46-422: The Crewe–Derby line is a railway line in central England , running from Crewe in a south-easterly direction to Derby , via Stoke-on-Trent and Uttoxeter . Passenger services on the line are provided by East Midlands Railway , with Avanti West Coast , London Northwestern Railway , Northern and CrossCountry providing additional services north of Stoke-on-Trent to both Crewe and Manchester . This line
92-432: A Grade II listed building . The structures included in the listing comprise two station buildings on separate platforms, and two screen walls, one to the east and the other to the west of the station. With seven train companies calling, Crewe is tied with Doncaster for the highest number of companies calling at a UK station. On 7 November 1980 two freight trains collided at Crewe railway station. In January 2013, it
138-684: A Todmorden man who had become Locomotive Superintendent. Locomotive construction, hitherto divided with Wolverton (on the London and Birmingham Railway) was concentrated at Crewe. Ramsbottom also built a steelworks, the first in the world to make large-scale use of the Bessemer process , as only the LNWR required enough steel to keep a Bessemer plant continuously occupied. He also introduced mass-production techniques, whereby as many parts as possible were identical between one engine and another. Ramsbottom retired in 1871 and
184-555: A diversionary route for the West Coast Main Line. In May 2021, services provided by East Midlands Railway were extended to provide Crewe and Stoke-on-Trent with direct links past Derby to Nottingham and Newark Castle , although the service is still run hourly and journeys between Stoke-on-Trent and Nottingham take approximately 90 minutes. All stations on the route except Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe are managed by East Midlands Railway. The line serves or has formerly served
230-583: A line from Stoke-on-Trent , joining the LNWR from the South East. Crewe was the centre of a wide-ranging railway network, and freight-handling facilities grew up to the south of the station. To cope with the increase of traffic, the station was rebuilt in 1867 (according to WH Chaloner), the buildings facing each other on the present platforms 5 and 6 dating from this time, and built under the supervision of William Baker . The listing by English Heritage describes them as: mirrored design with bowed projections for
276-461: A major issue on the route, particularly in the morning and evening peak, and on weekends. Passengers are occasionally left behind. The reintroduction of Class 170 "Turbostar" trains on this route has eased congestion, compared to the previous Class 153 and 156 trains, and now mainly run this route, with the occasional class 158. Under the new East Midlands Railway franchise, most trains have increased in capacity, with Class 170 DMUs now operating
322-468: A revolutionary ' tranship shed ' which allowed fast transfer of freight from wagons to road vehicles under cover. The station was enlarged between 1903 and 1907, by providing eight through platforms each a quarter of a mile long. The cost of the improvements was £1,000,000 (equivalent to £133,620,000 in 2023). In 1923 the LNWR became part of the London, Midland & Scottish Railway group. Crewe remained
368-486: A secure bike parking structure, at a cost of £7 million. The construction work was undertaken by Balfour Beatty . The new entrance has step-free access & connects passengers to the station through an underground walkway. There is a ticket vending machine at this entrance, as well as unmanned ticket barriers. In August 2016 the station buildings of 1867 were added to the National Heritage List for England as
414-660: A significant effect on Crewe station. Notably, the variation in station use caused firstly by the electrification in stages of the West Coast Main Line between 1959 and 1974 and secondly by the general end of steam traction on Britain's railways. Following the completion of electrification in 1974, trains did not need to change locomotives at Crewe, except for the London to Chester and Holyhead service. Many locomotive hauled trains were replaced by electric or diesel multiple unit trains, with much faster turn-round times. Additionally, two local branch lines had closed, which resulted in fewer trains terminating at Crewe. However, compensating for
460-545: A wholly independent line linking the two cities, shorter than the GJR, decided that it would be uneconomical to compete with that line over the greater part of its length, and decided to divert its own line to meet the GJR at Crewe. Teething squabbles between the companies delayed the running of through services for a while, and the M&;B had to build a temporary station of their own, part of which survives today as an isolated platform next to
506-418: Is planned that up to 5 to 7 trains per hour will stop at Crewe; plans for a new service to Manchester via Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield are also proposed. This will be made possible by extending the existing platform 5 to 400 metres, allowing services to split and serve these additional destinations. It is also planned that a new transfer deck will be built; this will allow passengers to change between
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#1732872774196552-475: Is the last major station before the branch to Liverpool Lime Street diverges. It is also served by lines to Stoke-on-Trent and Shrewsbury . Crewe railway station has twelve platforms and a modern passenger entrance containing a bookshop and ticket office. Passengers access the platforms via a footbridge, stairs and lifts. The platform buildings, which date from the 19th century, contain two bookshops, bars, buffets and waiting rooms. The last major expenditure on
598-660: The Cross Country Route as far as North Staffordshire Junction in Willington , then carrying along the main body of the line until Stoke Junction on the Stoke-on-Trent branch of the West Coast Main Line until Kidsgrove, where it then follows the Alsager branch as far as Crewe south junction before terminating at Crewe . The route is double track for all of its length except for a three-mile section between Alsager and Crewe, which
644-523: The International Union of Railways in its official publications and thesaurus. Also Centering spring cylinder . Also Railway air brake . Also Main Reservoir and Reservoir . Also see Reverser handle . A metal casting incorporating a slot that allows the casting to fit over the rail near the wheel of a derailed car. The locomotive then pushes or pulls the car so that
690-569: The London and North Western Railway Company, which until its demise in 1923 was the largest company in the world. The new company extended the existing lines to Holyhead, the Warrington line to Lancaster and Carlisle, the Manchester line to Leeds, and built the new Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway to Shrewsbury to join the joint GWR owned Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway , which provided connections to South Wales . The North Staffordshire Railway built
736-577: The ancient parish of Coppenhall . In 1936, the railway station was transferred from the civil parish of Crewe to the then municipal borough of Crewe. As soon as the station opened the Chester and Crewe Railway was formed to build a branch line to Chester and this company was absorbed by the GJR shortly before it opened to traffic in 1840. A locomotive depot was built to serve the Chester line, and to provide banking engines to assist trains southwards from Crewe up
782-597: The Cheadle Railway Company, built a line from Cresswell to Cheadle , which was opened throughout on 1 January 1901 and was closed to passengers in 1953 and to freight traffic in 1978. The section of line between Egginton and the Midland Railway Derby to Birmingham line was opened on 13 July 1849. The section between Stoke and Kidsgrove is part of the West Coast Main Line , which together with
828-553: The Madeley Incline, a modest gradient which was a challenge to the small engines of the day. By 1841, the Chester line was seen as a starting point for a new trunk line to the port of Holyhead , to provide the fastest route to Ireland, and the importance of Crewe as a junction station began to be established. This was given further endorsement when the Manchester and Birmingham Railway , a separate undertaking which had hoped to build
874-530: The North Junction, at the start of the line to Manchester. In 1842 the GJR decided to move its locomotive works from Edge Hill in Liverpool to Crewe, siting the works to the north of the junction between the Warrington and Chester lines. To house the workforce and company management the town of Crewe was built by the company to the north of the works. In 1846 the GJR merged with the London and Birmingham to form
920-486: The decline of local passenger traffic, the reduction in mail and parcels traffic and the total elimination of livestock carriage, came the great increase in inter-city passenger traffic and the need for even faster, smoother and more efficient handling of passenger trains. In 1963 the architects to the London Midland Region of British Railways provided a Porte-cochère at the passenger entrance on Nantwich Road. It
966-602: The derailed wheel runs up the rerailer and back on to the track. Also see Extended Wagon Top Boiler . Also see Waist sheet . Also see Expansion knee . Also see Valve gear. Also see Grate Also see Train air signal apparatus. Also see Control system. Also Adhesion railway . Also Adhesion railway . Also see Hub. Also Adhesion railway . Also see Whistle stem. Also Coupler Yoke , Bell Yoke , Guide Yoke , Valve Yoke . Crewe railway station Crewe railway station serves
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#17328727741961012-477: The engineering duties. In 2007 Network Rail published a proposal to replace the existing Crewe station with a new station located approximately 1 mile to the south. A "Crewe Town" station was also proposed nearer the town centre on the Chester line, with a shuttle service to the new main station. In 2009 the station was identified as one of the ten worst category B interchange stations for mystery shopper assessment of fabric and environment. The proposal to move
1058-543: The following places (highlighted place names currently have a station whereas the others formerly had a named station that is now closed): Crewe; Radway Green and Barthomley; Alsager ; Kidsgrove ; Chatterley; Longport ; Etruria; Stoke-on-Trent ; Fenton; Longton ; Normacot; Meir; Blythe Bridge ; Cresswell; Leigh; Bramshall; Uttoxeter ; Marchington; Sudbury; Scropton; Tutbury and Hatton ; Egginton; Pear Tree and Normanton; and Derby . The route starts at Derby and follows
1104-528: The junction just south of Stoke-on-Trent station forms part of Route 19 (the Midland Main Line and East Midlands ). The line sees a basic hourly service in each direction from Crewe to Newark Castle via Stoke-on-Trent , Uttoxeter , Derby , Long Eaton and Nottingham , with trains calling at all stations on the route except for Peartree which is served by two Newark bound trains and three Crewe bound trains per weekday. The majority of services on
1150-479: The major centre for locomotive construction. In 1938-39 the signal boxes at North and South Junctions were completely reconstructed as massive concrete structures to withstand air raids, and remained in use until the resignalling project in 1985. The North Junction signal box can now be visited as part of the Crewe Heritage Centre . Although the railway station is virtually synonymous with the town of Crewe, it
1196-420: The north and south junctions, burrowing beneath them and avoiding them completely. Plans for the "independent lines" were approved in 1895 and construction lasted from 1896 to 1901. Over 1,000 labourers were employed on what was known as the "big dig" at a cost about £500,000 (equivalent to £68,560,000 in 2023). This undertaking also included a marshalling yard to the south of the station at Basford Hall ,
1242-635: The number of passenger trains using Crewe Station and the method of operation did not vary greatly despite the passage of two world wars. Trains continued to divide at Crewe with the front portion for Manchester and the rear for Liverpool. The station pilot engine always had a pair of restaurant cars in a bay platform ready to attach to a morning service to London. Always there were extra coaches waiting to be attached to overcrowded trains. In addition to passengers there were vast quantities of mail, parcels and even live animals and birds of all descriptions transported in specially designed transit crates. When necessary
1288-405: The platform inspectors' offices, the 'greybeard' keystones and vivid polychromy ... one of the best pieces of mid-C19 platform architecture designed anywhere on the LNWR network, and as rare surviving examples nationally of buildings of a major junction station of this period. At the same time the works was redeveloped and enlarged and the town also enlarged under the leadership of John Ramsbottom ,
1334-524: The railway town of Crewe , in Cheshire , England. It opened in 1837 and is one of the most historically significant railway stations in the world. Crewe station is a major junction on the West Coast Main Line and serves as a rail gateway for North West England . It is 158 miles north of London Euston and 243 miles south of Glasgow Central . It is located at the point where the lines to Manchester Piccadilly and North Wales diverge from this route, and
1380-408: The route from December 2008 to February 2020 were provided by single car Class 153 "Super Sprinter" Diesel Multiple Units, however Class 158 "Express Sprinter" and Class 156 "Super Sprinter" units were occasionally used. From February 2020, the new East Midlands Railway franchise started running Class 153 DMUs in double formation, and occasionally, Class 156 DMUs, however, overcrowding remained
1426-486: The route. In the future, there are plans to extend the route to Nottingham . Local MP Jack Brereton has also called for Meir railway station to be re-opened. Railway line Rail transport terms are a form of technical terminology applied to railways. Although many terms are uniform across different nations and companies, they are by no means universal, with differences often originating from parallel development of rail transport systems in different parts of
Crewe–Derby line - Misplaced Pages Continue
1472-521: The section from Kidsgrove to Crewe opened on 9 October 1848. When Central Trains were awarded the franchise for the line in the 1990s, the Crewe-Derby service (which under BR Regional Railways had run between Crewe, Derby and Nottingham then either Lincoln or Skegness ) was expanded to run between Manchester Airport and Skegness. However, poor punctuality meant that this was later curtailed to Crewe-Skegness. In Autumn 2005, further poor performance saw
1518-476: The station staff had to feed and water these special passengers, which travelled in copious luggage vans. In 1948 the LMS was nationalised as British Railways , London Midland Region . Nationalisation greatly facilitated the modernisation of British Railways and, after a false start developing new improved steam engines, electrification came, along with diesel power and fixed-formation air-braked trains. These changes had
1564-489: The station took place in 1984-1985 when the track layout was remodelled and the station facilities were updated. Crewe's location was chosen after Winsford , seven miles to the north, had rejected an earlier proposal, as had local landowners in neighbouring Nantwich , four miles away. Crewe station was the first station to have its own adjacent railway hotel: the Crewe Arms Hotel , built in 1838, and still in use. It
1610-418: The station was abandoned in 2010 and instead the current building was renovated. Cheshire East Council implemented a regeneration master plan for Crewe, which included the station. In 2011 Cheshire East Council purchased the former Royal Mail depot and Weston House for £2.75 million. The council demolished the two buildings and created a new entrance to the station, as well as a 244 space car park and
1656-421: The through service limited to Crewe-Derby. During 2003 much of the line was closed as part of the West Coast Main Line upgrade with trains terminating at Blythe Bridge and a shuttle bus service running between there and Crewe . After the closure all stations on the route reopened except Etruria which was closed in 2005. As a result of the upgrade the section from Crewe to Kidsgrove was electrified for use as
1702-578: The town of Crewe, which was adjacent to it. The station was at the point where the line crossed the turnpike road linking the Trent and Mersey and the Shropshire Union Canals. Since the land was bought from the Earl of Crewe , whose mansion stood nearby, and it was located in the township of Crewe, the station was called Crewe. The railway station gave its name to the town of Crewe that was actually situated in
1748-735: The world, and in the national origins of the engineers and managers who built the inaugural rail infrastructure . An example is the term railroad , used (but not exclusively) in North America , and railway , generally used in English-speaking countries outside North America and by the International Union of Railways . In English-speaking countries outside the United Kingdom, a mixture of US and UK terms may exist. Various terms, both global and specific to individual countries, are listed here. The abbreviation "UIC" refers to terminology adopted by
1794-597: The world, it ran from Curzon Street railway station in Birmingham to Dallam in Warrington , Cheshire, where it made an end-on junction with the Warrington and Newton Railway, a branch of the L&;M. The station was built in the township of Crewe , which formed part of the ancient parish of Barthomley . The township later became a civil parish in its own right, and, later still, was renamed Crewe Green to avoid confusion with
1840-545: Was announced that the existing Crewe station would be a stop on the western branch of the planned HS2 high-speed rail route. A new platform will be built on the Manchester independent lines to the west of the station, meaning that services will not have to cross the West Coast Main Line from Manchester Piccadilly or the Marches Line to South Wales. Following the Crewe Hub consultation, which ran from July to October 2017, it
1886-540: Was constructed of eight laminated wood Hyperbolic paraboloid shells. This was replaced between 1983 and 1985 with the current steel structure. In 1985 in a £14.3 million scheme, the track layout was modernised and simplified, eliminating many points and crossings and allowing 80 mph (130 km/h) running over the North Junction. At the same time all but one of the six 1902 extension platforms were taken out of use. Four Class 40 locomotives were reallocated to this work in 1985, and were renumbered as 97405–97408 for
Crewe–Derby line - Misplaced Pages Continue
1932-545: Was not actually incorporated within the borders of the borough of Crewe until the late 1930s, as it lies about 1 mile to the south east of the actual town centre. With the exception of two new signal boxes and associated greatly improved colour light signalling, track circuiting and electrically operated track points, train operation at Crewe changed little in over fifty years. The trains did become longer and heavier and were hauled by larger engines, which required increased supplies of water to be taken on board before departure, but
1978-533: Was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway Company and became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. The line was opened between Stoke and Uttoxeter on 7 August 1848. The next stage from here to Tutbury was opened 11 September 1848. Just beyond Tutbury was formerly a branch line to Burton upon Trent , having opened on the same date, but now closed. A separate company,
2024-521: Was singled by British Rail . Whilst the majority of the route is not electrified, the section between Stoke Junction and Crewe is as part of the West Coast Main Line. In April 2006, Network Rail organised its maintenance and train control operations into "26 Routes". The line from Crewe to Kidsgrove (where it joins the line from Manchester ) through to Stoke-on-Trent forms part of Route 18 (the West Coast Main Line). The line through to Derby from
2070-422: Was succeeded by the legendary Frank Webb , a colourful and controversial figure who was known as 'The Uncrowned King of Crewe'. By the 1890s a survey revealed 1,000 trains passing within a 24-hour period. Half of these were freight trains which did not need to call at the station, so the company decided to build a separate four-track railway line passing to the west of the station, joining the existing lines beyond
2116-521: Was the first to be completely rebuilt owing to the need for expansion. It was also the first to have completely independent rail lines built around it to ease traffic congestion. The station opened on 4 July 1837 on the Grand Junction Railway . The purpose was to link the four largest cities of England by joining the existing Liverpool and Manchester Railway with the projected London & Birmingham Railway . The first long-distance railway in
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