
The founding fathers of our national network understood the public well. Yes, travelling from one place to another in a tiny fraction of the time it took by stagecoach or boat was a start, but railways had to do much more.
The railways formed the backbone of post- Industrial Revolution society as we know it, because they facilitated cheap, efficient and fast transport of people and goods like never before. Yet they still had to sell themselves to the public.
When the money was available, many of the early railway companies invested huge amounts of money in their stations, which were the interface between the public at large and the cutting-edge steam locomotive engineering that was reshaping the world. Some of the bigger concerns built cathedrals of steam, or palaces of transport technology.
Many stations rightly came to be seen as architectural wonders of their day. Of course, as the network developed and far greater demands were placed on the railway network, not only by the volume of traffic but by the heightened expectations of passengers; stations had to get bigger and better, in some cases superseding earlier structures.
Fast forward a century, and during the changeover years from steam to diesel and electric, which coincided with the Beeching era of cutbacks, many of our finest stations were dismissed as expensive anachronisms, considered ripe for closure.
In the space age Britain of the Sixties, where individual choice in the form of the car overtook railways as the public’s preferred form of transport, there was mass disdain for the transport architecture of yesterday, grubby as it so often was with layers of soot from decades of steam engines.
Victorian and Edwardian ornamentation gave way to brutalism and utilitarianism: why retain a brick station waiting room with canopies and awnings when a cheap bus shelter would do? There was a widespread reluctance in the second half of the 20th century to see the heritage in so much of our railway infrastructure. Most people would be horrified at the idea of bulldozing a parish church, manor house or other historic landmark in the name of progress, but were happy to sit back and watch as that fate befell their local station.
What follows is a list of Standard gauge Heritage Railway Stations in the British Isles. Please check opening times and accessibility before visiting.
South West
- Avon Valley Railway, Bitton, Gloucestershire
- Bodmin & Wenford Railway, Bodmin, Cornwall
- Bristol Harbour Railway, Bristol
- Dartmoor Railway, Okehampton, Devon
- Dartmouth Steam Railway, Paignton, Devon
- Dean Forest Railway, Norchard, Gloucestershire
- East Somerset Railway, Cranmore, Somerset
- Helston Railway, Prospidnick, Cornwall
- Plym Valley Railway, Marsh Mills, Devon
- Somerset & Dorset Railway, Midsomer Norton, Somerset
- South Devon Railway, Buckfastleigh, Devon
- Swanage Railway, Swanage, Dorset
- Swindon & Cricklade Railway, Blunsdon, Wiltshire
- West Somerset Railway, Minehead, Somerset
East of England
- Colne Valley Railway, Castle Hedingham, Essex
- Epping Ongar Railway, Ongar, Essex
- Lincolnshire Wolds Railway, Ludborough, Lincolnshire
- Mid-Norfolk Railway, Dereham, Norfolk
- Nene Valley Railway, Wansford, Cambridgeshire
- North Norfolk Railway, Sheringham, Norfolk
East Midlands
- Battlefield Line, Shackerstone, Leicestershire
- Ecclesbourne Valley Railway, Wirksworth, Derbyshire
- Great Central Railway, Loughborough, Leicestershire
- Great Central Railway (Nottingham), Ruddington, Nottinghamshire
- Midland Railway, Butterley, Derbyshire
- Northampton & Lamport Railway, Pitsford and Brampton, Northamptonshire
- Northants Ironstone Railway, Hunsbury Hill, Northamptonshire
- Peak Rail, Matlock, Derbyshire
- Rushden, Higham & Wellingborough Railway, Rushden, Northamptonshire
- Rutland Railway, Cottesmore, Rutland
North of England
- Aln Valley Railway, Alnwick, Northumberland
- Bowes Railway, Tyne and Wear
- Derwent Valley Light Railway, Murton, North Yorkshire
- East Lancashire Railway, Bury, Greater Manchester
- Eden Valley Railway, Warcop, Cumbria
- Elsecar Heritage Railway, South Yorkshire
- Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway, Embsay, North Yorkshire
- Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, Haworth, West Yorkshire
- Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway, Haverthwaite, nr Staveley, Cumbria
- Middleton Railway, Hunslet, West Yorkshire
- North Tyneside Steam Railway, North Shields, Tyne and Wear
- North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Pickering, North Yorkshire
- Ribble Steam Railway, Preston, Lancashire
- Stainmore Railway, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria
- Tanfield Railway, Marley Hill, County Durham
- Weardale Railway, Stanhope, County Durham
- Wensleydale Railway, Leeming Bar, North Yorkshire
South East
- Bluebell Railway, Sheffield Park, Sussex
- Chatham Historic Dockyard Railway, Kent
- Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway, Chinnor, Oxfordshire
- Cholsey & Wallingford Railway, Wallingford, Oxfordshire
- East Kent Railway, Shepherdswell, Kent
- Fawley Hill Railway, Buckinghamshire
- Isle of Wight Steam Railway, Havenstreet, Isle of Wight
- Kent & East Sussex Steam Railway, Tenterden, Kent
- Lavender Line, Isfield, East Sussex
- Mid Hants Railway, The Watercress Line, New Alresford, Hampshire
- Spa Valley Railway, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent
West Midlands
- Cambrian Heritage Railways, Oswestry and Llynclys, Shropshire
- Chasewater Railway, Staffordshire
- Churnet Valley Railway, Cheddleton, Staffordshire
- Foxfield Light Railway, Blythe Bridge, Staffordshire
- Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, Toddington, Gloucestershire and Broadway, Worcestershire
- Severn Valley Railway, Bridgnorth, Shropshire
- Telford Steam Railway, Horsehay, Shropshire
Northern Ireland
- Downpatrick and County Down Railway, County Down
Scotland
- Keith & Dufftown Railway, Dufftown, Banffshire and Keith, Morayshire
- Strathspey Railway, Aviemore, Highland
Wales
- Llangollen Railway, Llangollen, Denbighshire
- Barry Tourist Railway, Vale of Glamorgan, Glamorganshire
- Gwili Railway, Bronwydd Arms, Carmarthenshire
- Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway, Monmouthshire