List of closed railway lines in the United Kingdom
England
Table:
Name of line

Builder(s)

Route (From/To)

Closure date

Notes

Alcester–Hatton branch line

Great Western Railway

Alcester to Hatton,
via Great Alne

1947 (to passengers)
1951 (to all traffic)

Aldeburgh branch line

Great Eastern Railway (LNER)

Saxmundham to Aldeburgh via
Leiston and Thorpeness

12 September 1966

Part of the branch still open (freight only)

Aldridge–Brownhills branch line

Midland Railway (LMS)

Aldridge to Chasewater,
via Brownhills

1930 (to passengers)
1962 (to all traffic)

Part of the Line, (north of Brownhills) now preserved as the Chasewater Railway.

Allhallows-on-Sea to Stoke Junction

SR

Stoke Junction to Allhallows

4 December 1961

Southern branch off the Hoo branch line (off the
North Kent Line) (opened 14 May 1932)

Alnmouth–Alnwick branch line

North Eastern Railway (LNER)

Alnmouth to Alnwick

30 January 1968 (to all traffic)

Most of the former branch now being restored, as the
Aln Valley Railway.

Ambergate–Pye Bridge line

Midland Railway (LMS)

Pye Bridge to Ambergate, (via Butterley)

1968

A 3½ Mile section of the line, now preserved forming the Midland Railway – Butterley.

Ardsley to Laisterdyke line

Great Northern Railway (LNER)

Laisterdyke to Ardsley,
via Dudley Hill and Morley

3 July 1966 (to passengers)
13 March 1968 (to freight)
1981 (to all traffic)

Opened by the Leeds, Bradford & Halifax Joint Rly
before taken over by the GNR in 1865

Ashbourne line

London & North Western Railway (LMS)

Uttoxeter to Buxton, via
Ashbourne

1964 (to passengers)
1967 (to freight)

Most of the line now survives as a walk/cycle path called the Tissington Trail

Askern branch line

Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (LMS)

Shaftholme Junction (near Doncaster) to Knottingley, via Askern (itself), Norton and Womersley

still open

Mostly a freight only line, but now also a diversionary passenger route

Axminster-Lyme Regis branch line

London and South Western Railway (Southern Railway)

Axminster to Lyme Regis via Combpyne

29 November 1965 (to all traffic)

Bacup branch line

Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (LMS)

Stubbins Junction to Bacup, via Rawtenstall, Clough Fold and Stacksteads

1966 (to regular traffic)
1972 (to all traffic)

Part of the former branch (through Stubbins Junction to Rawtenstall, via Irwell Vale), now preserved as part of the East Lancashire Railway.

Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway

Great Western Railway

Cheltenham to Banbury

Banbury to Verney Junction branch line

Buckinghamshire Railway (GWR)

Banbury to Verney Junction (Where it joined the Varsity Line)

January 1961

Freight services lasted till June 1966

Bank Top Colliery Line

North Staffordshire Railway (LMS)

Blythe Bridge to Bank Top

1965

Portion of the Line, now preserved as the
Foxfield Railway.
Mostly a Colliery Line, throughout its heyday.

Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway

London and South Western Railway (SR)

Basingstoke to Alton

1932 (to passengers)
19?? (to freight)

Batley-Beeston Line

Great Northern Railway (LNER)

Beeston to Batley, via
Tingley and Woodkirk

1939 (to passengers)
195? (to freight)
1964 (to all traffic)

Bedford–Northampton line

Midland Railway (LMS)

Northampton to Bedford

1962 (to passengers)
1981 (to all traffic)

Benwick Goods Railway

Great Eastern Railway (LNER)

1966 (to all traffic)

Birkenhead Dock Branch

LMS

Rock Ferry to Bidston Dock, via Mollington Street and Canning Street

16 February 1985 (to passenger traffic)
1987 (to regular goods)
2008 (to all traffic)

Entire branch line still extant, but disused

Blythe and Tyne Railway

B&TR (North Eastern Railway)

A network of various lines, criss-cross the North-East

1971-83 (in stages, to all traffic)
Re-opened in 1980 (as part of the T&WM network)

Most of the former B&TR, now forms the present-day
Tyne & Wear Metro System,
While a section of one of the other lines, is now preserved (in-between Percy Main and Middle Engine Lane) as the North Tyneside Steam Railway.

Consulting the tabular data and the supporting evidence listed.

State the answer to the question: What is the name of the builder of the railway that it was never commercially successful ? Output only the correct answer as {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Avoid adding external knowledge.

The Alcester-Bearley branch line was a ​6 3⁄4-mile single-track branch railway line in Warwickshire , England . It was built by the Alcester Railway Company . It connected the manufacturing town of Alcester into the Great Western Railway network , opening in 1876 . Running through sparsely populated country , it was never commercially successful . During World War I it was closed and its track used in support of the war effort . During World War II it brought Coventry factory workers to a relocated manufacturing plant near the line when their own factory had been bombed . The line closed in 1951 .
The Great Western Railway ( GWR ) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest and west of England , the West Midlands , and most of Wales . It was founded in 1833 , received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838 . It was engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel , who chose a broad gauge of 7 ft ( 2,134 mm ) - later slightly widened to 7 ft 1⁄4 in ( 2,140 mm ) - but , from 1854 , a series of amalgamations saw it also operate 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in ( 1,435 mm ) standard-gauge trains ; the last broad-gauge services were operated in 1892 . The GWR was the only company to keep its identity through the Railways Act 1921 , which amalgamated it with the remaining independent railways within its territory , and it was finally merged at the end of 1947 when it was nationalised and became the Western Region of British Railways . The GWR was called by some God 's Wonderful Railway and by others the Great Way Round but it was famed as the Holiday Line , taking many people to English and Bristol Channel resorts in the West Country as well as the far southwest of England such as Torquay in Devon , Minehead in Somerset , and Newquay and St Ives in Cornwall . The company 's locomotives , many of which were built in the company 's workshops at Swindon , were painted a Brunswick green colour while , for most of its existence , it used a two-tone chocolate and cream livery for its passenger coaches . Goods wagons were painted red but this was later changed to mid-grey . Great Western trains included long-distance express services such as the Flying Dutchman , the Cornish Riviera Express and the Cheltenham Spa Express . It also operated many suburban and rural services , some operated by steam railmotors or autotrains . The company pioneered the use of larger , more economic goods wagons than were usual in Britain . It operated a network of road motor ( bus ) routes , was a part of the Railway Air Services , and owned ships , docks and hotels .
The Aldeburgh branch line was a railway branch line linking the town of Saxmundham on the East Suffolk line and the seaside resort of Aldeburgh . There were intermediate stops at Leiston and Thorpeness . Part of the line remains in use for nuclear flask trains servicing Sizewell nuclear power station .
The Great Eastern Railway ( GER ) was a pre-grouping British railway company , whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia . The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923 . Formed in 1862 after the amalgamation of the Eastern Counties Railway and several other smaller railway companies the GER served Cambridge , Chelmsford , Colchester , Great Yarmouth , Ipswich , King 's Lynn , Lowestoft , Norwich , Southend-on-Sea ( opened by the GER in 1889 ) , and East Anglian seaside resorts such as Hunstanton ( whose prosperity was largely a result of the GER 's line being built ) and Cromer . It also served a suburban area , including Enfield , Chingford , Loughton and Ilford . This suburban network was , in the early 20th century , the busiest steam-hauled commuter system in the world . The majority of the Great Eastern 's locomotives and rolling stock were built at Stratford Works , part of which was on the site of today 's Stratford International station and the rest was adjacent to Stratford Regional station . The GER owned 1,200 miles ( 1,931 km ) of line and had a near-monopoly in East Anglia until the opening of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway in 1893 although there were a number of minor lines , such as the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway that stayed resolutely independent until after the grouping in 1923 .
The Chasewater Railway is a former colliery railway running round the shores of Chasewater in Staffordshire , England . It is now operated as a heritage railway . The line is approximately 2 miles ( 3.2 km ) in length , contained entirely within Chasewater Country Park . The route , which forms a horse-shoe shape around the lake , passes through heathland , including a Site of Special Scientific Interest , and passes over a 1⁄4-mile ( 0.40 km ) long causeway .
The Midland Railway ( MR ) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922 , when it became part of the London , Midland and Scottish Railway . It had a large network of lines managed from its headquarters in Derby . It became the third-largest railway undertaking in the British Isles ( after the Great Western Railway and the London and North Western Railway ) .
Allhallows is a village and civil parish on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent , England . Situated in the northernmost part of Kent , and covering an area of 23.99 km² , the parish is bounded on the north side by the River Thames , and in the east by the course of Yantlet creek , now silted up . At the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,649 . Allhallows village is in two parts : the ancient Hoo All Hallows and the 20th century holiday colony Allhallows-on-Sea . Near to the village of Allhallows is Windhill Green . There used to be a hamlet on the site of Windhill Green , but all of the original buildings have been demolished . The name remains on the Ordnance Survey maps .
The Southern Railway ( SR ) , sometimes shortened to 'Southern ' , was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping . It linked London with the Channel ports , South West England , South coast resorts and Kent . The railway was formed by the amalgamation of several smaller railway companies , the largest of which were the London & South Western Railway ( LSWR ) , the London , Brighton and South Coast Railway ( LB & SCR ) and the South Eastern and Chatham Railway ( SE & CR ) . The construction of what was to become the Southern Railway began in 1838 with the opening of the London and Southampton Railway , which was renamed the London & South Western Railway . The railway was noted for its astute use of public relations and a coherent management structure headed by Sir Herbert Walker . At 2,186 miles ( 3,518 km ) , the Southern Railway was the smallest of the Big Four railway companies and , unlike the others , the majority of its revenue came from passenger traffic rather than freight . It created what was at that time the world 's largest electrified main line railway system and the first electrified inter-city route ( London - Brighton ) . There were two Chief Mechanical Engineers ; Richard Maunsell between 1923 and 1937 and Oliver Bulleid from 1937 to 1948 , both of whom designed new locomotives and rolling stock to replace much of that which was inherited in 1923 . The Southern Railway played a vital role in the Second World War , embarking the British Expeditionary Force , during the Dunkirk operations , and supplying Operation Overlord in 1944 ; because the railway was primarily a passenger network , its success was an even more remarkable achievement . The Southern Railway operated a number of famous named trains , including the Brighton Belle , the Bournemouth Belle , the Golden Arrow and the Night Ferry ( London - Paris and Brussels ) . The West Country services were dominated by lucrative summer holiday traffic and included named trains such as the Atlantic Coast Express and the Devon Belle . The company 's best-known livery was highly distinctive : locomotives and carriages were painted in a bright malachite green above plain black frames , with bold , bright yellow lettering .
The Hundred of Hoo Railway is a railway line in Kent , England , following the North Kent Line from Gravesend before diverging at Hoo Junction near Shorne Marshes and continuing in an easterly direction across the Hoo Peninsula , passing near the villages of Cooling , High Halstow , Cliffe and Stoke before reaching the Isle of Grain and the container port on its eastern tip , Thamesport . There used to be a short branch line leading from Stoke Junction to the coastal town of Allhallows but this closed from 4 December 1961 , the same date on which the Hundred of Hoo line was closed to passenger services .
The North Kent Line is a railway which runs from a junction of Britain 's South East Main Line , east of St Johns railway station , Greater London to a point south-west of Strood station by the River Medway in Medway where it links to the Chatham Main Line . The London terminus is Charing Cross station . The section from Charlton to Dartford is also referred to as the Woolwich Line in the context of Southeastern Metro services .
The Alnwick branch line is a partly closed railway line in Northumberland , northern England . A heritage railway operates a short section of the line , which originally ran from Alnmouth railway station , on the East Coast Main Line , to the town of Alnwick , a distance of 2 3⁄4 miles ( 4.4 km ) . 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 operated by steam locomotives .
The North Eastern Railway ( NER ) was an English railway company . It was incorporated in 1854 by the combination of several existing railway companies . Later , it was amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923 . Its main line survives to the present day as part of the East Coast Main Line between London and Edinburgh .
The Ambergate-Pye Bridge line is a partially disused , partially restored , and partially developed for other uses railway line in Derbyshire , England . It was a short east-west line linking the Midland Main Line with the Erewash Valley line . The line was opened by the Midland Railway to freight on 1 February 1875 , and to passenger trains on 1 May 1875 . The Midland was grouped into the London , Midland and Scottish Railway ( LMS ) in 1923 .
The Midland Railway - Butterley is a heritage railway at Butterley , near Ripley in Derbyshire .
The Leeds , Bradford and Halifax Junction Railway ( LB & HJR ) was an English railway company . It built a line between Bradford and Leeds , and had running powers over the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway to Halifax . It opened its main line in 1854 and later built a number of branch lines . It was worked by the Great Northern Railway , giving that company the access it needed to Bradford and Halifax , and the GNR absorbed the LB & HJR in 1865 . The line between Leeds and Bradford continues in use at the present day , but the rest of the LB & HJR network has closed .
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 doing so 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 . 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 Eastern Railway and the North British Railway so as to offer seamless travel facilities . The main line railways of Great Britain were grouped following the Railways Act 1921 into one or other of four new larger concerns . The Great Northern Railway was a constituent of the London and North Eastern Railway , which took control at the beginning of 1923 . Although many local lines have been closed , much of the network is active today .
The Ashbourne line was a 33 1⁄2 mi ( 53.9 km ) 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 .
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 .
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 .
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 ) . [ citation needed ] 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 [ citation needed ] - and that one third of its 738 signal boxes controlled junctions averaging one every 3.5 miles ( 6 km ) . No two adjacent stations were more than 5.5 miles ( 9 km ) 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 and North Sea , being a bigger shipowner than any other British railway company . [ citation needed ] It amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922 . One year later , the merged company became the largest constituent of the London , Midland and Scottish Railway .
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 .
The London and South Western Railway ( LSWR or L & SWR ) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922 . Starting as the London and Southampton Railway , its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter , with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth . It also had many routes connecting towns in Hampshire and Berkshire , including Portsmouth and Reading . In the grouping of railways in 1923 the LSWR amalgamated with other railways to create the Southern Railway . Among significant achievements of the LSWR were the electrification of suburban lines , the introduction of power signalling , the development of Southampton Docks , the rebuilding of London Waterloo station as one of the great stations of the world , and the handling of the massive traffic involved in the First World War . Spreading car ownership led to a rapid decline of passenger traffic in Devon and Cornwall from about 1960 to the end of that decade so short mid-distance-from-London branches and the remote peninsular sections of route closed under the Beeching Report , except the line to Penzance from Exeter which had since the very outset been the main preserve of the Great Western Railway , chiefly due to that company 's initial laying of track there and doing so on broad gauge and encouraging Devon and Cornish companies to do so under the 'Gauge War ' .
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 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 Glen ) in Waterfoot . Most of the bridges have been demolished or infilled in the years since closure . A foot and cycle path now follows much of the route including the 1/8 mile Newchurch No . 1 Tunnel and 1/4 mile Newchurch No 2 Tunnel . However , there are proposals to reopen the line as part of the Governments strategy to reopen old rail lines in the country which have been closed in the 1960s or later cuts under British Rail .
The East Lancashire Railway is a 12 1⁄2-mile ( 20 km ) heritage railway line in north west England which runs between Heywood in Greater Manchester and Rawtenstall ( Lancashire ) with intermediate stations at Bury Bolton Street , Burrs Country Park , Summerseat , Ramsbottom all in Greater Manchester , and Irwell Vale conurbations in south east Lancashire .
The Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway ( B & CDR ) was a railway company 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 Chipping Norton branch of the Oxford , Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway ( OW & WR , opened in 1855 ) and the Bourton-on-the-Water Railway ( opened in 1862 ) . Both branches had their main line junction at Chipping Norton Junction , later renamed Kingham , 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 King 's Sutton , 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 throughout . Reversal of through trains was necessary at Chipping Norton Junction until a flyover line was opened , in 1906 , and from that year a through express train from Barry to Newcastle Central ran over the route , using the flyover . The company sold its undertaking to the GWR in 1896 , receiving about a quarter of the capital it had expended on the construction . The line had difficult gradients and curvature , and much of the route was single track . Between 1951 and 1962 the passenger service was withdrawn in stages , and all of the line except a short stub at King 's Sutton was closed on 1964 , followed by complete closure in 1969 .
The Banbury to Verney Junction branch line was a railway branch line constructed by the Buckinghamshire Railway which connected the Oxfordshire market town of Banbury with the former Oxford/Cambridge Varsity line and the former Metropolitan Railway at Verney Junction , a distance of 21 miles 39 chains ( 21.49 mi ; 34.58 km ) . Onward routes from there ran to the West Coast Main Line at Bletchley via Brackley and Buckingham and thence to Cambridge , or to Aylesbury for London . The line was promoted by the Buckinghamshire Railway which was formed in 1847 to construct two routes : one from Bletchley to Oxford , later known as the Varsity Line , and another to Banbury . The line to Banbury was opened in May 1850 and the Oxford section followed in October of the same year . The line was worked by the London and North Western Railway , which absorbed the Buckinghamshire Railway in 1879 . In 1923 , the London and North Western became a constituent of the London , Midland and Scottish Railway at the Grouping . The line became part of British Railways upon nationalisation on 1 January 1948 . Increasing competition from motor transport and dwindling receipts after the Second World War led to the line being chosen in 1956 for an experiment with British Rail Derby Lightweight diesel multiple units in an attempt to stem the losses . Although the units were well-patronised , the deficit was not reduced sufficiently to justify keeping the line open . The section between Banbury and Buckingham closed on 2 January 1961 , with the section Buckingham-Verney Jn abandoned on 5 December 1966 . None of the station buildings have survived , although some sections of the line are now public footpaths .
The Buckinghamshire Railway was a railway company in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire , England that constructed railway lines connecting Bletchley , Banbury and Oxford . Part of the route is still in use today as the Oxford to Bicester Line .
The Varsity Line ( or the Oxford to Cambridge railway line ) is the railway route that used to link the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge , operated by the London and North Western Railway . During World War II the line was adopted as a strategic route for freight avoiding London , and additional connections were made to nearby lines to improve the utility of the route . In fact the route was not greatly used for its intended purpose . After the war the line was again scheduled to be developed as a strategic route , but this scheme too was never fully implemented . Passenger services were withdrawn from most of the line in 1967 , and only the Bletchley-Bedford section remained open for passenger traffic . In 1987 , the section between Oxford and Bicester was reopened , followed in 2015 by a connection to the Chiltern Main Line at Bicester , enabling Chiltern Railways to operate an Oxford to London passenger service . There are funded plans for the entire line to be re-established by the mid 2020s ( partly on a new route ) under a new name - East West Rail .
The Foxfield Railway is a preserved standard gauge line located south east of Stoke-on-Trent . The line was built in 1893 to serve the colliery at Dilhorne on the Cheadle Coalfield . It joined the North Staffordshire Railway line near Blythe Bridge . It is open at weekends and operates trains on Sundays , Bank Holidays and some Saturdays from April to October and Santa Special trains in December .
The North Staffordshire Railway ( NSR ) was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire , Cheshire , Derbyshire and Shropshire . The company was based in Stoke-on-Trent and was nicknamed The Knotty ; its lines were built to the standard gauge of 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in ( 1,435 mm ) . The main routes were constructed between 1846 and 1852 and ran from Macclesfield to Norton Bridge , just north of Stafford , and from Crewe to Egginton Junction , west of Derby . Within these main connections with other railway companies , most notably the London and North Western Railway ( LNWR ) , the company operated a network of smaller lines although the total route mileage of the company never exceeded 221 miles ( 355.7 km ) . The majority of the passenger traffic was local although a number of LNWR services from Manchester to London were operated via Stoke . Freight traffic was mostly coal and other minerals but the line also carried the vast majority of china and other pottery goods manufactured in England . As the NSR was surrounded by other larger railway companies , there were in the 19th century several attempts emanating from other companies or proposals from NSR shareholders to amalgamate with one or more of the other companies that adjoined it . None of these came to fruition and the NSR remained an independent company up to 1923 when it became part of the London , Midland and Scottish Railway Company .
The Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway was a standard gauge railway in Hampshire , UK . The 12 mi ( 19 km ) line , which opened on Saturday , 1 June 1901 with no formal ceremony , ran between Basingstoke and Alton . It was the first railway authorised by the Light Railway Commission to be built under the Light Railways Act 1896 . In January 1917 much of the track was removed . But the line was relaid and re-opened in August 1924 largely because of pressure from local landowners , farmers and agricultural workers . Passenger services ended in 1932 but a goods service from Basingstoke as far as Bentworth and Lasham continued until 1936 . Most of the line was then lifted for a second time . However , two short stretches of track at either end of the railway were left in place . These were used for shunting goods traffic until 1967 . The northern section was from Basingstoke to the Thornycroft factory , and from Butts Junction to Alton Park at the southern end .
Woodkirk is an ancient village between Leeds and Dewsbury , West Yorkshire , England . The parish church is a grade II listed building . It is traditionally the centre of the parish of West Ardsley , but Tingley is now a much larger settlement . Woodkirk was part of the Ardsley urban district 1894-1937 , which also included West Ardsley and East Ardsley and was then part of Morley municipal borough 1937-1974 . The village once formed part of the former municipal borough of Morley , and is still classed as part of Morley in the census . However , it is technically separate , and is not governed by Morley Town Council . Woodkirk is in the Leeds City Council ward , Morley South , each electing three councillors to Leeds City Council . It is in the Morley and Outwood parliamentary constituency . Woodkirk is just within the boundaries of the City of Leeds although Woodkirk Post Office is in Kirklees . Woodkirk contains a high school and sixth form : Woodkirk High Specialist Science School . The school opened in the late 1940s and now has over 2,000 students . The Leeds Country Way passes through the churchyard .
The Bedford-Northampton line was a branch of the Midland Railway which served stations in three counties : Northampton and Horton in Northamptonshire , Olney in Buckinghamshire and Turvey and Bedford in Bedfordshire , England . Opened in 1872 , the intermediate stations closed to passengers in 1962 , leaving a small section between Northampton and Piddington station to remain open until 1981 for the purposes of the Ministry of Defence establishment . The track remains down on another small section of the line between Northampton and Brackmills . The reopening of the line has been proposed by the Bedfordshire Railway & Transport Association .
The Benwick Goods Railway was a Great Eastern Railway line serving the village of Benwick , Cambridgeshire .
Birkenhead Dock Branch is a disused railway line running from the South junction of Rock Ferry , to the site of the former Bidston Dock on the Wirral Peninsula , England . The branch is approximately 4 1⁄2 miles ( 7.2 km ) in length . Although called a branch , the line was accessible from both ends , from Bidston East junction and from Rock Ferry railway station . The former Mollington Street Rail Depot was branched into the line . A section of the line runs through Haymarket Tunnel and a low-level cutting through the centre of Birkenhead ; visible from the road flyovers . The former Canning Street North signal box has now been demolished following fire damage , and the rails across the level crossing there have been removed due to the provision of cycle lanes on the roadway . The non-standard gates remain on the east side , but a fence has been erected on the other side despite the railway being officially out of use , rather than closed . Level crossings are also located at Duke Street and Wallasey Bridge Road . The railway lines are still partially intact .
The North Tyneside Steam Railway and Stephenson Railway Museum are visitor attractions in North Tyneside , North East England . The museum and railway workshops share a building on Middle Engine Lane adjacent to the Silverlink Retail Park . The railway is a standard gauge line , running south for 2 miles ( 3.2 km ) from the museum to Percy Main . The railway is operated by the North Tyneside Steam Railway Association ( NTSRA ) . The museum is managed by Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums on behalf of North Tyneside Council . The railway runs along the alignment of various former coal wagonways , which were later used by the Tyne and Wear Metro Test Centre ; the museum and workshop building used to be the test facility . The museum is dedicated to the railway pioneers George Stephenson and his son Robert , with one of George 's early locomotives , Billy , housed in the museum .
The Tyne and Wear Metro , referred to locally as simply the Metro , is a rapid transit and light rail system in North East England , serving Newcastle upon Tyne , Gateshead , South Tyneside , North Tyneside and Sunderland in Tyne and Wear . It has been described as the first modern light rail system in the United Kingdom . The initial network opened between 1980 and 1984 , using converted former railway lines , linked with new tunnel infrastructure . Extensions to the original network were opened in 1991 and 2002 . Over 36 million passenger journeys were made on the network in 2018/19 , which spans 77.5 kilometres ( 48.2 mi ) and has two lines with a total of 60 stations , nine of which are underground . It is the second-largest of the four metro systems in the United Kingdom , after the London Underground ; the others being the Docklands Light Railway and the Glasgow Subway . The system is owned and operated by the local transport authority Nexus . It was operated under contract by DB Regio Tyne & Wear Limited , a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains , between 2010 and 2017 . This contract ended on 1 April 2017 , and Nexus took over direct operation of the system for a planned period of two years .