Branch line

A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. David Blyth Hanna, the first president of the Canadian National Railway, said that although most branch lines cannot pay for themselves, they are essential to make main lines pay.

United Kingdom

Many British branch lines were closed as a result of the "Beeching Axe" in the 1960s, although some have been re-opened as heritage railways.

The smallest branch line that is still in operation in the UK is the Stourbridge Town Branch Line from Stourbridge Junction going to Stourbridge Town. Operating on a single track the journey is 0.8 miles (1.3 kilometres) long and the train takes around two and a half minutes to complete its journey.

Singapore

Examples of spur lines in Singapore include: Changi Extension Line.

Hong Kong

Examples of spur lines in Hong Kong include: Lok Ma Chau Spur Line, South Tseung Kwan O Spur Line, Racecourse Spur Line.

Branch MRT Line

The Branch MRT Line was the third Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in Singapore, initially operated as a branch to the existing East West Line. The line was 6.5 km long with 4 stations, and was operated by the SMRT Corporation. Travelling from one end of this line to the other end took about ten minutes, and this line was coloured brown and khaki on the rail map. The line is now part of the North South Line.

History

The line started operations on 10 March 1990, and was merged into the North South Line when the North South Line Woodlands Extension opened on 10 February 1996. The station codes for Bukit Batok to Choa Chu Kang stations were changed to N23, N22 and N21 respectively, subsequently to their current code on the North South Line with the revamp of the system map on 31 July 2001.

Stations

Ingleton Branch Line

The Ingleton Branch Line was a rural railway line in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Westmorland in England (now North Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria). It was originally planned in 1846 to form part of a main line route from London to Scotland, but fell victim to rivalry between railway companies. Completion was delayed until 1861, and it was only ever a rural branch line, serving the towns of Ingleton, Kirkby Lonsdale and Sedbergh. It closed to passengers in 1954 and was dismantled in 1967.

Plans

In 1846, the North Western Railway (NWR) was formed to connect the Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway at Skipton to the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway (L&CR) south of Tebay, with a secondary branch from Clapham to Lancaster. In 1849, the route between Skipton and Ingleton opened, but further work northward was abandoned due to financial difficulties, the company deciding to concentrate instead on the cheaper branch to Lancaster. When the route from Skipton to Lancaster opened in 1850, the short section from Clapham to Ingleton closed.