why are some train stations called parkways in the Uk?

Answer 1

The first RAILWAY station to carry that name was Bristol Parkway. (When did people start using the Americanism "train station"?)

It was a brand new railway station built in 1971 on the site of an old marshalling yard at Stoke Gifford just north of Bristol.
Bristol Parkway Station was named after a local dual carrigeway that was (and still is) called The Parkway (it's the M32).

This station happened to have a very large car park so it was a logical step for every other new "out of town" station with a large car park to also be called "nnnn Parkway".

Ironically, Southampton Parkway has a tiny car park. It just happens to be adjacent to an airport.

Answer 2

The first Parkway station to be opened was Bristol Parkway. The idea was to encourage car users from out of town to travel by train - the idea being that if people did not have to drive into a town with all the traffic problems involved they might take the train rather than use the car for the whole of their journey. Other Parkways (Tiverton Parkway, for example) are built for towns once linked the the railway, but which lost their branch at Beeching or earlier. Other plans have come to nothing - the plan by Chiltern Trains, for example, to use the restored Princes Risborough - Chinnor line and extend it to a Parkway station near the M40.

Answer 3

Because they have been sited where few people live and so users have to drive there and park their cars. You will notice that older stations are located in the centre of towns so that people can walk or take a bus to the station. As fuel becomes more expensive we will need to reinvent town centre stations.

Answer 4

because they may be near a parkway

Answer 5

It is a park and ride service into a major city such as London etc

Answer 6

It is a posh way of saying "park and ride".