History
The Midland Railway opened Corby station in 1879. It was on the Midland's "alternative route" between Kettering and Nottingham, serving Corby, Oakham and Melton Mowbray instead of Market Harborough, Leicester and Loughborough. The station was initially named "Weldon and Corby" to avoid confusion with Corby station in Lincolnshire, which closed in 1959. British Railways (BR) withdrew passenger services from all stations on the Oakham to Kettering Line, including Corby, in May 1967.. For some decades Corby was left as one of the largest towns in Europe without a railway station; only a few, such as Herten in Germany and Łomża in Poland, are larger.
BR kept the Oakham to Kettering Line through Corby open for freight and as a diversionary route. It reduced the line as far as Corby to single track in 1987. On 13 April 1987 with local council subsidy a passenger service was reintroduced with 11 shuttle trains running daily between Corby and Kettering, usually operated by a single DMU. More than 100,000 people used the service within the first 12 months and an extension of the service to Leicester was proposed. However, the service became unreliable and the Council withdrew its subsidy, leading BR to withdraw the service on 2 June 1990.
Read more about this topic: Corby Railway Station
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