Belper railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Belper

---

caption = Belper station, 2005
manager = East Midlands Trains
locale = Belper
borough = Amber Valley
lowusage0405 = 77,856
lowusage0506 = 74,449
lowusage0607 = 77,564
platforms = 2
code = BLP
start = 1840

Belper railway station is a railway station serving the town of Belper in Derbyshire. The station is located on the Midland Main Line from Derby to Leeds.

History

After leaving the Milford Tunnel the train crosses the river before entering Belper. The line was surveyed by George Stephenson for the North Midland Railway Company, and opened in 1840. The original intention was to proceed along the western bank of the River Derwent opposite the town, but Jedediah Strutt, who by then had become the primary landowner, wished it to be out of sight. Moreover, he feared that it would interfere with the supply of water to the mills. The railway, therefore, was built through a long cutting, at enormous (and unexpected) expense, with twelve bridges in the space of a mile. The cutting, lined with gritstone, is now a grade 2 listed building.

The original station was built on the south side of Belper, just before the cutting, designed by Francis Thompson in an Italianate design. A coach, or omnibus, ran regularly to it from the Lion Hotel in Bridge Street. However this proved so unpopular that the Midland Railway built a new station in 1878 within the cutting, at the town centre, next to King Street.

This had platforms with access ramps for each of the two lines, both provided with waiting rooms, in the standard Midland Railway design. The booking office and other facilities were at street level. Since the new staton lacked sidings, the old station remained in use for many years for the processing of goods traffic.

North of Belper, the engineers paid the penalty of following a river valley, with two long bridges over Belper Pool, plus two more, before reaching Ambergate.

Present day

In 1973 the station buildings were demolished. The bridge carrying King Street over the line was widened for a supermarket to be built by Fine Fare (now Somerfield).

The station is unmanned and operated by East Midlands Trains. Access can be gained via a narrow alleyway from King Street below the Somerfield supermarket, from the Field Lane car park and across the rear of the supermarket or via alleyways from Field Lane (by the railway bridge) and Albert Street.

For journeys beginning at Belper, tickets may be bought on the train for any destination in the country. (From Derby, tickets must be bought at the ticket office). Journey time to Derby is approximately 11 minutes. During service disruption, buses will either pick up and set down in the vicinity of the Lion Hotel in Bridge Street. Services are approximately two-hourly. From 13 December 2008 it is planned to increase these to once an hour.

It is served by one operator.
* East Midlands Trains Connect is the principal operator, with local services from Derby to Matlock via the Derwent Valley Line. Services are approximately 2-hourly and are formed using diesel multiple units of Classes 153, 156 or 158.
* East Midlands Trains Mainline operate a handful of express services from London St. Pancras International to Sheffield via Leicester and Derby. These services stop twice a day at Belper, once in the morning heading to London and once in the evening heading to Barnsley and are formed using diesel multiple units of Class 222 Meridians. However, these are expected to finish in December 2008. Throughout the main part of the day interchange with Mainline services from Leeds, Sheffield and London can be made at Derby.

In 2005 the station was refurbished with new shelters, seats, train indicators - and rubbish bins - by a consortium of local volunteers, work experience trainees and the local councils, with the active support of Network Rail and Central Trains (who managed the station at that time).

References

* Pixton, B., (2000) "North Midland: Portrait of a Famous Route," Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing
* "The North Midland Railway Guide", (1842) Republished 1973, Leeds: Turntable Enterprises
* Naylor, P. "(Ed)" (2000) "An Illustrated History of Belper and its Environs" Belper: M.G.Morris

External links

* [http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/frontend.php?action=zoomWindow&keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;DMAG001919&prevUrl=ZnJvbnRlbmQucGhwPyZ1c2VyX2tleXdvcmRzPVBsZWFzZStlbnRlcit5b3VyK2tleXdvcmRzJm9wZXJhdG9yPUFORCZ0b3duX3ZpbGxhZ2U9QmVscGVyJmRhdGFiYXNlPSZhY3Rpb249c2VhcmNoJmtleXdvcmRzPVRvd25fVmlsbGFnZSUzQkVRVUFMUyUzQkJlbHBlciUzQiZ4PTUyJnk9MTImcGFnZT0y "Picture the Past" Original Station at Belper]
* [http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/frontend.php?action=zoomWindow&keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;DMAG001920&prevUrl=ZnJvbnRlbmQucGhwPyZ1c2VyX2tleXdvcmRzPVBsZWFzZStlbnRlcit5b3VyK2tleXdvcmRzJm9wZXJhdG9yPUFORCZ0b3duX3ZpbGxhZ2U9QmVscGVyJmRhdGFiYXNlPSZhY3Rpb249c2VhcmNoJmtleXdvcmRzPVRvd25fVmlsbGFnZSUzQkVRVUFMUyUzQkJlbHBlciUzQiZ4PTUyJnk9MTImcGFnZT0y "Picture the Past" Belper Station circa 1910]
* [http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/frontend.php?action=zoomWindow&keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;DMAG001923&prevUrl=ZnJvbnRlbmQucGhwPyZ1c2VyX2tleXdvcmRzPVBsZWFzZStlbnRlcit5b3VyK2tleXdvcmRzJm9wZXJhdG9yPUFORCZ0b3duX3ZpbGxhZ2U9QmVscGVyJmRhdGFiYXNlPSZhY3Rpb249c2VhcmNoJmtleXdvcmRzPVRvd25fVmlsbGFnZSUzQkVRVUFMUyUzQkJlbHBlciUzQiZ4PTUyJnk9MTImcGFnZT0y "Picture the Past" Station building c.1955]

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