Compiled by Dan Spence @DanLoudShirts
Having had a keen interest in Railways since I was head-high to a buffer stop, seldom did I really take notice of station names. Sure, the ones on my local line in Berkshire I could reel off along with all the big stations around the country, but since the start of this project I have taken a greater interest in the stations that most people would never had heard of or travelled anywhere near. I have been asked by the All The Stations team to put together some interesting stats on #allthestationnames.
DISCLAIMER: All station name data has been taken from the ORR Estimates of Station Usage document and double-checked with the National Rail Enquiries Station Search for any anomalies (which there were a few!). If you spot something incorrect, contact me on Twitter.
High Streets
According to 2009 statistical data there are 5,410 High Streets in the UK. Yet there are only THREE stations with the suffix HIGH STREET, all of them being on the London Overground network.
The List:
Clapham, Shoreditch and Watford.
Highs & Lows, Ups & Downs
There are a total of TWENTY stations featuring the words HIGH or HIGHER (7), LOW or LOWER (5), UPPER (4) and DOWN or DOWNS (4).
Only two locations have both a HIGH and a LOW. The first is HEATH. HEATH HIGH LEVEL is on the line between Bargoed and Penarth and HEATH LOW LEVEL is on the line between Radyr and Coryton. According to Google Maps the stations are a walk of 302 feet (100 yards) but are in completely separate postcodes (CF23 5QJ & CF14 3RJ). The other is TYNDRUM. Curiously though, one station is UPPER TYNDRUM (on the line to Fortwilliam) and the other is TYNDRUM LOWER (on the line to Oban). The stations are ¾ mile walk apart but unlike the Heath stations, their postcodes are only different by the end letter (FK20 8RQ and FK20 8RZ).
New for Old
There are a total of 22 stations that have the word NEW in them but only 3 that have the word OLD. These are as separate words, not part of a station name i.e Newbury.
The List: NEW
Ashurst New Forest, Birmingham New Street, Bootle New Strand, Byfleet & New Haw, New Barnet, New Beckenham, New Brighton, New Clee, New Cross, New Cross Gate, New Cumnock, New Eltham, New Holland, New Hythe, New Lane, New Malden, New Mills Central, New Mills Newtown, New Milton, New Pudsey, New Southgate, Pontypool & New Inn
NEW CROSS & NEW CROSS GATE, on separate arms of the London Overground network, are less than a half mile walk between each other while NEW MILLS CENTRAL on the line between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield and NEW MILLS NEWTOWN on the line between Manchester Piccadilly and Buxton are a ¾ mile walk apart. Both are served by Northern Rail trains.
The List: OLD
Old Hill, Old Roan, Old Street
OLD HILL is a station in the west midlands on the route between Stratford -Upon-Avon and Stourbridge Junction. OLD ROAN is a station named after an old pub and is one stop up from AINTREE in Liverpool. OLD STREET is on the northern edge of the City of London and is served by Great Northern services between Moorgate and several destinations in Hertfordshire. The station is managed by London Underground.