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{{Short description|Railway service run solely to meet a legal requirement}}{{Use British English|date=December 2022}}{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}A parliamentary train was a passenger service operated in the United Kingdom to comply with the Railway Regulation Act 1844 that required train companies to provide inexpensive and basic rail transport for less affluent passengers. The act required that at least one such service per day be run on every railway route in the UK.Such trains are no longer a legal requirement (although most franchise agreements require some less expensive trains). The term's meaning has completely changed, to describe train services that continue to be run with reduced frequency, often to the minimum required one train per week, and without specially low prices, to avoid the cost of formal closure of a route or station, retain access rights, or maintain crew training/familiarity requirements on short sections of track. Such services are sometimes called "ghost trains".NEWS,weblink On Board a Real-Life "Ghost Train", BBC News, 9 December 2012, 1 July 2012, Sometimes even the train is omitted, with a bus operating as a cheaper-to-operate "rail replacement service" instead.NEWS, Low, Harry, Chiltern Railways' 'ghost bus': Is this Britain's most bizarre route?, BBC News, 16 January 2024,weblink

Nineteenth-century usage

File:GWRTruck2.jpg|thumb|Great Western RailwayGreat Western RailwayIn the earliest days of passenger railways in the United Kingdom the poor were encouraged to travel in order to find employment in the growing industrial centres, but trains were generally unaffordable to them except in the most basic of open wagons, in many cases attached to goods trains.D.N. Smith (1988) The Railway and Its Passengers: A Social History, Newton Abbott: David & Charles Political pressure caused the Board of Trade to investigate, and Sir Robert Peel's Conservative government enacted the Railway Regulation Act 1844, which took effect on 1 November 1844. It compelled "the provision of at least one train a day each way at a speed of not less than 12 miles an hour including stops, which were to be made at all stations, and of carriages protected from the weather and provided with seats; for all which luxuries not more than a penny a mile might be charged".MacDermott, E.T., History of the Great Western Railway, London: Great Western Railway, 1927, Vol. 1, part 2, page 640Railway companies reluctantly complied with the law. They scheduled parliamentary trains at inconvenient times and used uncomfortable carriages. One account stated that when passengers complained about a delay, they were told "ye are only the nigger train". James Allport of Midland Railway was proud of providing comfortable third-class service passenger service, but stated that his company needed 25 years to do so.BOOK,weblink Railway Adventures and Anecdotes, Hamilton, Adams, and Co., 1888, Pike, Richard, Third, 143–144, 'We remember,' says a writer, 'once standing on the platform at Darlington when the Parliamentary train arrived. It was detained for a considerable time to allow a more favoured train to pass, and, on the remonstrance of several of the passengers at the unexpected detention, they were coolly informed, "Ye mun bide till yer betters gaw past, ye are only the nigger train."' 'If there is one part of my public life,' recently said Mr. Allport (Midland Railway) to the writer, 'in which I look back with more satisfaction than anything else, it is with reference to the boon we conferred on third-class passengers. But it took,' he added, 'five-and-twenty years' work to get it done.',

In popular culture

(File:Twice round the clock; or, The hours of the day and night in London (1859) (14778579752).jpg|thumb|Parliamentary Train: Interior of a third class carriage (1859))The basic comfort and slow progress of Victorian parliamentary trains led to a humorous reference in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera The Mikado. The Mikado is s:The Mikado/A more humane Mikado|explaining how he will match punishments to the crimes committed]]:WEB, The Mikado by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive,weblink 13 November 2005, The idiot who, in railway carriages,Scribbles on window-panesWill only sufferTo ride on a bufferIn Parliamentary trains.{{Clear}}

Legacy of the Beeching cuts

{{More citations needed|section|date=December 2022}}File:Reddish South railway station (114).JPG|thumb|The Stockport to Stalybridge shuttle approaches Reddish South. This is one of the most well-known parliamentary services throughout the country.]]In 1963 under its chairman Richard Beeching, British Railways produced The Reshaping of British Railways report, designed to stem the huge losses being incurred as patronage declined.WEB, The Reshaping of British Railways, Office of Public Sector Information, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1963,weblink It proposed very substantial cuts to the network and to train services, with many lines closed under a programme that came to be known as the Beeching cuts. The Transport Act 1962 included a formal closure process allowing for objections to closures on the basis of hardship to passengers if their service was closed. As the objections gained momentum, this process became increasingly difficult to implement, and from about 1970 closures slowed to a trickle.{{citation needed|date = December 2019}}In certain cases, where there was exceptionally low usage, the train service was reduced to a bare minimum but the service was not formally closed, avoiding the costs associated with closure. In some cases, the service was reduced to one train a week and in one direction only.File:Parliamentary Service (14124158587).jpg|thumb|London Overground Class 378 at Battersea Park operating a parliamentary service. It is also used when the line to Clapham Junction is blocked.]]These minimal services had resonances of the 19th-century parliamentary services and, among rail enthusiasts, they came to be referred to as "parliamentary trains", "ghost trains", or, more colloquially, "parly" trains (following the abbreviation used in Victorian timetables). However, this terminology has no official standing. So-called parliamentary services are also typically run at inconvenient times, often very early in the morning, very late at night or in the middle of the day at the weekend. In extreme instances, rail services have actually been "temporarily" withdrawn and replaced by substitute bus services, to maintain the pretence that the service has not been withdrawn.WEB, The quirky train that's now a quirky bus, BusAndTrainUser, 12 January 2023,weblink

Speller Act{{anchor|Transport Act 1962 (Amendment) Act 1981}}

factoids

When the closures brought about by the Beeching Report had reached equilibrium, it was recognised that some incremental services or station reopenings were desirable. However, if a service was started and proved unsuccessful, it could not be closed again without going through the formal process, with the possibility that it might not be terminated. It was recognised that this discouraged possible desirable developments and the Transport Act 1962 (Amendment) Act 1981 permitted the immediate closure of such experimental reopenings. The bill that led to the act of 1981 was sponsored by a pro-railways Member of Parliament, Tony Speller, and it is usually referred to as the Speller Act. The process is still in effect, although the legislation has been subsumed into other enactments.{{citation needed|date = December 2019}}

Services

As of 2024

Examples of lines in the current timetable served only by a parliamentary train are:{{refn|group=note|Many of these trains were temporarily suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, although this information has been omitted from this table.}}{{clear}}{|class="wikitable sortable"! Origin !! Destination !! Days operated !! Outbounddeparture !! Returndeparture !! Operator !! Comments {{rws|Battersea Park}} {{rws|Dalston Junction}}| Monday – Friday06:33|23:03}}| 22:04 London Overground Commenced 9 December 2012 after Southern (train operating company) service between London Victoria railway station>London Victoria and London Bridge railway station via the South London line ceased. Common diversionary route when the line to Clapham Junction railway station>Clapham Junction is closed.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}|Saturday07:3008:0008:33}}06:3407:0407:34}}Highbury & Islington station>Highbury & Islington|Sunday|07:47N/ALiverpool Street}}Enfield Town}} Saturday| 05:30South Tottenham}} but does not call. Unreliable{{Clarifyreason=Please clarify what "unreliable" means.}} and is often diverted via Stoke Newington railway station.MAUND TITLE=PSUL 2022 ACCESS-DATE=2021-12-28, psul4all.free-online.co.uk, Stalybridge railway station>StalybridgeStockport railway station>Stockport|08:30|09:04Northern TrainsStockport to Stalybridge Line. Only service that calls at Reddish South railway station>Reddish South & DentonSheffield station>SheffieldCleethorpes railway station>Cleethorpes|Monday - Friday|09:54|13:20Kirton Lindsey}} & {{rwsweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20171210090105weblink">The ghost trains of northern England that refuse to die The Independent 31 October 2017 Regular trains have operated between Gainsborough Central railway station>Gainsborough and Sheffield railway station for most timetable periods since.eNRT May 2022 EditioneNRT December 2022 Edition Suspended January 2022 by Northern, who cited Covid-19 and staffing issues (although they did not provide any replacement buses), but the service was reinstated in December 2022. 2022-10-24 LANGUAGE=EN-GB URL=HTTPS://WWW.GRIMSBYTELEGRAPH.CO.UK/NEWS/LOCAL-NEWS/BRIGG-LINE-RAIL-SERVICE-BETWEEN-7739490 ISSN=0307-1235, Changed in May 2023 to be one return journey on weekdays only. 2023-04-05 >TITLE=BRIGG LINE SERVICE TO CHANGE FROM SATURDAY TO WEEKDAYS WORK=RAILWAY GAZETTE ACCESS-DATE=2023-05-24, Liverpool Lime Street railway station>Liverpool Lime StreetEllesmere PortMonday – Saturday|05:10|19:06Merseyrail trains operate west of Ellesmere Port, but there are proposals for British Rail Class 777 to take over the current limited service to Helsby.LONG TERM RAIL STRATEGYDATE=APRIL 2018URL-STATUS=LIVEARCHIVE-DATE=7 NOVEMBER 2017 Stanlow and Thornton railway station>Stanlow & Thornton station, which would be the first stop east of Ellesmere Port, had its service suspended in 2022.SORRY FOLKS FOLLOWING AN INSPECTION WE'VE TEMPORARILY SHUT STANLOW & THORNTON STATION IN ELLESMERE PORT DUE TO CONCERNS OVER THE SAFETY OF THE FOOTBRIDGE. >URL=HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/NETWORKRAILLIV/STATUS/1489138518702108673 VIA=TWITTER Ince & Elton railway station>Ince & Elton.Helsby railway station>Helsby|18:50|06:33 {{rws|Lancaster}}Morecambe}} (via Carnforth)05:19 (Lancaster)|05:30 (Carnforth)}}| N/AHest Bank}} curve.Heysham Port}}|Monday – Friday| 12:44| 13:21| One train a day to Heysham, to meet the daily Isle of Man ferry. Goole}}Leeds}}Monday – Saturday07:42|19:43}}| 17:58Pontefract line. Providing the only services to; Rawcliffe railway station>Rawcliffe, Snaith railway station, Hensall railway station>Hensall & Whitley BridgeSwanseaFishguard Harbour|10:58N/ATransport for WalesThese trains use the line between Carmarthen Jn and Carmarthen Bridge Jn, so avoid Carmarthen railway station station.DELGADO TITLE=UT TRACKER URL-ACCESS=SUBSCRIPTION WEBSITE=UTTRACKER.COM, |Monday – Friday|08:17Fishguard HarbourCardiff Central|Saturday|12:41These trains use the Swansea avoiding curve, which runs around the rear of Landore TMD. Other trains which avoid Swansea may use the Swansea District line>Swansea District Line, which heads north from Neath towards the Heart of Wales line.Sunday|12:40Cardiff Central railway station>Cardiff CentralMilford Haven railway station>Milford Haven|12:04Glenrothes with Thornton railway station>Glenrothes with ThorntonEdinburgh Waverley|22:58ScotRailThese trains use the direct line between Dalmeny railway station and Linlithgow railway station>Linlithgow, reversing at the latter.{{Sfn2017|p=85}} The line was last used before the COVID-19 pandemic.Dundee railway station>Dundee|Monday – Thursday|22:31Cannon Street station>Cannon Street{{rws|Tunbridge Wells}}Tuesday – Saturday|00:20 (Tuesday / Wednesday)SoutheasternThese journeys use the curve between Beckenham Junction station and {{rws>New Beckenham}} (previously used by a weekday morning Cannon Street station to Beckenham Junction via New Beckenham train, returning in the afternoon to Charing Cross). This is a common diversionary route for trains from Charing Cross to Hastings railway station>Hastings when the route through Hither Green railway station is closed.{{Citation needed>date=October 2022}}Charing Cross}}| 00:15 (Thursday – Saturday)group=noteTonbridge railway station>Tonbridge.}}London Victoria station>London VictoriaRamsgate railway station>RamsgateMonday – Friday|06:05N/AVia Stewarts Lane Jn. Also used on occasion by VSOE trains to Folkestone West. In previous years, an 05:50 train from London Victoria station to Ashford International railway station>Ashford International used the same route, but also called at Wandsworth Road railway station and Clapham High Street railway station>Clapham High Street.eNRT December 2018 Edition The outward service to Ramsgate is the first regular use of the eastbound line since the COVID-19 pandemic.MAUND DATE=22 DECEMBER 2019 URL=HTTPS://WWW.BRANCHLINE.UK/PSUL/2020.PDF WEBSITE=BRANCHLINE.UK, Gillingham railway station (Kent)>GillinghamLondon Victoria station>London Victoria|05:00Glasgow Central station>Glasgow CentralEdinburgh Waverley railway station>Edinburgh|21:05|CrossCountryEdinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway>Edinburgh Suburban line, which runs to the south of the main lines through Edinburgh. The line in the other direction has not seen regular use for some time.DELGADO >FIRST=IAN URL=HTTPS://WWW.UTTRACKER.COM/PAGE.PHP?REQD=&SHOW=Y&NEW=&QUAIL=SC11 ACCESS-DATE=2022-10-30 Shotts railway station>Shotts, rather than calling at Motherwell railway station.DELGADO TITLE=UT TRACKER – LIST MATCHING SCHEDULES URL-ACCESS=SUBSCRIPTION WEBSITE=UTTRACKER.COM, Filton Abbey Wood railway station>Filton Abbey WoodBath Spa railway station>Bath Spa|15:59Great Western Railway (train operating company)>Great Western RailwayTITLE=UT TRACKER – LIST MATCHING SCHEDULES URL-ACCESS=SUBSCRIPTION WEBSITE=UTTRACKER.COM, Worksop railway station>WorksopNottingham station>Nottingham|23:43East Midlands RailwayNottingham station>Nottingham frequently terminating short at Mansfield Woodhouse, meaning this service starts from there.Peterborough railway station>PeterboroughLincoln railway station>Lincoln|23:11Sleaford railway station>Sleaford Avoiding line. The avoiding line heading south is not in regular use, but does see use as a diversion when the East Coast Main Line is closed near Newark North Gate.Doncaster railway station>DoncasterSleaford railway station>Sleaford|Saturday|20:46N/A|Only train booked to use the "Up (East) Slow Line" between Bessacarr Jn and Doncaster Black Carr Jn. Previous service from Peterborough often terminates in platform 5 at Doncaster, causing this service to not run from platform 2 as it should.Norwich railway station>NorwichManchester Piccadilly station>Manchester PiccadillySunday|15:53Queen Adelaide, Cambridgeshire>Queen Adelaide loop, north of Ely.London Kings CrossHull Paragon Interchange>Hull|10:4917:18|Hull TrainsThese trains use the line between Loversall Carr Jn and Doncaster Flyover East Jn, to the south of Doncaster.Leeds railway station>LeedsMonday – Friday|08:03London North Eastern RailwayHarrogate railway station>Harrogate|15:53Newcastle railway station>Newcastle|22:00Sunderland station>Sunderland|20:00Only services to use the single-line curve at the southern end of King Edward VII Bridge. Northern service started in late 2019, LNER service started running in December 2021.Carlisle railway station>CarlisleNunthorpe railway station>Nunthorpe|Sunday|14:49|Northern TrainsSkipton railway station>SkiptonLondon Kings Cross|Saturday|06:56London North Eastern RailwayHambleton, Selby>Hambleton West Jn and Hambleton South Jn.York railway station>YorkMonday – Friday|04:40These trains use the spur between Doncaster Flyover East Jn and Loversall Carr Jn, to the south of Doncaster.Harrogate railway station>Harrogate|07:37Leeds|17:45Sunday|10:45Leeds railway station>LeedsPlymouth station>Plymouth|08:11CrossCountryLichfield Trent Valley railway station>Lichfield Trent Valley (High Level) and Wichnor Jn. Only West Midlands Trains operate services along this line, as far as Lichfield.Plymouth railway station>PlymouthLeeds|18:27These trains use the curve between Calder Bridge Jn and Turners Lane Jn, which avoids Wakefield Kirkgate.Sheffield station>Sheffield|Friday|23:15|Northern TrainsChesham tube station>CheshamWatford|Monday – Saturday|05:12London Underground, Metropolitan LineThese trains use the Watford curve, which runs directly from Rickmansworth to Croxley and Watford.Rickmansworth station>Rickmansworth|Monday – Friday|06:0800:19 (Monday – Friday)|00:49 (Tuesday – Saturday)}}Streatham Hill railway station>Streatham HillLondon Bridge station>London BridgeMonday –Friday|07:50, 08:20|N/ASouthern (Govia Thameslink Railway)>SouthernTulse Hill railway station>Tulse Hill. The line in the other direction has not seen regular use for a number of years.DELGADO >FIRST=IAN URL=HTTPS://WWW.UTTRACKER.COM/FORBIDDEN.PHP URL-STATUS=DEAD WEBSITE=UTTRACKER.COM ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20221030160047/HTTPS://WWW.UTTRACKER.COM/FORBIDDEN.PHP, West Ealing station>West EalingWest Ruislip station>West Ruislip|Wednesday|11:17|One way|Chiltern Railways DATE=12 JANUARY 2023,weblink

Former

Examples of lines formerly served only by a parliamentary train are:{|class="wikitable sortable"! Origin !! Destination !! Days operated !! Outbounddeparture !! Returndeparture !! Operator !! Ceased !! CommentsWatford Junction railway station>Watford JunctionCroxley Green railway station>Croxley Green|Monday – Friday|06:46|06:59|Network SouthEast|22 March 1996WEBSITE=DISUSED STATIONS, 25 December 2023, Hereford railway station>HerefordBirmingham New Street railway station>Birmingham New Street|Saturday|10:35|11:30|Regional Railways|Late 1996Smethwick West railway station>Smethwick West following an administrative error that required it to be open a year further following the opening of Smethwick Galton Bridge railway station.HTTPS://WWW.RAILAROUNDBIRMINGHAM.CO.UK/STATIONS/SMETHWICK_WEST.PHP WEBSITE=RAIL AROUND BIRMINGHAM & THE WEST MIDLANDS, 25 December 2023, Kensington (Olympia) station>Kensington OlympiaWandsworth Road railway station>Wandsworth Road|Monday – Friday|10:02N/ASouthern (Govia Thameslink Railway)>Southern|17 June 2013Clapham Junction railway station>Clapham Junction. The main route between Latchmere No. 1 Jn and Longhedge Jn never regained regular passenger use.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}Chester}}Runcorn}}| Summer Saturday| 07:53| Arriva Rail North| 8 September 2018Halton Curve, northbound only.{{citation>url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmtran/169/169ii.pdfpublisher=The Stationery Officeaccess-date=16 September 2009}}HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=4JE-JQPVHEW>LAST=HEARFIELDTITLE=CHESTER TO LIVERPOOL SOUTH PARKWAY (PARLIAMENTARY TRAIN) VIA THE HALTON CURVE (FINAL TRIP, 16TH OF JULY 2016)DATE=15 OCTOBER 2016date=February 2022}} Last ran 2018, full-time services resumed in May 2019, operated by Transport for Wales.New Chester to Liverpool rail service delayed due to shortage of trains Cheshire Live 21 September 2018Woodgrange Park railway station>Woodgrange ParkWillesden Junction station>Willesden Junction Monday –Friday| 07:59| London Overground| Some time in 2018Gospel Oak railway station>Gospel Oak. Last operated mid to late 2018.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}South Ruislip railway station>South Ruislip or Gerrards CrossPaddington railway station>London Paddington or West Ealing| 10:57 / 11:02 from South Ruislip10:01 / 10:44 from Gerrards CrossWEB,weblink BLS – PSUL Document Archive, branchline.uk, 2020-02-09, High Wycombe railway station>High Wycombe / Princes Risborough railway station / West Ruislip station>West Ruislip from Paddington11:47 to High Wycombe from West Ealing| Chiltern Railwaystitle=The London ghost train on its final journey – BBC London language=en |access-date=2022-10-30}}Route knowledge (rail)>route knowledge for drivers enabling services to divert to Paddington when Marylebone railway station was closed. Service diverted to West Ealing, via the Greenford branch line>Greenford Branch Line, from 7 December 2018 with the closure of the Acton-Northolt line services to enable High Speed 2 works.Kyle of Lochalsh railway station>Kyle of LochalshElgin railway station>Elgin|Saturday|17:13N/A|Abellio ScotRail|May 2019Rose Street Curve on its way to Elgin, going past Inverness railway station>Inverness and then stopping, before reversing for the second time to head to Elgin. In the 2018 timetable, the train ran on weekdays as well.MAUND >FIRST=RICHARD TITLE=PSUL 2018 ACCESS-DATE=10 DECEMBER 2022, branchline.uk, This line has not seen regular use since.Reading railway station>ReadingBirmingham New Street railway station>Birmingham New StreetMonday –Friday|22:02|CrossCountryMarch 2020|Used the Soho South Jn – Perry Bar South Jn. Occasionally used on football match days.Reading railway station>ReadingShalford railway station>Shalford|Monday –Friday|07:17Great Western Railway (train operating company)>Great Western Railway|May 2022North Downs Line from Reading TMD.TRACKATLAS OF MAINLAND BRITAIN: A COMPREHENSIVE GEOGRAPHIC ATLAS SHOWING THE RAIL NETWORK OF GREAT BRITAIN YEAR=2017 EDITOR-LAST=BRIDGE EDITION=3RD PAGES=18, 125, Regular service ended in May 2022, however the route is maintained for diversionary use.MAUND >FIRST=RICHARD TITLE=PSUL 2023 ACCESS-DATE=26 DECEMBER 2022, psul4all.free-online.co.uk, West Ealing railway station>West EalingWest Ruislip railway station>West Ruislip|Wednesday|11:17|Chiltern RailwaysDecember 2022Greenford branch line>Greenford line, commenced 10 December 2018 replacing previous service to Paddington railway station via the Acton–Northolt line.MAUND DATE=31 DECEMBER 2018 URL=HTTPS://WWW.BRANCHLINE.UK/PSUL/2019.PDF COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom>COVID-19 pandemic. Last ran 7 December 2022, now replaced with a bus service replacement.Operators adopt for post Covid railway Modern Railways issue 891 December 2022 page 74Birmingham New Street railway station>Birmingham New StreetCrewe railway station>CreweSaturday|07:13West Midlands RailwayBushbury line, which runs direct from Bescot Stadium railway station>Bescot Stadium to Penkridge railway station.{{Sfn>Bridgep=127}} Other trains which run from Bescot to Penkridge run via Wolverhampton. Common diversionary route. Last service ran 10 December.Wolverhampton railway station>WolverhamptonRugeley Trent Valley railway station>Rugeley Trent Valley|05:42Walsall railway station>Walsall, between Darlaston Jn and Pleck Jn. Other services use the line between Crane Street Jn (near Wolverhampton) and Portobello Jn. Last ran 10 December 2022.eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 69

Stations with minimal services

{{More citations needed|section|date=October 2022}}A station may have a parliamentary service because the operating company wishes it closed, but the line is in regular use (most trains pass straight through). Examples include:File:Teesside Airport Station - Mar 2018.jpg|thumb|One service stops at Teesside Airport every week on a Sunday, at 14:54, even though it is a 15-minute walk to the airport.]]

• Barlaston and Wedgwood, which are currently only served by replacement buses.
• {{rws|Teesside Airport}}, which serves Teesside International Airport, lost most of its services due to its relatively long distance to the terminal as well as competition from buses which offered more reliable services (which in turn were withdrawn due to the airport's sharp decrease in air passengers). Operated by Northern Trains. Service has been suspended since May 2022.HTTP://WWW.JOURNALLIVE.CO.UK/NORTH-EAST-NEWS/TODAYS-NEWS/2009/10/14/RAIL-BUFFS-TO-HIGHLIGHT-TEESSIDE-AIRPORT-GHOST-STATION-61634-24924074/ >TITLE=RAIL BUFFS TO HIGHLIGHT TEESSIDE AIRPORT 'GHOST STATION'

THE JOURNAL (NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE NEWSPAPER)>THE JOURNAL ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20120307112933/HTTP://WWW.JOURNALLIVE.CO.UK/NORTH-EAST-NEWS/TODAYS-NEWS/2009/10/14/RAIL-BUFFS-TO-HIGHLIGHT-TEESSIDE-AIRPORT-GHOST-STATION-61634-24924074/ ARCHIVE-DATE=7 MARCH 2012,

• File:Pilning railway station MMB 04 158767.jpg|thumb|Two Great Western Railway services stop at Pilning every week, both on a Saturday and in one direction only.]]{{stnlnk|Pilning}}, near Bristol â€“ only two trains per week, both from Cardiff Central on Saturdays only at 08:33 (to Penzance) and 14:33 (to Taunton). Formerly one train each way per week, but the bridge to the down platform was removed in November 2016.NEWS, All aboard for the ghost train, Western Daily Press, 10 August 2006, Pilning Station Footbridge Removed for Wiring Modern Railways issue 819 December 2016 page 11 Operated by Great Western Railway.
• {{stnlnk|Barry Links}} and {{stnlnk|Golf Street}}. From 19 May 2019, these stations are only served Monday-Saturday by the southbound 06:06 Arbroath to Dundee and 07:44 Arbroath to Edinburgh Waverley; northbound services are the 16:09 Glasgow Queen Street to Arbroath service (16:10 Saturday) and the 17:02 Edinburgh Waverley to Arbroath service (17:01 Saturday). Operated by ScotRail.
• File:Shippea Hill railway station in 2006.jpg|thumb|Shippea Hill station, one of the least used stations in the entire country.]] {{stnlnk|Shippea Hill}} and {{stnlnk|Lakenheath}} on the Breckland line to {{stnlnk|Norwich}}. Shippea Hill is served at 07:26 Mondays–Fridays (07:47 Saturday) eastbound (to Norwich) and 16:13 Saturdays only westbound (to Stansted Airport). Lakenheath, however, is served by seven trains on a Sunday (4 eastbound, 3 westbound). There are no services Monday–Friday and just a single journey in each direction on Saturdays (11:13 westbound, 15:49 eastbound). Both operated by Abellio Greater Anglia.
• {{stnlnk|Polesworth}} has one train per day Mondays–Saturdays, northbound only at 06:50. After major works on the West Coast Main Line, contractors neglected to replace the footbridge which they had removed, leaving passengers unable to access southbound trains. Operated by West Midlands Trains.
• {{stnlnk|Lelant Saltings}}, in Cornwall has been served by one train in each direction daily since the Park & Ride facility at the station moved to nearby St Erth. Operated by Great Western Railway.
• {{stnlnk|Ardwick}}, in Manchester is served by two trains a day one to {{rws|New Mills Central}} & one to {{rws|Manchester Piccadilly}}. Operated by Northern Trains.WEB,weblink Timetables,
• {{stnlink|Elton and Orston}} in Nottinghamshire is served by a single train in each direction Monday to Saturday and no Sunday service. Operated by East Midlands Railway.WEB,weblink Train timetables &124; EMR,
• Clifton, in Greater Manchester is served by a single train in each direction Monday to Saturday and no Sunday service. Operated by Northern Trains.

{{stnlnk|Bordesley}} is served by a single train on Saturdays only, however the station remains open for use when Birmingham City Football Club are playing at home when additional services call there. Operated by West Midlands Trains.In the mid-1990s British Rail was forced to serve {{stnlnk|Smethwick West}} in the West Midlands for an extra 12 months after a legal blunder meant that the station had not been closed properly. One train per week each way still called at Smethwick West, even though it was only a few hundred yards from the replacement {{stnlnk|Smethwick Galton Bridge}}.WEB,weblink Smethwick West Station 1867–1996, 16 September 2009, railaroundbirmingham.co.uk, Many least used stations are also served infrequently or irregularly.

Bustitution

File:Norton Bridge station - 2009-03-08.jpg|alt=Norton Bridge was served by a replacement bus until March 2019.|thumb|Norton Bridge was served by a replacement bus until March 2019.]]A variant of the parliamentary train service was the temporary replacement bus service, as employed between Watford and Croxley Green in Hertfordshire. The railway line was closed to trains in 1996, but to avoid the legal complications and costs of actual closure train services were replaced by buses, thus maintaining the legal fiction of an open railway.WEB,weblink Croxley Green LNWR branch – passenger closure, Rail Chronology, 29 January 2018, The branch was officially closed in 2003. Work in track clearance commenced, beginning the work to absorb most of the route into a diversion of the Watford branch of the Metropolitan line into Watford Junction, but work was stopped in 2016 after a reassessment of likely costs and lack of agreement on funding.The temporary replacement bus tactic was used from December 2008 between Ealing Broadway and Wandsworth Road"'Ghost bus' makes final journey"itv.com news article 11 June 2013; Retrieved 20 May 2013 when Arriva CrossCountry withdrew its services from Brighton to Manchester, which was the only passenger service between Factory Junction, north of Wandsworth Road, and Latchmere Junction, on the West London Line. This service was later replaced by a single daily return train between Kensington Olympia and Wandsworth Road (as above) operated by Southern until formal consultation commenced and closure was completed in 2013.WEB,weblink Consultation: Withdrawal of scheduled passenger services between Wandsworth Road, Kensington (Olympia) and Ealing Broadway, 3 July 2012, 10 May 2012, Department for Transport, The replacement bus tactic was used to service Norton Bridge, Barlaston and Wedgwood stations on the Stafford–Manchester line, which had its passenger services withdrawn in 2004 to allow more Virgin CrossCountry and Virgin Trains West Coast services to be operated. Norton Bridge station was closed in December 2017 coinciding with the transfer of the West Midlands franchise from London Midland to West Midlands Trains, with funding for the bus service to Norton Bridge continuing until March 2019.weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20181206200024weblink">Norton Bridge rail station: proposed closure Department for Transport 6 November 2017Closure Ratification Notice – Norton Bridge Station Office of Rail & Road 26 October 2017

See also

• Closure by stealth
• List of least used railway stations of Great Britain
• Rail replacement bus service
• Stations still open but with no services

Notes

{{reflist|group=note}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Bibliography

• Billson, P. (1996). Derby and the Midland Railway. Derby: Breedon Books.
• Jordana, Jacint; Levi-Faur, David (2004). The politics of regulation: institutions and regulatory reforms for the age of governance. Edward Elgar Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1-84376-464-9}}.
• Ransom, P. J. G. (1990). The Victorian Railway and How It Evolved. London: Heinemann.
• NEWS,weblink Calder, Simon, Missed the bus? The route that runs only four times year, BBC, 2 April 2011,

External links

• Railways Archive: An Act to attach certain Conditions to the Construction of future Railways 1844
• Passenger Train Services Over Unusual Lines
• Unusual Routes in Timetable, gensheet.co.uk
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070814062218weblink">London Underground Obscure Workings
• On board a real life ghost train