Northampton Railway Station - History

History

Although projected to be on the first London to Birmingham railway, Northampton was skirted by the final choice of alignment; a loop to remedy this had to wait for several decades. At one time there were three railway stations in Northampton: Northampton (Bridge Street), Northampton (St. John's Street) and Northampton (Castle). The latter was named after Northampton Castle which formerly occupied the site and now survives as the town's only station.

Bridge Street station was the first station in Northampton, opening on 13 May 1845; originally named simply Northampton, it became Northampton Bridge Street in June 1876. The first railway line to be built in to Northampton was the Northampton and Peterborough Railway from Blisworth to Peterborough East. Northampton was served on this line by Bridge Street station.

Castle station (as it is still sometimes known to this day) was the second station to be opened. It was opened with the Northampton and Market Harborough Railway on 16 February 1859 by the site of the historic Northampton Castle. At the time, it was only a small station and handled only passenger traffic; goods traffic continued to be dealt with at Bridge Street. In 1875, the London and North Western Railway obtained powers to quadruple the main line north from Bletchley, with the two new tracks (the "slow lines") diverging at Roade so as to form a new line (the "Northampton Loop") through Northampton. Castle station was rebuilt and expanded over the site of Northampton Castle, the remains of which were purchased and demolished in 1880 to make way for the goods shed. In response to concerns expressed by local historians, the castle's postern gate was moved to a new site in the boundary wall of the new station where it remains to this day. The Loop Line north to Rugby was opened on 1 December 1881, followed by the line south to Roade on 3 April 1882.

A third station was opened by the Midland Railway for their services from Wellingborough (via the Northampton and Peterborough Railway) named Northampton on 1 October 1866; it closed on 10 June 1872 with the opening of the Midland's branch line to Bedford. The station's site was subsequently reused for Far Cotton locomotive shed. A replacement station, which served both lines, opened the same day, and was again named Northampton, but was renamed Northampton St. John's Street on 2 June 1924.

St John's station was an early victim of closure, closing to passengers and freight on 3 July 1939, the services being diverted to Northampton Castle. Bridge Street station survived until 4 May 1964, when the Northampton to Peterborough line was closed, leaving only Castle station serving the town. As a result, it was renamed Northampton on 18 April 1966. The current station is the result of extensive British Rail remodelling in 1965-66 as part of the electrification of the West Coast Main Line. The current was switched on for the first time between Hillmorton Junction to Northampton on 6 June 1965 for insulation tests, with steam locomotives being withdrawn from the area on 27 September 1965.

The 2005 film Kinky Boots featured a station named 'Northampton', although the scenes were filmed at nearby Wellingborough on the Midland Main Line. To the north of the station is a five-road Siemens rolling stock maintenance depot which officially opened on 27 June 2006; the depot is responsible for the entire Class 350 Desire fleet which were introduced in June 2005.