The first railway station to be built in Rugby was a wooden
temporary structure located around half a mile to the west of the present
station. It opened in 1838 when the London and Birmingham Railway was
constructed. This station lasted only a few years. When a junction was made
with the Midland Counties Railway in 1840 a new station was built nearer the
present station site although still slightly to the west. This second station
was effectively managed by two companies - the London and North Western Railway
and the Midland Railway - and for this reason grew up in a haphazard fashion.
It was at first no more than a temporary wooden structure, but was rebuilt in
brick in 1850. This station consisted of platforms at each side of the track
with one bay platform. The platforms were rather low and passengers complained
of having to perform an "acrobatic feat" to board trains. The station was at
the centre of a busy junction and often saw chaotic scenes. It featured, only
lightly disguised, in Charles Dickens's story Mugby Junction.
The second station lasted until the 1880s, when a new line from
Rugby to Northampton was built, and it was replaced by the current structure
which opened in 1885. This station, which exists today, albeit modified,
consists of one large island platform with tracks on both sides and bay
platforms at each end. The platform is accessed from a tunnel at road level and
a ramp leading to the platforms. The station was noted for an unusual feature,
the 'scissor junction' which allowed two trains to be in one platform at the
same time. The scissor junction was an X shaped junction which allowed one
train to pass another one already in the platform, and call into the same
platform ahead of it, and allowed the train to the rear to pull out of the
station. For this reason the station has one of the longest platforms of any
British railway station. The scissor junctions remained in use until the
railway was electrified in the 1960s. At its height, as well as the West Coast
Main Line, Rugby station served railway lines to Leicester, Leamington Spa, and
Peterborough via Market Harborough. In the 1960s all but the West Coast line
were closed as part of the Beeching Axe.
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