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List Of Closed Railway Lines In Great Britain
This list is for railway lines across Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which are now abandoned, closed, dismantled or disused. Within the United Kingdom, examples exist of opened railways which formerly constituted cross-country main trunk lines as well as many more which served more local, or exclusively industrial, needs. Some of the included lines have re-opened, in part or in full, following a period of closure. Such reopenings have taken the form of independent preserved heritage railways, and of expansions to state-backed National Rail and local rapid transit/ light rail networks. Many more of these lines have converted to cycleways, footpaths or highways. England Northern Ireland Scotland :''See also Template:Historical Scottish railway companies'' Wales See also * List of railway lines in Great Britain for extant lines. * List of British heritage and private railways * List of closed railway stations in Britain * History of rail transport in Great Britain * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of British Heritage And Private Railways
This is a list of heritage, private and preserved railways throughout the United Kingdom, the Crown dependencies, and British Overseas Territories whether operational or closed, that are operated for charitable purposes or shareholder profit. Some also provide economic local transport. For rail museums, see ''List of British railway museums''. Many of the standard-gauge railways listed, including former branch lines and ex-mainline routes, were closed by British Railways under the Beeching Axe of the 1960s. Most have been restored and operate as heritage lines. A smaller number of lines were formerly industrial or colliery railways. Many of these preserved railways are mentioned in national and international tour guides, and visits may form part of a school curriculum or feature in other studies, including civil engineering, mechanics, social, economic and political history, visual arts and drama. This list also includes tramways. Nearly all tram services in Britain ended i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aln Valley Railway
The Alnwick branch line is a partly closed railway line in Northumberland, northern England. A heritage railway currently operates a mile of the line, which originally ran from Alnmouth railway station, on the East Coast Main Line, to the town of Alnwick, a distance of . It opened on 5 August 1850 to both freight and passenger traffic. Passenger operations included direct Newcastle to Alnwick services, as well as regular shuttle runs between Alnmouth and Alnwick. As late as 1966, some of the Alnmouth to Alnwick shuttles were still operated by steam locomotives. Operation All Newcastle-Alnwick services and some local trains were taken over by diesel multiple unit trains from 21 April 1958, with schedules cut by up to 15 minutes. Closure The passenger service was withdrawn in January 1968 and the line closed completely in October 1968, on cost grounds. The old railway embankment west of where the line crossed the A1 road now forms the rear boundary of some of the gardens o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Banbury And Cheltenham Direct Railway
The Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway (B&CDR) was a railway company through the Cotswolds in England that built a line between points near Banbury and Cheltenham. Its principal objective, as well as a general rural rail service, was the conveyance of iron ore from the East Midlands to South Wales. It extended two pre-existing branches, the branch of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WR, opened in 1855) and the Railway (opened in 1862). Both branches had their main line junction at Chipping Norton Junction, later renamed , on the OW&WR main line. The B&CDR opened its western section, from Bourton-on-the-Water to a junction near Cheltenham, in 1881, and its eastern section, from Chipping Norton to a junction at , near Banbury, in 1887. The company was always short of money, and the timescale of construction was correspondingly lengthy. When the extensions opened, the Great Western Railway worked the B&CDR line and the two earlier branches as a single railway ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Lancashire Railway
East Lancashire Railway is a heritage railway line in North West England which runs between Heywood, Greater Manchester and Rawtenstall in Lancashire. There are intermediate stations at Bury Bolton Street railway station, Bury Bolton Street, , Summerseat railway station, Summerseat and Ramsbottom railway station, Ramsbottom, with the line crossing the border into Borough of Rossendale, Rossendale serving Irwell Vale railway station, Irwell Vale and Rawtenstall railway station, Rawtenstall. Before closure, the line terminated at Bacup railway station, Bacup. Overview Passenger services between Bury and Rawtenstall were withdrawn by British Rail on 3 June 1972. Coal services to Rawtenstall ended in 1980 and formal closure of the line followed in 1982. The East Lancashire Railway Trust reopened the line on 25 July 1987. The initial service operated between Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Ramsbottom, via Summerseat. In 1991, the service was extended northwards from Ramsbotto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rawtenstall To Bacup Line
The Rawtenstall to Bacup railway line opened in two stages, from Rawtenstall to Waterfoot in 1848, and from Waterfoot to the Bacup terminus in 1852. There were stations at Rawtenstall, Cloughfold, Stacksteads and Bacup. The line was doubled in 1880, at the same time as the line from Bacup to Rochdale was also opened (closed 1947). Passenger and freight services operated until the Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised British Rail, railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Develop ... in 1966, the last passenger train running on 5 December 1966 and the track being lifted in 1969. As the Irwell valley is quite narrow the line had many engineering features in its 5-mile length, including 14 crossings of the River Irwell alone, plus many over and underbridges, embankments and cuttings, and tunnels at Thrutch Gorge (The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London And South Western Railway
The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter and Plymouth, and to Padstow, Ilfracombe and Bude. It developed a network of routes in Hampshire, Surrey and Berkshire, including Portsmouth and Reading. The LSWR became famous for its express passenger trains to Bournemouth and Weymouth, and to Devon and Cornwall. Nearer London it developed a dense suburban network and was pioneering in the introduction of a widespread suburban electrified passenger network. It was the prime mover of the development of Southampton Docks, which became an important ocean terminal as well as a harbour for cross channel services and for Isle of Wight ferries. Although the LSWR's area of influence was not the home of large-scale heavy industry, the transport goods and mineral traffic was a major activity, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lyme Regis Branch Line
The Lyme Regis branch line was a railway branch line connecting the seaside town of Lyme Regis with the main line railway network at Axminster, running through picturesque rural countryside on the Dorset - Devon border. It opened in 1903; penetrating difficult topography, the line was very steeply graded and sharply curved; on summer weekends high passenger levels were carried, with through carriages from London on many services. The line achieved high levels of interest among railway enthusiasts in later years because a veteran type of steam engine, the Adams 'Radial' Tank 4-4-2T locomotive, was used to handle this traffic; this engine class survived long after the type had been superseded in its original area of use in the London suburbs. With the decline in usage of rural lines, the branch closed in 1965. Origins In earlier times, Lyme Regis had been a busy sea port, but as larger vessels came into use, its business declined. In the nineteenth century, railway travel gained ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern England (after the Midland and North Eastern Railways). The intensity of its service was reflected in the 1,650 locomotives it owned – it was by far the most densely-trafficked system in the British Isles with more locomotives per mile than any other company – and that one third of its 738 signal boxes controlled junctions averaging one every . No two adjacent stations were more than apart and its 1,904 passenger services occupied 57 pages in '' Bradshaw'', a number exceeded only by the Great Western Railway, the London and North Western Railway, and the Midland Railway. It was the first mainline railway to introduce electrification of some of its lines, and it also ran steamboat services across the Irish Sea an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Askern Branch Line
The Askern branch line is a railway line which runs in North, South and West Yorkshire in England. The stretch of track runs from Shaftholme Junction north of Doncaster (on the East Coast Main Line between Doncaster and York), via Askern, Norton and Womersley to Knottingley, where it joins the Pontefract Line. History It was opened by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway on 6 June 1848 and running powers were granted to the Great Northern Railway (with which it made an end-on junction at Askern) giving the latter company its initial access to Leeds (using part of the current Pontefract Line) and the former to Doncaster. The line subsequently became part of the newly established East Coast Main Line with the opening of a branch from Knottingley to Burton Salmon in 1850, which gave access to the York & North Midland Railway's line from Normanton to York. The opening of a direct line from Shaftholme Junction to York via Selby in January 1871 saw the end of regular express trai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London & North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the London, Midland and Scottish (LMS) railway, and, in 1948, the London Midland Region of British Railways: the LNWR is effectively an ancestor of today's West Coast Main Line. History The company was formed on 16 July 1846 by the amalgamation of the Grand Junction Railway, London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway. This move was prompted, in part, by the Great Western Railway's plans for a railway north from Oxford to Birmingham. The company initially had a network of approximately , connecting London with Birmingham, Crewe, Chester, Liverpool and Manchester. The headquarters were at Euston railway station. As traffic increased, it was greatly expanded with the opening in 1849 of the Great Hall, designed by P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashbourne Line
The Ashbourne line was a railway from Buxton via Ashbourne to Uttoxeter. It was built by the London and North Western Railway using a section of the Cromford and High Peak Railway (C&HPR) and it joined the North Staffordshire Railway at Ashbourne, proceeding to Uttoxeter with a junction onto the main line at Rocester. Origins Although the country between Buxton and Ashbourne was sparsely populated, and the terrain immensely difficult, there were a number of motivations for its construction. Ashbourne was one of the few large settlements in the area without a railway connection until the North Staffordshire Railway built its branch from the Churnet Valley line in 1852. Meanwhile, a lucrative trade in limestone was building up and the LNWR's only route southwards was through the Manchester area. Finally, and not least, the Midland Railway was threatening to take over the Derbyshire business through its attempts to reach Manchester from Derby via Buxton. The LNWR sought to con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway (GNR) was a British railway company incorporated in 1846 with the object of building a line from London to York. It quickly saw that seizing control of territory was key to development, and it acquired, or took leases of, many local railways, whether actually built or not. In so doing, it overextended itself financially. Nevertheless, it succeeded in reaching into the coalfields of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire, as well as establishing dominance in Lincolnshire and north London. Bringing coal south to London was dominant, but general agricultural business, and short- and long-distance passenger traffic, were important activities too. Its fast passenger express trains captured the public imagination, and its Chief Mechanical Engineer Nigel Gresley became a celebrity. Anglo-Scottish travel on the East Coast Main Line became commercially important; the GNR controlled the line from London to Doncaster and allied itself with the North Ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
