Great Western Coffee Shop

From Scotrail (https://www.scotrail.co.uk/plan-your-journey/stations-and-facilities/ibm)

There doesn't appear to have been any closure process. My best guess as to why is that it was never a public railway station in legal terms, but opened as a private facility for IBM with no access except across their land, and subsequent changes bringing in other employers haven't altered that. Or at least that Scotrail's lawyers think so.

I took a look at Real Time Trains to see if I could find a "Party" service left, but didn't spot one.  Final train appears to be the 23:39 Wemyss Bay to Glasgow Central on 8th December, which calls at 23:48.

??? Is this a Famous Grahame Typo^(TM) for "Parly" or something else (maybe a service only open to specific parties, ie in this case IBM employees)?

Suggestions elsewhere that there are no other employees on the site now.

Paul

There are IBM retirees in my part of the world here in Central Brittany, and let me tell you, 24-hour Party People doesn't even begin to cover it round here.

Yes - I meant "Parly" not "Party" - sorry about that.  Autocorrect rather than misrouted finger for once - nearly had the same thing happen as I confirmed the amendment.

I was wondering if it was a full closure or reduction to a parliamentary service. That latter would be a service reduction to a minimal occasional train (perhaps one each way a day or week) stopping to avoid the need for a closure procedure and mothball the station ...

Noting on WikiPedia (it does add "Citation needed"):

Passenger ticket sales over recent years ... latter figure in this series to March 2017
128741 / 117359 / 93954 / 93519 / 205748 / 145664 / 136414 / 127826 / 122590 / 71128 / 47376 / 22016 / 6032

Wish I had got off now....

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/ibm.jpg)

Does anyone know what the three letter code is for the station under discussion? :P

It follows a pattern set by Ayr, Ash, Ore, Par, Rye, Wye and Ely

You forgot Lee, Lye and Wem. :P

I think a better three letter code for IBM would have been to use the three preceding letters of the alphabet.

.......and Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley.

I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARJ8cAGm6JE

And then take the three letter code from Scotland and apply it to the station that currently use it in Cheshire?

Posted elsewhere that its not closing (officially), but services not calling for the present.  Item 3.4 here: http://www.spt.co.uk/documents/latest/SP231118_Agenda10.pdf

Many thanks for that link.  To ensure the key text remains available for later reference (I suspect that is a transient URL quoted at it has "latest" in it  ;D )

Thanks Grahame.  Not wishing to start topic drift but the remainder of that report seems quite positive about electrification, new trains and service lengthing.

Can a station be 'mothballed', without a service?

I though the purpose of a Parliamentary Service was that stations had to have at least one service still running (a day/week/month)

I was wondering what would happen if they said the trains (still running) would only stop by request. With no public access into or out of the station, it would be quite easy to refuse all requests, on the grounds you'd no business to be there.

I would be delighted if we had another thread looking at the very positive aspects. There's been a great deal of rail improvement for Strathclyde commuters in recent years - so much so that (I suspect) if there had been proportionate improvements in the Bristol area, all the FoSBR and Metro West schemes would have been completed by now.   However, mothballing of IBM could be a serious concern / precedent.

Turning off a station / line to "Mothball" it is, I think, much easier than turning it back on.  I seem to recall that the line from Oxford to Bletchley was just "mothballed" - never abandoned - and just look at the cost and effort and justification that's underway to get that back.  So this "mothballing" smells a bit like a step that would have the (intended ?) side effect of making full closure at a later date much more justified, and building up of traffic when the area is redeveloped much much harder as remedial works will almost undoubtedly be needed.

IBM had 6,000 passenger journeys in the most recent ORR figures - though I expect there will be a significant drop in the next set of figure which come out next month.  If "IBM" can be mothballed and effectively closed with those sorts of numbers, it must be a concern for perhaps a dozen stations that GWR manage with number less than a half of that.  Looking back to the last decade, there was a serious risk at Melksham that after a 10 day line closure for engineering works, services would continue in the form of the rail replacement buses.  There are undoubtedly occasions where a station's future should be considered, but it's really pretty underhand for a station to be rendered useless or nearly so by the activities / actions of those we have entrusted as a nation to take care of it and provide a service.

A very, very old story has re-surfaced in the Daily Mirror

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/railway-company-plans-close-station-13628010


Comments are interesting ...

Not totally a bed of roses ... from the Daily Record (https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/rail-commuters-face-longer-journeys-13628573)


I really need to split this thread!

I bet you can do it quicker than ScotRail's 13 minutes...

Passengers from Edinburgh to Dunblane can of course get there a bit faster by changing at Stirling into another train (from Glasgow) that runs just ahead, taking 58 mins.
As seen in journey planners.   A mountain from molehill situation, I expect they have reasons for what they’ve decided to do.

Paul

I'm wondering if the phrase "tea-time service," which sounds so English, would actually be used anywhere except Scotland.  ;)

Perhaps they still have a proper buffet...

Paul

Or are Terry Pratchett fans.  ;D

Still not sure if this might also happen at Pilning.

Over my dead body.

Sounds like you do not want Pilning to close, Nobody does want stations closing, But Dr Beeching did not care.There must of been mass unemployment when lines closed. And some lines now, if still open, would be profitable.

Dr Beeching

Whoever invented autocorrect should burn in hello.

Pilning is a very, very interesting case. 

* It's set in the midst of an area that's not exactly uninhabited and is ripe for and starting to develop close by.  It's also close to major motorways. 

* Services (such as the are) reach Bristol Temple Meads in around 20 minutes, and take under 25 minutes from Newport - compared to 40 minutes from Severn Beach station to Bristol, or 90 minutes (if you're lucky with a connection) from Newport to Severn Beach ... Severn Beach being quite near and quoted as the alternative, but on another line

* With 478 passengers in a year on somewhat under 100 train calls (considering engineering), it manages about 5 passenger journeys per call.   With the hourly Cardiff to Taunton service and the hourly Taunton to Cardiff service calling, 5 passengers per train would give a respectable number of journeys of over 50,000 per annum!

* You would NOT get 5 users of the "use it because it's unusual" type on an hourly service ... such class of passenger would be lost into the general use, but the local support illustrated by the improving number each year would encourage new traffic.   Indeed, general traffic would find the rail transport and return journey opportunities very attractive indeed.  With Severn Bridge tolls now just days from removal, Pilning could provide an ideal park and ride for traffic coming across, leaving at the new junction which I think is being built in the M49, and people then taking the train into Bristol and helping them relieve the congestion I think they suffer.

* Current infrastructure could not cope!  Although the line to Patchway is reversible it's very very rare used in the opposite direction and sending the local train down there to stop at the platform is impractical.  Furthermore, the station is off a lane and could do with shifting - still within Pilning - to a site off a classified road, where the road bridge can be used for passengers to cross to both sides, and were road traffic from the catchment area can be brought in on roads fit for that purpose, and not though lanes and villages!

Fine with me, That's it, we,ll do that then, Lobby NR To close the old one and build a new one like Cam & Dursley, Will need room for a carpark, If there,s anything in the way we,ll just pull it down. Now heres to Pilning Parkway. With all Portsmouth to Cardiffs and back stopping.