Silvertown (SVW)

Silvertown was a stop on the North London Line in East London between Custom House and North Woolwich. 

Modern day Elizabeth Line tracks through the site of the former station

Information
Type:	National Rail (North London Line)
Station code:	SVW
Opened:	1863
Closed:	2006
Platforms:	1 (at closure)

The station was opened by the Great Eastern Railway in 1863, named after the housing area for workers at the S.W. Silver factory producing rubber products [1]. The original station was rebuilt in 1885. The station originally had two platforms but the line was singled by British Rail in 1980 and one platform removed. The line was electrified in 1986. The station was renamed Silvertown & London City Airport [2] the following year though, despite the close proximity to the aiport, there was little extra traffic. The name reverted back to Silvertown before the final closure in 2006.

There is now little trace of the station remaining. The original line has been replaced by new track for the Elizabeth Line. There have been proposals to build a new station on this line to serve the airport but none have come to fruition. Nearby is London City Airport Docklands Light Railway station.

The Elizabeth Line tracks behind a wall, Tate & Lyle's factory overlooking the scene

Silvertown station was located just ahead on the left

[1] J.E. Connor, Branch Lines Around North Woolwich (Middleton Press, 2001) Fig. 73

[2] Ibid. Fig. 82

Bootle New Strand (BNW)

Bootle New Strand is a stop on the Merseyrail Northern Line in Bootle between Bootle Oriel Road and Seaforth & Litherland. 

Merseyrail 507 025 arrives with a Liverpool bound service

Information
Type:	National Rail (Merseyrail Northern Line)
Station code:	BNW
Opened:	1850
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the Liverpool, Crosby & Southport Railway in 1850 as Marsh Lane & Strand Road. It kept this name until 1968 when it was changed to Bootle New Strand to match the adjacent New Strand shopping centre which was opened. The station became part of the Merseyrail Northern Line in 1978.

Bootle New Strand is a staffed station with ramps from ground level up to the platforms. The station has trains at up to every fifteen minutes between Hunts Cross and Southport via Liverpool Central.

508 125 departs for Southport

View down the platform looking North

Waiting room and shelter

Ramp up to platform level

Platform view

Sandwell and Dudley (SAD)

Sandwell & Dudley is a stop on the West Coast Main Line in the West Midlands between Smethwick Galton Bridge and Dudley Port. 

A LNWR train prepares to depart

Information
Type:	National Rail (West Coast Main Line)
Station code:	SAD
Opened:	1852
Platforms:	2

The station was opened as Oldbury and Bromford Lane by the Birmingham, Wolverhampton & Stour Valley Railway (later the London North Western Railway) in 1852. The station later becoming just Oldbury. The station was rebuilt and enlarged for intercity traffic (long enough for thirteen coach trains [1]) in 1983 and renamed Sandwell and Dudley (though the name Oldbury International was considered and even used on some early announcements after reopening [2]). The station was rebuilt in the plain brickwalls and mono-pitch roof style common to British Rail in the 1980s, sometimes called neovernacular [3].

The station platforms are accessible via a subway and ground level booking office. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway. Most services are provided by West Midland Railway and London Northwestern Railway, there is an hourly service by Avanti West Coast as well.

Avanti West Coast Pendolino passes through

Waiting room

LNWR 350 405 arrives

Steps down to the booking hall and exits

A Cross Country service passes through

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Birmingham to Wolverhampton via Tipton (Middleton Press, 2008) Fig. 67

[2] Ibid. Fig. 69

[3] David Lawrence, British Rail Architecture 1948-97 (Crecy, 2018) p. 155

Grouville

Grouville was a stop on the island of Jersey between Fauvic and Gorey Village. 

Former Grouville station building (KD collection)

Information
Type:	Jersey Eastern Railway
Opened:	1873
Closed:	1929
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the Jersey Eastern Railway in 1873 as one of the original stations when the railway opened. Grouville was the railway's Eastern terminus for several weeks until the opening of Gorey Village. The station had a passing loop and two platforms though the railway was quiet enough most of the time for only one of the platforms to see much use. The station had a siding for goods but this was little used and eventually lifted.

The railway was unable to compete with competition from bus companies, train services ceased in 1929, the railway was liquidated in 1932. Grouville's main station building survives as a private residence.

Notting Hill Gate (ZNG)

Notting Hill Gate is a London Underground station in west London. It is situated between Holland Park and Queensway on the Central Line, and between High Street Kensington and Bayswater on the District and Circle Lines. 

A District Line S7 Stock train arrives at the station

Information
Type:	Transport for London (Central, Circle & District Lines)
Station code:	ZNG
Opened:	1868
Platforms:	4

The station was opened by the Metropolitan Railway in 1868. The Central London Railway opened it's deep-level platforms at Notting Hill Gate in 1900. However, the two stations were not linked until 1959 and until then had separate entrances [1].

The Circle and District Line platforms are a cut-and-cover station which retains it's original glass roof and many original features unlike some other stations along the line. The station was rebuilt in the 1950s (which is when the sub-surface and deep level parts were joined). The station was refurbished in 2010-11.

A good view of the glass roof

Central Line platform

Tunnel entrance on the Central Line

Busy times up on the sub-surface platforms

[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 146