Gloucester Eastgate railway station was a station in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east o ...

, England, used by trains from

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

. Originally the

Birmingham and Gloucester Railway The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway (B&GR) was the first name of the railway linking the cities in its name and of the company which pioneered and developed it; the line opened in stages in 1840, using a terminus at Camp Hill in Birmingham. It ...

(which later became part of the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

) used a terminus station roughly on the site of the current Gloucester station

car park A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...

History

In 1896 a new through station was constructed on the Tuffley Loop line on a site that had previously housed the Midland Railway

engine shed The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...

. The station, originally known simply as ''Gloucester'', opened on 12 April 1896; it had three through platforms and one bay. It was sharply curved and featured a main entrance building as well as buildings on both platforms. Buildings were of typical Midland Railway design in red brick with terracotta decoration. Extensive cast-iron and glass ridge-and-furrow awnings covered the platforms. There was a direct

footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at ...

connection to the ex-

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

Gloucester Central station. Gloucester eastgate 2 railway station 2035849 327145e5

Following Nationalisation, the station was renamed ''Gloucester Eastgate'' on 17 September 1951, to distinguish it from the nearby ex-GWR station, . GloucesterEastgate

After 1968, the station was rationalised. The island platform was lengthened at the southern end and the tracks were removed from the other two platforms. The extensive goods yard and sidings were also lifted at this time. Colour-light track-circuit block signalling was installed, and the station was effectively merged with Gloucester Central. Eastgate station was closed on 1 December 1975, along with the Tuffley Loop. This was partly an attempt by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four (British ra ...

to cut maintenance costs and partly a result of pressure from the road lobby and local councillors who wanted to rid Gloucester of four of its

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...

s. Services that had previously called at Eastgate now had to perform a reversal at Central station, an operational inconvenience that has led to fewer trains calling at Gloucester. As the rebuilt Gloucester Central station was not completed until 1977, the administrative offices on Eastgate station lingered on in use for nearly two more years until demolition came in 1977. The site is now an

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. Only a very few traces of the former Tuffley Loop can now be found.

Routes

Notes

References

External links

Gloucester Eastgate Station on navigable 1953 O.S. map
{{coord, 51.8632, -2.2367, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Former Midland Railway stations Disused railway stations in Gloucestershire Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1896 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1975

History

Routes

Notes

References

Further reading

External links