Wellingborough railway station

Coordinates: 52°18′14″N 0°40′35″W / 52.304°N 0.6764°W / 52.304; -0.6764
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Wellingborough
National Rail
The entrance to Wellingborough station
General information
LocationWellingborough, North Northamptonshire
England
Coordinates52°18′14″N 0°40′35″W / 52.304°N 0.6764°W / 52.304; -0.6764
Grid referenceSP903681
Managed byEast Midlands Railway
Platforms4
Other information
Station codeWEL
ClassificationDfT category C2
Key dates
1857Opened as Wellingborough Midland Road
Passengers
2018/19Decrease 0.998 million
 Interchange  6,188
2019/20Decrease 0.917 million
 Interchange Decrease 128
2020/21Decrease 0.186 million
 Interchange Decrease 63
2021/22Increase 0.519 million
 Interchange Increase 91
2022/23Increase 0.739 million
 Interchange Increase 4,220
Listed Building – Grade II
FeatureWellingborough Railway Station
Designated5 May 1981
Reference no.1191880[1]
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Wellingborough railway station (formerly Wellingborough Midland Road) is a Grade II listed[1] station located in the market town of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, England. It lies on the Midland Main Line and is 65 miles (104 km) from London St. Pancras. The station is operated by East Midlands Railway, which is also the primary operator serving the station with passenger services under the Luton Airport Express brand.

As well as Wellingborough itself, the station is also the closest to the towns of Higham Ferrers, Raunds, Irthlingborough and Rushden, although there is no direct public transport link from the station itself to any of these towns apart from Irthlingborough. It is also the nearest station to Rushden Lakes shopping centre.

Wellingborough station was used as a filming location for the film Kinky Boots, standing in for Northampton station. In late 2009, Wellingborough was made a Penalty fare station by East Midlands Trains, which means a valid ticket or permit to travel must be shown when requested.

History[edit]

Charles Driver's decorative building

Wellingborough station was built by the Midland Railway in 1857, on its extension from Leicester to Bedford and Hitchin. At the time, the station was known as Wellingborough Midland Road to distinguish from one built by the LNWR in 1866, at Wellingborough London Road for the Northampton and Peterborough Railway, which closed in 1966. A curve linked the two stations from west to north.[2]

The buildings, designed by C. H. Driver, still exist, though in altered form. Much of this occurred when the branch to Higham Ferrers was built in 1894, when the up main platform was substantially altered, removing the original canopies.[3]

Wellingborough also had a large locomotive depot with two roundhouses; the first built 1868 and the second in 1872. The 1872 building, known as No.2 Shed still exists, just to the north of the station at the far side of Mill Rd bridge. On 2 September 1898, the station was the scene of a serious rail accident, when a trolley ran off the platform in front of a Manchester express train. The crew and five passengers were killed and sixty-five injured.

British Rail removed the fourth track between Kettering and Sharnbrook Junction in the 1980s, for cost cutting reasons, making platform 4 unused. Work started in 2019 on rebuilding the platform in preparation for reopening and reinstatement of the fourth track.

There were originally five platforms at Wellingborough station - Platforms 1 & 2 still exist as they were, platform 3 was the bay platform for Northampton trains, which ceased on 4 May 1964. The bay is still there, but fenced off from platform 2. In 1964, platform 4 (the then down slow platform) was re-numbered platform 3. Platform 5 was taken out of use when the Rushden and Higham Ferrers services ceased in 1959.

Station Masters[edit]

  • George Renshaw 1867 - 1893[4]
  • George Turner 1893 - 1908
  • Mr. A. Roper 1909 - 1930 (formerly station master at Finedon)
  • W.J. Wearn 1930[5] - 1937
  • Oscar Best 1937 - 1940[6] (afterwards stationmaster at Huddersfield)
  • V.L. Ward 1940 - 1943[7] (afterwards station master at Derby)
  • S. Curtis 1947[8] - ????
  • Albert Horsley 1953[8] - ????

General information[edit]

Wellingborough has four platforms. The station was formerly the junction for a branch to Higham Ferrers.

The station has the PlusBus scheme, where train and bus tickets can be bought together at a saving.

Services[edit]

An old East Midlands Trains liveried formed of a class 222 in October 2019
A map of East Midlands Railway's InterCity and Connect services showing the current service pattern each hour

Services at Wellingborough are operated by East Midlands Railway under the Connect sub brand.

There is a half-hourly service to London St. Pancras and Corby, operated by Class 360 Desiro trains.

During peak hours, two Corby services go to and from Melton Mowbray and run using EMR Intercity trains.[9]

As of May 2021, fast "EMR Intercity" services to Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield run through the station at high speed but do not call at the station - apart from during peak hours and on Sunday mornings, when a limited number of services stop to provide connections north.[9] Interchange with faster services at other times can be made at Kettering.

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Kettering   East Midlands Railway
London to Corby Connect 		  Bedford
  Historical railways  
Finedon
Line open, station closed 		  Midland Railway
Midland Main Line 		  Irchester
Line open, station closed
Disused railways
Finedon
Line open, station closed 		  Midland Railway
Midland Main Line 		  Wellingborough London Road
Line and station closed
Terminus   Midland Railway
Rushden, Higham & Wellingborough Railway 		  Rushden
Line closed and station open
Heritage Railways  Proposed Heritage railways
Terminus   Rushden, Higham & Wellingborough Railway   Rushden
Line closed and station open

Travel times[edit]

Travel times to London, Corby, Melton Mowbray, Nottingham and Lincoln (from May 2009). All services are operated by East Midlands Railway.

Development[edit]

The new platform 4 under construction in 2019
Station improvements[10]

As part of the Department for Transport's Access for all programme, Network Rail's Midland Main Line upgrade, and local housing developments, the station platforms have been upgraded, with improved accessibility access by providing lifts, replacing the flat barrow crossing at end of the platforms.[11] In August 2010, the local council gave planning permission for Network Rail to build lifts and to fit new internal toilets one of the disused buildings in the station.[12]

As a wider part of the Network Rail upgrade, the Midland Main Line between Bedford and Corby has been electrified, with the fourth track reinstalled between Sharnbrook Junction and Kettering, which resulted in the rebuilding and opening of Wellingborough's platform 4 in 2021. A station building on platform 4 is planned for access to the large Stanton Cross mixed-use development.[13]

In March 2022, work to restore the platform canopies was completed.[14]

Car parking
Wellingborough South Car Park sign.

The new 'South' car park has been built as a replacement for the 'North' car park which is still open. The replacement was built because of the Wellingborough East (Stanton Cross) development, as a new road bridge would start where the 'North' car park is situated and then go over the railway.[15]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Historic England, "Wellingborough Railway Station (1191880)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 4 January 2017
  2. ^ Radford, B (1983). Midland Line Memories: a Pictorial History of the Midland Railway Main Line Between London (St Pancras) & Derby. London: Bloomsbury Books.
  3. ^ Preston Hendry; Powell Hendry (1982). An historical survey of selected LMS stations. Vol. 2. Oxford Publishing.
  4. ^ "Resignation of the Midland Station Master". Northampton Mercury. England. 25 August 1893. Retrieved 3 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "New Stationmaster at Wellingborough". Grantham Journal. England. 25 August 1893. Retrieved 3 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Mr. O. Best". Yorkshire Evening Post. England. 4 November 1940. Retrieved 3 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "LMS stationmaster at Derby going to Preston". Derby Daily Telegraph. England. 8 December 1943. Retrieved 3 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ a b "Wellingborough's New Stationmaster". Northampton Mercury. England. 18 July 1947. Retrieved 3 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ a b "EMR May 2021 Timetable Change Consultation Results" (PDF). East Midlands Railway, May 2021.
  10. ^ The Borough Council of Wellingborough: Growth Area Development May 2009 Archived 15 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine accessed 22 November 2009
  11. ^ "Network Rail CP4 Delivery Plan 2009 Enhancements programme: statement of scope, outputs and milestones" (PDF). Network Rail. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  12. ^ Northants Evening Telegraph: Footbridge and lift for town's station (9 August 2010) Accessed 29 August 2010
  13. ^ BBC News: Wellingborough railway station expansion plan unveiled (18 April 2012)| Accessed 21 Feb 2021
  14. ^ "Station restoration: Heritage plaques revealed at Kettering and Wellingborough". Network Rail Media Centre. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  15. ^ The Borough Council of Wellingborough: Growth Area Development November 2007 Archived 15 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine accessed November 2009

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wellingborough railway station.
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