Etruria station is a closed station in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which served the areas of Etruria and the larger district of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It closed on 30 September 2005.
The station was opened 9 October 1848 by the North Staffordshire Railway and was modified by it in the 1870s, when the Potteries Loop Line was constructed. The station was an island platform situated underneath a bridge carrying the A53, approximately one mile north of Stoke-on-Trent station. Its train services were suspended in May 2003 during the upgrade of the West Coast Main Line. Central Trains did not restart services to Etruria when the work was finished and continued with bustitution although First North Western reintroduced a limited service, beyond what was contractually required.
After already low passenger numbers dwindled even further, closure was proposed by the Strategic Rail Authority in February 2004. The closure was granted approval by the Department for Transport on 21 July 2005. The final train was Northern Rail unit 323226 which left at 07.16 to Manchester Piccadilly. The closure was condemned by Transport 2000.
The platforms and steps were still there as of May 2007 although signage and platform objects were removed in June 2006.
As of December 2008, nothing remains of Etruria station that would be noticed by the casual observer, the platform having been demolished to permit the straightening of the track and remove a 60mph speed restriction to allow trains to run at 85 mph southbound and 90 mph northbound.
| Preceding station | Historical railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longport Line and station open | North Staffordshire Railway Crewe to Derby Line | Stoke-on-Trent Line and station open | ||
| North Staffordshire Railway Macclesfield to Stoke Line | ||||
| North Staffordshire Railway Sandbach to Stoke Line | ||||
| Hanley Line and station closed | North Staffordshire Railway Potteries Loop Line |
Famous quotes containing the words railway and/or station:
“Her personality had an architectonic quality; I think of her when I see some of the great London railway termini, especially St. Pancras, with its soot and turrets, and she overshadowed her own daughters, whom she did not understand—my mother, who liked things to be nice; my dotty aunt. But my mother had not the strength to put even some physical distance between them, let alone keep the old monster at emotional arm’s length.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“Say first, of God above, or Man below,
What can we reason, but from what we know?
Of Man what see we, but his station here,
From which to reason, or to which refer?
Thro’ worlds unnumber’d tho’ the God be known,
‘Tis ours to trace him only in our own.
”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)