Gerrards Cross railway station
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Gerrards Cross  |
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| Gerrards Cross | |
| Location | |
| Place | Gerrards Cross |
| Local authority | South Bucks |
| Grid reference | TQ001887 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | GER |
| Managed by | Chiltern Railways |
| Number of platforms | 2 |
| Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries |
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| Annual rail passenger usage | |
| 2002/03 * | 0.947 million |
| 2004/05 * |  0.953 million |
| 2005/06 * |  0.829 million |
| 2006/07 * | 1.000 million |
| 2007/08 * | 1.115 million |
| 2008/09 * | 1.137 million |
| 2009/10 * | 1.131 million |
| History | |
| Opened 1906 | |
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Gerrards Cross from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year. | |
Gerrards Cross railway station serves the villages of Gerrards Cross and Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire. It is in a cutting on the Chiltern Main Line between Denham Golf Club and Seer Green and Jordans.
It provides fast rail access to London Marylebone and to High Wycombe and Birmingham Snow Hill. Although its name has long been merely "Gerrards Cross", its original name was "Gerrards Cross for the Chalfonts". A single weekday service to London Paddington starts at the station, arriving in London at 1132 (as of the December 2011 timetable),[1] running non-stop from West Ruislip. It traverses the rarely-used former main line between Northolt Junction and Old Oak Common Junction, in many places reduced to a single track. This section is used more frequently by freight and waste trains, and also diversions during engineering works. There is an equivalent service from Paddington departing there at 1136, which runs non-stop to Gerrards Cross.
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[edit] History
The station was built as part of the Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway in the first decade of the 20th century, and opened in April 1906, along with many other stations on the line. The cutting is particularly deep in order for the railway to meet the gradient profile requirements of the line, which defined a very shallow maximum gradient to allow for fast running with steam-hauled trains. The original station layout was four track, with two through roads and two platform roads. A small goods yard lay to the north of the line. This has now gone, but services from Marylebone that terminate at Gerrards Cross use the siding there.
The new line and station virtually created the present Gerrards Cross; the original settlement lay for the most part along the Oxford Road.
The station was transferred from the Western Region of British Railways to the London Midland Region on 24 March 1974.[2]
In October 2007 work began on installing ticket barriers, these became operational on Monday 10 March 2008.[citation needed]
[edit] Tunnel works
A development by the Tesco supermarket chain is turning the cutting on the London side of the station into a tunnel by the use of large concrete ring segments to form the tunnel profile. The space on top of these segments is to be filled in to form a ground surface on which the new supermarket can be constructed. Many of the town's residents do not view this development with favour.[citation needed]
[edit] Service interruption
At 19:35 on 30 June 2005, 20 metres of the tunnel roof near its eastern end collapsed, depositing failed tunnel segment fragments and many tonnes of infill material on the track. News pictures showed that the concrete segments adjoining the hole, which were still in place, appeared to have an unhealthy downwards bow at the point where two segments met.
A Marylebone-bound train was standing at the eastbound platform at the moment of collapse. Its driver saw the collapse and raised the alarm, so all traffic stopped. No one was injured. A westbound train that had left Denham had to make an emergency stop between stations and go back to Denham Golf Club to allow its passengers to alight. Again, no one was injured.
[edit] Service restoration
Following work on removing infill material and various concrete segments, both those that actually failed and those that were judged unsafe but did not actually collapse, the trackwork and signalling system were restored. Train services resumed from start of normal timetable on Saturday 20 August 2005.
Gerrards Cross railway station had its centenary year in 2006. This was celebrated by running steam locomotives 48151 and 5690 Leander between Marylebone and High Wycombe.
[edit] References
- ^ "Timetable 11 December 2011 to 13 May 2012". Chiltern Railways. http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/sites/default/files/December%202011%20Timetable%20booklet.pdf. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
- ^ Slater, J.N., ed. (May 1974). "Notes and News: Transfer of Marylebone-Banbury services". Railway Magazine (London: IPC Transport Press Ltd) 120 (877): 248. ISSN 0033-8923.
[edit] External links
- Train times and station information for Gerrards Cross railway station from National Rail
- BBC News Online - Tunnel collapses onto rail line
- Information and news on the Gerrards Cross Tunnel
| Preceding station |  National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seer Green and Jordans | Chiltern Railways London-Birmingham |
Denham Golf Club | ||
| Beaconsfield | Chiltern Railways Chiltern Main Line fast services |
London Marylebone | ||
| Seer Green and Jordans | Chiltern Railways London Paddington - High Wycombe Monday-Friday Only |
London Paddington | ||
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