List of British towns with no railway station
This is a list of towns and cities in Great Britain with no railway station. Despite closures in the 1960s, most of which during the Beeching Axe, Great Britain has an extensive railway network, and most towns have railway stations. Some of the few larger towns without railway stations have proposals for new stations, which are noted below.
Defining whether or not a town has a railway station can be problematic. Some of the largest towns in the list such as Dudley, Gosport, Oldham and Newcastle-under-Lyme are defined by the Office for National Statistics as being within larger conurbations, together with smaller towns such as Dunstable, Leigh, Skelmersdale and Ilkeston. In those cases, the conurbation as a whole has rail access.
On the other hand, it may be argued that inclusion in a list of non-rail linked towns should be based not on a technical or administrative link but on the town's being an identifiable distinct community lacking proximity or practical accessibility to a railway station. This latter criterion seems to be used by Network Rail in its Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) documents, as in the 2009 North West Route Utilisation Strategy, which identifies Skelmersdale as a large separate "community" (even if administratively part of a larger conurbation) lacking rail access, suggesting ways of linking it to the rail network.
Similarly, campaigners cite Dunstable as a distinct separate community for its lack of administrative links to Luton. Also, Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive views Leigh as a separate entity for transport planning purposes from, even if it is part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan.
If one excludes towns located within conurbations, the largest British towns without direct access to a railway station are Blyth (36,000), Rushden/ (35,500), Peterlee (30,000) and Coalville (30,000). If towns within conurbations are included, Oldham (following the closure of the Oldham Loop Line) is the largest.
As well as Oldham, other large towns including Bury and South Shields have no railway station but are served by metro/light rail services. Fleetwood is served by the Blackpool tramway. Other towns are served only by a "parkway" some distance from the town: for example, Tiverton is served by the distant Tiverton Parkway.
Inclusion in the list below relates to not only population but also regional importance: the town may be small but remains the commercial and political centre of its area.
England
East of England
- Aldeburgh terminus on branch line from Saxmundham closed 1966
- Ampthill on Midland Main Line closed 1959, route open but town now served by Flitwick
- Aylsham had two stations: Aylsham North station, on Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway, closed 1959, and Aylsham South station, on branch line from Wroxham to County School, closed 1952
- Brightlingsea terminus for Wivenhoe and Brightlingsea Railway closed 1964, now served by Great Bentley, closest station with car park facilities
- Buntingford terminus of a branch line from St Margarets (Hertfordshire) closed 1964
- Bungay on Waveney Valley Line closed 1953
- Coggeshall served by Kelvedon
- Chatteris on Great Eastern Railway March Line closed 1967
- Dereham closed 1969, now part of preserved Mid-Norfolk Railway
- Dunmow on Bishop's Stortford-Braintree Branch Line closed to passenger 1952
- Dunstable had two stations: Dunstable Town and Dunstable North, on Dunstable Branch Lines, both closed 1965)
- Fakenham had two stations: Fakenham East on Wells and Fakenham Railway, secondary route from Wymondham to Wells, closed 1964, and Fakeham West on Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway, closed 1959
- Framlingham terminus of Framlingham Branch from Wickham Market closed 1952
- Gorleston had three stations on Yarmouth-Lowestoft Line: Gorleston North, closed 1942, Gorleston-on-Sea, closed 1970, and Gorleston Links, closed 1970
- Halstead on Colne Valley and Halstead Railway closed 1962
- Harleston, Norfolk on Waveney Valley Line until 1953
- Haverhill had two stations: Haverhill South station, on Colne Valley and Halstead Railway, closed 1924, and Haverhill North station, on Stour Valley Railway, closed 1967
- Chipping Ongar had Ongar station transferred to London Underground on 29 September 1949 but closed 1994, now part of preserved Epping Ongar Railway
- Hunstanton terminus station of branch line from King's Lynn closed 1969
- Leiston on branch line from Saxmundham closed 1966, route open for freight
- Maldon had two stations: Maldon East station, on Witham-Maldon branch line from Witham, closed 1964, and Maldon West station, on branch line from Woodham Ferrers, closed 1939
- Mildenhall, closed 1962, of branch line from Cambridge
- Saffron Walden on Saffron Walden Railway until 1964, served by Audley End
- Soham on Ipswich to Ely line closed 1965, route open and service may be restored
- Southwold terminus of narrow gauge railway from Halesworth closed 1929
- Swaffham on Lynn and Dereham Railway closed 1968, also terminus of branch line from Thetford until 1964
- St Ives on branch line from Cambridge closed 1970, reopening rejected in favour of Cambridgeshire Guided Busway
- Waltham Abbey served by Waltham Cross and Loughton stations
- Wells-next-the-Sea terminus station of branch line from Wymondham via Fakenham East closed 1964, partly reopened as Wells and Walsingham Light Railway
- Wisbech had three stations: Wisbech North station, on Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway, closed 1959; Wisbech East station, on Great Eastern Railway secondary line from March to Magdalen Road (Watlington), closed 1968 but reopening to March under consideration; and Wisbech St Mary, also closed
East Midlands
- Alford formerly served by East Lincolnshire Railway between Grimsby and Boston
- Ashbourne, Derbyshire formerly served by Ashbourne on Ashbourne Line to Buxton
- Ashby-de-la-Zouch plans are to open new station on Leicester and Swannington Railway, currently open only to freight, as part of possible extension of Ivanhoe Line)
- Bakewell formerly served by London, Midland and Scottish Railway
- Brackley had two stations: Brackley Central, on Great Central Main Line; and Brackley, part of Banbury to Verney Junction Branch Line
- Clay Cross location of Clay Cross railway tunnel and formerly Clay Cross, just outside tunnel's northern entrance
- Coalville Town plans to open new station on Leicester and Swannington Railway, currently freight only, as part of possible extension of Ivanhoe Line)
- Daventry formerly part of Weedon to Leamington Spa line
- Eastwood formerly part of Great Northern Railway, now served by Langley Mill railway station, previously called Langley Mill and Eastwood
- Higham Ferrers plans for new Rushden Parkway railway station
- Holbeach formerly part of Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway
- Horncastle formerly terminus of Horncastle Branch of Great Northern Railway
- Ilkeston had three stations: Ilkeston Junction & Cossall, part of Midland Railway; Ilkeston North, part of Great Northern Railway); and Ilkeston Town, part of Midland Railway
- Irthlingborough formerly part of Northampton and Peterborough Railway
- Louth formerly part of Great Northern Railway, plans for station to become terminus of Lincolnshire Wolds Railway
- Lutterworth formerly on Great Central Railway
- Mablethorpe formerly part of Great Northern Railway
- Oundle formerly part of Northampton and Peterborough Railway
- Raunds formerly part of Midland Railway
- Rushden plans for new Rushden Parkway, Rushden railway station preserved as part of Rushden, Higham and Wellingborough Railway
- Southwell formerly branch line of Midland Railway)
- Swadlincote formerly on Midland Railway
- Thrapston had two stations: Thrapston Bridge Street, part of Northampton and Peterborough Railway; Thrapston Midland Road, part of Midland Railway)
- Towcester formerly on Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway
- Uppingham formerly terminus of branch line on London and North Western Railway
- Warsop formerly on Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway
- Wragby formerly on Louth to Bardney Line
North East England
North West England
South East England
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight has its own rail line, the Island Line, but it is not connected to the rest of the national network. The following towns are not on the Island Line:
South West England
West Midlands
Yorkshire and the Humber
Scotland
North of Scotland
Central Scotland (including Argyll)
South of Scotland
Towns on islands with no railway service
Wales
Channel Islands and Isle of Man
These islands are geographically and culturally British, but legally and constitutionally, they are not part of the United Kingdom. Tourist railways remain on the Isle of Man and Alderney, but Jersey lost its two railway systems in the 1930s, and Guernsey never had a regular passenger rail service.
See also
References