Northampton railway station serves the county town of
Northampton
Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It 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 ...
. The station 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 southbound to
London Euston
Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city railw ...
and northbound to
Birmingham New Street
Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the Birmingham station group, three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the Rail transport in the United Kingdom, British railway system. It is a ma ...
and
Crewe
Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...
. A handful of
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 ...
services also serve the station, however, these have been greatly reduced due to the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confir ...
.
The station was known as Northampton Castle until 1966, as it is built on the site of the former
castle of the same name. A proposed reinstatement of the Northampton Castle name following redevelopment of the station in 2015 did not take place.
Facilities
The station has toilets, a newsagent, coffee shops, and a car hire office. As part of the re-development in 2015 there were proposals to build a multi-storey car park with direct access to the station. In June 2020 it was suggested that this will be put in place "in the not-too-distant future".
Services
Northampton 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 London Euston and Birmingham New Street. WMT maintain their fleet of
Class 350 EMU
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus ''Dromaius''. The emu' ...
s at the Siemens depot just to the north of the station, as well as maintaining a Train Crew Depot at the station.
The typical Monday-Saturday off-peak service consists of:
;Southbound
*3 trains per hour to .
;Northbound
*3 trains per hour to
Birmingham New Street
Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the Birmingham station group, three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the Rail transport in the United Kingdom, British railway system. It is a ma ...
The service along the
Trent Valley Line
The Trent Valley line is a railway line between Rugby and Stafford in England, forming part of the West Coast Main Line. It is named after the River Trent which it follows. The line was built to provide a direct route from London to North West E ...
to via and no longer calls here (since December 2012); this service now runs on the direct (fast) lines between Milton Keynes Central and Rugby arising from the
London Midland
London Midland was a train operating company in England which operated the West Midlands franchise between 11 November 2007 and 10 December 2017. It was owned by the British transport group Govia.
London Midland was created as a result of Govi ...
decision to run 110 mph regional services on the West Coast Main Line. Passengers wishing to travel from Northampton to Crewe now have to change at Rugby. However, there are still six Crewe services on Mondays to Fridays (Three in the mornings, three in the evenings), three on Saturdays (In the morning only) and an hourly service on Sundays.
![Northampton railway station MMB 05 350266](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Northampton_railway_station_MMB_05_350266.jpg)
Avanti West Coast operate two trains per day to London Euston (southbound only); one in the early morning and one in the late evening. These services originate from Rugby or Wolverhampton. However no northbound Avanti West Coast services are timetabled as serving Northampton. The lack of fast services at Northampton is caused by the town being bypassed by the fast lines of the West Coast Main Line (which follow the original route of the London and Birmingham Railway). Connections to Manchester and other long-distance destinations can be made by changing at Milton Keynes Central.
Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confir ...
,
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 ...
services only stop at Northampton to drop passengers off, and most services run through fast, either via the Northampton Loop, or a lot more commonly via the fast
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 ...
History
At one time there were three railway stations in Northampton: ''
Northampton (Bridge Street)'', ''
Northampton (St. John's Street)'' and ''Northampton (Castle)'', only the last of which now survives as the town's only station.
The railway reaches Northampton
Although the promoters of the
London and Birmingham Railway
The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR).
The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...
had considered routes passing close to Northampton in 1830, the town was skirted by the final choice of alignment via and a
loop line to remedy this had to wait for several decades. The decision to omit Northampton was not due to local opposition but rather engineering decisions taken by the railway company's engineer
Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE FRSA Doctor of Civil Law, DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railway ...
. The difference in gradient in the between Northampton and Blisworth, on the floor of the
Nene Valley, is likely to have played a key role in the decision. Robert Stephenson is reported to have said that he could easily get trains into the town but not out again. As a result, Northampton lost out as a commercial centre to towns such as
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
which had better transport links. The town was considered as the southern terminus of the
Midland Counties Railway
The Midland Counties' Railway (MCR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom which existed between 1839 and 1844, connecting Nottingham, Leicester and Derby with Rugby and thence, via the London and Birmingham Railway, to London. The MCR s ...
in 1833 but lost out to on account of the shorter distance with Leicester.
Bridge Street station on the
Northampton and Peterborough Railway
The Northampton and Peterborough Railway was an early railway promoted by the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) to run from a junction at Blisworth on the L&BR main line to Northampton and Peterborough, in England. The construction of the lin ...
from to was thus the first station in Northampton, opening on 13 May 1845.
1858 station
Following the discovery of a large quantity of ironstone in Northamptonshire in 1851, a proposal was made 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 ...
(L&NWR) for an line from
Market Harborough
Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire.
Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the admi ...
to Northampton which received Parliamentary approval in 1853. The line's terminus in Northampton was to be on part of the old orchard of
Northampton Castle
Northampton Castle at Northampton, was one of the most famous Norman castles in England. The castle site was outside the western city gate, and defended on three sides by deep trenches. A branch of the River Nene provided a natural barrier on the ...
which had been purchased in 1852 by the Reverend Havilland de Sausmarez, the absentee Rector of the Parish of St Peter, as the site of a new
rectory
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage.
Function
A clergy house is typically ow ...
. The L&NWR agreed to purchase the land for £5,250, to complete the parsonage and to rent it back to the Reverend. Tenders were advertised for the line in 1858 and the lowest offer of £81,637 by Richard Dunkley of Blisworth was accepted. The contractor had been an unsuccessful bidder for the contract to build Bridge Street station. Dunkley was also the successful tenderer for the line's stations, including Castle station at a cost of £612.
It would be the most basic structure on the line with no goods facilities, limited passenger waiting accommodation and an awning over the single platform. Goods traffic was to be dealt with at Bridge Street. The station opened with the line on 16 February 1859. It was described in the L&NWR's minutes as a "very unassuming edifice", giving the impression that it was "merely temporary in nature" until traffic developed to a sufficient level to allow a "more imposing" structure to be built.
1880–81 rebuilding
![Northampton Castle railway station 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Northampton_Castle_railway_station_2.jpg)
The advent of the
Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway
The Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway was a British railway line, almost entirely within Leicestershire. Authorised by the same Act of Parliament, the Great Northern Railway Leicester Branch was built, branching from the ...
to tap the coalfields of Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire led the L&NWR to quadruple its
main line
Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to:
Transportation
Railway
* Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system
* Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...
between and Rugby and also to consider ways in which Northampton might be better served. In 1875, the L&NWR obtained powers to quadruple the main line north from Bletchley to , with the two new tracks (the "slow lines") diverging at Roade so as to form a new line (the "
Northampton Loop") through Northampton. The result of these works would be to put Northampton on an important coal artery from Nottingham and the North to the L&NWR's
Camden goods depot.
Additional land would have to be purchased at Castle station to allow for expanded passenger facilities and goods facilities. Owing to the proximity of the
River Nene
The River Nene ( or : see below) is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in Northamptonshire.OS Explorer Map sheet 223, Northampton & Market Harborough, Brixworth & Pitsford Water. The river is about long, about of w ...
, the only way this could be done was to expand onto the site of
Northampton Castle
Northampton Castle at Northampton, was one of the most famous Norman castles in England. The castle site was outside the western city gate, and defended on three sides by deep trenches. A branch of the River Nene provided a natural barrier on the ...
. On 18 December 1876, the L&NWR purchased the site from William Walker and subsequently demolished the remains of the castle except for the
postern gate
A postern is a secondary door or gate in a fortification such as a city wall or castle curtain wall. Posterns were often located in a concealed location which allowed the occupants to come and go inconspicuously. In the event of a siege, a postern ...
which, following a local petition, was moved to a new site in the boundary wall of the new station where it remains to this day. £30,000 was allowed by the L&NWR board for the improvement of passenger facilities and a
goods shed
A goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before or after carriage in a train. A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, although sometimes they were built ...
was constructed on the site of the castle in 1880. The rebuilt station opened with the Loop Line north to on 1 December 1881 followed by the line south to Roade on 3 April 1882. It comprised three through platforms and five terminal bays. Platform 1, which was sited on the east side of the running lines, was considered as the main up platform; it had two adjoining
bay platform
In the United Kingdom and in Australia, a bay platform is a dead-end railway platform at a railway station that has through lines. It is normal for bay platforms to be shorter than their associated through platforms.
Overview
Bay and islan ...
s, numbered 2 and 3. Platforms 4 and 5 were located at the south end of platform 1, while the two sides of an
island platform
An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
on the down side of the station were platforms 6 and 7. A further down bay platform was situated at the north end of platform 6, along with other bays and
loading dock
A loading dock or loading bay is an area of a building where goods vehicles (usually road or rail) are loaded and unloaded. They are commonly found on commercial and industrial buildings, and warehouses in particular. Loading docks may be exterio ...
s for parcels and sundries traffic.
![Northampton Castle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Northampton_Castle.jpg)
The main station building, a two-storey structure in the
Italianate style
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
, was located on the up side and consisted of a central block with two cross-wings. The wings had
gable roof
A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The pitch of a gable roof ca ...
s, whereas the central part had a low-pitched
hipped roof
A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...
. Two standard L&NWR
signal cabin
On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetabl ...
s were positioned to the north and south of the platforms, these being known respectively as Northampton No. 1 and No. 2 boxes. Other signal cabins, Northampton No. 3 and No. 4, were sited further north and controlled extensive marshalling yards. A fifth cabin at Duston West Junction lay to the south-west; it controlled the apex of the Northampton triangle. No. 2 was the largest signal cabin with 118 levers which controlled the country end of the station, access to the goods shed and the south end of the goods yard.
Modern times
Line closures
![Northampton Castle ticket (1957)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Northampton_Castle_ticket_%281957%29.jpg)
No further significant changes took place prior to
nationalisation
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
except for an increase in the number of
sidings at the station. One notable change was the traffic diverted from Northampton St John's following its closure in 1939.
Closures accelerated under British Railways with the withdrawal of services from Bridge Street station, which lost much if not all of its significance following the opening of the Loop, on 4 May 1964 when the Northampton to Peterborough line was closed, leaving only Castle station serving the town. As a result, Castle station was renamed ''Northampton'' on 18 April 1966. In addition, the bay platforms 4 and 5 were removed and the area converted into an overflow car park. The Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Line closed to all passenger traffic except for a workmen's service on 7 December 1953; the workmen's service between Market Harborough and East Norton ended on 20 May 1957. The section between Welham Junction and Marefield North Junction closed in November 1963, followed by the
Rugby and Stamford Railway
The Rugby and Stamford Railway was an early railway in England built in 1850. The London and Birmingham Railway had already built a branch from Blisworth to serve Northampton and extend to Peterborough. The success of this, the Northampton and P ...
on 6 June 1966. The line to Market Harborough closed on 15 August 1981.
1965–66 remodelling
![Northampton 10 67 copy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Northampton_10_67_copy.jpg)
The station was chosen 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 rai ...
for complete rebuilding in 1965–66 to designs by the architect Ray Moorcroft, as part of the electrification of the West Coast Main Line between and
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. The Victorian station was demolished to be replaced by new structures which were described as "three
cowshed
Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history that ...
s bolted together" and as being of "questionable architectural merit". The station layout remained unchanged: three long through platforms and a number of terminal bays. Standard colour-light signalling was installed in the area but control was not centralised. The current was switched on for the first time between Hillmorton Junction to Northampton on 6 June 1965 for insulation tests, with steam locomotives being withdrawn from the area on 27 September 1965.
2013–14 rebuilding
![New Northampton station 2015](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/New_Northampton_station_2015.jpg)
By the late 2000s, the station had become inadequate for the size of the town which it served and the 2.5 million passengers who used it each year. Following the designation of
Northampton Waterside as an
enterprise zone in August 2011, plans to replace the existing station with a new two-storey glass and steel structure were approved by the
West Northamptonshire Development Corporation.
The redevelopment included a new station building nearly twice the size of the existing one, a new 1,270 space
multi-storey car park
A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...
, new footbridge and platform canopies, new approach roads and associated junction improvements, as well as a commercial development. Funding for the new station was agreed in May 2012 when the
coalition government
A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
agreed to provide £10m, with the remaining £10m coming from
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
and
Northamptonshire County Council
Northamptonshire County Council was the county council that governed the non-metropolitan county of Northamptonshire in England. It was originally formed in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888, recreated in 1974 by the Local Government Act 19 ...
. Construction work began in August 2013. The new station opened on 12 January 2015.
This was followed by demolition of the old station and construction of a new station building. It is planned to build a new 1550 space multi-storey car park, with direct access to the booking hall, this is being developed by Northampton Borough Council and Network Rail as part of a wider proposal to develop the surrounding land for housing and commercial use.
Proposed renaming
Northamptonshire County Council proposed reinstating the name "Northampton Castle" in recognition of the site's history.
The change, reported to cost £200,000,
did not take place.
Location
In the
chainage
The chain is a unit of length equal to 66 feet (22 yards). It is subdivided into 100 links (PDF) or 4 rods. There are 10 chains in a furlong, and 80 chains in one statute mile. In metric terms, it is 20.1168 m long. By extension, chainage (run ...
notation traditionally used on British railways, Northampton statation is from
London Euston
Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city railw ...
.
Accidents and incidents
*On 27 April 1989, a passenger train hauled by
Class 85 locomotive 85 102 was derailed south of the station.
Locomotive facilities
Motive power depots
For several years after 1849 engines were stabled in the open on a siding set aside for this purpose. The first shed was a wooden structure opened in by the
London and Birmingham Railway
The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR).
The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...
which was blown down in 1852. A brick built replacement was provided in 1855 which was later enlarged in 1870 to receive extra locomotives from shed which closed in 1874. In 1881, a large 10-road replacement shed was constructed in the triangle of lines to the south of the station, with the 1855 shed subsequently used for carriage storage. This shed, which was often referred to as ''Bridge Street'', was located near the
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter st ...
and could accommodate 50 engines. Measuring with a
turntable
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
, the shed was initially coded as No. 5 and became No. 6 on the opening of
Bescot
Bescot is an area of Walsall in the West Midlands of England.
It is served by Bescot Stadium railway station, adjacent to which is Bescot depot where locomotives are maintained. The Banks's Stadium was built in 1990 for Walsall F.C.
The area is ...
. For administrative purposes, it was merged with
Colwick
Colwick ( ) is a village, civil parish, and suburb of the city of Nottingham, in the English ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire. It is situated to the east of Nottingham's city boundary, and forms the Colwick ward within the local government ...
shed upon the
grouping
Grouping may refer to:
* Muenchian grouping
* Principles of grouping
* Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system
* Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm
See also ...
and both remained under the control of the same shed foreman until Colwick's closure in 1932. Northampton was coded 2C in 1935 when it was merged with
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
shed; it remained 2C until December 1963 when it was recoded 1H by British Railways.
Initially 16 locomotives were allocated to Northampton shed in the 1860s, a figure which had risen to 36 by 1925 despite receiving the allocation of the ex-
Midland shed at Hardingstone Lane in 1924. The stock level rose under British Railways when it comprised
8Fs,
4Fs and LNWR
0-8-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and no trailing wheels. Locomotives of this type are also referre ...
s for freight workings,
'Black Fives',
2-6-2Ts and
4-4-0
4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four po ...
s for passenger services, while a few
3Fs and a single
Webb 2-4-2T were used for shunting.
A re-arrangement of the offices and stores took place in 1927 under 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 u ...
at a cost of nearly £1,000; the roof was also replaced by one with a 'louvre' pattern. A new turntable was installed in 1938 by the south-east corner of the building. Further modernisation took place in 1952 when ash and
coaling plants were erected by British Railways, together with a new structure. The shed was closed, along with
Willesden
Willesden () is an area of northwest London, situated 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933, and has formed ...
shed, as from 27 September 1965, a consequence of the electrification of the West Coast Main Line.
King's Heath depot
To the north of the station is a five-road
Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
rolling stock maintenance depot which was officially opened on 27 June 2006 by
Derek Twigg,
Under-Secretary of State
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister o ...
in the
Department for Transport
The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...
.
Built at a cost £31m, it was constructed on a long, narrow strip of land previously the site of overgrown railway sidings.
The depot is responsible for West Midland Trains'
Class 350 Desiro fleet which were introduced in June 2005. In addition, maintenance of
Class 321s was transferred to the depot following the closure of
Bletchley traction depot.
For a normal day's operation in 2010, the depot had to prepare 5 Class 321s, 54 Class 350/1s and 27 Class 350/2s.
References
Notes
Sources
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Further reading
*
External links
Northampton Rail User's Group website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Northampton Railway Station
Railway stations in Northamptonshire
DfT Category C1 stations
Railway stations served by Avanti West Coast
Railway stations served by West Midlands Trains
Former London and North Western Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1859
Stations on the West Coast Main Line