Rugby Station: The Northern Approaches
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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