Peterborough East railway station
Encyclopedia
Peterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It was opened on 2 June 1845 and closed to passenger traffic on 6 June 1966. Located on Station Road just off Town Bridge, only the engine sheds and one platform remain extant today. The station had services running west to Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
and Rugby
Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
, as well as to the east to March
March, Cambridgeshire
March is a Fenland market town and civil parish in the Isle of Ely area of Cambridgeshire, England. March was the county town of the Isle of Ely, a separate administrative county between 1889 and 1965, and is now the administrative centre of Fenland District Council.The town was an important...
, Wisbech
Wisbech
Wisbech is a market town, inland port and civil parish with a population of 20,200 in the Fens of Cambridgeshire. The tidal River Nene runs through the centre of the town and is spanned by two bridges...
, and Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
.
Opening
Opened on 2 June 1845, Peterborough East was the first station in Peterborough built by the Eastern Counties RailwayEastern Counties Railway
The Eastern Counties Railway was an early English railway company incorporated in 1836. It was intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then on to Norwich and Yarmouth. Construction began in late March 1837 on the first nine miles, at the London end of the line.Construction was...
(ECR). In 1862 the Eastern Counties Railway became part of the Great Eastern Railway
Great Eastern Railway
The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...
and the station appeared on timetables as "Peterborough (GE)". From 1 July 1923 until its closure it was known as Peterborough East.
The station was designed as the eastern terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway
London and Birmingham Railway
The London and Birmingham Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway ....
's Northampton and Peterborough Railway
Northampton and Peterborough Railway
The Northampton and Peterborough Railway was an early railway promoted by the London and Birmingham Railway to run from a junction at Blisworth to Northampton and Peterborough.-Origin:...
and a site was chosen on the south side of the River Nene
River Nene
The River Nene is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in the county of Northamptonshire. The tidal river forms the border between Cambridgeshire and Norfolk for about . It is the tenth longest river in the United Kingdom, and is navigable for from Northampton to The...
in the parish of Fletton
Fletton
Fletton is a residential area and electoral ward of the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom. For parliamentary purposes it falls within North West Cambridgeshire constituency...
in the county of Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Traditionally it is a county in its own right...
. However, in 1845, by the time the line had actually reached the town, the station's construction works were still continuing apace and the Illustrated London News
Illustrated London News
The Illustrated London News was the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper; the first issue appeared on Saturday 14 May 1842. It was published weekly until 1971 and then increasingly less frequently until publication ceased in 2003.-History:...
reported that it was still in "a very unfinished state". Nevertheless, once the station did open, it became apparent that its facilities - one platform serving Up and Down trains - were inadequate to handle the traffic on the Northampton line which had proved to be far heavier than had been expected. Only two months after the line's opening, traffic was reported to be more than half the amount originally estimated and the decision was therefore taken to double the line and enlarge the station. In December 1846 the enlargements were undertaken: refreshment rooms were added, ancres of roofing announced its royal agency, as was a larger goods warehouse and still larger engine houses. These additions were certainly necessary as, from January 1847, with the opening of the Ely to Peterborough Line
Ely to Peterborough Line
The Ely to Peterborough Line is a railway line in England, linking East Anglia to the Midlands. It is a part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 5, SRS 05.07 and is classified as a secondary line.-Service:...
, the station ceased to be a terminus. Furthermore, the following year the Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
opened its Syston and Peterborough Railway
Syston and Peterborough Railway
The Syston and Peterborough Railway was an early railway in England opened between 1845 and 1848 to form a branch from the Midland Counties Railway at Syston just north of Leicester to Peterborough.-Origins:...
which initially terminated at the East station.
The station's facilities were described in an 1849 local directory as follows:
It therefore appears that by this time the station had acquired an island platform
Island platform
An island platform is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange...
, which in fact was split in two by a wagon line. This wagon line and two others at either end of the platform continued south into a large four-road covered way which was an unusual feature of the station. The covered way did not have platforms and was probably used for the transfer of goods.
Great Northern Railway
In 1850 the Great Northern RailwayGreat Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
(GNR) opened its loop line from Peterborough to Bawtry
Bawtry
Bawtry is a small market town and civil parish which lies at the point where the Great North Road crosses the River Idle in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. Nearby towns include Gainsborough to the east, Retford south southeast, Worksop to the southwest and...
which generated yet more traffic for Peterborough. The GNR was in the midst of constructing its main line from London to York via Peterborough
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
which opened in stages between October 1848 and August 1852; from 1848 to 1850, it ran services to Peterborough East. However, the GNR was desperately short of capital and approached the ECR in autumn 1849 with an offer to purchase the station to which it would run services using a six mile stretch of the Midland Railway's Syston Branch to the north of Peterborough. Although the ECR declined the offer, it was willing to afford the GNR accommodation at the station. This was not taken up by the GNR's directors who, by December 1849, had decided to construct their own station in the city.
In August 1850 the GNR opened its Peterborough North station
Peterborough railway station
Peterborough railway station serves the city of Peterborough, England. It is located approximately north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line...
. The railway company had nevertheless obtained parliamentary powers to build two short curves to connect its line at Fletton with the ECR line. However, these connecting lines were never constructed. With the opening of the GNR station in August 1850, GNR trains ceased to use the ECR station.
Further enlargements
The decision to place the island platform between the Up and Down lines - so that the Up line was served by two platform sides - resulted in congestion due to platform occupation. Over the years various improvements were carried out in an attempt to remedy this.In 1880, to cope with growing demand, the former third class ladies' waiting room and the gents' waiting room were converted into an enlarged booking office and dispatch office. The booking office contained three small windows marked GER
Great Eastern Railway
The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...
, LNWR and Midland Railway. In latter days when one booking clerk issued all the tickets, passengers who called at the wrong window and were redirected to the correct window were often confused by seeing the same face there.
In August 1887 part of the station was demolished in a shunting accident. Apparently, a LNWR goods engine shunted some wagons into the station at a higher speed than was normal practice. As they entered the covered way, the wagons jumped the points
Railroad switch
A railroad switch, turnout or [set of] points is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one track to another at a railway junction....
and collided with the iron columns supporting the south side of the roof, demolishing four bays on that side, as well as the corresponding gable over the two platforms on the other side. In all, a quarter of the entire roof was wrecked. Fortunately, as the incident occurred at 4:20am few people were about and there were no injuries. Although it was suggested that this was an appropriate time to rebuild the whole station - in 1896 plans were made for an extensive new station - these plans were never realised and the damage caused by the shunting accident was never fully repaired. In fact, it appears that all of the covered way was demolished about this time.
Level crossing
To the west of the station was Fletton level crossingLevel crossing
A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
on the main road from the south into and out of Peterborough. From the moment the railway arrived, this level crossing proved to be a notorious bottleneck. In 1848, 70 trains per day were involved in shunting operations over the crossing and by 1855 complaints were made that this resulted in the regular closure of the gates for 25 minutes at a time. With the development of the brick industry in the area and the southward spread of the city into Woodston and Fletton the inconvenience increased. It was particularly bad during the fair when crowds of people and herds of nervous animals were crushed together. For many years the GER chose to ignore numerous petitions and protests.
In 1872 the GER finally built a pedestrian footbridge over the level crossing and in 1874 agreed to transfer many of its shunting operations to other yards. Animals and vehicles, however, still had to face long delays. It was this level crossing and the restricted width of the narrow street which limited the development of Peterborough's tramway network to areas north of the River Nene
River Nene
The River Nene is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in the county of Northamptonshire. The tidal river forms the border between Cambridgeshire and Norfolk for about . It is the tenth longest river in the United Kingdom, and is navigable for from Northampton to The...
.
Negotiations between the GER and the local authorities for a new bridge were well-advanced by 1913 but the First World War resulted in the scheme being dropped. It was not until 20 September 1934 that the present road viaduct, spanning both the river and railway, was opened. The entailed the demolition of the Crown public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, some GER railway cottages and the removal of Fletton Road Junction Signalbox which closed in May 1934. Until 1920, when a wheel was installed, two gatemen were required for each turn of duty. During the late 1920s and early 1930s the East station was resignalled; in April 1932 Peterborough East Box, which was on a gantry at the west end of the station over the main platform line opened.
Final years
Nationalisation of the railways in 1947 resulted in British RailBritish Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
(BR) taking over responsibility for the station. With the advent of the 1955 Modernisation Plan, the station's days were numbered.
On 12 May 1963, the old timber bridge over the river at Stanground
Stanground
Stanground is a residential area of the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom. For electoral purposes it comprises Stanground Central and Stanground East wards in North West Cambridgeshire constituency...
, known as the Black Bridge, was destroyed by fire. Until 9 June, when the line was reopened to normal traffic, trains had to be diverted via Spalding
Spalding railway station
Spalding railway station serves the town of Spalding in Lincolnshire, England.Spalding is on the branch line to Lincoln operated by a roughly hourly service in both directions usually by Class 153 single car units...
and the GER/GNR joint line
Peterborough to Lincoln Line
The Peterborough to Lincoln Line is a railway line linking and , via and .-History:The section between Peterborough and Spalding closed to passengers on 5 October 1970 and re-opened on 7 June 1971. North of Spalding, Ruskington re-opened on 5 May 1975. Metheringham followed on 6 October...
. Over a hundred years previously, in March 1856, the original wooden bridge was already reported to be "positively dangerous" and services crossed the old bridge on the Up line at a rate of only 4mph and on the Down line at only 2mph. Plans to replace the structure with a brick structure were never realised. The new replacement wooden bridge - which now consisted of only two tracks (there had been 5 on the old bridge) - was rebuilt on the previous piles which were undamaged below ground and water levels. Track and signalling modifications were required to connect the yards at each end of the bridge.
Although passenger services on the Northampton line ceased on 2 May 1964, the following year around 40 trains per day were still calling at Peterborough East. However, on 6 June 1966, with the closure of the Rugby line from Yarwell Junction to Seaton
Nene Valley Railway
The Nene Valley Railway is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is currently seven and a half miles in length...
, Peterborough East finally closed to passenger traffic. This, however, did not mark the end of the station as it was converted into a parcels centre. The station became the base for the East Anglia British Rail Universal Trolley Equipment
British Rail Universal Trolley Equipment
British Rail Universal Trolley Equipment was a system of mobile containers used by British Rail from 1964 to the early 1990s to enable the sorting, handling and distribution of parcels, newspapers etc...
(BRUTE) service and handled some 15,000 parcels a day. On 29 June 1970, the station finally became redundant when operations were transferred to the new British Rail Express Parcel Terminal built on the site of the New England
New England, Peterborough
New England is residential area of the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire in England, For electoral purposes it forms part of Peterborough North ward. The area is bounded by Millfield to the south, Dogsthorpe to the east, by the A47 to the north and the A15 to the west...
locomotive sheds. In July 1981, the Post Office
Royal Mail
Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
took over the terminal when BR withdrew its unprofitable Collected/Delivered parcels business.
In 1971 a possible alternative use for the East station was put forward by the Peterborough Locomotive Society (PLS), the predecessor of the Peterborough Railway Society. With the support of Peterborough City Council, the Peterborough Development Corporation
Peterborough Development Corporation
The Peterborough Development Corporation was established in February 1968, as a national government initiative, following the city's designation as a third-wave New Town in July 1967...
and the Huntingdon and Peterborough County Council, the PLS proposed that the National Railway Museum
National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the British National Museum of Science and Industry and telling the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001...
- which had previously been located at Clapham
Clapham
Clapham is a district in south London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth.Clapham covers the postcodes of SW4 and parts of SW9, SW8 and SW12. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth, although Lambeth has responsibility for running the common as a whole. According...
- should relocate to Peterborough instead of moving to another London site or to York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
. The East station and former locomotive shed could be developed into a static museum. The unique advantage of the site was the possibility of a link to a live museum, built on the former LNWR locoshed site, from which a preserved steam railway could run along the Nene Valley to Wansford
Wansford railway station
Wansford railway station is the headquarters of the Nene Valley Railway. The current station building was opened in 1995 and contains a ticket office, shop, cafe and toilets. The locomotive sheds are located at this station. Also at the station there is a picnic area and children's playground...
. However, as is now well-known, the National Railway Museum eventually moved to York.
The station today
In 1972 the East Station was demolished and only part of the main platform with a bay at the east end remains. In 1977 the turntableTurntable (railroad)
A railway turntable is a device for turning railroad rolling stock. When steam locomotives were still in wide use, many railroads needed a way to turn the locomotives around for return trips as their controls were often not configured for extended periods of running in reverse and in many...
from the locoyard, which had been retained to turn track maintenance machines, was purchased by the PRS and moved to Wansford. After the rebuilding of the Black Bridge in 1963, an 10mph speed limit had been imposed. With the demolition of the replacement bridge, a new concrete bridge was opened in June 1981 which allowed the speed limit to be raised to the normal limit.
A fenced public footpath runs along the southern edge of the remaining platform. The large engine shed to the east of the site is still standing, but the whole site has been earmarked for future development. Nevertheless, the Ely to Peterborough Line continues to run through the site and continues to provide a well-used link between East Anglia and the Midlands.
Former services
See also
- Peterborough railway stationPeterborough railway stationPeterborough railway station serves the city of Peterborough, England. It is located approximately north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line...
- Peterborough Nene Valley railway station
- Nene Valley RailwayNene Valley RailwayThe Nene Valley Railway is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is currently seven and a half miles in length...