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Bedwyn (turnback siding), Warminster (on the main line) ... I'm looking to come up with a list of where trains can turn back beyond their final stop - though beyond the platform.   I think there are quite a few others - either routinely done, or done if engineering works or short running require it.  I think Clifton Down might fit this description?

Apart from needing the extra running time to the turning point (and needing that signalled such that reversals can be done there, and the extra occupancy of lines if there's no siding, are there any other reasons it can't / won't be done?

Happens at Hereford and at Oxford.

Used to happen on platform 1 at Worcester Foregate St. The two platforms there are separate single lines. On platform 2 (the northern one, used for trains to/from Birmingham), it has always been possible to reverse in the station. But the signalling was different on P1, and a train from the Oxford direction that terminated there had to go across the river to Henwick to reverse. But a major advance means that you can now reverse in P1 as well!

Cheltenham Spa

At Paignton where certain trains reverse in the sidings at Goodrington

Here's an article listing several stations where this is done on the London Underground - https://londonist.com/2015/01/how-to-get-a-guaranteed-seat-on-the-tube

Interesting ... and now that you have me thinking "Underground" ... Waterloo!   (on The Drain)

And I suspect Yate this week too during engineering works.

And while we're on the Cotswold Line, there's the Malvern Wells turnback, too, just beyond Great Malvern station.

St James Park.

Not sure if Clifton Down requires a reverse beyond the station.

If up trains (toward Avonmouth) are being turned back there then they'll be signalled into the bi-directional down (toward Bristol TM) platform.

Maidenhead, turnback siding between UP and DN Reliefs, and into Maidenhead carriage sidings.  Also since re-signalling its possible for trains on the UP Main to cross over at Maidenhead East onto the DN Main and return via plat 1 towards Reading, it would also seem feasible to do this from the UP (or DN Relief wrong road) to the DN Main

In practice, Shalford has served as a turnback for Guildford - hence why this obscure station few have heard of appears as a destination on the North Downs line.

Doesn’t Cardiff Central not have bi-directional signalling?

Filton Abbey Wood currently during the Bristol Parkway blockade. Trains reverse on the Filton Chord behind BL2052 signal.

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/advanced/BRST052/2018/09/21/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt

There is an unusual one at Bath Spa. Although the platforms are reversibly signalled, there is one train that is shunted out of the way to avoid blocking up the station until the departure time of its next working. On Mondays to Fridays the 15:58 Bristol Parkway to Bath Spa service (via the 'Rhubarb') then runs as empty stock to Bathampton Junction, reverses on the up main behind B202 signal, and returns to Bath Spa to form the 16:45 Bath Spa to Bristol Parkway service (16:49 to Filton Abbey Wood for the duration of the blockade).

If a Weymouth bound service is to be terminated at Dorchester West, the train will normally shunt out over the junction, behind a position light and back into the other platform. Note that when this is not possible, for example engineering works closing Dorchester Junction, a pilotman will be provided to allow the train to start in the up direction from the down platform.

A Southampton bound train can be terminated at Romsey. There is a position light just beyond the junction on the Chandlers Ford line that allows a train to shunt out behind it and back into the Salisbury bound platform.

XC trains terminating at Southampton usually run through to either up or down side loops, but there’s a single XC train that arrives just after the morning peak that runs down to Totton Yard, it takes up most of the turn round time:
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C78203/2018/09/27/advanced

SWR and XC use proper dedicated reversing sidings just beyond Bournemouth, these are in the ideal middle of the formation, complete with full length staff platforms.

Paul

Goodness - a lot more of this goes on than I had noted!

Can someone confirm - on the same basis:
1. train from Bristol direction can reverse at Bradford Junction having terminated at Bradford-on-Avon
2. train from Swindon direction can reverse at Bradford Junction having terminated at Melksham
3. train from Bristol or Swindon can terminate at Trowbridge and reverse at Heywood Road Junction

Yes, all three of those scenarios are possible.

Newbury, where the new wires have been extended westwards beyond the station to enable electric-only turnbacks via a cross-over just west of the Station.

Apparently the wires go far enough to reverse a 12-coach 387 (if that were ever needed?)

Poole - certainly in XCountry days, and perhaps still so.

Yes, that’s another where empty down trains run beyond into a siding and come back into the up platform later, in the normal offpeak pattern they seem to be in the sidings around 45 mins or so.  Poole S.S. On realtimetrains if interested.

Going back a few years, when Southern’s Brighton <> Southampton first started, many of them ran on to just beyond Southampton, and IIRC often reversed from a position on the slow lines.  Helpfully the slows west of Southampton are the centre pair of the four running lines, so this isn’t as conflicting as you’d think.

As of today, there are a couple of Southern shunts each day, one via the down loop, and one the up loop.  I dare say they could be about retaining route knowledge in case it goes pear shaped:  http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/advanced/SOU/2018/09/27/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=non-passenger&order=wtt&toc=SN

Paul

One train a day reverses twice outside of Newbury to get into position

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C43689/2018/09/20/advanced

It does, but usually operationally easier to go out and come back in to a different platform

There are lots of places where a train could turn back due to operational reasons, which is different to where they regularly turn back. 
For instance, at Topsham trains terminating short run beyond the platform to switch sides, the same can happen at Exeter Central before St James Park.  At Highbridge and Burnham trains can shunt via the loop to return to Bristol.  During the Cowley blockage trains terminating at Tiverton Parkway reversed via Tiverton loops.

Taunton.

The weekday 1355 arrival from Cardiff Central terminates on the down main, the island platform 3. It then heads back up the down main, crosses over to the up main, reverses and heads down that line onto the up relief and then into the up bay platform 6.

Two reasons for doing this move. Firstly, to keep up route knowledge of the reverse into platform 6, and second, to clear platform 3 for a terminating service from London.

Also Reading. Some Southbound terminating XC trains run further East to the loop off the Down Relief at Kennet Bridge, reverse there and come back later to pick up their return working.

Also gets the unit off the Portsmouth direct line.

Epsom

Plenty of SWR and Southern Terminators from London. Some stay on the platform, others continue to the sidings.

SWR services from the Waterloo line generally use the New Yard at EXD to swap from Platform 3 to P1.

GWR 16x's at Gatwick reverse or stable between runs beyond the Station, don't they?

Off-route for us westerners but one of the longest has to be the Chathill twice-daily train which has to run empty for 6 miles to Belford before being able to reverse.

Which serves Chathill and also several other small stations on the ECML north of Morpeth that only get two trains a day each way at the most.  Logic would dictate you'd shut Chathill, Adlington, Widrington and Pegswood, given the distances between them, the number of passengers, and the cumbersome shunt described above, but it's quite nice that logic doesn't always prevail.

I would imagine that has a lot to do with the fact that Pegswood, Widdrington, Acklington and Chathill all come under the formidable auspices of the South East Northumberland Rail User Group, who are campaigning for significantly improved services. (http://www.senrug.co.uk/NorthOfMorpethLocalServices.php)

Post-Beeching, loco-hauled trains between Newcastle, Berwick and Edinburgh served these stations - In 1982 for example, there were 4 trains each way calling at Chathill. Services were run down during the 1980's though, with the Chathill terminators coming in fully in 1991 after ECML electrification.

Try this (https://stationmaster.me.uk/category/rural/chathill/) for a further insight.

I wish them luck.  Certainly there are currently some large layovers at Morpeth on the services to/from Metro Centre, so providing a more frequent service as far as Berwick won't take up as many extra trains as you might imagine - though it would utilise a unit for getting on for two hours if you extended it from Morpeth to Berwick and back.

Pathing an all stations Newcastle to Edinburgh service with four reopened stations would certainly test the timetable planners!

I recall my early involvement in TransWilts .. asking the ORR about passenger numbers using the service, and they came back with a very nice letter saying they didn't have train rider numbers - the best they could do was quote passenger numbers from their stats for Melksham, which were around 3,000 per annum at the two trains each way per day level.   In the last year for which stats have been published, Chathill has 2 trains each way per day and 2,768 passenger journeys.  A further 5,000 journeys are made if you include Adlington, Widrington and Pegswood, and note that north of Morpeth the train also serves Alnmouth - big numbers, also served by long distance trains - at which traffic might well grow if service frequency to Newcastle (with extra local trains) increased.

I don't know Northumberland ... but I do know that its figures at Chathill look remarkably similar to those we had at Melksham - and thank goodness the solution we found was to grow.  Different place, perhaps a different solution - logic is to look at all options, including "it ain't bust - just small" through "Chathill for Lindisfarne" leisure traffic ... and "Chathill Garden City"

I can't see any regular moves beyond the station on RTT. Most arrivals at Gatwick have just 7 minutes at platform before returning to Reading. Beginning and end of day services come from/head to Redhill.

There is an arrival from Guildford on Sundays that shunts out of the station for around half an hour before coming back in to form a service to Reading.

Could be the one I saw, as last time I was there was on a Sunday at the end of June. It was definitely parked a bit south of the Airport Station.

I think reversal outside of the station at Gatwick used to be quite common but not sure when that ceased to be the case.

Interesting that the morning train TO Chathill is a relatively express service, it still skips Pegswood, Widdrington and Acklington.  Those 3 stations are odd in only having a morning train towards Newcastle, only the evening Chathill train calls at them in both directions. 

As a child in the early sixties I regularly used the stoppers as far as Alnwick, then that closed and I went only as far as Alnmouth for a few years.  Never got out at Chathill although I stopped there a few times on the way to or from Berwick...

Paul

It was mainly needed bacause the nominally "slow" platforms 1,2&3 also had the Gatwick Expresses stopping and waiting at them. Once P7 was built and GX went off to the other side there was less pressure for through paths on the slow side.

No doubt usage would improve with a more regular service - you just have to look at the other end of the line at Dunston where there are nearly five times the number of passengers since the service was improved five years ago. However there are plenty of calls on paths between Newcastle and Edinburgh including the open access services from 2021 opeated by FirstGroup.  Chathill itself is tiny, but obviously draws in a reasonable number of commuters from somewhere.

Properly off-area...
Glenrothes with Thornton station.  A terminating train arriving from the Cowdenbeath direction has to disgorge its passengers in the platform, then continue eastwards to get behind a suitable signal (either on north or south curve at Thornton Junction), then come back again to load up for its return journey.  There are no platform starting signals, because the station was built only after the last time the line was resignalled.

Some years ago trains also used to reverse at Chepstow, they ran out towards the wye bridge and over a crossover then back into the opposite Platform. The crossover is still in place but now very rusty.

Lastly, trains do reverse in Cardiff Central, some if they have time will often go into the brickyard siding then come out to plats 0 1 2., but if very late will run from the platform they terminated in, now cardiffs got better signalling, it is second to none.

In the news (up there) again today ... from the Northumberland Gazette (https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/railway-station-hopes-appear-hit-buffers-402808)


It would seem from reading the rest of the article that the previous business case was based on extending the Chathill terminators to Belford.   That is a very limited case and I can appreciate it would not stack up; having been on one of the stoppers out to Chathill (yes, a sample size too small for any statistical significance) and assuming that Belford's station area would be similar (yes, assumptions are dangerous), merely adding a station without any change in service, and without any thought of if and how people are going to make use of the station would not be the best spend even though I suspect its passenger numbers would rapidly climb beyond those of Chathill.    Given free or cheap parking and a frequent service ... who knows?  Perhaps no-one knows, because no-one has looked at the idea?

Since the 387’s arrived Didcot Parkway now sees reversals on a regular basis beyond the platform at West End for some terminating stoppers from Paddington.  Usually they turn back from P5, P4 or P3 but if the platforms are needed they go forward to West End to wait before reversing back into the station for their next working.  P3 (DR) has no direct route to UR: trains have to be routed out to the UM at Didcot East before crossing over to UR at Moreton Cutting.  So P4 or P5 are preferred to reduce conflicting moves.

There are also one or two terminators from Oxford direction that having arrived in P4 (the only platform they can do a West End move from) then reverse to West End, wait, then reverse back into P3 or P4 before reversing again for their next journey towards Oxford. 

Since the start of the new timetable the Barnstaple to St James Park services need to go a further mile to the siding at Exmouth Junction to turn back. I understand that the track work of this siding is to be replaced this year so, during that engineering blockade, the Barnstaple services are planned to go all of the way out to Pinhoe before turning back.