- Grantham railway station
Infobox UK station
name=Grantham
manager=National Express East Coast
grid_reference=
start=1852
platforms=4
code=GRA
usage0405 = 0.917
usage0506 = 0.936
usage0607 = 0.999
locale=Grantham
borough=South Kesteven Grantham railway station serves the town of
Grantham inLincolnshire ,England and lies on theEast Coast Main Line 170 km (105⅓ miles) north ofLondon Kings Cross .Junctions near the town also connect to branches to Nottingham, and to Sleaford and Skegness. The station was opened in 1852, and was built close to the factory of
Richard Hornsby & Sons .It is comprised of 4 platforms; platforms 1 and 2 are on the
East Coast Main Line and are responsible for express services between London and Scotland. Platform 1 serves exclusively London Kings Cross viaPeterborough andStevenage ; Platform 2 serves cities of North England andEdinburgh . Platform 2, 3 and 4 are formed from a largeisland platform structure. Platform 3 is abay platform at the northern end of the station that is used to allow local trains to reverse, while Platform 4 is a two way platform that is used by East Midlands Trains. Only Platform 1 has amenities including toilets,Costa Coffee and a buffet.Prior to the opening of the
Allington Chord in 2006, trains for Nottingham – Grantham – Skegness reversed in the station and travelled along the ECML crossed the ECML via a flat junction, with implications for congestion but after the opening of the chord they now reverse and travel from whence they came using the chord, crossing under the ECML using existing tracks.The journey between London Kings Cross and Grantham takes a little over an hour, with most trains provided by
National Express East Coast .Typical journey times
* Newark - 10 mins.
* Peterborough - 20 mins.
* Sleaford - 25 mins.
* Doncaster - 35 mins.
* Nottingham - 40 mins.
* Boston - 50 mins.
* York - 1hr
* Leeds - 1hr 10 mins.
*London Kings Cross - 1hr 10 mins.
* Sheffield - 1hr 30mins direct (1hr 15mins via Doncaster)Gallery
ervices
History
Overview
The station was opened when the Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston & Eastern Junction Railway opened its line from Nottingham in 1850. This line was taken over by the
Great Northern Railway in 1854.This was followed by the GNR's direct line between Peterborough and Retford (the Towns Line) in 1853. The alternative route via Boston and Lincoln (the Fens Loop Line) had already opened the previous year.
The
Boston, Sleaford and Midland Counties Railway opened their line from Barkston Junction, 2 miles north of Grantham, to Sleaford in 1857, and on to Boston in 1859. This railway was taken over by the GNR in 1864.The Grantham to Lincoln line, which branched off the Sleaford line at Honington, was opened in 1867.
Finally, the
Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway was opened in 1879. This ran from Market Harborough and Leicester Belgrave Road in the south, through Melton Mowbray to Nottingham and Newark in the north, crossing the Grantham to Nottingham line near Bottesford. The GNR operated a Grantham to Leicester service via this route.The Leicester service ceased in 1953.
The Lincoln line was a victim of the Beeching cuts and closed in 1965. The Beeching plan originally envisaged the Lincoln line being retained, although without any intermediate stations, as is formed part of the main route from London to Lincoln, but instead Lincoln trains were diverted via Newark using a new connection between the east coast main line and the Nottingham to Lincoln line. [A regional history of the railways of Great Britain. Volume 9 - The East Midlands.]
ummary of Former Services
Sample Train Timetable for July 1922
The table below shows the train departures from Grantham on weekdays in July 1922. [Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation Guide, July 1922]
References
External links
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