Northampton loop

Northampton Loop Line
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Northamptonshire East Midlands West Midlands (region)
Termini	Roade (West Coast Main Line) Rugby (West Coast Main Line)
Stations	Two
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	London Midland Virgin Trains
Rolling stock	Class 350 Desiro Class 390 Pendolino
Technical
Track gauge	Standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)

Northampton loop
Birmingham Loop Line Trent Valley line Trent Valley Junction Rugby Hillmorton Junction Rugby Parkway (proposed) Kilsby and Crick Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT) Daventry South Junction Crick Tunnel Watford Lodge Tunnel Long Buckby Althorp Park Church Brampton Northampton– Market Harborough line Northampton Northampton–Peterborough line & Bedford–Northampton line Blisworth Hunsbury Hill Tunnel Roade Hanslope Junction Castlethorpe Wolverton Milton Keynes Central West Coast Main Line

The Northampton loop is a railway line serving the town of Northampton deviating from the West Coast Main Line.

The Northampton loop leaves the direct London-Birmingham line at Hanslope Junction, but continues to run alongside it until the two lines separate at Roade, and then runs north east for several miles until it reaches Northampton station. After Northampton, the line verges to the north-west for around twenty miles, until it re-joins the direct London - Birmingham line at Hillmorton Junction at Rugby, just east of Rugby station. The line is a total of 23 ¾ miles long.

Stations

The only stations that are currently operational on the route are Northampton and Long Buckby. Previously there were six stations between Hanslope Junction and Rugby, but only these two survive. The four stations that have closed were:

• Kilsby and Crick (closed 1960)
• Long Buckby
• Althorp Park (closed 1960)
• Church Brampton (closed 1931)
• Northampton
• Roade (closed 1964)

History

When the London and Birmingham Railway was constructed in the 1830s, Northampton was by-passed, with the line running to the west via Kilsby Tunnel. According to some sources, this was because Northampton landowners objected to having a railway run to the town. Alternatively, other sources suggest that Northampton was by-passed because the gradients would have been too steep for early locomotives to cope with.

This meant however that Northampton, despite being a large town, did not have direct rail links to London. A branch from the main line was built to Northampton in the early 1840s, the Northampton and Peterborough Railway, from Blisworth, which gave the town indirect rail links to London and Birmingham.

The loop line was constructed in the late 1870s by the London and North Western Railway and was opened in 1881. It was constructed to improve rail services to Northampton and give the town a direct link to London. It also had the advantage of doubling capacity on the line from Roade to Rugby without the expense of widening the tunnel at Kilsby.

The line was electrified along with the rest of the WCML during the 1960s in the wake of the BR 1955 Modernisation Plan.

Accidents

An accident near the village of Milton Malsor between Roade and Northampton occurred in 1967.

Sources

• The Last Days Of Steam In Northamptonshire, by John M.C. Healy (1989) ISBN 0-86299-613-9
• Rugby's Railway Heritage, by Peter H Elliot (1985) ISBN 0-907917-06-2