Stations Where Trains Reverse as Part of the Journey

[GarrettTheThief]

Are any Nottingham - Lincoln trains currently scheduled to serve Newark Northgate by reversal? 

 

I know at least one service a day in both directions reverses into/out of Newark Northgate and reverses again to get back onto the Nottingham-Lincoln line.  I wonder if this process is quicker than the 15-minute walk between NNG and NC?

 

Some trains from St Pancras to Leeds go to Nottingham and reverse onto the Erewash Valley Line before rejoining the Midland Main Line South of Chesterfield.

 

Don't some of the East Coast extensions to Bradford Forster Square, Harrogate and Skipton reverse at Leeds?

 

Also, services between Nottingham and Birmingham New Street and Cardiff go via Derby and reverse there onto the Cross-Country route to Birmingham (as already noted by 'CHARD).

[4630]

Northern Rail services from Huddersfield to Wakefield Westgate reverse at Wakefield Kirkgate.

[cromptonnut]

Do services from Tonbridge still reverse at Redhill before continuing via Reigate?

Some weekends, and during the current London Bridge blockade, services have been doing Reigate - Redhill (reverse) - Tonbridge.

 

As noted a couple of posts back, the FGW Reading - Gatwick service also reverses at Redhill.

 

Has anyone mentioned Skegness - Nottingham services that reverse at Grantham?

[SGJ]

Does the Leeds Morecambe service reverse at Lancaster if they still run ?

[phil-b259]

Do services from Tonbridge still reverse at Redhill before continuing via Reigate?

 

No - such services ceased before privatisation.

 

The Tonbridge - Reading service was split back in the early 90s, the western section going over to GW turbos based at reading while the Redhill to Tonbridge bit went over to EMU operation and through services from London (which have at times split at Redhill to serve Reigate as well as Tonbridge. At one stage during the Connex era there was even a Three Bridges - Maidstone service (which required reversal at Redhill), but the patronage simply wasn't there to make it worth while continuing (there were hopes it would attract airline passengers from Kent, much like the Reading trains do today).

 

The only time you do get direct Tonbridge - Reigate trains is during big engineering blockades like the renewal of Stoats nest junctions in 2013 and during certain stages of the London bridge works this year, when temporary timetables have been issued.

[The Bigbee Line]

When Engineering works come into play, the choices are endless: Brighton, Hove, Preston Park, Sevenoaks, Swanley to name a few.

[The Bigbee Line]

In an emergency I've reversed at Cannon Steet and Blackfriars.

[wombatofludham]

Back in 1994 I was on a Limerick to Waterford service and it ran past the back of the station at Limerick Junction, then reversed into a bay at the Cork end of the platform.  After several connections came and went, we then reversed back out of the bay, and backed up the line back to Limerick, much to the consternation of two German backpackers across the aisle.  Eventually we came to a stop and after a toot, rattled back down the line to cross the main Dublin-Cork main line at 90 degrees to the station.  So several reversals just to gain access to one station.

 

I'm not sure if they have sorted this manoeuvre out now, I recall there were plans for a new platform and trackwork alterations but I'm not sure if they were carried out or not.

[tomparryharry]

Camarthen?

Maesteg (Inter City Diversion-South Wales main)

 

Ian

 

PS Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway. Travelling from Big Pit to Blaenavon High Level, the train reverses at Furnace Sidings.

[talisman56]

Ones in my experience:

West Coastway-East Coastway through services reverse in Brighton platform 3

Portsmouth/Southampton-South Wales through services in Bristol Temple Meads

Back in time, Bristol-Birmingham services that have reversed in Gloucester

Plymouth-Waterloo in Exeter St.Davids

Victoria-Hastings in Eastbourne

[roundhouse]

Do services from Tonbridge still reverse at Redhill before continuing via Reigate?

Some do

 

A few years ago there were Also Three Bridges to Tonbridge reversing at Redhill.

 

 

 

Castleford and Wakefield Kirkgate in West Yorkshire are other reversing points.

[31A]

Northern Rail services from Huddersfield to Wakefield Westgate reverse at Wakefield Kirkgate.

 

Until about last year it was Selby-Wakefield Westgate, reversing at Bradford Interchange, Huddersfield and Wakefield Westgate!  Not sure whether any do that any longer (there may be a few peak hours which do); the service is now basically split at Huddersfield.

[31A]

Bradford Interchange

on Blackpool >> York service

 

Coombe Junction

 

And every other train at Bradford Interchange (except Grand Central).

[31A]

NE - SouthCoast trains reverse at New Street 

Cardiff - Nottingham reverse at Derby

Leicester - Norwich reverse at Ely

 

Don't think there've been any Leicester-Norwich for several years now, but Liverpool-Norwich reverse at Ely (having earlier reversed at Sheffield).

 

Edit: As noted by russ p in post 7.

[31A]

Does the Leeds Morecambe service reverse at Lancaster if they still run ?

They certainly do, and the Leeds-Heysham reverses at Lancaster and then at Morecambe.

[Steve-e]

Kilmarnock

 

Glasgow - Kilmarnock (Reverse) - Ayr

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

['CHARD]

Don't think there've been any Leicester-Norwich for several years now, but Liverpool-Norwich reverse at Ely (having earlier reversed at Sheffield).

 

Edit: As noted by russ p in post 7.

 

I only board them at Leicester, so I care not as to their origin 

[Pacific231G]

Bourne End on the Maidenhead-Marlow (but sadly no longer High Wycombe) line.

 

Do any trains from the south now reverse at Inverness to travel further north or are they now separate trains?

 

It's been mentioned but I've just been reading a book about the West Highland that mostly focussed on the old Fort William station. I also spent some time watching operations there in the 1960s and the reversals were particularly interesting. Down trains from Glasgow going on to Mallaig usually detached sleepers or a restaurant car and sometimes gained the observation car and vice versa for up trains. Unlike the other single track reversing stations mentioned, the junction was some way down the line as were the MPD, goods yard and carriage sidings so the single track line along the lochside was a real bottleneck. The station itself was effectively an Inglenook with just two main line points and a crossover that from all accounts was very little used and was later removed.

 

Fort William (old station) not to scale and ignoring general curvature through station.

 

The up and down trains going the whole length of the line to and from Mallaig sometimes crossed at Ft. William and that would produce periods of intense activity. When summer relief trains were being run the station could get very snarled up and apparently even goods trains had to move up to the signal box from the yard to receive or give up their tokens.

[Ian J.]

I'm slightly surprised it doesn't appear to have been mentioned itself:

 

Reading

 

I'm not sure if it's done today, but until not too long ago the cross-country services from Bournemouth (Central) to the North used to reverse at Reading. In the days of locomotives it usually entailed a loco change, obviously not needed now with it all being units.

 

Historically of course the cross-country services via the Somerset and Dorset used to reverse at Bath Green Park.

[pete_mcfarlane]

Service would be so much better if they reinstated the GN route due south from Newark and got rid of the dangerous crossing on the level of the main line.

It's hardly dangerous as it's properly signalled. The issue is that it reduces capacity on the ECML as gaps need to be left in the timetable for the Lincoln trains to cross.

 

I'm not sue if reinstating the Bottesford-Newark line would help, as the trains would still need to cross the ECML at Newark. What's needed is a proper flyover at Newark.

[great central]

Are any Nottingham - Lincoln trains currently scheduled to serve Newark Northgate by reversal? 

 

A few do on Sundays, there also used to be one in the week, not sure if it still does though, a Lincoln job I think. 

[pH]

I can think of another express that did this!

How long did it do that for? IIRC, it used to run via Corby, and it was taken off not long after the Nottingham-Melton Mowbray line was cut. Had it been diverted via Leicester before that?

[Torn-on-the-platform]

I've been on a couple of Sunday services from St Pancras - Sheffield (and potentially beyond) that have reversed at Derby.

 

I have vague recollections of being on a train passing through Birmingham New Street that has done the same. I don't know the lines round there at all, so I couldn't hypothesis as to why. Every other time, my Sheffield - Exeter trains have gone straight through.

[big jim]

I'm slightly surprised it doesn't appear to have been mentioned itself:

 

Reading

 

I'm not sure if it's done today, but until not too long ago the cross-country services from Bournemouth (Central) to the North used to reverse at Reading. In the days of locomotives it usually entailed a loco change, obviously not needed now with it all being units.

 

 

i was just about to mention reading and as you am surprised it took 1/2 way down page 2 for it to be mentioned

 

i noticed today that an XC service from oxford to southampton was booked to call at reading west rather than reading, not sure if there were engineering works happening though

 

machynlleth to birmingham services reverse at shrewsbury

 

there used to be (possibly still is) a llandudno to bangor local service in the mid 2000s that changed ends in llandudno jn

 

i caught a skegness to nottingham service last year that changed ends at newark

 

regards new st if i'm pretty sure a train can leave from either direction and get to where it needs to go, for example a new st to bristol train could leave via university and bournville or go via bordesley, similarly wolverhampton trains can go via smethwick or via aston

 

technically a bristol bound train could even go via the wolverhampton lines and go towards soho, across to perry barr, bescot, walsall, sutton park, castle bromwich, landor st, st andrews, camp hill, kings norton and onto bromsgrove, or just keep it simple and go smethwick galton jn, stourbridge, droitwich!!

['CHARD]

How long did it do that for? IIRC, it used to run via Corby, and it was taken off not long after the Nottingham-Melton Mowbray line was cut. Had it been diverted via Leicester before that?

 

Hmmmm.  In my idiocy, I thought the matching pair followed the same core route.  In the formations notices it indicates tail (or head) traffic variously being cut at Sheffield and Leeds (reverse) on certain nights.  I have thought for some years that there was always a second reversal, which had the effect of keeping the beds at the same end.   This was reinforced by the photo in Robotham that shows a reverse formation Pullman at Galashiels, which I put down to the lost Notts reversal as a result of the closure of the direct line via Old Dalby.

 

I have also just realised that I was thinking about the Sleeper all along, rather than The Waverley, which again I assumed took the same route as the Thames-Clyde.  As I'm literally sat next to the 1963 LM passenger T/T I shall now attempt to fill the gaps in my learning!

 

EDIT:  Noted - The Waverley via Notts, Thames-Clyde via Leicester.