The station was opened by the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway in 1849 later becoming part of the Great Western Railway in 1854. The station being on the GWR line from London Paddington to Birkenhead. The station building dates from from the 1850s with a GWR footbridge added in 1883. This was unfortunately destroyed by a contractor's crane in accident in 2005 [1], the bridge was later restored though is slightly higher than the original bridge.
The station had a goods yard but this was closed in 1964 [2]. A signalbox to the East of the station was closed in 2006. The original station building is now a pub. Station facilities are the usual shelters and screens. The station is served by West Midlands Railway with two trains an hour in each direction with a limited number of stops by Transport for Wales.
View down the platform showing the footbridge
Original station building
View down the platform showing WMR signage
Road bridge and station sign, the entrance is to the left
Under the bridge
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury (Middleton Press, 2009) Fig. 65 [2] Ibid. Fig. 63
The station was opened by the South Leicestershire Railway in 1864, for two years prior trains terminated at London Road to the West of the current station site [1], the line being completed through to South Wigston in 1864. The original station building dates from then though is no longer purely in use as a station with small businesses occupying part of the building, though the ticket office remains staffed at times.
The original footbridges were replaced in 1983 [2] by a stepless one, this also allows for a pedestrian right of way across the railway line. The station had extensive goods handling facilities including two separate goods sheds but, as with most station goods facilities, are now long gone.
The station is managed by East Midlands Railway though all services, usually one an hour in each direction, are run by Cross Country.
View down the platform
Station frontage
An XC train under the footbridge
View from the footbridge
XC 170 523 heads off towards Leicester
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Coventry to Leicester (Middleton Press, 2017) Map. XVII
Derby is one of the great railway centres on the network. It is still a junction of the Midland Main Line and the lines to Birmingham New Street, Nottingham and Matlock, and also adjacent to the Railway Technical Centre. One of the largest remaining British railway manufacturing centres at Bombardier Derby is also nearby.
ROG 57 312 at Derby with a special excursion
Information
Type:
National Rail (Midland Main Line)
Station code:
DBY
Opened:
1839
Platforms:
7
Derby first got a station when the Midland Counties Railway station opened in 1839, though this was only a temporary structure with the first permanent station opening the following year, which was known as Derby Station Street.
Derby, which between 1950 and 1968 was known as Derby Midland [1](this name is still displayed on the front of the main station building), has been extended and rebuilt a number of times. The latest change being in 2018 when the station layout was remodelled to remove bottlenecks and improve line speeds, the station was also resignalled with a new gantry to the South of the station. A bay platform was removed and replaced by a new through platform which is one side of a new island. There is a seventh platform (the other side of the new island) though it is not usually in public use.
It is hoped that one day the lines will also be under the wires thanks to Midland Main Line electrification (though this project is subject to delays and may not take place for a long time).
Derby is served by East Midland Railway and Cross Country services between the North East and South West as well as links to destinations such as Crewe. There are two entrances to the station with a second entrance added at the Pride Park development in the 2001 along with a new overbridge [2].
XC 43 303 at Derby
An EMT 153 enters the station under the new signal gantry
View down the platform
An EMT 222 leaves the station
Derby is still host to interesting traction
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Derby to Stoke-on-Trent (Middleton Press, 2016) Fig. 5 [2] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Derby to Chesterfield (Middleton Press, 2017) Fig. 9
Maida Vale is one of the stations built for the Bakerloo Line's extension from Paddington to Queen's Park, the station opening in 1915.
When the station opened it was the first station (and uniquely at the time) to be staffed entirely by women [1] who were being hired to roles previously reserved by men to replace men who had gone to the war.
The station building is to the common, of the time, Leslie Green design though was designed by his assistant Stanley Heaps. Inside the ticket foyer is an interesting mosaic of the London Underground "bullseye" logo, built not long before the logo changed to the one used ever since. The station is Grade II listed.
A Bakerloo Line 72ts train stands at Maida Vale
Station exterior, with original signage
Bullseye mosaic
Analogue time keeping between the platforms
Main entrance
[1] Paul Moss, London Underground (Haynes, 2014) p. 56
