Bulwell NET

Bulwell is a tram stop on the Nottingham Express Transit (NET) on Line 1 between Bulwell Forest and Highbury Vale. It is adjacent to Bulwell railway station. 

Tram 221 at Bulwell

Information
Type:	Nottingham Express Transit
Opened:	2004
Platforms:	2

Bulwell was opened in 2004 as one of the original stops on the NET, occupying space once taken up by Bulwell railway station's second platform. Bulwell has an island platform. A footbridge allows access across the tram and railway lines to the railway station and beyond. Tram line and railway run side by side at this location. 

The line is single track north of the stop as far as Highbury Vale stop. The line is double track south of the stop.

236 departs south for Nottingham centre

A tram at Bulwell, the railway station is on the left

Tram stop view

The railway station can be accessed via this footbridge

Another arrival

Selly Oak (SLY)

Selly Oak is a stop on the Cross City Line in Birmingham between University and Bournville. 

WMR 323 216 departs for the city, under the footbridge

Information
Type:	National Rail (Cross City Line)
Station code:	SLY
Opened:	1876
Platforms:	2

The station was opened as Selly Oak and Bournbrook in 1876 by the Midland Railway, the station was renamed to Selly Oak in 1904. The line through Selly Oak was doubled in in the late 1880s having originally been built as single track. This required a new bridge and a modified track alignment due to the need to cross the Worcester & Birmingham Canal. The station was rebuilt in 1885 [1]. The current station dates from another rebuild in 1978 when the station became part of the southern half of the Cross City Line. Recent changes include a facelift to the station in the early 1990s. The station car park has also been enlarged a number of times.

The station is on an embankment with access between the platforms via an enclosed footbridge which also has lifts. The station is managed by West Midland Railway.

Standard Cross City Line corrugated iron shelters

Between the platforms

Down the platform

323 240 arrives

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Bromsgrove to Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2006) Fig. 89

Rock Ferry (RCY)

Rock Ferry is in the Birkenhead area of the Wirral, it is served by Merseyrail's Wirral Line between Green Lane and Bebington.

Merseyrail 508 128 arrives at Rock Ferry

Information
Type:	National Rail  (Merseyrail Wirral Line)
Station code:	RCY
Opened:	1862
Platforms:	4

The station was opened in 1862 by the Chester & Birkenhead Railway replacing an older station called Rock Lane. Rock Ferry became part of the expanding Mersey Railway network in 1891 [1] and was their Southern terminus and interchange with services coming up from the South.

In the 1980s the Merseyrail electric network was extended South to Hooton [2][3] and finally through to Chester and Ellesmere Port. Rock Ferry was changed to a through station. The former Merseyrail terminating platforms are now mostly used for stabling stock with only a handful of services using the platforms, everything else using the two through platforms.

The station has a footbridge for access between the platforms as well as a partial canopy.

508 115 stands at Rock Ferry

508 123 arrives at the station

Two trains pass

[1] Jonathan Cadwallader & Martin Jenkins, Merseyside Electrics (Ian Allan, 2010) p. 78
[2] John Glover, BR Diary 1978-1985 (Ian Allan, 1985) p. 118
[3] Cadwallader & Jenkins p. 78

Abbey Wood (ABW)

Alphabetically the first railway station on the list in Britain [1]! Abbey Wood is a stop on the North Kent Line in east London between Plumstead and Belvedere and also a terminus of the Elizabeth Line.

An Elizabeth Line train rests at Abbey Wood

Information
Type:	National Rail (North Kent Line) & Transport for London (Elizabeth Line)
Station code:	ABW
Opened:	1849
Platforms:	4

The station was opened by the South Eastern Railway in 1849. In 1899 it became part of the South Eastern & Chatham Railway. The station, in 1986, became one of the first stations to have an APTIS equipped ticket office, within a few years this became the standard across all stations on the network. The station was also rebuilt in 1987.

The Elizabeth Line opened in 2022 with Abbey Wood as one of it's eastern termini, though the station was completely rebuilt again for the new service and opened in 2016!

Station entrance

Elizabeth Line purple roundel

On the platform

[1] The last station in the alphabet is Ystrad Rhondda in south-east Wales. There are a few closed railway stations which would come before Abbey Wood in the alphabet. Abbey, later called Abbey and West Dereham, is possibly the station which would come first of all. The Norfolk station closed in 1930. It was close to Stoke Ferry which we have covered.

Elliot Junction

Elliot Junction was a stop on the Dundee & Arbroath Railway between Arbroath and Easthaven. 

Elliot Junction [1]

Information
Type:	Dundee and Arbroath Railway
Opened:	1866
Closed:	1967
Platforms:	1

The station was opened by the Caledonian Railway in 1866. The station was the scene of an accident in 1906 when a stationary train was hit by another one. Twenty two people were killed. The station was closed for a few months late in the First World War though re-opened before the war was over.

The station closed in 1967.

[1] "The Perth-Dundee-Montrose Section of the LMSR", The Railway Magazine p. 119