Special-purpose railway stations in the United Kingdom

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This article lists special-purpose railway stations, i.e. those which meet one or more of these criteria:

Contents

It also lists closed stations that satisfied one or more of these criteria when open, and stations which at some point in their history satisfied one or more of the criteria.

List

StationOpen?Year of closureAlways/still special purpose?Criteria [note 1] NotesCitation
No public access?Private land?Appointment only?One venue only?Omitted from timetable/event day service?
Holton Heath OpenNoYesYesYesYesPossibly, until public openingInitially opened for exclusive use of Royal Naval Cordite Factory, Holton Heath
Kempton Park YesNoYesNoNoNoServes Kempton Park Racecourse. Has had a regular service since 2006. [1]
Lympstone Commando YesYesNoNoYesNoUsed for visitors to the Royal Marine Commando Training Centre. The station is owned by Network Rail and has been accessible to the public since the creation of a walking and cycling path between the station and training centre. [2] [3]
Singer NoNoNoNoYes ?Built to serve the Singer's sewing machine factory which now no longer exists but keeps its name. Now has a regular service.
Smallbrook Junction YesYesNoNoYesNoBuilt as a connection to two railways with no actual entrance to the station. This is the only station in the UK that has been built for this purpose.
Aintree Racecourse Closed1962YesYes ?NoYesYesBuilt to serve Aintree Racecourse [4]
Ampress Works Halt 1989Yes ? ?NoYesYesServed the Wellworthy works near Lymington, Hampshire [5]
Angling Club Cottage Platform 1940'sYesYesYesNoYes ? [6]
Ardeer Platform 1966YesNo ?NoYes ?Built to serve the ICI Nobel Explosives Factory in Stevenston, North Ayrshire. Platforms still exist.
Bogside 1967NoYesYesNoNo ?Built to serve the former Bogside Racecourse in Irvine, and also Bogside Golf Club
Boothferry Park Halt 1986YesNoNoNoYesYesServed Boothferry Park football stadium, Hull [7]
Dover Western Docks 1994YesNo ?NoYesNoClosed when the channel tunnel opened
Filey Holiday Camp 1977YesNoYesNoYesNoClosed due to more people using cars
Folkestone Harbour 2001YesNo ?NoYesNoLine officially closed in 2014
IBM 2018YesYesYesNoYesNoOpened to serve a large facility owned by IBM that employed 4,000 at the time of opening but today much of the site has been sold off to other companies.
Manchester United Football Ground 2018YesNo ?NoYesYesBuilt outside of the Old Trafford stadium and was only open on match days. Service suspended since 2018
Meadowbank Stadium 1998YesNoNoNoYesYesOpened to serve the Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh
Newhaven Marine 2006YesNo ?NoYesNoServed the Ferry Terminal but closed due to more people using cars and the closeness of Newhaven Harbour station. Officially closed 2020.
New Holland Pier 1981YesNo ?NoYesNoWas built the serve the ferry service over the Humber to Hull. Closed when the Humber bridge opened and the ferry service ceased. [8]
Ramsline Halt 1997YesNoNoNoYesYesServed the Baseball Ground, Derby but closed when Derby County F.C. moved to a new stadium
Redcar British Steel 2019YesYesYesNoYesNoBuilt to serve the nearby Teesside Steelworks site. Services suspended in 2019.
Rowntree Halt 1988YesYesYesNoYesYesOpened for the workers who worked at the Rowntree's factory in York. Officially closed in 1989.
Ruddington Factory Halt 1948Yes ? ?YesYes ?Built to serve the Ruddington Ordnance & Supply Depot [9]
Tilbury Riverside 1992Yes ? ?NoYesNo [10]
Sinfin North 1993YesYesYesNoYesNoServed the Rolls-Royce factory at Derby. Not officially closed until 1998, with a replacement taxi service being provided in the interim.
Stanlow and Thornton 2022YesNoYesNoYesNoBuilt to serve Stanlow Oil Refinery. Service has been suspended since February 2022 [11]
Wadsley Bridge 1996NoNoNoNoYesYesLost its regular service in 1956 but continued to be served by football specials until 1996 [12] [13]
Watford Stadium Halt 1996YesNoNoNoYesYesServed Vicarage Road, the home stadium of Watford F.C., was only open on match days, saw its last train when a road widening scheme severed the line, and was officially closed in 2003 [14]
Weymouth Quay 1987YesNo ?NoYesNoVisited by one-off charter service in 1999 [15]

Notes

  1. In the case of a station which was at some point special-purpose, but is not now (or was not at some point in its life), the criteria refer to when the station was special-purpose.

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References

  1. "South West Trains > Improved services at new-look Kempton Park". 23 February 2009. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009.
  2. Colin Maggs (2016). "3: Stations". Maggs's Railway Curiosities. Amberley. p. 95 - Hospital and Other Special Stations. ISBN   9781445652665.
  3. "Lympstone Commando Railway Station - a Freedom of Information request to Ministry of Defence". WhatDoTheyKnow. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  4. "Disused Stations: Aintree Racecourse Station".
  5. Croughton, G.; Kidner, R.W.; Young, A. (1982). Private and Untimetabled Railway Stations. Trowbridge, Wilts: Oakwood Press. p. 124. ISBN   0-85361-281-1.
  6. "Disused Stations: Angling Club Cottage Halt".
  7. "Hull City | Club | Boothferry Park | A History of Boothferry Park". 13 February 2010. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010.
  8. "Disused Stations: New Holland Pier Station".
  9. "Disused Stations: Ruddington Factory Halt".
  10. "Disused Stations: Tilbury Riverside Station".
  11. "National Rail Enquiries - Station facilities for Stanlow & Thornton".
  12. "Disused Stations: Wadsley Bridge Station".
  13. "Wadsley Bridge Railway Station - then & Now". 9 February 2018.
  14. "Watford to Croxley Green - West Watford History Group". Archived from the original on 7 August 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  15. "'Olympic' train line may be lost". 30 January 2009 via news.bbc.co.uk.