Uttoxeter railway station

Infobox UK station
name=Uttoxeter
code=UTT


manager=East Midlands Trains
locale=Uttoxeter
borough=East Staffordshire
start= 7 August 1848
platforms=2
lowusage0405=86,365
lowusage0506=90,484
latitude=52.896795
longitude=-1.857532

Uttoxeter railway station serves the town of Uttoxeter in Staffordshire, England. It is [http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=52.89678&lon=-1.85796&zoom=16&layers=B00FTF located] on the Crewe to Derby Line and is managed by East Midlands Trains.

It is also the railway station for Uttoxeter Racecourse as well as Alton Towers theme park, for which there is a regular bus link.

History

The station was built by the North Staffordshire Railway to serve its mainline from Stoke-on-Trent to Derby. The Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway line to Stafford also used the NSR's station up to the 1950s.

The section from Stoke-on-Trent to Uttoxeter was opened August 7, 1848. At first, the still existing, Hockley crossing was the location of the temporary station. Later, Bridge Street station was opened as the main station when the line was completed to Burton on September 11, 1848. When the Churnet Valley line was opened, July 13, 1849, junction station was opened on the mainline to serve the Churnet Valley line. On this date, Dove Bank station was also opened but on the Churnet line.

Uttoxeter now had 3 stations in total. In 1880, the NSR decided to close all 3 and construct a north to west line forming a triangular junction. A new Uttoxeter station replaced all 3 at this new junction and opened October 10, 1881.

Passenger Services on the Churnet Valley line from Uttoxeter to Froghall ceased operation in 1965. There is an excellent model of the 1881 station at the Uttoxeter Heritage Centre.

The station building was destroyed by fire in 1988 and the station is now unstaffed.

The present passenger station on the site of the 1881 station consists of two mainline platforms each with a simple shelter and there is a bus shelter for the local bus services on the station approach road.

The station is adjacent to the Uttoxeter Racecourse.

The Central Trains franchise expired on the 11th November 2007 and the station and its services were taken over by a new company called East Midlands Trains.

External links

* [http://www.dudleymall.co.uk/loclrail/stokederby.htm Dudley Mall - Stoke-on-Trent to Derby Line]
* [http://www.lnw1.demon.co.uk/nsrsg.htm The North Staffordshire Railway Study Group]

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