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Longcross - Least Used Station in Surrey
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 พ.ย. 2016
- Time to go to another least used station! This time, to Longcross served by South West Trains only a very small number of times per day.
There used to be a MOD tank test track nearby, but that closed in 2006 and there and now film studios right be it instead. But who else goes there, how do you get there on foot instead of train? We went to find out ...
The ORR publish their annual statistics on station usage here: dataportal.orr...
I used to be a guard on this line few years ago. I remember throwing a couple of fare evaders off here.
Luke Joshua I love that idea
Cool
Kick em off in the middle of nowhere
Did you choose Longcross on purpose or did that just happen to be the next stop?
RubberDuck I believe the rule is the next station
4:05 only time I've heard him swear
he did a few times in his america documentry
Yeah
The Steam Engine (which we had built) that you saw was for "Murder On The Orient Express" which commenced it principle photography at Longcross in mid November 2016. We were moving it from where we had built it in the studios, to it's first location, where we would start shooting a few days later (it was a 64 day principle photography shoot which commenced mid November 2016). The internal bridge which connects the two sides of the studio has a weight restriction on it, and the engine was to heavy for the bridge, so we had to take it via public roads out of the main entrance and into one of the side access gates, to get it onto the right section of the studio lot ( we were to move it many time over the forthcoming weeks). I was on the low loader in he cab passanger seat, (which I had hired in from Alleys in the Midlands) as I was the Railway Advisor for the movie working on it full time from the beginning of August 2016 until the end of March 2017.
Surprised they didn't use a real French steam engine for that
I'm the guy on the right that got off. The replica train was for the filming of Murder on the Orient express.
I worked at Longcross studios for a few months back in 2010 and used the trains all the time. Really spooky place with loads of interesting stuff, including an abandoned tank proving ground and a Maserati test track!
That sounds intriguing.
Not an expression you hear every day|!
4:05 first time hearing Geoff swear 😂 beautiful
I think he says the f-word in his America documentary (which might be unlisted tbh).
I've lived in Chertsey all my life and Longcross station has always intrigued me. I know it exists because I've been on trains that pass through it without stopping, but I've never actually seen the station. I tried to drive there one day to satisfy my curiosity. My sat nav said I'd arrived, but it was a dead end road with no train station on it. Longcross is MYSTERIOUS.
There is no road access to Longcross train station currently. It's be planned but probably won't get done for over a year or two.
Whenever I watch these clips I'm like "My God, I'm not the only one who likes doing things like that!'. It brings a smile to my face :D
The steam engine shown in this clip, was used for the Murder on the Orient Express film that came out at the later part of 2017, as they do a lot of filming there at Longcross studios.
That steam loco you saw is a mock up of a French loco made for the film "Murder or the Orient Express". After the film was made she was put in an industrial estate in Stoke-on-Trent. The mock up loco and her carriages are now at the old Brassiewate Station in the Lake District. The carriages will be part of a café, they were originally offered to the Bluebell Railway but they turned them down due to their European loading gauge.
There's something about this that comes straight out of a dystopian novel. Can't put my finger on what, exactly, but I like it.
@Geoff Marshall It just occured to me, that steam locomotive, I think that's the locomotive model used for the 2017 Orient Express Film, which at the time, wouldn't have been out yet and would be in the middle of filming!
What bliss, having a cup of tea while waiting for the train.
That steam loco you saw was a mockup of a French loco made for the film Murder on the Orient Express. It was found in an industrial estate in Stoke-on-Trent back in January but I've heard she's since moved on.
Please keep these types of vlogs coming, Geoff! I love your transit videos so much!
I've often passed through Longcross station, mostly when I was a child and we visited relatives in Reading. I never knew it was quite so remote, although Longcross is quite a small village.
I don't know if it's still there, but there used to be a miniature railway not far from Longcross in Lyne. The Great Cockcrow Railway it's called. Must be thirty years since I was last there, so have no idea if it's still going.
The Great Cockrow Railway is still operating :)
This station used to be called Longcross Halt and was intended to serve what used to be the MOD Military Vehicle Experimental Establishment (MVEE), Chobham; Hence the high security fence and coded turn style! Also, at one time or another MVEE had its own rail network to bring secret equipment on site etc. Longcross used to be a request stop only. On the other side of the station one used to be able to access Sunningdale Golf course which used to be a nice lunchtime walk!
I think this was the first of Geoffs videos I saw, after the secrets of the underground stuff and Londonist videos... watching it again after a year or so. THANKS GEOFF!!!
Have been to Longcross Station many times to work on the CCTV link. You have to get the keys from Sunningdale Station which is only manned part time. The inside of the ticket office was a bit of a time capsule, with lots of old but rather damp railway paraphernalia - I wonder if the bike with the buckled wheels is still in there? :-) When the tank factory (I think we're allowed to mention it now, Official Secrets Act etc.) was still in operation you could drive through and park inside and get to the station through the turnstile/gate. The station was built to serve the MOD factory. Now it's a civilian site you have to walk in down the path you used - though I used to drive the van down until the point where it was too narrow to go further and leave it in the woods. Never been there when a train has stopped though.
Geofftech the bike was inside the ticket office. It was a staffed station though, judging by the interior, with an enquiry window. Something of a cushy job I should think.
I did Longcross just recently, (Aug 2019) and those paths are now stone. I walked it to Virginia Water, which now means I’ve ticked ✅ off all three ‘V’ stations. The others are Vauxhall and Valley!
You can access the wonderful Chobham Common from Longcross- its one of the wildest places in south-east England.
Is that where Chobham armour comes from ?
Robert Heal I believe there is a bit of history that can at least make an association to your question. But I couldn’t find anything doing a quick search a moment ago. That association would be long gone anyway as Chobham has become a bigger engineering company but still with military equipment links.
@@robertheal5137 MOD Chap here, stumbing across this question four years later...
Yes. At least it's where the *name* comes from.
Now go and look up 'Super Bainite'
Why do these videos bring me so much chill though?
I've been to Longcross a few times and my local station is a couple stops away on that line but I had no idea there even was a station in Longcross 😂
I pass through Longcross everyday, never realised how remote it was, just thought it was a station served by every other train or something like that.
Very Interesting.
JD.
Have a Nice Day..
Yes I saw Bracknell, my home town, on the ‘calling at’ sign, made my day that has
love how southwest trains are the same colour as the airline
LoL! It was funny that you chose to arrive at a least used station by anything other than a train. You certainly did your homework on that one....🤣🤣🤣
I nearly said Longcross wasn't that where they filmed the St Trinians Great Train Robbery, but that was Longmoor down in Hampshire.
This needs to remanded to the former least used station in Surrey!! 😂😂
Always interesting viewing,keep it up Geoff.
Fantastic Geoff ! There is loads of of stations in Surrey that u could do like cobham & oxshott where the rich & famous may get on !
I live in Bracknell (a few stops away) and always wonder how quiet it is when it whizzes past the window
I don't know if it's common in UK but in France, there are a lot small station desserved by Regional trains witch are sometimes only desserved by four trains a day! (2 in both direction on morning and evening)
this happens to some extent to keep certain lines open for example tthere is one train a week on a friday from stockport to stalybridge. They are called ghost or parliamentary trains
tsummers thanks for the explanation! :D
Remembering from All The Stations: "Watch for the sign of the lollipop!" "No, it's the Longcross Train!"
I watched this 4 years ago and now TH-cam recommends me this one again. Well, better watch it then.
I worked a summer job in the sergeants mess at the MVEE in 1989 when I was a student at one of the local uni campuses. At that point in time Longcross wasn't even printed on the train timetables. The only place you could actually see a Longcross timetable was at Longcross station itself.
Am astonished the station still exists, to be perfectly honest.
I live 5 minutes walk from Martins Heron railway station which is also on the Waterloo - Reading route. If the housing estate that is being built at longcross get's as large as the housing estates within Martins Heron, that it will get well used in the future and hopefully have better signage.
8:03 Geoff throwing some serious shade.
I live at Longcross and can safely say that it has had an update since this video. Trains stop every half hour until around 9pm no clue when they start though. They've updated the seating to include more benches and some indoor spaces. The bridge was 'fixed', and the no entry path is now a rather posh brick path with auto lights that leads to upper Longcross.
Unfortunately there's still no road to it, though it is planned along with a carpark, both long and short stay.
No ticket machine either, nor signage 😅
But it's a good enough station and a few people get on/off now and don't all go to the studios
I'm originally from Newbury, and I used to think that Midgham was a waste of a station; nobody ever seemed to use it.
Yet, as I've travelled more I've come to realize there's a staggering number of stations compared to which Midgham is far more widely used.
Redthir Jerdisheim Midgham is the least used station in Berkshire, meant to serve Woolhampton
I would arguee that the oxenholme - windereme line is the most used railway line that is a dead-end line in the country. It runs past 3 stations and is a complete dead end, but yet is always busy apart from the late night services which are rarely used.
hmm, with that housing nearby I dont think this station remains so unused in the future...
I believe that is the station that was used as a filming location for the BBC's A Ghost Story For Christmas: A View from a Hill (2005). The station appears at the very start and end of the film.
Now how did you get back to the car then? :D
Avaya Ridatrane We walked back from Sunningdale.
nice video geoff, a reply from you would make my day. Keep it up, you're my favourite youtuber
There's still an old permit to travel machine at Oxford station that still has Network South East colours on it :-D
South Ruislip has one too, still working.
This is actually my local station, by geography! But we go from Virginia Water, most usually...it's used for workers from Wentworth golf club, so it's actually pretty busy in the mornings and evenings! Hope you enjoyed the local area! (SW trains are ALWAYS late)
I used to use it a couple times a month when the MOD were there, it was always a tight connection at CLJ from the Bournemouth train to the reading line on the way to chertsey, but leisurely on the way back. I am surprised it wasn't mothballed when the site closed.
There is nothing quite like a nice cup of tea.
Here was I thinking my local station, Ockley, was quiet!
Ockley is very quiet.
It’s the third least used station in Surrey.
If you want the classic comfy cold metal NSE benches, go to Higham, Kent. It's a small station just inbetween Gravesend and Strood, if your in to long walks, I suggest Higham - Gravesend, some good spots to see 395 and 465 units, but yeah, pleasant walk, pleasant station, I highly recommend!
How long did it take to get back to your car.
Brian Carson Around 45 mins if memory serves. A pleasant walk across part of Chobham Common.
I used to live in Staines & Virginia Water for 2 years. Quite a few locals there don't even know such a station. I now live in London, but I really miss the quietness in the countryside of Surrey.
Wang Yulun staines isn't quiet...
It's more quiet than Feltham
Reminds me of Middlewood Station just on the south eastern edge of the Greater Manchester rail zone which was famous for being 800 metres, much of which especially from October to May was by a muddy footpath, from the nearest road. However after a recent landslide they used the repair work as an excuse to add a new pathway and steps down a different part of the road which is only around 400 metres away.
I used to go there 60 yrs ago, fungus hunting and bird watching. Magical .
One gate from the platform straight into woods .
Tempted to do a similar thing myself at the relatively local Coombe Junction Halt, that serves just under 30 passengers a year.
Just an update . There is a service throughout the day now . and every half hour monday to saturday and hourly on sunday . Don't how long this has been for though
in germany we have got stations where only every 3 hours a train comes :D
I have to use this station tomorrow for a film shoot and this video has been really useful. I could not understand why the guy was talking about a key code!
I used to pass this station everyday on the way to school, always gave me the creeps
How interesting how there is no signage.
The best thing about this station, Geoff, is that it's completely straight with no passengers. Fantastic to dispatch from.
Yep!
if you like those benches, go to ewell east on the southern line to epsom. they still have them!
Proper looks like you're out dogging when you were parking
Is that still a thing in the UK ?
😂😂😂 Well, that area is notorious....
About 40 years ago i lived in Bracknell used to come past this station to Waterloo it hasn't changed much in all that time still same numbers getting on and off it seems :-)
Longcross is not a station , it is a halt and was known as Longcross Halt, it used to be a request only stop, the only reason it is still open is that the M.O.D still own the land and if they ever need to re-open the camp then the halt will be required again. The local M.P. lived just up the road back in the 60's and used it daily to get to Westminster, a short hop across Waterloo Bridge and he was at work, Southern Region as it was then was much more reliable than Southern Trains today!
Oops, that should have read Westminster Bridge.
tony swaine ci
Breaking News! Longcross has been designated as an area for a new Garden Village/Town so the Halt/Station may finally become busy again.
Is that richard the met line driver from last of the A-stock video
At Longcross (almost) nobody can hear you scream.....
that was very odd karl
Longcross still very quiet but noticed that it's every 30 mins and not limited service now
You two walking by the fence of the very forbidden area like James Bond. Seeing intresting big stuf going on in the millitairy compound and look how good the security is of the compound like Pierce Brosman!
I'm just looking for James Bond eastereggs since I see 'vlog_007' very big. :)
Great video! Great you visit a low-used station but you tell they are making it important with houses. The experience before the new area is finished!
There used to be an army vehicle testing ground at Longcross and as a booking clerk at Raynes park in the 60s, i used to sell a ticket to an MOD chap who worked there
When you have to ask directions to find the train station, it is definitely "least-used."
I live in Ireland. I'm quite surprised that in Britain such quite train stations exist. I'm surprised such quiet platforms make any money at all
David Jackson They don’t..... So not much money is spent on them either. It won’t be an Access for All candidate, for a while at least..... 🤣🤣🤣
Interesting. The area around the station must be the only unbuilt-up land between Waterloo and Reading. What a crowded country this has become.
"It's just a train" - Geoff Marshall, 2016
Great fun two blokes slogging about to the private train station. What goes on at the movie studio? Did the Guard give you a funny look when they saw your ticket was from Longcross?
I get the reading train almost every day and I do see some people getting on and off. I've also almost gotten off there accidentally, and can now see how disastrous that would have been for my journey to uni >
In 2021/22 the figures are now 68,956. That village development has really made a difference
Hey Geoff,I was just wondering where your tube map collection video went, because I can't find it. Did you delete it?
I work at that golf course 😁
0:00 the start of an amazing series
I lived in Egham and then Staines for a significant number of years, and passing through this station always wondered what kind of person actually used it 😉
About 15 years ago, there was 1 person who lived on the adjacent Wentworth Golf course and he would commute to London once or twice a week from Longcross. There were only 2 trains a day in each direction then (2 in the morning and 2 in the evening).
Now the regulars there are mostly extras working at the studios.
SAME
Fire in that area today. Reports suggest it managed to spread from one side of the tracks to the other
out of interest have you thought about a series of most used crossings in the uk... Hmpden park (sussex is one) btw love the video i came across the underground ones on a link and from that moment i was hooked keep up the good work
Have literally just realised that's Richard Griffin from the "From A to S - Documentary" video - seems like a very nice guy :)
Dezza Manezza Looks can deceive... ;)
It’s really interesting that they haven’t even got proper ticket facilities here, but one thing to do if you need to is to get the tickets from the gard on the train you are on initially. Sometimes we’ve done that and that works really well.
Angel Road still has the old red PERTIS machines last time I checked (earlier this year). That's got a service very similar to Longcross.
That is my local train line. Never knew Longcross what least used station in surrey. No wonder we dont normally stop there. :P
P.s. Trains are normally late lol
there is an original pertis machine from network southeast at windsor and eton central station complete with nse flashes.
Huh, I always assumed Longcross was for the golf-course.
It's funny how surprised he was by a train arriving, at a train station!
Permit to travel?
Up here we buy our tickets on the train from unstaffed stations and most stations up here in The North have those benches.
At a station with low usage here we hail it down!
This station really reminds me of Leeuwarden Achter de Hoven in the Netherlands. It's very weird.
Except that Leeuwarden Achter de Hoven has a surrounding neighborhood and some offices and factories. Longcross is more comparable to quite a few stations in Friesland or Groningen.
@@OneKnifeYeHand It reminded me of Achter de Hoven for its weird service pattern, not the surrounding area.
I visited Longcross Halt in the sixties a few times to see a friend.
So this station actually has more facilities (and nearly more trains come to that) than my local station in a large city!?
How weird I was at Staines today and my name is Richard and on 30/06/2020 I’m going to Reading via this route so will go through Longcross station
+Geofftech
I can't remember what it's called but the least used station in the U.K. Is just ourside if the Severn tunnel, 2 platform and no station signs (because of disusage)
Severn Tunnel Junction is well used and has plenty of signage.
Dovey Junction on the other hand..
TrainNutter MC I know the one you are thinking of but I can't remember the name.
Another interesting film, Geoff, but Longcross looked quite busy that day! Any chance of adding a link to your source for the number of passengers at a particular station?
Thanks for the link, Geoff - all the best!
YES GEOFF SYAS PERTIS! I love PERTIS Machines!!! I visited that station last July however it was out of service when I visited! I will need to go back there soon!
The machine there is a Metric Aura. Most PERTIS Machines are still the classic Metric (previously Almex (for public transport)) autoslot machines. Only 7 Metric Aura PERTIS Machines currently exist around the UKs rail network exclusive to South West Trains and East Midland Trains. The Metric Aura PERTIS machines differ to old Almex autoslot ones in many ways but the main features include: Installed as networked machines for remote monitoring, uses 16 channel coinage (instead of 8), and has a thermal printer instead of a dot matrix printing.
#PERTISGeek
(oh and obviously the security barcode, did they can yours when you exchanged it for a ticket?)
RBXTrains How many of the old style are still in existence?
Dominic Davis-Foster Not sure as 'we' (informal group of people who like PERTIS machines) Haven't audited every station where we think there may still be some. Estimated around 120. Most West Midlands stations still have them!
I did have a photo (provided by a friend) of one at Foxton Station (I think) that was painted in Blue, but you could just make out it's old NSE Red paint :-)
The metric aura model did come in red. I am surprised they didn't order the red version. (As all PERTIS machines are obviously derived from Pay & Display machines)