Chester Northgate is a former railway station in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

, England, that was a terminus for the

Cheshire Lines Committee The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was formed in the 1860s and became the second-largest joint railway in Great Britain. The committee, which was often styled the Cheshire Lines Railway, operated of track in the then counties of Lancashire an ...

and

Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...

. It was the city centre's second station (with Chester General) with regular services to , and .

History

Chester Northgate Locomotive Depot geograph-2359879-by-Ben-Brooksbank

The station, which was located on Victoria Road in the Newtown area of the city, was originally planned by the West Cheshire Railway in 1865. A year later the company was acquired by the

. It opened the station on 1 May 1875 for train services to Manchester Central on the Mid-Cheshire Line via

Northwich {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

. The CLC track crossed the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

and

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 mill ...

line over a

flying junction A flying junction or flyover is a railway junction at which one or more diverging or converging tracks in a multiple-track route cross other tracks on the route by bridge to avoid conflict with other train movements. A more technical term is " g ...

at Mickle Trafford. Chester Northgate had a station building and a covered roof for each platform, it had four tracks with two

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a railway platform, platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or bus rapid transit, transitway. ...

s, the central tracks being used to store carriages. One of the roofs had been removed by 1966. There were also lower level sidings that contained a locomotive yard. In 1890 the

Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsb ...

(renamed

in 1897) completed the Chester & Connah's Quay Railway to Hawarden Bridge. Services from Chester Northgate ran to Shotton High Level via

Blacon Blacon is a council estate on the outskirts of Chester, England. It was once one of the largest council housing estates in Europe. Geography Blacon is next to the Welsh border, on a hill one mile north-west of and overlooking Chester. The vill ...

and also to Wrexham General and

New Brighton New Brighton is the name of several places, sports teams etc.: Australia * New Brighton, New South Wales, a town near Ocean Shores Canada * New Brighton, Calgary, Alberta, a neighborhood * New Brighton (Gambier Island), a settlement in British ...

, Wirral. A triangle junction outside the station allowed trains to either terminate at Chester Northgate or pass through the city without stopping. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the station served military personnel that were based at RAF Sealand and at Blacon Camp. In 1969 a

level junction A level junction (or in the United Kingdom a flat crossing) is a railway junction that has a track configuration in which merging or crossing railroad lines provide track connections with each other that require trains to cross over in front of ...

was installed at Mickle Trafford so Manchester trains could be diverted to Chester General. Wrexham & New Brighton services had previously been withdrawn on 9 September 1968. The station closed on 6 October 1969. The site is now occupied by the Northgate Arena. Some of the original railway station railings can still be seen along the modern shop units on Victoria Road opposite the entrance to the Northgate Arena.

Railway line

Although Chester Northgate closed and the line to the station itself lifted, the line north of the station (avoiding Northgate by the Liverpool Road spur) remained for another 25 years. It was used by the Corus steelmaking plant at Shotton until March 1980. Freight continued to pass north of the former station on a double-tracked line until 20 April 1984. Goods services resumed on a single-track line on 31 August 1986 before final closure in October 1992. The trackbed is now a footpath and cycle way.

Services

Mannings Lane South railway bridge - geograph

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

history, timetables, maps, tickets and photos

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chester Northgate Railway Station History of Chester