Rugby Central Railway Station

Infobox UK disused station
name = Rugby Central
locale = Rugby, Warwickshire
borough = Rugby
gridref = SP513746
manager = Great Central Railway
owner = London and North Eastern Railway
London Midland Region of British Railways
platforms = 2


caption = Rugby Central in 1966
years = 15 March 1899
events = Opened
years1 = 5 May 1969
events1 = Closed

Rugby Central was a railway station serving Rugby in Warwickshire on the former Great Central Main Line which opened in 1899 and closed in 1969.

It competed with the existing West Coast Main Line route for traffic to London which had served Rugby since the 1830s.

History

The station was opened on 15 March 1899. The station had services between London (Marylebone) and Sheffield via Leicester and Nottingham.

Most of the Great Central line was closed on 5 September 1966 under the Beeching axe. On this date, the line south of Rugby Central and north of Nottingham was closed. The section between Rugby Central and Nottingham (initially Victoria, later cut back to Arkwright Street) remained open as self-contained branch carrying a local passenger service until 3 May 1969 when the station formally closed.

Buildings and situation

Rugby Central was situated on Hillmorton Road roughly half a mile east of the town centre. It was a much smaller and less important affair than Midland Station, although it too consisted of an island platform.

The booking office was located at road level, built onto the side of the road bridge over the railway with the platform below. The platform was accessed by a staircase from the booking office.

The station buildings were demolished upon closure, although the platform still exists and can still be seen. The whole of the former Great Central Railway alignment through Rugby is now a nature walk called the 'Great Central Way'.

On the preserved Great Central Railway in Leicestershire, the preserved station at Loughborough (Loughborough Central railway station) is very similar to the former Rugby Central Station.

rail line|previous=Braunston and Willoughby|next=Lutterworth|route=British Railways
Great Central Main Line|col=41A317

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ee also

*Rugby railway station - The still existing station at Rugby.

External links

* [http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lner/rugbygr.htm London to Warwickshire railways] - Includes old photographs of Rugby Central.
* [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/r/rugby_central/index.shtml Rugby Central railway station] on Subterranea Britannica.

References

*"Rugby's Railway Heritage" by Peter H Elliot (1985) ISBN 0-907917-06-2