Wolverton
National Rail
General information
LocationWolverton, City of Milton Keynes
England
Grid referenceSP820415
Managed byLondon Northwestern Railway
Platforms4
Construction
AccessibleNo (stairs to platforms, step up to trains)
Other information
Station codeWOL
ClassificationDfT category E
History
Opened1838
Key dates
September 1838[1]First Wolverton station opened by L&BR
November 1840Station relocated to new track alignment
1881[1]Station rebuilt for a second time
June 2012[2]Station relocated for a second time
Passengers
2018/19Increase 0.470 million
2019/20Decrease 0.452 million
2020/21Decrease 83,314
2021/22Increase 0.210 million
2022/23Increase 0.267 million
Location
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Wolverton railway station serves the town of Wolverton in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The station is on the West Coast Main Line, about 52 miles (84 km) from Euston, between Milton Keynes Central and Northampton. The station is one of the seven stations serving the Milton Keynes urban area.[lower-alpha 1]

The station has four platforms, of which just two (3 and 4) are normally in use. The station serves the northern areas of Milton Keynes (including Wolverton itself, the nearby town of Stony Stratford and the village of New Bradwell) as well as the nearby villages in West Northamptonshire.

Facilities

There is a ticket office but it is only open on weekday mornings,[3] subject to staff availability.

Although categorised as "step-free access category B3",[3] this station is not realistically accessible for passengers with mobility impairments because all but one of the platforms are only reachable by long stairways.

History

Station building

Wolverton Station 1838

The first station was built for the opening of the London and Birmingham Railway on 17 September 1838, on the embankment just north of the canal above Wolverton Park.[1] It proved to be temporary as the railway company purchased an additional 13.5 acres to the south, where they built a larger, more permanent station in 1840,[4] at the east end of Church Street.[5] The new station included refreshment rooms which employed a full-time staff of 22 in 1849.[6] A hotel was planned but never built. The waiting room was lavishly redecorated for the visit of Queen Victoria in 1844, who spent that Christmas as the guest of the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. In 1881, the main line was re-routed a little to the east (see 'Wolverton bend' below) to allow for expansion of the Wolverton Works and a new station opened in August 1881.[1][7] The ticket hall was a wooden building on a new bridge above the railway line and passengers needed to reach the platforms via flights of stairs. The wooden station stood here for over 100 years until British Rail demolished it in about 1990.[1]

For many years after the wooden station building was demolished, Wolverton railway station was a temporary shed in the car park at track level. A new brick building to replace it was finally opened on 21 June 2012.[2] The new building is also at track level and access to all but the adjacent platform is via stairs.

In mid September 2012, the Transport Minister Norman Baker announced in a written answer that the Government had approved London Midland's request to reduce the opening hours of the new ticket office, from the previous 06:00 – 12:00 to 06:15 – 11:00 henceforth.[8]

In 2016, a coffee and snack kiosk opened in the new station booking hall. As of late June 2022, the coffee and snack kiosk has gone and the booking hall appears to be closed.

Wolverton Works

The 1833 Act of Parliament approving the London and Birmingham Railway included a clause that specified that a railway works be built around the mid-point, as it was considered scientifically unsafe at the time for railway locomotives to move more than 50 miles (80 km) without further inspection. After surveying all possible sites, Wolverton was chosen due to its co-location alongside the wharfing facilities of the Grand Union Canal, thereby also enabling the railway company to gain an easy agreement to build a viaduct over the canal company's land at this point.[9] Provision of refreshment facilities for passengers availing of the stop was (at least initially) the primary purpose of the station, located as it was in (at the time) a very rural area.

Wolverton bend and Northampton Loop

With the advent of fast trains, Wolverton gained notoriety among railwaymen for its famously tight curve. The curve was a result of the station and main line being moved eastward in 1881,[1] to permit extension of the Wolverton Works.[10] The path of the original route remains in place through the Works site and includes Robert Stephenson's (Grade II* listed) bridge over the Grand Union Canal.[11] The Advanced Passenger Train failed its trials here in the early 1990s but the Pendolino tilting trains passed them in the early 2000s.

Wolverton Viaduct

Making the embankment - Wolverton Valley (Great Ouse), 28 June 1837.

To cross the valley of the River Great Ouse a little to the north, the company built a six-arch viaduct in 1838, at a cost then of £38,000.[1][lower-alpha 2] The viaduct was also designed by Robert Stephenson and is described by Historic England in its Grade II listing as "the most impressive of the several viaducts on the line, being taller, more elaborately treated and with wider arches. It was one of the principal landmarks of the first trunk railway and one of the earliest viaducts on this scale".[12]

Newport Pagnell Branch Line (closed)

From 1865 to 1964, there was a branch line from Wolverton to Newport Pagnell, primarily for employees of Wolverton Works. In 1964 the line was closed to passengers by the Beeching cuts and freight ceased in 1967. Between 1817 and 1864, the section from Great Linford to Newport Pagnell was an arm of the Grand Junction Canal which was then drained to become the track-bed. The route from Wolverton to Newport Pagnell is now a redway. Along the redway, the platforms at New Bradwell and Great Linford are still in place, as are a signal post at Newport Pagnell and an iron bridge taking the line (now the redway) over the Grand Union Canal.

Accidents

In 1847, an accident just south of the (original) station caused the deaths of seven people.[1]

Platforms

The station has four platforms, of which just two are normally in use. Platforms 1 and 2 are the 'fast' lines and trains very rarely stop here: they are used by London Northwestern only during works and Avanti West Coast in emergency. Platforms 3 and 4 are used frequently by London Northwestern: Avanti West Coast services pass these platforms (without stopping) only during works.

Access to platforms is via long flights of stairs to a pedestrian overbridge, making the station unusable for people with mobility impairment.

Services

All services at Wolverton are operated by London Northwestern Railway.[13]

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[14]

During the peak hours, the station is served by a number of additional services between London Euston and Northampton.

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Northampton   London Northwestern Railway
  Milton Keynes Central
  Historical railways  
Line open, station closed
London and North Western Railway
Line and station open
Disused railways
Line and station closed
London and North Western RailwayTerminus

Location

The station is at the eastern end of Wolverton, near the junction of Stratford Rd with Grafton Street. The nearest post-code is MK12 5FR.[15] In the chainage notation traditionally used on the railway, its location on the line is 52 miles 33 chains (52.41 mi; 84.35 km) from Euston.[16]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Geoffrey Ealden; Anna McEvoy; Julia Newman; Andra Roach; Peter Smith. "Wolverton: From Aqueduct to Viaduct". Wolverton Society for Arts and Heritage and Milton Keynes Heritage Association. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2007.
  2. 1 2 "Mayor reveals plaque at Wolverton train station". Milton Keynes Citizen. 28 June 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Wolverton (WOL)". National Rail.
  4. ↑ "Wolverton's Second Station". Milton Keynes: Living Archive. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  5. ↑ Ordnance Survey (1885). "Buckinghamshire IX (includes: Castlethorpe; Cosgrove; Old Stratford; Wolverton.)" (Map). OS Six-inch England and Wales, 1842-1952. 1:10,560. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  6. ↑ Head, Sir Francis Bond (1849). "Wolverton refreshment room". Stokers and Pokers: or, the London and North-Western Railway, the Electric Telegraph and the Railway Clearing House (third ed.). John Murray.
  7. ↑ 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. 253. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
  8. ↑ MPs defend reduction in train ticket office opening hours – Milton Keynes Citizen, 18 September 2012
  9. ↑ "Wolverton Works". Milton Keynes Museum. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  10. ↑ Jack, Harry (2001). Greenwood, William (ed.). Locomotives of the LNWR Southern Division. Sawtry: RCTS. p. 34. ISBN 0-901115-89-4.
  11. ↑ Historic England (23 May 2001). "WOLVERTON, Railway Bridge (171c), Grand Union Canal (1246107)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  12. ↑ Historic England (18 July 2001). "Wolverton viaduct (1389687)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  13. ↑ "Train Timetables and Schedules | Wolverton". London Northwestern Railway.
  14. ↑ Table 66 National Rail timetable, December 2022
  15. ↑ Streetmap.co.uk
  16. ↑ Engineer's Line References RailwayCodes.org

Notes

  1. ↑ The others are Milton Keynes Central, Bletchley, Fenny Stratford, Bow Brickhill, Woburn Sands and Aspley Guise
  2. ↑ About £3,600,000 today
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