
View down the platform, a shelter is visible
Another platform view, facilities are basic
This way to the platforms
Bi-lingual station sign
TfW 150 217 arrives at Hope
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Wrexham to New Brighton (Middleton Press, 2013) Map. XII
