Luton Bute Street railway station

Luton Bute Street railway station was the first to be built in Luton, England. It was opened by the Luton, Dunstable and Welwyn Junction Railway Company in 1858, which was an extension of the Welwyn and Hertford Railway. The track to Welwyn was completed in 1860 and taken over by the Great Northern the following year.

Luton Bute Street
4F 0-6-0 44414 heads The Cobbler special out of Luton Bute Street railway station to Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard and Northampton. 19 September 1964
General information
Location	Luton England
Platforms	3
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Hertford, Luton & Dunstable Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Northern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
3 May 1858	Opened as Luton
25 September 1950	Name changed to Luton Bute Street
26 April 1965	Closed[1]

v t e Railways around Luton
Legend
Midland Main Line Leagrave branch to Dunstable Luton Luton Bute Street Luton Airport Parkway Luton Airport Luton DART Luton Hoo Chiltern Green branch to Welwyn Garden City Midland Main Line

History

The station was valuable to Luton people not only for passengers but also for facilitating the London market for the town's trade in plaited straw goods. The station, and the line to Welwyn, closed in 1965.^[2]

Following closure to passengers in 1965, the station buildings were quickly demolished despite the line remaining open for freight until 1989–1990. The site of the station was used later as a car park for Luton railway station. Throughout the years, various local pressure groups have been supportive of reopening the station as part of a viable branch line between Dunstable and Luton. In the mid-1990s, there was a debate about reopening it, either with the operation of diesel Class 158s or electric Class 319s.^{[citation needed]}

The site has since been redeveloped, as the new Luton Gateway transport interchange on the Luton to Dunstable Busway guided busway system.

Routes

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Chaul End Line and station closed		Great Northern Railway Dunstable Branch Line		Luton Hoo Line and station closed

See also

• List of closed railway stations in Britain

References

1. Quick, M E (2002). Railway passenger stations in England, Scotland and Wales – a chronology. Richmond: Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 281. OCLC 931112387.
2. Radford, B., (1983) Midland Line Memories: a Pictorial History of the Midland Railway Main Line Between London (St Pancras) & Derby London: Bloomsbury Books

External links

• Station history and photos
• Luton Borough Council guided busway plans

51.8817°N 0.4139°W / 51.8817; -0.4139