Long Buckby railway station is a small railway station next to the village of

Long Buckby Long Buckby is a large village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. In 2020 the parish of Long Buckby, which includes the hamlet of Long Buckby Wharf, was estimated to have a population of 4,303. Long Buckby is hill top village, l ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, England. It is the nearest railway station for the larger town of

Daventry Daventry ( , historically ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority in Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 Census Daventry had a population of 28,123, making ...

, away. The station is on the Northampton loop of the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

. It is served by

West Midlands Trains West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...

services to , and . For

Avanti West Coast Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise. During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...

inter-city services passengers should change at , the next station to the west.

History

The station was opened along with the line on 1 December 1881, by the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

, it is the only remaining station between Northampton and Rugby; three others opened on the same stretch of line (, and ) are now closed. The original station buildings were demolished during the period of

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 rai ...

, and replaced with more basic facilities. Since the closure of Althorp Park station in 1960, Long Buckby has been the nearest station to

Althorp Althorp (popularly pronounced ) is a Grade I listed stately home and estate in the civil parish of Althorp, in West Northamptonshire, England of about . By road it is about northwest of the county town of Northampton and about northwest of c ...

, the family home of the

Earls Spencer Earl Spencer is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain that was created on 1 November 1765, along with the title Viscount Althorp, of Althorp in the County of Northampton, for John Spencer, 1st Viscount Spencer. He was a member of the prominen ...

. In September 1997 Long Buckby station was seen on television across the world, as it was where

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

Prince William William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educat ...

and

Prince Harry Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. He is fifth in the line of succ ...

arrived from London after the

Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, started on Saturday 6 September 1997 at 9:08am in London, when the tenor bell of Westminster Abbey started tolling to signal the departure of the cortège from Kensington Palace. The coffin was carried ...

Services

Long Buckby is served by two West Midlands Trains services per hour in each direction: i.e., two northbound to via and , and two southbound to (where one terminates) and one continues to . Long Buckby also receives a limited service between and from

London Northwestern Railway West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...

. Most services between Euston and Crewe on London Northwestern Railway services go direct between and , bypassing the Northampton Loop.

Facilities

The station platforms are above street level on an embankment, and are accessed by stairs, there are basic shelters on each platform. A cabin next to the station car park serves as a part-time ticket office, there is also a ticket machine. File:Long Buckby station entrance (2) 10.21.jpg, Station entrance and ticket office cabin. File:Long Buckby station platforms (1) 10.21.jpg, Station platforms. File:LNR Class 350 pulling into Long Buckby 10.21.jpg, London Northwestern Railway pulling into Long Buckby

Service summary

References

External links

Old photograph of the station from 1952
- flickr.com {{coord, 52.295, N, 1.086, W, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Railway stations in Northamptonshire DfT Category E stations Former London and North Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1881 Railway stations served by West Midlands Trains 1881 establishments in England Stations on the West Coast Main Line