Chesterton railway station

Chesterton railway station was located on the line between Cambridge and Histon.^[1] It opened in 1850 and closed the same year.

Chesterton
Station site in 2016.
General information
Location	Chesterton, Cambridge England
Coordinates	52.222°N 0.1573°E / 52.222; 0.1573
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Eastern Counties Railway
Key dates
19 January 1850 (1850-01-19)	Opened
October 1850 (1850-10)	Closed

History

In 1846, the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) obtained authorisation in the Wisbech, St. Ives and Cambridge Junction Railway Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. ccclvi) to construct the Wisbech, St Ives and Cambridge Junction Railway.^[2] The section from St Ives to Chesterton Junction on the King's Lynn to Cambridge line opened on 17 August 1847.^[3] The line was originally double-track but was singled by 1854 before being redoubled in the 1870s.^[4]

The ECR opened a "flag station" at Chesterton Junction on 19 January 1850.^[5] It remained open until October 1850.^[6][5][7][8] It was situated on the north side of Fen Road just before the main line crossed the River Cam.^[9] A signal box controlling the junction and level crossing over Fen Road stood at the northern end of the bridge until November 1984.^[10]

A triangle of land between the St Ives branch and the main line was used at least from 1911 by the permanent way department to store materials and comprised a number of sidings.^[11] A modern permanent way depot was built on the site after the Second World War which incorporated a long-welded rails plant and a 2 ft (610 mm) gauge system operated by Ruston and Hornsby diesel mechanical locomotives.^[12] By 2005, the depot had been abandoned and the site was heavily overgrown.^[13]

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Histon Line and station closed		Eastern Counties Railway Wisbech, St Ives and Cambridge Jcn Rly		Cambridge Line and station open
Waterbeach Line and station open		Eastern Counties Railway King's Lynn to Cambridge

Present day

By 2008, the sidings at Chesterton Junction were in use by Lafarge which operated an aggregates storage facility, a concrete batching and coated roadstone plants.^[14] In 2015, planning permission was granted for the redevelopment of part of Chesterton Sidings for the construction of Cambridge North railway station, which opened on 21 May 2017.^[15] The remainder of the 18-hectare (44-acre) site will become part of a mixed-use development with office, residential and retail space, and involving the relocation of the existing freight facility.^[16]

References

1. Dewick, Tony (2002). Complete Atlas of Railway Station Names. Ian Allan. Map eleven. ISBN 0-7110-2798-6.
2. Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 171. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. CN 8983.
3. Gordon, D.I. (1990) [1968]. The Eastern Counties. A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. Vol. 5. Newton Abbot: David St John Thomas. p. 153. ISBN 0-946537-55-0.
4. Adderson, Richard; Kenworthy, Graham (October 2005). Cambridge to Ely including St Ives to Ely. Eastern Main Lines. Midhurst: Middleton Press. fig. XV. ISBN 978-1-904474-55-5.
5. Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.
6. Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
7. Adderson & Kenworthy (2005), fig. 90
8. Clinker, C.R. (1988) [1978]. Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830–1980 (2nd ed.). Bristol: Avon-Anglia Publications & Services. p. 28. ISBN 0-905466-91-8. OCLC 655703233.
9. Cobb, M.H. (2006) [2003]. The Railways of Great Britain: A Historical Atlas. Vol. 1. Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 227. ISBN 978-0-7110-3236-1.
10. Adderson & Kenworthy (2005), fig. 91
11. Adderson & Kenworthy (2005), fig. 87
12. Adderson & Kenworthy (2005), figs. 92 and 93
13. Adderson & Kenworthy (2005), fig. 95
14. Roger Tym and Partners (May 2008). "Cambridge Northern Fringe East - Viability of Planning Options" (PDF). para. 1.2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
15. "Delayed £50m Cambridge North railway station opens". BBC News. 21 May 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
16. Brookgate (19 February 2015). "Relocation of railway sidings at Chesterton enables delivery of CB4 development". Cambridge Network. Retrieved 1 December 2016.