Port Meadow Halt railway station

Port Meadow Halt
Site of Port Meadow Halt railway station in September 2009. Station site in centre; train upper left is passing Oxford North Junction
Location
Place	Oxford
Area	City of Oxford
Grid reference	SP502079
Operations
Original company	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London Midland and Scottish Railway
Platforms	2
History
20 August 1906	Station opened as Summertown Halt
January 1907	Station renamed Port Meadow Halt
1 January 1917	Station closed
5 May 1919	Station re-opened
30 October 1926	Station closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

Port Meadow Halt was a railway station on the Varsity Line, between north Oxford and Port Meadow. The London and North Western Railway opened the halt as Summertown on 20 August 1906^[1] and renamed it Port Meadow Halt in January 1907. It was closed between 1 January 1917 and 5 May 1919, and the London, Midland and Scottish Railway permanently closed it on 30 October 1926.^[2] It was located on the north side of a footbridge leading from the present-day Aristotle Lane into Port Meadow, close to an occupation crossing which also gave access to the up platform.^[2]

The opening of the station marked the inauguration of a rail motor car service between Oxford and Bicester. Journey time was 37 minutes and, other than Port Meadow and Bicester, the service called at Wolvercote Halt, Oxford Road Halt, Islip, Oddington Halt, Charlton Halt and Wendlebury Halt.^[3] On the opening day the rail motor ran hot at the end of a return trip from Bicester in the early part of the morning and a 2-4-2 locomotive hauling an 8-wheel corridor coach replaced it; a step-ladder had to be provided for passengers to alight as the halts were only constructed of sleepers laid at rail level.^[3] The rail motor service was withdrawn as a wartime economy measure in 1917 and restored in 1919. It was permanently withdrawn from 1925 due to the introduction of motorised bus services around Oxford.^[3]

Route

Railways around Oxford

Legend to Banbury to Worcester to Bicester to Witney and Fairford Oxford Parkway Yarnton Oxford Road Halt Yarnton Loop City boundary Wolvercot Junction Wolvercot Platform Wolvercote Halt Oxford North Junction Port Meadow Halt Exchange sidings Sheepwash Channel Rewley Road Swing Bridge Oxford Oxford Rewley Road City boundary Oxford (Grandpont) Goods Hinksey Halt Millstream Junction Abingdon Road Halt Kennington Junction Radley Iffley Halt to Didcot Kennington Railway Bridge Littlemore Morris Cowley BMW Mini terminal Horspath Halt to Princes Risborough

Notes

1. Waters 1986, p. 128.
2. Mitchell & Smith 2005, fig. III.
3. Little 1930, p. 223.

Sources

• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199.
• Little, E. (March 1930). "The Why and the Wherefore; Portmeadow Halt, L.M.S.R.". Railway Magazine (Westminster: Railway Publishing Company Ltd) 66 (393): 223. ISSN 0033-8923.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (July 2005). Oxford to Bletchley. Country Railway Routes. Middleton Press. ISBN 1-904474-57-8.
• Waters, Laurence (1986). Oxford. Rail Centres. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1590-2.

External links

• "Disused Stations". Subterranea Britannica.
• RAILSCOT on Buckinghamshire Railway

Coordinates: 51°46′03″N 1°16′24″W / 51.7674°N 1.2734°W