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Peterborough railway station

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Peterborough
The entrance to Peterborough Station
General information
LocationPeterborough
Managed byEast Coast
Platforms5
Other information
Station codePBO
Key dates
August 1850Opened
2004Refurbished

Peterborough railway station serves the city of Peterborough, England. It is located approximately 76.5 miles (123.1 km) north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line. The station is a major interchange, and it benefits from serving both the north-south ECML, as well as East-West local services.

Facilities

The station has a small concourse and ticket office which was internally redesigned and subsequently opened in September 2004. The concourse features both a small shop and a cafe. A Starbucks coffee shop opened in 2009 adjacent to Platform 2

For general assistance there is a customer information point located on platform 2 by the concourse, as well as customer service offices on platform 5 and near the toilets on platform 2. Platforms 3, 4 and 5 are accessible by means of a passenger footbridge and also by a ramp bridge at the north end of the station.

There is on site car parking, a large Royal Mail Sorting Office, and a hotel all within easy reach. Within a few minutes walk is Peterborough city centre, and theQueensgate shopping centre.

Services

Peterborough is an excellent commuting 'hub'. Between 0640 and 0800, every 20 minutes there are East Coast express services non-stop to London taking between 45 and 60 minutes. Also there are several services run by First Capital Connect calling only at Huntingdon, St Neots and sometimes Biggleswade, these take around an hour. Recently a 0615 non-stop service to London starting at Peterborough has been introduced over the last year, and even this service is often busy arriving in London at about 0700. In the evening peak services are just as good with lots of departures out of London stopping at Peterborough.

Station layout

Platform 4 & 5 are used in the evening peak by terminating First Capital Connect services from London Kings Cross, so the stock can be taken to the Nene Carriage Sidings located to the south of the station.

  • Freight lines: two freight lines are located next to platform 5. These are frequently used by the many freight services that pass through Peterborough. Often the freight services will wait on these loops for a clear path onwards. Much freight is to/from Felixstowe, however there is a large range.

Proposed improvements

Network Rail has pledged £1.3 million to improve Peterborough station and its surroundings, in a move they say is intended to increase passenger numbers. The upgrade plans to include a new platform for the proposed link [citation needed] with the Bedford to Brighton route of First Capital Connect - linking Peterborough with the south including Gatwick Airport. Another platform specifically for use by trains to and from Cambridge is also proposed, giving the station a total of 7 platforms. The remaining platforms will be extended to increase capacity.

History

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There have been a number of railways stations in Peterborough: Peterborough East (1845–1966), the current station which opened in 1850 (previously known by various names including Peterborough North); and briefly Peterborough Crescent (1858–1866).

Peterborough was the first station on the ECML to be electrified. Peterborough consequently has the first mast to be installed as part of the electrification project. This can be found behind platform 1.

Openings

Peterborough East opened on 2 June 1845[1] along with the Ely to Peterborough Line built by Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) and the Northampton and Peterborough Railway built by the London and Birmingham Railway, both of which provided routes to London. The Syston and Peterborough Railway by Midland Railway was opened in 1846. On 7 August 1862, the ECR became part of the Great Eastern Railway (GER).[2]

The Great Northern Railway (GNR) arrived in Peterborough with the opening of the major portion of its "loop line" between Peterborough, Spalding, Boston and Lincoln, which opened on 17 October 1848; at first GNR trains used the ECR station at Peterborough East.[3] During the construction of the GNR line south to London, it was decided that the GNR would need their own station at Peterborough; this was decided upon in December 1849,[4] and opened on 7 August 1850[1] together with the new line, which originally terminated at Maiden Lane, the permanent London terminus at Kings Cross not being ready until 14 October 1852.[5] The GNR's Peterborough station is the current station, but it has had several names: originally simply Peterborough, it later became Peterborough Priestgate, then Peterborough Cowgate in 1902, reverting to Peterborough in 1911.[1]

On 1 January 1923 the GER and GNR became constituents of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), which found itself with two similarly-named stations in Peterborough; to distinguish them, they were given new names on 1 July 1923: the ex-GER station became Peterborough East, and the ex-GNR station Peterborough North.[1] After Peterborough East closed on 6 June 1966, Peterborough North once again became Peterborough, the name by which it is still known.[1]

The Great Northern Railway heading north to Grantham and Doncaster (the Towns Line) opened in 1853 using the GNR station. This line was built alongside the Midland Railway as far as Helpston, resulting in adjacent but separate level crossings at various places, including the Crescent level crossings in Peterborough city centre.

Interchange between Peterborough East and the GNR station was inconvenient,[6] so on 1 February 1858 the Midland Railway opened Peterborough Crescent station,[1] a short distance from the GNR station and close to the level crossing of the same name. Some GER trains were working through to the GNR Station by 1863.[7] and the Crescent station closed on 1 August 1866[1] when Midland Railway trains began using the GNR station instead.[6]

The Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway branch to Wisbech and Sutton Bridge opened in 1866. To access this line trains headed north and diverged left at Westwood junction, then continued north adjacent to the Midland Railway line but gaining height, then curved east and bridged over the Midland line, the GNR line and Lincoln Road and headed off towards Eye Green along approximately the route of the current A47 Stoke Parkway.

Services to Rugby (by London and North Western Railway from Peterborough East) and to Leicester (by GNR from their Station) started in 1879 when the Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway (M&GNR) built a line from Yarwell junction near Wansford and Seaton linking the Northampton and Peterborough Railway and the Rugby and Stamford Railway. Also the Fletton curve via Woodston to Orton Waterville by the GNR.

In 1913 the two troublesome Crescent level crossings were finally abolished when Crescent Bridge was opened.

Closures

GNR service to Leicester ended in 1916 during World War 1. In 1959 the line to Wisbech and to Sutton Bridge closed in 1959 along with most of the rest of the M&GNR and Local services on the GNR main line ended with a number of minor stations including Yaxley and Farcet and Tallington being closed.

The Northampton and Peterborough Railway closed in 1964, followed 2 years later by the closure of Peterborough East station and the passenger services to Rugby (the line between Rugby and Nassington remained open until the line was finally closed with the track remained in situ, until part of it was eventually reopened as the Nene Valley Railway heritage line). The local services on the Syston and Peterborough Railway ceased in the same year with the closure of the remaining village stations including Helpston and Ketton & Collyweston.

The final closure came in 1970 when the lines to Spalding, Boston and Grimsby were closed, although the Peterborough to Lincoln Line to Spalding was reopened on 7 June 1971, with a shuttle service of 3 trains each way per day. This service was improved in 1982 with the closure of the March to Spalding section of the former Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway when the Lincoln to Cambridge service became the Lincoln to Peterborough service.[8][9]

Renewal

The new facilities were part of GNER’s £10 million station improvement programme to modernise facilities at key stations along the East Coast Main Line. The modern travel centre is part of a £1 million upgrade which includes new passenger lounges on platforms 2 and 3, new toilet facilities on platforms 2, 4 and 5, new customer information screens and improved security including the installation of CCTV cameras within the station and car park.[citation needed]

Train services in 1910

Rail services from the station were at their peak in 1910, before economies were made during World War I, most of which were never reversed.

The express services calling at Peterborough are mainly en route to or from Leeds or York, but there are also through coaches to Grimsby via Spalding and Boston, Cromer via the M&GNR line, Sheffield Victoria and Manchester London Road via Retford and the Great Central line, and Hull, Halifax, Blackburn, Harrogate and Bradford via Doncaster.

At this time, most Bradford trains used a direct route either using the GNR line via Morley Top, or the LYR line via Thornhill. An economy made during World War I which continues to the present day, is to serve Bradford by reversing trains at Leeds.[10]

There are few trains for Newcastle and beyond. At this time it was necessary to change at Doncaster or York.

Also in 1910, the GNR were still running trains to Leicester via Wansford and Seaton, in direct competition with the Midland Railway which ran via Stamford. The GNR route and times were competitive but in 1910 they only offered three trains compared to six by the Midland Railway, plus they did not serve any significant population centres en route. They were withdrawn in 1916.

Services to Northampton and Rugby ran from East station.

See also

Ticket Office Opening Times & Station Staffing Hours

Below are the current opening and staffing times for Peterborough, as of 2010.[11]

Ticket Office Hours
Day Opens Closes
Monday to Saturday 06:00 21:00
Sunday 08:05 21:00
Station Staffing Hours
Day From Until
Monday to Saturday 03:15 01:00
Sunday 24 Hours

Route

Below are the routes that Peterborough is currently on, as well as those that it has been on in the past:

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
CrossCountry
Limited Service
Stevenage   East Coast
East Coast Main Line 		  Grantham
East Midlands Trains
Limited Service
Limited Service
East Midlands Trains
Nottingham-Norwich (via Loughborough)
Limited Service
TerminusEast Midlands Trains
Mondays-Saturdays only
First Capital Connect
Great Northern semi-fasts
Terminus
First Capital Connect
Great Northern Peterborough Line
Terminus
National Express East AngliaTerminus
Historical railways
Line open, station closed
Great Northern Railway
Line open, station closed
Line open, station closed
Great Northern RailwayTerminus
Line open, station closed
Midland Railway
Line open, station closed
Line open, station closed
Great Eastern RailwayTerminus
Disused railways
Line and station closed
London and North Western RailwayTerminus
TerminusMidland and Great Northern Joint Railway
Sutton Bridge line
Line and station closed

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Butt 1995, p. 184
  2. ^ Waszak 1984, p. 10
  3. ^ Waszak 1984, pp. 100–1
  4. ^ Waszak 1984, p. 105
  5. ^ Butt 1995, p. 134
  6. ^ a b Waszak 1984, pp. 109–110
  7. ^ Bradshaws General Railway and Steam Navigation Guide, Feb 1863
  8. ^ A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. Volume 9. The East Midlands. (Robin Leleux)
  9. ^ The Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway (A. J. Wrottesley)
  10. ^ Bradshaw's Railway Guide, July 1922
  11. ^ http://www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk/Main.php?sEvent=StationInfo&crs_code=PBO
  • Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1 85260 508 1. R508. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Waszak, Peter (1984). Peterborough. Rail Centres. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0 7110 1389 6. CE/0984. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

Media related to Peterborough railway station at Wikimedia Commons

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