44-587: Bare Lane is a railway station on the Morecambe Branch Line , which runs between Lancaster and Heysham Port . The station, situated 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (4 km) west of Lancaster, serves the suburb of Bare in Morecambe , Lancashire . It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains . The station was opened as Poulton-le-Sands on 8 August 1864 by the London and North Western Railway; it
88-481: A humorous reference in Gilbert and Sullivan 's comic opera The Mikado . The Mikado is explaining how he will match punishments to the crimes committed : The idiot who, in railway carriages, Scribbles on window-panes We only suffer To ride on a buffer In Parliamentary trains. In 1963 under its chairman Richard Beeching , British Railways produced The Reshaping of British Railways report, designed to stem
132-510: A large number of seasonal through trains to destinations such as Glasgow Central , Crewe , Birmingham New Street , Manchester Victoria and London Euston. The Midland line was used for an early trial of electrification, opened between 13 April and 14 September 1908 using 6600 V AC at 25 Hz. In 1953, it was converted to 50 Hz as a trial, and this experiment led to the 25 kV, 50 Hz system becoming standard for new electrification. Latterly, former LNWR Euston to Watford EMU's ran on
176-509: A regular (hourly with some peak extras) Lancaster-Morecambe shuttle. One return service throughout the week is extended to and from Heysham Port to meet the daily ferry to the Isle of Man. There are also a few longer-distance services (currently five per day Mon-Sat and on Sundays also since December 2019) from Morecambe to Skipton and Leeds via the Leeds to Morecambe Line . In addition, for many years
220-526: A trickle. 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. 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
264-690: Is a railway line in Lancashire , England, running from Lancaster to Morecambe and Heysham , where trains connect with ferries to Douglas , Isle of Man . To reach Heysham, trains must reverse at Morecambe. Almost all passenger services are operated by Northern . Most are shuttles between Lancaster and Morecambe, with only a limited service through to Heysham to connect with the ferries, primarily using Class 156 diesel multiple units . A few services continue beyond Lancaster to Skipton and Leeds (see Leeds–Morecambe line ), and generally use Class 150 and (since December 2019) Class 158 units. Since 1994,
308-537: 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 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
352-729: The "little" North Western Railway (NWR) and the Midland Railway , which built the branch to Heysham Harbour and Morecambe Promenade terminus after it took over the NWR in 1874. The first proposals for a branch from Morecambe to the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway (L&C) at Hest Bank were put forward by the Morecambe Harbour and Railway Company (a constituent company of the NWR) in 1846 but these were soon dropped on cost grounds. The L&C revived
396-489: 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". Railway companies reluctantly complied with
440-665: The legal fiction of an open railway. 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 when Arriva CrossCountry withdrew its services from Brighton to Manchester , which
484-463: The 1923 Grouping, with a London Euston to Heysham boat train commencing in 1928 – this ran to Promenade station, where it reversed for its journey to Heysham to meet the Belfast boat. Euston Road remained much quieter than Promenade for most of the year, though it did come into its own in the summer months when the regular local trains to Lancaster, Windermere and Barrow-in-Furness were supplemented by
SECTION 10
#1733086237559528-400: The 1959 Saturday timetable from there listed no fewer than 26 arrivals and 23 departures, including trains to Glasgow, Birmingham New Street, Preston, Stockport , Uttoxeter , Manchester Exchange and Workington . This was in addition to the usual scheduled services to/from Promenade. The station eventually closed to passengers at the end of the 1962 summer season (on 8 September), although it
572-607: The Morecambe and Heysham line, converted to AC overhead operation. The branch remained electrified until it closed in 1966. Though Morecambe remained a popular resort after the nationalisation of the railway system in 1948, post-war road competition began to take its toll on traffic levels and by the late 1950s British Railways decided to concentrate services at the former Midland station. Scheduled trains were diverted to Promenade from 15 September 1958, but Euston Road remained in seasonal use (summer months only) for several more years –
616-453: The PIS screens were installed and finally brought into use. The station is unstaffed and had no ticket facilities of any kind until recently - Northern has now installed a ticket vending machine as part of a programme of station improvements in the area. Waiting shelters are provided and both platforms have step-free access. The station is served by Northern Trains local services, which operate as
660-468: The Up & Down Morecambe line (which is in effect a long siding all the way to the terminus), whilst platform 2 handles trains on what is now the Up & Down Heysham line. The latter is connected to the now-single track branch down to Heysham Port at Holt Bank Junction (just outside Morecambe station), with the junction points operated from a ground frame worked by the train crew. The two lines converge east of
704-460: 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
748-667: The control of the signal box at Bare Lane. Following signalling renewal work in late 2012, the entire line is now supervised from the PSB at Preston. Almost all passenger services are operated by Northern , which runs trains slightly more than once per hour in each direction. Most are shuttles between Lancaster and Morecambe, with just one train a day continuing to Heysham to connect with ferries, primarily using Class 156 diesel multiple units . A few services continue beyond Lancaster to Skipton and Leeds (see Leeds–Morecambe line ), and generally use Class 158 units. The first train each weekday
792-407: The current timetable served only by a parliamentary train are: Examples of lines formerly served only by a parliamentary train are: 10:01 / 10:44 from Gerrards Cross 11:47 to High Wycombe from West Ealing 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: Bordesley
836-513: 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 . Political pressure caused the Board of Trade to investigate, and Sir Robert Peel 's Conservative government enacted
880-499: The former Furness and Midland Joint Railway to Carnforth , the WCML to Hest Bank and then the original 1864 north curve to Bare Lane en route to Morecambe. The only ex-Midland facilities to survive were the terminus at Promenade and the 1904 Heysham branch, which was retained to serve the ferry terminal & adjacent nuclear power plant. This lost its passenger trains in October 1975, following
924-557: The huge losses being incurred as patronage declined. 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
SECTION 20
#1733086237559968-505: The last train each weekday evening was a First TransPennine Express service from Windermere , which diverted from its route to Barrow-in-Furness . This service called at Lancaster, Bare Lane and Morecambe, before reversing, calling at Bare Lane again, then rejoining the West Coast Main Line and continuing via Carnforth thus avoiding the 1m 7ch section of the WCML between Hest Bank South Junction and Hest Bank North Junction. This
1012-554: The latter to build its line but not require the associated harbour improvements to be carried out. The three-mile branch, including a link to the NWR station at Northumberland Street , was opened in August 1864. The hoped-for mineral traffic did not materialise and the route remained a modest branch, although the LNWR did have to provide its own station at Poulton Lane from November 1870 because of increasing congestion at Northumberland Street. This
1056-507: The latter was electrified. This proposal was ratified by the Ministry of Transport in August 1965 and on 3 January 1966 the Midland line closed to passenger traffic. An enhanced DMU shuttle to and from Lancaster Castle was introduced over the branch on the same day to replace the withdrawn services via Green Ayre. Trains from Leeds and Skipton were also diverted over the line from this date, using
1100-458: 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. The basic comfort and slow progress of Victorian parliamentary trains led to
1144-531: The line thereafter (other than that controlling the junctions with the main line at Hest Bank). As mentioned above however, it was closed in December 2012. The structure remained intact for another year and had been used for several months by Northern personnel as a staffed help point for travellers due to the absence of digital passenger information screens at the station. It was eventually demolished in January 2014 after
1188-412: 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". Sometimes even the train is omitted, with a bus operating as a cheaper-to-operate " rail replacement service " instead. In
1232-528: The platform is now a private dwelling. It was auctioned to the public and was featured on the BBC programme Homes Under the Hammer , a show about buildings which are auctioned to the public and redeveloped. Although the station has two side platforms, the track layout through it is not the conventional double track used on most main & secondary routes, but two independent bi-directional single lines. Platform 1 serves
1276-469: The pretence that the service has not been withdrawn. 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
1320-574: The scheme in 1858, with the intention of using the NWR's harbour facilities (suitably expanded) to export coke & iron ore from the North East, brought in via the South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway and the L&;C main line. The NWR opposed the plans as it would lose its monopoly on traffic into the town, but its shaky finances eventually led it to reach an agreement with the L&C that would allow
1364-498: The station, but then immediately split into the single line curves toward Hest Bank and towards Lancaster; the former sees only limited use, whereas the latter was double track until 1988 and is used by the vast majority of trains on the route. This layout dates from the closure of the former terminus at Morecambe Promenade and its associated signal box in February 1994, with Bare Lane signal box taking over control of all signalling on
Bare Lane railway station - Misplaced Pages Continue
1408-517: The two tracks between Bare Lane and Morecambe have been operated as two independent single lines, with no connection between them beyond Bare Lane. Only the southern line is connected to the Heysham branch. The line also sees freight trains operated by Direct Rail Services , which serve Heysham nuclear power station . The route is a fusion of lines opened by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR),
1452-448: The withdrawal of Belfast sailings earlier that year. In May 1987, services from Leeds were diverted to run via Lancaster (with a reversal) rather than directly via Hest Bank, and the Heysham branch was reopened to passengers in connection with the daily sailing to the Isle of Man. Promenade was replaced by a smaller station closer to the town centre in May 1994 and the Heysham line singled under
1496-603: 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
1540-482: Was also doubled (apart from the Hest Bank to Bare Lane curve) and a regular local service introduced between Euston Road and Lancaster Castle to complement that to/from Hest Bank. Despite these improvements and a journey time similar to the older route, the Midland line continued to carry most of the traffic to and from the town, especially after it was electrified in 1908 (see below). The branch became more important after
1584-491: Was formerly service from Lancaster (though in the past it started back from Barrow ) to Windermere which leaves the West Coast Main Line (WCML) at Hest Bank South Junction, called at Bare Lane and reversed at Morecambe , called at Bare Lane again and rejoined the WCML at Hest Bank North Junction and continued to Windermere. It provided a token parliamentary service over the Bare Lane to Hest Bank curve and until April 2016
1628-534: Was only a few hundred yards from the replacement Smethwick Galton Bridge . Many least used stations are also served infrequently or irregularly. 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
1672-475: Was operated by TransPennine Express . Prior to the December 2008 timetable change it ran Windermere–Lancaster–Morecambe–Barrow in the late evening. One Monday to Saturday and three Sunday afternoon trains from Morecambe to Leeds were also scheduled to use the curve. Since the May 2019 timetable change, this is now provided by a solitary Mon-Sat early morning train between Lancaster and Morecambe via Carnforth. Parliamentary train A parliamentary train
1716-571: 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. Examples of lines in
1760-547: Was renamed Bare Lane on 31 October 1864. A level crossing with the public highway, known as Bare Lane , exists immediately to the west of the station; until recently, it was controlled by the adjacent Bare Lane signal box , a fringe cabin to the Preston PSB Area. This box was closed on 8 December 2012, when the signalling equipment was renewed by Network Rail and control of the crossing switched to CCTV and transferred to Preston power box. The old station building on
1804-457: Was replaced by a rather more substantial terminus at nearby Euston Road in 1886 as part of an improvement scheme that also saw the construction of a west-to-south curve from Bare Lane to join the WCML at Morecambe South Junction (opened in 1888), which permitted through running to Lancaster Castle without the need for a reversal, and hence gave access for longer-distance trains to places such as Manchester , Liverpool and London . The branch
Bare Lane railway station - Misplaced Pages Continue
1848-433: Was still listed in the 1963 summer timetable (but not actually served in practice) and continued to be used for parcels traffic & carriage stabling until 1965. The neighbouring goods yard remained open for traffic until October 1972. The biggest changes to the route occurred soon after, as the 1963 Beeching Report recommended that it should be kept open rather than the Midland line to Lancaster Green Ayre , even though
1892-514: 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. The replacement bus tactic was used to service Norton Bridge , Barlaston and Wedgwood stations on
1936-475: Was the only scheduled service to use the original 1864 curve towards Hest Bank and as such functioned as a Parliamentary train to avoid the need for formal closure proceedings for this short stretch of line. In the present (May 2023) timetable, just one early a.m Lancaster to Morecambe via Carnforth train takes this route to meet the TOC's franchise obligations. Morecambe Branch Line The Morecambe branch line
#558441