Ambergate railway station

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Ambergate

Location

Place

Ambergate

Local authority

Amber Valley

Operations

Station code

AMB

Managed by

Central Trains

Platforms in use

Live departures and station information from National Rail

Annual Passenger Usage

2004/05 **

18,655

History

Key dates

Opened 1840

National Rail - UK railway stations

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T
U V W X Y Z

Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Ambergate.

* 2002/03 Disclaimer
** 2004/05 Disclaimer

UK Rail Portal

BR standard class 7 70017 Arrow rounds the curve at Ambergate with The Palatine, September 1958.

The complex network of road and rail around Ambergate Junction. Note how Newbridge Road passes under the branch where it leaves the A6 then climbs steeply to pass over the adjacent main line.

Ambergate railway station is a railway station serving the village of Ambergate in Derbyshire. The station is located on the Derwent Valley Line from Derby to Matlock, which diverges from the Midland Main Line just south of the station at Ambergate Junction.

It has a complicated history. The original station was built for the North Midland Railway in 1840, between Derby and Leeds. It was an ornate building, by Francis Thompson., which would have graced a Lord of the Manor.

1 History
2 The triangular station
3 From Ambergate
4 Decline
5 Services
6 See also
7 Reference
8 External links

[edit] History

From Belper the line ran along the Derwent Valley, along a stretch called Broadholme, with four bridges across the river, through Longlands Tunnel, across the River Derwent and Derby road with a magnificent five-arch viaduct. It then entered Hag Wood Tunnel as turned towards the Amber Valley.

The station building was just north of this tunnel. Shortly afterwards a proposal was made for an "Ambergate, Nottingham and Boston and Eastern Junction Railway" which however never materialised, apart from a stretch between Colwick and Grantham.

However, in 1849, the branch from Ambergate to Rowsley was built by the proposed Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway, with a west to north connection between the lines at the original Ambergate Junction. When a south to west connection was made, for trains from Derby to Rowsley, in 1863 the station building was rebuilt adjacent to the new Ambergate South junction. The original bridge was also widened at its northern end to accommodate the new junction.

In 1867 the Rowsley line had reached New Mills, which meant that the Midland Railway could operate from London to Manchester and Liverpool.

Another line in 1875 opened through Butterley to Pye Bridge, near Ironville in the Erewash Valley. Much of its business was coal traffic from Nottinghamshire to Manchester and Liverpool, avoiding Derby.

[edit] The triangular station

In 1876 a loop was built passing the west side of Hag Wood Tunnel, as a diversion from the original line to a third platform, which allowed for Derby to Sheffield stopping trains. The station was completely rebuilt, with the old building remaining in use a plans store. This third and final station was the famous triangular one, reputed to be one of only three in the country.

Throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Ambergate was an important railway interchange with 28,207 tickets sold in 1872 rising to 90,157 by 1922.

In 1931 the line across Broadholme approaching from the south was upgraded to four tracks. Longlands Tunnel was opened up to form a wide cutting and the junction with the Manchester line was moved south of the river. A new modern steel bridge for the Manchester line was built alongside the original viaduct over the River Derwent and the A6 main road.

[edit] From Ambergate

From Ambergate, towards Chesterfield,the next difficulty for the North Midland Railway was the intersection with the Cromford Canal, where a complex aqueduct was built, before it carried on through a station at Wingfield to Stretton.

The line through Matlock which, in those days, was the 'main line', carried London to Manchester expresses such as the Palatine and the Peaks. It also carried coal trains from Nottinghamshire, for a while with Garratt locomotives, which would be split at Rowsley for the long climb to Peak Forest.

[edit] Decline

Most of the trackwork on the Manchester line was lifted in 1968 at the same time as the line from Rowsley to Manchester was closed. The station buildings were removed in 1970. Although the triangular station site remained for a number of years the road bridges were finally removed in the late 1980's. All that is left now is a platform on a single track to Matlock, and the original main Derby to Sheffield line through Hag Wood (Toadmoor) Tunnel, Clay Cross and Chesterfield. This led to its mention in the song "Slow Train" by Flanders and Swann.

[edit] Services

The station is served by Central Trains, who operate local services from Derby to Matlock. For journeys beginning at Ambergate, tickets may be bought on the train for any destination in the country. (From Derby, tickets must be bought at the ticket office) Journey time to Derby is approximately 16 mniutes.

Services are formed using diesel multiple units of Classes 150, 153, 156, 158 or 170.