St Fillans

St Fillans was a stop on the Lochearnhead, St Fillans and Comrie Railway in Perthshire between Dalchonzie Halt and Lochearnhead.

St Fillans [1]

Information
Type:	National Rail (Lochearnhead, St Fillans and Comrie Railway)
Opened:	1901
Closed:	1951
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the Lochearnhead, St Fillans and Comrie Railway in 1901. The railway, although it carried passenger traffic, was intended for freight. However, the amount of freight traffic disappointed and passenger revenues were not high enough to cover the costs of the line. St Fillans and the other stations on the line were closed in 1951.

The station had a station building on it's west platform which still exists though the line has now been lifted. The station had a good yard to the north.

[1] G.A. Sekon, "Twentieth century railway development, No: 14 Caledonian Railway", Railway & Travel Monthly Vol. 5 No. 30 (October 1912) p. 283

Fazakerley (FAZ)

Fazakerley is a stop on the Merseyrail Northern Line's Kirkby Branch in Liverpool between Rice Lane and Kirkby. 

Merseyrail 507 028 departs Fazakerley bound for Liverpool Central

Information
Type:	National Rail (Merseyrail Northern Line Kirkby Branch)
Station code:	FAZ
Opened:	1848
Platforms:	2

The station was opened as Simonswood in 1848 by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. The station was renamed Aintree in 1850 but as there was already an Aintree station on another line (though nowadays also part of the Merseyrail network) the station was renamed again to Fazakerley in 1860. The station was later part of the London Midland Scottish Railway. The line through Fazakerley was electrified in 1977.

The station is a typical Merseyrail station with a staffed ticket office and trains at up to every fifteen minutes between Kirkby and Liverpool Central. Access to platform is via stepped ramps or lifts.

Alight here for Aintree University Hospital

507 025 arrives with a Kirkby bound service

View down the platform

Another view of 507 026

507 026 arrives heading in the other direction this time for Liverpool

London Paddington (PAD)

London Paddington was one of the iconic "Big 4" London terminuses and was the headquarters of the Great Western Railway. The GWR first built a station at Paddington in 1838 but this was a temporary site pending the building of the current station. This was opened in 1854 with an impressive three span arched roof designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

GWR 802 015 at London Paddington

Information
Type:	National Rail (Great Western Main Line, Elizabeth Line & Thames Valley Lines)
Station code:	PAD
Opened:	1838
Platforms:	16

The station was enlarged with a fourth roof span in the early 1900s. In front of the station is the Great Western Hotel, built in the 1850s to form the main facade of the station, although this is now a Hilton hotel. After the opening of the Elizabeth Line in 2022 London Paddington now has sixteen platforms (not all are full length) with another six platforms in the adjacent London Underground stations.

It is the terminus of the Great Western Main Line, Thames Valley commuter services and Heathrow Express/Connect services to Heathrow airport. All services to the station are by Great Western Railway and Heathrow Express/Connect (which has being taken over by GWR) and the Elizabeth Line. 

Stepping back a few years to when the iconic HST ruled Paddington!

A variety of services in FGW/early GWR days

The latest entrance to the station

A line up of GWR IETs

GWR 165 104 on a local service

Tonbridge (TON)

Tonbridge is a stop on the South Eastern Main Line in Kent between Hildenborough and Paddock Wood. It is also the terminus of a line from Redhill and there is a line to Hastings.

Southeastern 466 031 at Tonbridge

Information
Type:	National Rail (South Eastern Main Line)
Station code:	TON
Opened:	1842
Platforms:	4

The first station in Tunbridge (as the town was known then) by the South Eastern Railway in 1842. This station was slightly to the east of the current one which opened in 1864. Before that in 1852, the station was renamed Tunbridge Junction with the opening of a branch to Hastings. The station was moved to it's current location when the SER opened a new route from London Bridge which joined the existing line at Tunbridge. The station was renamed Tonbridge Junction in 1893, when the town itself was renamed Tonbridge to avoid confusion with Tunbridge Wells. The final rename to Tonbridge occurred in 1929 [1]. Next to the station is are two large railway yards either side of the station, the goods shed and locomotive depot has been closed [2].

The main station building which is on a bridge over the railway lines was rebuilt in 1958. The main line through Tonbridge was electrified in 1961. The Hastings Line was electrified in 1986, the line to Redhill finally followed suit in 1993. The station was refurbished in the early 2010s. The platforms are down steps or lifts from the road bridge level main station building. The station is managed by Southeastern Railway.

View down the platform

Southern 377 327 waits with a Redhill service

A variety of locomotives and stock at Tonbridge yard

Southeastern 375 907 arrives at Tonbridge

GB Railfreight 73 128 leads two sister locomotives through Tonbridge

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Redhill to Ashford (Middleton Press, 1990) Fig. 53

[2] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Tonbridge to Hastings (Middleton Press, 1987) Fig. 6

St Peter's Square Metrolink

St Peter's Square is one of the main hubs of the Greater Manchester Metrolink and the network's busiest stop. 

One of the island platforms at St Peter's Square

Information
Type:	Greater Manchester Metrolink
Opened:	1992
Platforms:	4

The stop was opened in 1992 as one of Metrolink's original city centre stops. As built, the stop had two side platforms but was rebuilt in 2009 to improve passenger facilities. The stop was completely rebuilt again in 2016 and now has two island platforms allowing for cross-platform interchange.

Metrolink 3062 approaches St Peter's Square