Peterborough railway station

Peterborough
Station layout of Peterborough station, prior to the addition of platforms 6 & 7 in 2013.
Location
Place	Peterborough
Local authority	City of Peterborough
Coordinates	52°34′29″N 0°15′01″W / 52.5748°N 0.2502°W / 52.5748; -0.2502Coordinates: 52°34′29″N 0°15′01″W / 52.5748°N 0.2502°W / 52.5748; -0.2502
Grid reference	TL186988
Operations
Station code	PBO
Managed by	Virgin Trains East Coast
Number of platforms	7
DfT category	B
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2002/03	3.387 million
2004/05	3.690 million
2005/06	3.720 million
2006/07	3.960 million
2007/08	4.071 million
2008/09	4.100 million
2009/10	3.931 million
2010/11	4.077 million
2011/12	4.208 million
2012/13	4.290 million
2013/14	4.398 million
- Interchange	0.894 million
History
August 1850	Opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Peterborough from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Derby – Lowestoft holiday express approaching by the Midland's Melton Mowbray line in 1962

View southward, towards Peterborough North station from Spital Bridge in 1962

Virgin Trains East Coast route
Legend
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Great Northern Route

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Peterborough railway station serves the city of Peterborough, within Cambridgeshire, England. It is located approximately 76.5 miles (123.1 km) north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line. The station is a major interchange serving both the north-south ECML, as well as long-distance and local east-west services. The station is managed by Virgin Trains East Coast. Ticket gates came into use at the station in 2012.

Facilities

The station has a concourse and ticket office area which was internally redesigned and reopened in mid-2012. The concourse features both a newsagents and a cafe. For general assistance there is a customer information point located on platform 2 by the concourse, as well as customer service offices on platform 5 and near the toilets on platform 2. All platforms are accessible by means of a passenger footbridge with lifts and also by a ramp bridge at the north end of the station.

There is on site car parking. Within a few minutes walk is Peterborough city centre, and the Queensgate shopping centre. As of March 2013, there is an automated cycle hire scheme outside the south end of the station building.

Services

There are regular services to and from London King's Cross, which are operated by Virgin Trains East Coast and by Great Northern. Southbound EC services run either non-stop to the capital or call only at Stevenage, whilst northbound destinations served include Leeds, Newcastle Central and Edinburgh Waverley (though many Scottish services now run non-stop from London to York).^[1] Great Northern trains start and terminate at Peterborough (twice each hour with peak period extras Mon-Sat) and serve the intermediate stations southwards.^[2]

Cross Country and East Midlands Trains regional services run hourly, the former to Birmingham New Street via Leicester and Stansted Airport via Cambridge and the latter to Norwich and Liverpool Lime Street via Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly. EMT also operate local services to Spalding, Sleaford and Lincoln Central on an approximately hourly frequency (though morning peak and evening services only run as far as the former) and there is a two-hourly service to Ipswich via Ely and Bury St Edmunds run by Abellio Greater Anglia.

Sunday services run less frequently on the ECML, but on similar frequencies on the regional routes other than the Spalding line, which has no service.

Station layout

• Platform 1: Through platform, predominantly used by Southbound Virgin Trains East Coast to Kings Cross. The services to and from Spalding occasionally use this platform. Renumbered from 2 in December 2013. A south-facing bay platform, former Platform 1, was decommissioned & lifted in December 2013.
• Platform 2: An island through platform (formerly numbered 3), mostly used by Great Northern and Virgin Trains East Coast services to Kings Cross. It is also used by the hourly service to Spalding & Lincoln, typically operated by class 153 units.
• Platform 3: New though island platform alongside the up fast line, commissioned in December 2013. Used predominantly by Virgin Trains East Coast fast services to London, though some Great Northern suburban trains also use it; non-stop southbound trains also pass through this platform.
• One through track between platforms 3 and 4 for non-stop passenger services. These are used by non-stop Virgin Trains East Coast trains northbound, and also by First Hull Trains and Grand Central Railway.
• Platform 4: Through island platform, used predominantly by northbound Virgin Trains East Coast services to Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley. It is also used often by some East Midlands and CrossCountry train services.
• Platform 5: Through island platform, adjacent to platform 4, used for CrossCountry services to Cambridge, Audley End & Stansted Airport via March & Ely and to Leicester and Birmingham New Street; East Midlands Trains to Norwich and Liverpool; and Abellio Greater Anglia services to Ipswich. Northbound Virgin Trains East Coast services can be diverted to platform 5 if required.
  • Platform 4 & 5 are used in the evening peak by terminating Great Northern services from Kings Cross, so the stock can be taken to the Nene Carriage Sidings located to the south of the station.
• Platform 6 & 7: These new platforms were commissioned over the Christmas break 2013.^[3] Services to Birmingham, Ipswich, Stansted Airport, Norwich & Liverpool now use these platforms.
• Freight lines: one freight line is located beyond platform 7. This is frequently used by the many freight services that pass through Peterborough along with platform 4 for southbound services. Much freight is to/from Felixstowe although other destinations are served.

Changes 2014

Network Rail spent a reported £2.5 million on Peterborough station and its surroundings, in a move that is intended to increase passenger capacity on trains and ease freight movements through the station. This upgrade has seen changes to the booking office and station concourse building along with the introduction of ticket gates. In addition some refurbishment work and changes have been made to the waiting rooms and other facilities on platform 4/5.^[4]

History

Peterborough Railway Line Diagram

Legend Great Northern Railway to Grantham Syston and Peterborough Railway Helpston Peterborough to Lincoln Line Werrington Junction Walton (Cambridgeshire) M&GNR to Wisbech North Wisbech Junction Westwood Junction New England sidings North Station (GNR Station) Peterborough Crescent River Nene Ely Line to Peterborough East Fletton Junction N&P Line to Orton Waterville Great Northern Railway to London

There have been a number of railway stations in Peterborough: Peterborough East (1845–1966), the current station which opened in 1850 (previously known by various names including Peterborough North); and briefly Peterborough Crescent (1858–1866).

Peterborough was the site of the first mast to be installed as part of the East Coast Main Line electrification project to Edinburgh. This can be found behind platform 1.

Openings

Peterborough East opened on 2 June 1845^[5] along with the Ely to Peterborough Line built by Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) and the Northampton and Peterborough Railway built by the London and Birmingham Railway, both of which provided routes to London. The Syston and Peterborough Railway by Midland Railway was opened in 1846. On 7 August 1862, the ECR became part of the Great Eastern Railway (GER).^[6]

The Great Northern Railway (GNR) arrived in Peterborough with the opening of the major portion of its "loop line" between Peterborough, Spalding, Boston and Lincoln, which opened on 17 October 1848; at first GNR trains used the ECR station at Peterborough East.^[7] During the construction of the GNR line south to London, it was decided that the GNR would need their own station at Peterborough; this was decided upon in December 1849,^[8] and opened on 7 August 1850^[5] together with the new line, which originally terminated at Maiden Lane, the permanent London terminus at Kings Cross not being ready until 14 October 1852.^[9] The GNR's Peterborough station is the current station, but it has had several names: originally simply Peterborough, it later became Peterborough Priestgate, then Peterborough Cowgate in 1902, reverting to Peterborough in 1911.^[5]

On 1 January 1923 the GER and GNR became constituents of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), which found itself with two similarly named stations in Peterborough; to distinguish them, they were given new names on 1 July 1923: the ex-GER station became Peterborough East, and the ex-GNR station Peterborough North.^[5] After Peterborough East closed on 6 June 1966, Peterborough North once again became Peterborough, the name by which it is still known.^[5]

The Great Northern Railway heading north to Grantham and Doncaster (the Towns Line) opened in 1853 using the GNR station. This line was built alongside the Midland Railway as far as Helpston, resulting in adjacent but separate level crossings at various places, including the Crescent level crossings in Peterborough city centre.

Interchange between Peterborough East and the GNR station was inconvenient,^[10] so on 1 February 1858 the Midland Railway opened Peterborough Crescent station,^[5] a short distance from the GNR station and close to the level crossing of the same name. Some GER trains were working through to the GNR Station by 1863.^[11] and the Crescent station closed on 1 August 1866^[5] when Midland Railway trains began using the GNR station instead.^[10]

The Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (M&GNR) branch to Wisbech and Sutton Bridge opened in 1866. To access this line trains headed north and diverged left at Westwood junction, then continued north adjacent to the Midland Railway line but gaining height, then curved east and bridged over the Midland line, the GNR line and Lincoln Road and headed off towards Eye Green along approximately the route of the current A47 Soke Parkway.

Services to Rugby (by the London and North Western Railway from Peterborough East) and to Leicester (by the GNR from their Station) started in 1879 when the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) built a line from Yarwell junction near Wansford and Seaton linking the Northampton and Peterborough Railway and the Rugby and Stamford Railway. Also the Fletton curve via Woodston to Orton Waterville by the GNR.

In 1913 the two troublesome Crescent level crossings were finally abolished when Crescent Bridge was opened.

Closures

GNR service to Leicester ended in 1916 during World War I. In March 1959 the line to Wisbech and to Sutton Bridge closed along with most of the rest of the M&GNR and local services on the GNR main line ended with a number of minor stations including Yaxley and Farcet and Tallington being closed.

The Northampton and Peterborough Railway closed in May 1964, followed 2 years later by the closure of Peterborough East station and the passenger services to Rugby in June 1966 (part of this line was eventually reopened as the Nene Valley Railway heritage line). The local services on the Syston and Peterborough Railway ceased in the same year with the closure of the remaining village stations including Helpston and Ketton & Collyweston.

The final closure came in October 1970 when the lines to Spalding, Boston and Grimsby were closed, although the Peterborough to Lincoln Line to Spalding was reopened on 7 June 1971 with a shuttle service of 3 trains each way per day. This service was improved in 1982 with the closure of the March to Spalding section of the former Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway when the Lincoln to Cambridge service became the Lincoln to Peterborough service.^[12][13]

Renewal

In the 1970s major alterations occurred to the former North station. In 1972 the track layout was remodeled, to provide high speed through lines and two new platforms. GNR bay platforms 4 and 5 (redundant since the withdrawal of East Lincolnshire line services) and through platform 6 were removed, together with all of the buildings between platforms 3 and 6, the new through lines scything through the site of the latter. New platforms 4 and 5, an island to the west of the fast lines, on the site of the former Midland Railway lines, were opened.

In 1976, the life-expired GNR booking hall and east side buildings were demolished, due to their condition, and were replaced by Portakabins. A contract was awarded to local company, Bernard Stokeley Ltd., to provide replacement buildings (which, with alterations, are those in use today) and these were opened a couple of years later.

Further new facilities were provided, post privatisation, as part of GNER’s £10 million station improvement programme to modernise facilities at key stations along the East Coast Main Line. The modern travel centre is part of a £1 million upgrade which includes new passenger lounges on platforms 2 and 3 (since renumbered 1 and 2, following the closure of the original bay platform at the south end of the former platform 2), new toilet facilities on platforms 2 (now 1), 4 and 5, new customer information screens and improved security including the installation of CCTV cameras within the station and car park.

A further major remodeling occurred in 2013, when three new platforms were opened and the original platform 1 bay was removed. Original platforms 2 and 3 were renumbered 1 and 2. A new platform face on the southbound through line was opened and numbered 3, together with a new island platform to the west of the station, on the site of the former fly-ash sidings and reversible freight line, these being numbered 6 and 7. Both the passenger footbridge and the former parcels bridge at the north end of the station were extended to the new island, lifts being added to the passenger footbridge.

Train services in 1910

Rail services from the station were at their peak in 1910, before economies were made during World War I, most of which were never reversed.

The express services calling at Peterborough were mainly en route to or from Leeds or York, but there were also through coaches to Grimsby via Spalding and Boston, Cromer via the M&GNR line, Sheffield Victoria and Manchester London Road via Retford and the Great Central line, and Hull, Halifax, Blackburn, Harrogate and Bradford via Doncaster.

Bradford trains used a direct route either using the GNR line via Morley Top, or the LYR line via Thornhill. ^[14]

There were few trains for Newcastle and beyond. At that time it was necessary to change at Doncaster or York.

In 1910, the GNR were still running trains to Leicester via Wansford and Seaton, in direct competition with the Midland Railway which ran via Stamford. The GNR route and times were competitive but in 1910 they only offered three trains compared to six by the Midland Railway, plus they did not serve any significant population centres en route.

Services to Northampton and Rugby ran from East station.

Route

Below are the routes that Peterborough is currently on, as well as those that it has been on in the past:

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Stamford		CrossCountry Birmingham-Stansted Airport		March
				Whittlesea Limited Service
London Kings Cross or Stevenage		Virgin Trains East Coast London-Leeds/West Yorkshire		Grantham or Doncaster
London Kings Cross		Virgin Trains East Coast London-Edinburgh/Scotland		York or Newark North Gate
Stevenage or London Kings Cross		Virgin Trains East Coast London-Edinburgh/York/Newcastle		Grantham or York or Newark North Gate
London Kings Cross or Stevenage		Virgin Trains East Coast London-Newark/Doncaster/Hull/Peterborough		Grantham or Terminus
London Kings Cross or Stevenage		Virgin Trains East Coast London-Lincoln		Grantham or Newark North Gate
Grantham		East Midlands Trains Liverpool-Norwich		Ely
				March Limited Service
				Whittlesea Limited Service
Stamford		East Midlands Trains Nottingham-Norwich (via Loughborough) Limited Service		March
Terminus		East Midlands Trains Peterborough-Lincoln Line Mondays-Saturdays only		Spalding
Huntingdon		Great Northern Great Northern Peterborough Line		Terminus
Whittlesea		Abellio Greater Anglia Ely to Peterborough Line		Terminus
Historical railways
Tallington Line open, station closed		Great Northern Railway East Coast Main Line		Yaxley and Farcet Line open, station closed
Peakirk Line open, station closed		Great Northern Railway Lincolnshire Loop Line		Terminus
Walton Line open, station closed		Midland Railway Syston and Peterborough Railway		Peterborough East Line open, station closed
Peterborough East Line open, station closed		Great Eastern Railway Ely to Peterborough Line		Terminus
Disused railways
Orton Waterville Line and station closed		London and North Western Railway To Leicester Belgrave Road		Terminus
Terminus		Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway Sutton Bridge line		Eye Green Line and station closed

Werrington Junction improvement

Network Rail has proposed a flyover or diveunder in order to provide grade separation of Werrington Junction, the point where the Peterborough-Lincoln Line joins the ECML, north of Peterborough.^[15]

Future services

From 2018, new services from Peterborough will be introduced to destinations south of central London.^[16] In May 2014, a proposed timetable has been released; the planned services are:

• 2 trains per hour to Horsham in West Sussex via Stevenage, London St Pancras, London Bridge, East Croydon, Redhill, Gatwick Airport and Crawley. This service would be an extension of the current Peterborough - King's Cross and London Bridge - Horsham services.

See also

British Rail Class 317 in Peterborough.

• Peterborough East railway station
• Peterborough Nene Valley railway station and Nene Valley Railway (preserved railway)
• East Coast Main Line
• Peterborough to Lincoln Line
• Birmingham to Peterborough Line
• Ely to Peterborough Line

References

• Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508. 
• Waszak, Peter (September 1984). Peterborough. Rail Centres. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1389-6. CE/0984. 

External links

• Train times and station information for Peterborough railway station from National Rail

Media related to Peterborough railway station at Wikimedia Commons