Years ago I often used to stay with a friend who lived in Orston - his house was one of the last on the way to the station so you would have walked past it. It always struck me as odd that the station was nowhere near either village, but that is typical of the railways I suppose. No wonder it was used so little.
The Ordnance Survey map (online) shows a footpath from Aslockton to Orston along the bank of the River Smite, which is shorter than the road and would have avoided so much road walking. The hill near the station is called Colman Hill.
The least-used station in the UK is actually Pilning, with 2 trains a week. However, the reason the passenger numbers are higher than Elton & Orston is because it's become famous locally, meaning that when a train comes the platform can get crowded. In terms of actual use, it is probably the least-used station in Britain.
Better version than Geoff's for this station. Hope you can go on with: Denton, the least used station in Greater Manchester if you could, Sugar Loaf, the least used station in Wales, and the new least used stations by county across England, and the least used station in Scotland as well. Also, Nethertown in Cumbria is by the sea and would make a good video.
Great video, Nick! Glad to see the Help Point has been upgraded since Geoff and I unsuccessfully tried to use it some years ago... and amazed to see there's a smartcard reader! The "pavement" across the tracks is usually called a "barrow crossing" (as in wheelbarrow), they used to be quite common but there aren't nearly as many of them now. Only one question remains - how did you get back to civilisation from Elton?! 😅
Oh hey, Dave! Nice to see you here! The whole "barrow crossing" name makes a ton of sense actually heh. And as for getting back to civilisation? 'Twas yet another 3 mile hike back.. I did 30,000 steps that day. Help me.
I travel through here two times a week (when they are not on strike) travelling the full line from Skegness to Nottingham for work and I have never seen anyone there. I find it crazy though that the least used station of Leicestershire (Bottesford) and Nottinghamshire (Elton and Orston) and up to December of last year Lincolnshire (Havenhouse) all on the same line. For the record I have never seen anyone get on at havenhouse either. Bottesford does get used a bit though. Great Video.
Kind of reminds me of US rail. The part where it's like a 2 mile walk to the nearest "thing" from the train station. More than the low population that is the biggest issue.
Great video 👍 I suspect that the low usage of this station is mainly due to hardly any trains calling there, making it impractical for residents of the two villages
Great video as ever Nick - you could almost make that line into a Least Used series, since Bottesford next door is still the least used station in Leicestershire!
Theres one in Derby called Pear Tree. I think it has 2 or 3 passengers a day and they all travel to Tutbury and Hatton station and work here where I live in local businesses.
When you went up that hill at the station you saw a stream and a field and a peasant - perhaps that's the only daily passenger that gets the train! Shame that neither little village has a pub - that would have made it more tolerable waiting for the once daily service! Love your commentary.
You know it'd be interesting to see what the least use station adjusted to the service it gets is. I dare say the fact that elton only gets 2 trains a day physically limits the number of people who can get there where as somewhere like London Paddington gets 1000 a day can get more people through.
Stanlow and Thornton has also gotta be up there too. Can't access it anymore from road as in the middle of Stanlow oil refinery in Ellesmere Port. Was mainly used for refinery staff. There are one or two trains daily I believe between Ellesmere Port and Helsby as skeleton.
Stanlow and Thornton station has been closed since January 2022 because of safety concerns with the footbridge. I cannot see any prospect of funding being obtained to repair the problems; I'd think it is more likely that the footbridge is removed and the station reduced to service in one direction only or closed entirely.
In NSW our least used station is Clarendon Station and in the past 6 years it got approximately 277000 Taps which is not much at all compared to Train stations closer to Sydney CBD.
Nice video. Do you recon the low use number are more a symptom of bad service or more just all of about 500 people being served by a station is a bit over kill?
I think the problem is the lack of connection to the cities more than anything. A good train station is usually built near to a bus station/tram station or when there is a lot of transport lines around there. It does look quite useless as well. The problem is more planning than anything else. At the same time you are talking about a tiny settlement around the station. As far of what I have seen in the video, there isn't anyone working there either.
I'm curious, why aren't these unused stations request stops? I mean trains come through there anyway and afaik those two/day are only parliamentary trains aren't they?
Most likely because if you make a station a request stop, you've got to build enough time into its schedule for it to decelerate, do a station stop, then accelerate back up to line speed. It's only a few minutes, but those few minutes (especially if repeated at Ancaster, Rauceby and all the other stations on the route with limited service) can make the difference between a timetable that works and one that doesn't. Platform availability at Nottingham is limited, and there are three single line sections on this route so if you stop one here you'll definitely delay one coming the other way at Heckington, and probably the one following at Bellwater too. Enough of those delays and you can't cover the hourly service with the trains you've got...so you end up needing an extra set, and a couple of extra crews to run it. That's a lot of money to spend, especially if you're betting that demand increases at the quietest stations in the country will be enough to repay it.
Really love how similar are the elements of British and Indian railways. Those platform roofs, roundels, and that pavement at 6:08, those are everywhere in India. Except for the Grit Salt Bin though. What the funk even is that for.
Wouldn't it be great to organise a coachload of people to get on the train there and hence boost the number of people getting on the train at Elton and Orston ;-)
What about Chathill in Northumberland, or Altnabreac in the wilds of Caithness? I'd've thought they polled less than 40 passengers, or are they objects of curiosity as well? Berney Arms in Norfolk would be another good contender.
I'm in Ellesmere Port. 2 trains per day from the port to Helsby. Can't get up there by road anymore as in middle of Stanlow. Dunno if you can walk or cycle through oil sites road anymore either??
It makes sense when you think about it. Crossing on a maintained level deck with measured regularly inspected sightlines is very different from skipping across the ballast and over the rails.
Welllll sorta, not really. For the whole year, the station was closed, which in my opinion, shouldn't count. Elton and Orston was the least used *actually open* station.
Surely if more trains stopped at this Station people would use it more? If Clapham Junction had only 1 train a day in each direction stop there, then I am sure that wouldn't be used much! When you look at the journey time it takes 8 minutes from Bottesford to Aslockton if the train stops here and 7 minutes if it doesn't. Is that 1 minute really that precious that other trains can't stop?
3:19 as you passed the Aslockton sign it mentions the birthplace of Thomas Cranmer who is regarded as the author of the Book of Common Prayer that is still authorised for use within the Church of England.
So why does this place get a train station but so many significantly populated suburbs with rail lines passing through them get nothing except a bare minimum bus service (if they're lucky) and horrible road congestion? Bureaucracy and austerity, god I hate it.
The Beeching era was weird. Closures could be opposed by objecting to the local TUCCs but the only grounds on which they could refuse permission for closure was "hardship", which was left undefined. Inconvenience wasn't enough, and you weren't allowed to challenge BR's facts and figures even if you thought they were dodgy. That meant that a closure where a large population would be slightly inconvenienced by having to drive or take a slower bus would be allowed (eg Sibsey), but a mere handful of people left with absolutely no alternative (eg because there was no alternative means of transport) could force a station to open- thus Thorpe Culvert and Havenhouse survived primarily for a couple of kids to get to and from school each day. The problem with re-opening stations on busy routes (or branches feeding into them) is line capacity. There are plenty of large villages and town stations- eg Bawtry on the ECML- that could provide a useful link if opened, BUT laying on a stopping service would tear such a big hole in the timetable (probably losing a couple of fast "paths" per hour) that the losses would outweigh the gains. It might be nice for some people to go from Bawtry to Doncaster, but not at the cost of turning away several hundred at KX.
Damm, that low ! What kind of purpose ? Bus service localy is enough to maintain costs, it´s like a signal maintenance, a government credo to keep it open ? Why not a request stop for local service !
I don't understand the logic in keeping a station like that, or in fact any that sees fewer than 100 passengers a day, open. The rail company that is responsible for it can't be making any money at all.
@@Inkyminkyzizwoz and the bus isn't always at a bus stop or a bus station. You don't call a bus stop a road stop, do you? Train station and Railway station are interchangeable terms, this is a really weird hill to die on / try to troll people about.
@@idot3331 Anyway, 'train bridge' and 'train tunnel' seem to have become a thing now as well, and you definitely DO refer to a 'road bridge' and a 'road tunnel', so how do you excuse that crime against the English language?
It’s a line I often take, from Nottingham to Grantham. Thank you for freshening up the experience with your enthusiasm!
No worries! Happy that you enjoyed!
Lord Grantham?
Years ago I often used to stay with a friend who lived in Orston - his house was one of the last on the way to the station so you would have walked past it. It always struck me as odd that the station was nowhere near either village, but that is typical of the railways I suppose. No wonder it was used so little.
The Ordnance Survey map (online) shows a footpath from Aslockton to Orston along the bank of the River Smite, which is shorter than the road and would have avoided so much road walking. The hill near the station is called Colman Hill.
The least-used station in the UK is actually Pilning, with 2 trains a week. However, the reason the passenger numbers are higher than Elton & Orston is because it's become famous locally, meaning that when a train comes the platform can get crowded. In terms of actual use, it is probably the least-used station in Britain.
Sure that the UK doesn't have a station with one train per week or another one with 2 trains a week?
Better version than Geoff's for this station.
Hope you can go on with:
Denton, the least used station in Greater Manchester if you could,
Sugar Loaf, the least used station in Wales,
and the new least used stations by county across England,
and the least used station in Scotland as well.
Also, Nethertown in Cumbria is by the sea and would make a good video.
Great video, Nick! Glad to see the Help Point has been upgraded since Geoff and I unsuccessfully tried to use it some years ago... and amazed to see there's a smartcard reader!
The "pavement" across the tracks is usually called a "barrow crossing" (as in wheelbarrow), they used to be quite common but there aren't nearly as many of them now.
Only one question remains - how did you get back to civilisation from Elton?! 😅
Oh hey, Dave! Nice to see you here!
The whole "barrow crossing" name makes a ton of sense actually heh.
And as for getting back to civilisation? 'Twas yet another 3 mile hike back.. I did 30,000 steps that day. Help me.
@@NickBadley You must one of the fittest railfans in the UK.Rebecca and Paul might give you a walk for your money .Greetings from Australia.
@@NickBadleycouldn't get a bus on time?
Brilliant video Nick! I like your narrating style in the video. I 've only passed through Elton and Orston on EMR. Looking forward to your next trip!
Found your channel after seeing you with Jen and I have to say I'm absolutely loving your vlogs.
Now to catch up on what I've missed ...
Brilliant video Nick. I did visit Elton and Orston station back in Feburary with other people but one of them had a car so we drove there.
If I were able to bring my car to university, definitely would have done that! Unfortunately, that was not the case.
This is such a cool station. I really enjoyed visiting Berney Arms station in Norfolk as there is no road access! Might be one to have a look at.
What would you do if you hopped off the train there and realised the next train is in a week?
@@ianhosier4042 the walk to Reedham doesn’t take long along the river and you can also catch trains there as well as buses
Great videos Nick, a great channel you have here. Keep up the great work.
I travel through here two times a week (when they are not on strike) travelling the full line from Skegness to Nottingham for work and I have never seen anyone there. I find it crazy though that the least used station of Leicestershire (Bottesford) and Nottinghamshire (Elton and Orston) and up to December of last year Lincolnshire (Havenhouse) all on the same line. For the record I have never seen anyone get on at havenhouse either. Bottesford does get used a bit though. Great Video.
Kind of reminds me of US rail. The part where it's like a 2 mile walk to the nearest "thing" from the train station. More than the low population that is the biggest issue.
Great video 👍
I suspect that the low usage of this station is mainly due to hardly any trains calling there, making it impractical for residents of the two villages
Great video as ever Nick - you could almost make that line into a Least Used series, since Bottesford next door is still the least used station in Leicestershire!
You’ve completely stepped up the production value here, well done, good video!
Theres one in Derby called Pear Tree. I think it has 2 or 3 passengers a day and they all travel to Tutbury and Hatton station and work here where I live in local businesses.
When you went up that hill at the station you saw a stream and a field and a peasant - perhaps that's the only daily passenger that gets the train! Shame that neither little village has a pub - that would have made it more tolerable waiting for the once daily service! Love your commentary.
You know it'd be interesting to see what the least use station adjusted to the service it gets is. I dare say the fact that elton only gets 2 trains a day physically limits the number of people who can get there where as somewhere like London Paddington gets 1000 a day can get more people through.
Congrats on almost 16k subs!
Its gotten some upgrades since Geoff was there.
Stanlow and Thornton has also gotta be up there too. Can't access it anymore from road as in the middle of Stanlow oil refinery in Ellesmere Port. Was mainly used for refinery staff. There are one or two trains daily I believe between Ellesmere Port and Helsby as skeleton.
Stanlow and Thornton station has been closed since January 2022 because of safety concerns with the footbridge. I cannot see any prospect of funding being obtained to repair the problems; I'd think it is more likely that the footbridge is removed and the station reduced to service in one direction only or closed entirely.
Brilliant video Nick. Have to giggle at Aslockton but both stations are pretty nice.
I like to bring my bicycle with me for things like this. That 3 mile walk done on a bike is so so much quicker.
Why don't they make it a request stop like Dilton Marsh in Wiltshire? They might get 200 passengers a year.
hello from the USA.. thanks for your video, it was interesting. Good Job.
Absolutely excellent video! Incredibly good commentary and enthusiasm, awesome videography and editing too! Impressed!
In NSW our least used station is Clarendon Station and in the past 6 years it got approximately 277000 Taps which is not much at all compared to Train stations closer to Sydney CBD.
The 40 passengers were probably trade platers heading for the massive car compound at Long Bennington
😂 I’m that guy
Excellent video, Nick! 👏
Nice video. Do you recon the low use number are more a symptom of bad service or more just all of about 500 people being served by a station is a bit over kill?
I think if 4 trains per day called the 40 would go up by more than 4 times
I think the problem is the lack of connection to the cities more than anything. A good train station is usually built near to a bus station/tram station or when there is a lot of transport lines around there. It does look quite useless as well. The problem is more planning than anything else. At the same time you are talking about a tiny settlement around the station.
As far of what I have seen in the video, there isn't anyone working there either.
Hi Nick! Very nice video, I like your style.
Thank you for your effort and keep up great work!
You need to invest in one of those fold up bikes. Surely there was a pub in the local village you could have sat in and waited for the train?
You should have bagged the 37 m trigpoint at Orston. Is there still a pub in Orston?
I'm curious, why aren't these unused stations request stops? I mean trains come through there anyway and afaik those two/day are only parliamentary trains aren't they?
Most likely because if you make a station a request stop, you've got to build enough time into its schedule for it to decelerate, do a station stop, then accelerate back up to line speed. It's only a few minutes, but those few minutes (especially if repeated at Ancaster, Rauceby and all the other stations on the route with limited service) can make the difference between a timetable that works and one that doesn't. Platform availability at Nottingham is limited, and there are three single line sections on this route so if you stop one here you'll definitely delay one coming the other way at Heckington, and probably the one following at Bellwater too. Enough of those delays and you can't cover the hourly service with the trains you've got...so you end up needing an extra set, and a couple of extra crews to run it. That's a lot of money to spend, especially if you're betting that demand increases at the quietest stations in the country will be enough to repay it.
Great video - seems a quaint little station
Really love how similar are the elements of British and Indian railways. Those platform roofs, roundels, and that pavement at 6:08, those are everywhere in India. Except for the Grit Salt Bin though. What the funk even is that for.
The rock salt in the bin is for improving the conditions under foot in snow and/or ice.
Great vid, btw, what is your camera and microphone setup ?
Wouldn't it be great to organise a coachload of people to get on the train there and hence boost the number of people getting on the train at Elton and Orston ;-)
I probably would if I had a large enough audience 😂
@@NickBadleymate I'd join you
What about Chathill in Northumberland, or Altnabreac in the wilds of Caithness? I'd've thought they polled less than 40 passengers, or are they objects of curiosity as well?
Berney Arms in Norfolk would be another good contender.
I've a feeling those 0.1 passengers per day are mostly youtubers!
Loved the video!!!
Very Geoff Marshall. 😂.
Great vid tho Nick
Your jokes are a crime against humanity - I would hate to hear you sing :) (awesome videos mate)
Yet how far are you based from Stanlow & Thornton?
I'm in Ellesmere Port. 2 trains per day from the port to Helsby. Can't get up there by road anymore as in middle of Stanlow. Dunno if you can walk or cycle through oil sites road anymore either??
TH-cam recommendations are so interesting.
man posed as a wojak just for the thumbnail. absolute menace
😂
Amazing just how many Sprinters are still running around North of Birmingham/Central Midlands isn't it?
Interesting. Thought Tyndrum might have been "least used" station or Rannoch?
Good stuff.
I suspect the plug point is for calling the signaler. The driver plugs in a handset and the signaler's phone rings.
interesting that at one end of the platform you can cross the line and at the other end there is a no trespass warning with a big fine!
It makes sense when you think about it. Crossing on a maintained level deck with measured regularly inspected sightlines is very different from skipping across the ballast and over the rails.
I think Sugarloaf on the Border of Powys & Camarthanshire has even fewer passengers
I thought that Heathrow Airport Terminal 4 was the least used station in the UK in 2021/2022.
Welllll sorta, not really. For the whole year, the station was closed, which in my opinion, shouldn't count. Elton and Orston was the least used *actually open* station.
and the next station down the line, Bottesford, is the least used in Leicestershire.
Please do the "I'm the only one boarding the train here for a full year" video in three years...
Awesome video
So, it’s not Shippea Hill any more then?
Damn man I really wanted to make a video on it and now you have I'm annoyed but grateful u still made the vid so I don't have to cheers mate?
Great video! I won't tell Geoff if you don't! ;)
You should make a discord server where all your fans can hang out
Well I do have a discord for Patrons and Channel Members!
@@NickBadley Ah okay! How do I become a patron?
@MrMaxxxxxxzz www.patreon.com/NickBadley
Great videos buddy I liked and Subscribed for more and I have binged your whole channel
Great video, wouldn't call 3 miles a hike though!
On English country roads it is - if it is 6 miles each way
You could visit the least served stations like Pilning and Bordesley.
Surely if more trains stopped at this Station people would use it more? If Clapham Junction had only 1 train a day in each direction stop there, then I am sure that wouldn't be used much! When you look at the journey time it takes 8 minutes from Bottesford to Aslockton if the train stops here and 7 minutes if it doesn't. Is that 1 minute really that precious that other trains can't stop?
0.1 passengers per day?! My man does that mean only 10% of my body goes there per day?
I'm pretty sure there will be a city with more than a million inhabitants somewhere in the world which has less train services than this station.
3:19 as you passed the Aslockton sign it mentions the birthplace of Thomas Cranmer who is regarded as the author of the Book of Common Prayer that is still authorised for use within the Church of England.
I’ve ticked off Elton & Orston a few years ago. I still need Radcliffe and Bottesford on that line.
Now make a journey between the most used station to the least
You walked past the sign saying the birthplace of Thomas Cramner! No mention! There are more than just railways 😅😂😉
ah, yes, a station with one limb per day. (0.1)
At the 4min 33 point you are walking past my parents house and childhood home!
Очень люблю такие видео, очень интересно. Спасибо!
So why does this place get a train station but so many significantly populated suburbs with rail lines passing through them get nothing except a bare minimum bus service (if they're lucky) and horrible road congestion? Bureaucracy and austerity, god I hate it.
The Beeching era was weird. Closures could be opposed by objecting to the local TUCCs but the only grounds on which they could refuse permission for closure was "hardship", which was left undefined. Inconvenience wasn't enough, and you weren't allowed to challenge BR's facts and figures even if you thought they were dodgy. That meant that a closure where a large population would be slightly inconvenienced by having to drive or take a slower bus would be allowed (eg Sibsey), but a mere handful of people left with absolutely no alternative (eg because there was no alternative means of transport) could force a station to open- thus Thorpe Culvert and Havenhouse survived primarily for a couple of kids to get to and from school each day.
The problem with re-opening stations on busy routes (or branches feeding into them) is line capacity. There are plenty of large villages and town stations- eg Bawtry on the ECML- that could provide a useful link if opened, BUT laying on a stopping service would tear such a big hole in the timetable (probably losing a couple of fast "paths" per hour) that the losses would outweigh the gains. It might be nice for some people to go from Bawtry to Doncaster, but not at the cost of turning away several hundred at KX.
Geoff Marshal wants to know your location :P
brilliant video
Elton-on-the-Hill. Who stole the Hill ?
Rocker Jim, there it is, heading west at 09.34 just over Nick's shoulder!
Damm, that low ! What kind of purpose ? Bus service localy is enough to maintain costs, it´s like a signal maintenance, a government credo to keep it open ? Why not a request stop for local service !
Orston awesome 🤣
Now the least used train station is teeside airport
break the least used stations by bringing a crowd of people there.
How did you get out of Elton?
Had to walk all the way back!
I thought it was Ttesside Airport station
People won't use it if the trains dont stop there
Sounds like Jack Massey Welsh if he wasn't northern
video really starts at 9:42 your welcome
Some say Bottesford the least used station.
l thought it was Berney Arms ?
It's nice video
Re, the walk to the station, why not take a bike in the future, you will save a lot of time....!
I don't understand the logic in keeping a station like that, or in fact any that sees fewer than 100 passengers a day, open. The rail company that is responsible for it can't be making any money at all.
It's legally quite difficult to close stations in UK so it can be cheaper to just keep then open with a limited service.
It's a RAILWAY station - you don't fly from a 'planeport'!
Yes but you go to a bus stop/station and a taxi rank etc.
@@epender Oh, not that excuse AGAIN! What else could you call them? The railway is always there but the train isn't!
@@Inkyminkyzizwoz and the bus isn't always at a bus stop or a bus station. You don't call a bus stop a road stop, do you? Train station and Railway station are interchangeable terms, this is a really weird hill to die on / try to troll people about.
idot If I've said it once I've said it a hundred times, it isn't called a road stop because BUSES AREN'T THE ONLY VEHICLES THAT USE ROADS!
@@idot3331 Anyway, 'train bridge' and 'train tunnel' seem to have become a thing now as well, and you definitely DO refer to a 'road bridge' and a 'road tunnel', so how do you excuse that crime against the English language?
Are you the harry potter????
You don't even need to bother with the gym with the amount of walking you do!
railway station
Use 'railway station' please - not 'train station'!
I thought it was Berney arms.
I suppose to see how many of
Scotland Wales northern Ireland .
England on rail and ferry in 24 hrs
Should be do able
Ps Nottingham is a dump
Boring