| Belper | |
|---|---|
| Belper station, 2005 | |
| Location | |
| Place | Belper |
| Local authority | Amber Valley |
| Operations | |
| Station code | BLP |
| Managed by | East Midlands Trains |
| Number of platforms | 2 |
| Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries |
|
| Annual rail passenger usage | |
| 2004/05 * | 77,856 |
| 2005/06 * | 74,449 |
| 2006/07 * | 77,564 |
| 2007/08 * | 79,196 |
| 2008/09 * | 93,380 |
| 2009/10 * | 134,938 |
| History | |
| 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 estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Belper from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year. | |
Belper railway station is a railway station serving the town of Belper in Derbyshire. The station is located on the Midland Main Line from Derby to Leeds.
Contents |
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands Trains | ||||
|
Limited Service
|
Limited Service
|
Access to the station can be gained via a narrow alleyway from King Street beside the ex-Haldanes supermarket, from the Field Lane car park and across the rear of the supermarket, from Bridge Street via Wellington Court and via alleyways from Field Lane (by the railway bridge) and Albert Street.
The station is served by one operator, East Midlands Trains, with local services from Nottingham via Derby to Matlock along the Derwent Valley Line. Services are approximately hourly Monday to Saturday (with a reduced service on Sundays) and are formed using diesel multiple units of Classes 153, 156 or 158. Two trains per day start/terminate at Derby rather than Nottingham.
Throughout the main part of the day interchange with services to many local and national destinations including Leicester, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham and London can be made at Derby.
Journey time to Derby is approximately 11 minutes, and 21 minutes to Matlock. During service disruption, buses will either pick up and set down in the vicinity of the Lion Hotel in Bridge Street.
In the year April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010 journeys from the station increased by over 40,000 which represented a 44% increase.[1] The increase in usage has been attributed to an improved timetable introduced in December 2008.[2]
The line was surveyed by George Stephenson for the North Midland Railway Company, and opened in 1840. The original intention was to proceed along the western bank of the river opposite the town, but the Strutt family who had built cotton mills and had become the primary landowner, wished it to be out of sight and feared that it would interfere with the water supply. The railway, therefore, was built through a long cutting, at enormous (and unexpected) expense, with twelve bridges in the space of a mile. The cutting, lined with gritstone, is now a grade 2 listed building.
After leaving the Milford Tunnel the train crosses the River Derwent before entering Belper. North of Belper, the engineers paid the penalty of following a river valley, with two long bridges over Belper Pool, plus two more, before reaching Ambergate.
The original station was built on the south side of Belper, just before the cutting, designed by Francis Thompson in an Italianate design. A coach, or omnibus, ran regularly to it from the Lion Hotel in Bridge Street. However this proved so unpopular that the Midland Railway built a new station in 1878 within the cutting, at the town centre, next to King Street. This had platforms with access ramps for each of the two lines, both provided with waiting rooms, in the standard Midland Railway design. The booking office and other facilities were at street level. Since the new staton lacked sidings, the old station remained in use for many years for the processing of goods traffic.
Originally the station was a stop on the Midland Railway's main line from London St Pancras to Manchester Central which travelled through the Peak District.
When this line was truncated to its present terminus at Matlock in the late 'sixties and following withdrawal of the Manchester trains, the station became unmanned and in 1973 the station buildings were demolished. The bridge carrying King Street over the line was widened to make room for a number of shops and a now-closed supermarket. This was originally Fine Fare and subsequently had a number of occupiers, most recently Haldanes until that company went into administration in 2011.
In 2005 the station was refurbished with new shelters, seats, train indicators and rubbish bins by a consortium of local volunteers, work experience trainees and the local councils, with the active support of Network Rail and Central Trains (who managed the station at that time).
During June–July 2009, an automatic ticket machine was installed on the Derby-bound platform. This enables passengers to buy tickets (or collect those purchased in advance) before they board. In December 2009, Belper became a Penalty fare station. The penalty fare applies for any southbound travel or on northbound mainline services. Ambergate to Matlock is not part of the scheme therefore no penalty is applicable, also the vending machine cannot issue local authority discounted tickets, so these are still bought on the train. The notices at the station, however, give the impression that all tickets to any destination must be bought in advance of travel.