Norton Bridge railway station was a railway station located north-west of Stafford on 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 ...

near the village of Norton Bridge, Staffordshire, England. The first station was opened by the

Grand Junction Railway The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Western Railway. The line built by the company w ...

in 1837. The station was resited southwards in 1876. Services were temporarily withdrawn in 2004 but never reinstated. The station formally closed in 2017. The main line platforms were removed before

electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...

in the 1960s when the current island platform was built for Manchester-via-Stoke-on-Trent services. Passenger services ceased in May 2004 when

Central Trains Central Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated a variety of local and inter-regional trains from 2 March 1997 until 11 November 2007. Overview Created out of the Central division o ...

services between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent were withdrawn and replaced by

BakerBus BakerBus was the trading name used by the bus fleet of Bakers Coaches, a bus and coach operator based in Biddulph, Staffordshire, England. Formed as a coach operator in 1936, they grew to operate a fleet of around 50 vehicles on local bus servic ...

route X1. In December 2004 the

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 a ...

was removed in order to improve freight clearances. From 2007, the

Office of Rail Regulation The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways. ORR regulates Network Rail by setting it ...

did not include it in its station usage figures. The nearby junction between the Crewe and Stoke routes is an important one on the West Coast Main Line; as such, during the 1960s modernisation of the line, the junction and some of the surrounding main lines were placed under the control of a new power signal box built to a design similar to that still standing at

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

. The Norton Bridge signal box was notable for its use of an experimental Westinghouse

solid-state Solid state, or solid matter, is one of the four fundamental states of matter. Solid state may also refer to: Electronics * Solid-state electronics, circuits built of solid materials * Solid state ionics, study of ionic conductors and their use ...

interlocking In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. The signalling appliances and tracks are sometimes collectively re ...

system for some years, which was later converted to a conventional relay-based interlocking; this signal box features briefly in the British Transport Films production ''

Thirty Million Letters ''Thirty Million Letters'' is a 1963 short documentary film directed by James Ritchie and made by British Transport Films. It was nominated for an Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and ...

''. It closed altogether in 2004, control passing instead to the signal control centre at Stoke-on-Trent, although the lower storey still remains ''in situ'' as a relay room. In March 2016, a flyover was opened to the north of the station to allow the Stoke branch to be fully grade-separated from the main line to Crewe. Services to/from

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

now use the slow lines from Stafford, a new junction near Little Bridgeford and the new flyover instead of having to make potentially conflicting moves across the flat junction as before. In October 2016, the Department for Transport began a consultation process to formally close the station and withdraw its subsidy of the replacement bus service operated by

D&G Bus D&G Bus is a local bus operator owned by Centrebus Group and is based in Adderley Green, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. History D&G Bus was formed by David Reeves and Gerald Henderson in April 1998 initially operating four buses on two routes ...

. The notional closure took effect on 10 December 2017 coinciding with the transfer of the West Midlands franchise from

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 Gov ...

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 ...

. However, the bus subsidy continued to give

Staffordshire County Council Staffordshire County Council is the top-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Staffordshire, England. 62 councillors sit on Staffordshire County Council. Staffordshire operates a cabinet-style council In England, local auth ...

time to decide on the future of the service. With the council electing not to take over the funding of the service, it ceased in March 2019.

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External links

{{coord, 52, 51, 57, N, 2, 11, 25, W, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Disused railway stations in Staffordshire Former London and North Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1837 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1876 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1876 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 2017

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References

Further reading

External links