This article lists special-purpose railway stations, i.e. those which meet one or more of these criteria:
It also lists closed stations that satisfied one or more of these criteria when open, and stations which at some point in their history satisfied one or more of the criteria.
![]() | This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2020) |
Station | Open? | Year of closure | Always/still special purpose? | Criteria[note 1] | Notes | Citation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No public access? | Private land? | Appointment only? | One venue only? | Omitted from timetable/event day service? | ||||||
Holton Heath | Open | — | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Possibly, until public opening | Initially opened for exclusive use of Royal Naval Cordite Factory, Holton Heath | |
Kempton Park | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | Serves Kempton Park Racecourse. Has had a regular service since 2006. | [1] | ||
Lympstone Commando | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Used for visitors to the Royal Marine Commando Training Centre. The station is owned by Network Rail and has been accessible to the public since the creation of a walking and cycling path between the station and training centre. | [2][3] | ||
Singer | No | No | No | No | Yes | ? | Built to serve the Singer's sewing machine factory which now no longer exists but keeps its name. Now has a regular service. | |||
Smallbrook Junction | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Built as a connection to two railways with no actual entrance to the station. This is the only station in the UK that has been built for this purpose. | |||
Stanlow and Thornton | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Built to serve Stanlow Oil Refinery. Service has been suspended since February 2022[4] | |||
Aintree Racecourse | Closed | 1962 | Yes | Yes | ? | No | Yes | Yes | Built to serve Aintree Racecourse | [5] |
Ampress Works Halt | 1989 | Yes | ? | ? | No | Yes | Yes | Served the Wellworthy works near Lymington, Hampshire | [6] | |
Angling Club Cottage Platform | 1940's | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | [7][8] | ||
Ardeer Platform | 1966 | Yes | No | ? | No | Yes | ? | Built to serve the ICI Nobel Explosives Factory in Stevenston, North Ayrshire. Platforms still exist. | ||
Bogside | 1967 | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | Built to serve the former Bogside Racecourse in Irvine, and also Bogside Golf Club | ||
Boothferry Park Halt | 1986 | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Served Boothferry Park football stadium, Hull | [9] | |
Dover Western Docks | 1994 | Yes | No | ? | No | Yes | No | Closed when the channel tunnel opened | ||
Filey Holiday Camp | 1977 | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Closed due to more people using cars | ||
Folkestone Harbour | 2001 | Yes | No | ? | No | Yes | No | Line officially closed in 2014 | ||
IBM | 2018 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Opened to serve a large facility owned by IBM that employed 4,000 at the time of opening but today much of the site has been sold off to other companies. | ||
Manchester United Football Ground | 2018 | Yes | No | ? | No | Yes | Yes | Built outside of the Old Trafford stadium and was only open on match days. Service suspended since 2018 | ||
Meadowbank Stadium | 1998 | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Opened to serve the Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh | ||
Newhaven Marine | 2006 | Yes | No | ? | No | Yes | No | Served the Ferry Terminal but closed due to more people using cars and the closeness of Newhaven Harbour station. Officially closed 2020. | ||
New Holland Pier | 1981 | Yes | No | ? | No | Yes | No | Was built the serve the ferry service over the Humber to Hull. Closed when the Humber bridge opened and the ferry service ceased. | [10] | |
Ramsline Halt | 1997 | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Served the Baseball Ground, Derby but closed when Derby County F.C. moved to a new stadium | ||
Redcar British Steel | 2019 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Built to serve the nearby Teesside Steelworks site. Services suspended in 2019. | ||
Rowntree Halt | 1988 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Opened for the workers who worked at the Rowntree's factory in York. Officially closed in 1989. | ||
Ruddington Factory Halt | 1948 | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Built to serve the Ruddington Ordnance & Supply Depot | [11] | |
Tilbury Riverside | 1992 | Yes | ? | ? | No | Yes | No | [12] | ||
Sinfin North | 1993 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Served the Rolls-Royce factory at Derby. Not officially closed until 1998, with a replacement taxi service being provided in the interim. | ||
Wadsley Bridge | 1996 | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Lost its regular service in 1956 but continued to be served by football specials until 1996 | [13][14] | |
Watford Stadium Halt | 1996 | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Served Vicarage Road, the home stadium of Watford F.C., was only open on match days, saw its last train when a road widening scheme severed the line, and was officially closed in 2003 | [15] | |
Weymouth Quay | 1987 | Yes | No | ? | No | Yes | No | Visited by one-off charter service in 1999 | [16] |