Platforms 5 & 6 and two fast lines in middle, Class 350/2 EMU on Liverpool Lime Street to Birmingham New Street service calls at Crewe on platform 5 in July 2013.
Crewe railway station serves 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.[3][4]
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 the station took place in 1984-1985 when the track layout was remodelled and the station facilities were updated.[1]
History
Early years
Crewe's location was chosen after Winsford,seven miles (11.3km) to the north,had rejected an earlier proposal,as had local landowners in neighbouring Nantwich,four miles (6.4km) away.[5]
Crewe station was the first station to have its own adjacent railway hotel:the Crewe Arms Hotel,built in 1838,and still in use.[6] It 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.
Early image of the original Crewe station c. 1840.Platforms five and six are used primarily for express traffic along the West Coast Main Line.Crewe station looking NE and showing the six converging railway routes
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 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 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.[8]
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 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 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 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.
London &North Western Railway
In 1846 the GJR merged with the London and Birmingham to form 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 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.[2] The listing by English Heritage describes them as:
mirrored design with bowed projections for 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,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.
Crewe station around 1900.
Ramsbottom retired in 1871 and 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 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[9] to 1901. Over 1,000 labourers were employed on what was known as the "big dig" at a cost about £500,000[10] (equivalent to £68,560,000in 2023).[11] This undertaking also included a marshalling yard to the south of the station at Basford Hall,a revolutionary 'tranship shed' which allowed fast transfer of freight from wagons to road vehicles under cover. The station was enlarged between 1903[12] and 1907,by providing eight through platforms each one-quarter mile (0.4km) long. The cost of the improvements was £1,000,000[13] (equivalent to £133,620,000in 2023).[11]
London,Midland and Scottish Railway
View northward on Platform 4 in 1962,with an English-Electric Type 4 to the left,and a 6P "Jubilee" to the rightView northward from the footbridge at the north end of the station in 1958
In 1923 the LNWR became part of the London,Midland &Scottish Railway group. Crewe remained 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 was not actually incorporated within the borders of the borough of Crewe until the late 1930s,as it lies about 1 mile (1.6km) 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 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 the station staff had to feed and water these special passengers,which travelled in copious luggage vans.
British Railways
In the early 1900s,the station gained an extra six platforms to cope with traffic. However,as part of a major resignalling project in 1985,five of these platforms were taken out of use,with only Platform 12 (pictured) remaining.
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 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 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 was constructed of eight laminated wood Hyperbolic paraboloid shells.[14] This was replaced between 1983 and 1985 with the current steel structure.
The main entrance to Crewe station,dating from the 1980s refurbishment.
In 1985 in a £14.3 million scheme,the track layout was modernised and simplified,eliminating many points and crossings and allowing 80mph (130km/h) running[15] 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 the engineering duties.
Present day
In 2007 Network Rail published a proposal to replace the existing Crewe station with a new station located approximately 1 mile (1.6km) 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.[16][17] In 2009 the station was identified as one of the ten worst category B interchange stations for mystery shopper assessment of fabric and environment.[18]
The proposal to move the station was abandoned in 2010 and instead the current building was renovated.[19]Cheshire East Council implemented a regeneration master plan for Crewe,which included the station.[20]
In 2011 Cheshire East Council purchased the former Royal Mail depot and Weston House for £2.75 million.[21] The council demolished the two buildings and created a new entrance to the station,[22][23] as well as a 244 space car park and a secure bike parking structure,at a cost of £7 million.[24] The construction work was undertaken by Balfour Beatty.[24] 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 unstaffed ticket barriers.
The Weston Road entrance,added in 2014.
In August 2016 the station buildings of 1867 were added to the National Heritage List for England as 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.[2]
With seven train companies calling,Crewe is tied with Doncaster and Edinburgh Waverley for the highest number of companies calling at a UK station.
Accidents and incidents
On 7 November 1980 two freight trains collided at Crewe railway station.[25]
Future
In January 2013,it was announced that the existing Crewe station would be a stop on the western branch of the planned HS2 high-speed rail route.[26] 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.[27]
Following the Crewe Hub consultation,which ran from July to October 2017,it 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 the proposed new Manchester independent lines platform and the existing Crewe station.[28][29]
From June 2026,Lumo plan to launch five trains a day to London Euston southbound and Preston northbound,with four continuing to Stirling[33]. This would be the 8th train operating company serving the station,thereby overtaking both Doncaster and Edinburgh Waverley as most train operating companies served.
2 trains per day extend to Blackpool North only, with 1 train every 2 hours running to Edinburgh (7tpd) and 6 trains per day (tpd) running to Glasgow Central. Services to Scotland run via Carlisle.
Platform 1 - Northern Trains stopping services to and from Manchester Piccadilly and occasionally Avanti West Coast northbound services to Manchester Piccadilly and Avanti West Coast southbound services to London Euston.
Platform 2 - Extra capacity.
Platform 3 - East Midlands Railway services and West Midlands Trains (London Northwestern) services via Stoke-on-Trent
Platform 4 - Extra capacity.
Platform 5 - Avanti West Coast northbound services to Manchester Piccadilly and southbound to Birmingham New Street and London Euston, West Midlands Trains services to Birmingham New Street, Transport for Wales services to Cardiff, CrossCountry services to Bournemouth and Bristol Temple Meads.
Platform 6 - Transport for Wales services northbound to Manchester Piccadilly and southbound to Cardiff and beyond. Some Avanti West Coast northbound services to Preston and Glasgow Central and southbound to London Euston also use this platform along with a CrossCountry service to Manchester Piccadilly.
Platform 7 - West Midlands Trains (London Northwestern) services to London Euston via Rugeley Trent Valley
Platform 8 - Transport for Wales stopping services to and from Shrewsbury.
Platform 9 - Transport for Wales services to Chester and Holyhead.
Platform 10 - Extra capacity.
Platform 11 - Avanti West Coast northbound services to Blackpool, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Chester and North Wales. West Midlands Trains (London Northwestern) northbound services to Liverpool Lime Street.
Platform 12 - Extra capacity, 12 Coach West Midlands Trains (London Northwestern) services to London Euston via Rugeley Trent Valley and usually used for railtours.
↑ Drake, James (1838). Drake's Road Book of the Grand Junction Railway (1838). Moorland Reprints. ISBN0903485257.{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
↑ Chambers (2007, pp.76, 94); Dunn (1987, p.26); Ollerhead (2008, pp.7, 10, 16). "Crewe (near Wybunbury)". GENUKI (UK & Ireland Genealogy). Retrieved 3 February 2009.. The unusual relationship between the town of Crewe and the civil parish of Crewe, mediated by the railway station, is described in the following riddle: "The place which is Crewe is not Crewe, and the place which is not Crewe is Crewe."Curran et al. (1984, p.2).
↑ "Railway Extensions at Crewe". Derby Daily Telegraph. England. 18 March 1896. Retrieved 5 December 2016– via British Newspaper Archive.
↑ WH Challoner's Social & Economic Development of Crewe 1780-1923 [full citation needed]
↑ "Extending Crewe Station". Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser. England. 26 May 1903. Retrieved 5 December 2016– via British Newspaper Archive.
↑ "Crewe' Million Pound Station". Lancashire Evening Post. England. 3 June 1907. Retrieved 5 December 2016– via British Newspaper Archive.
↑ Lawrence, David (2018). British Rail Architecture 1948-97. Crecy Publishing Ltd. p.73. ISBN9780860936855.
Chambers, S (2007), Crewe: A history, Chichester, Sussex: Phillimore, ISBN978-1-86077-472-0
Curran, H; Gilsenan, M; Owen, B; Owen, J (1984), Change at Crewe, Chester: Cheshire Libraries and Museums
Dunn, F. I. (1987), The ancient parishes, townships and chapelries of Cheshire, Chester: Cheshire Record Office and Cheshire Diocesan Record Office, ISBN0-906758-14-9
Langston, K (2006), Made in Crewe: 150 years of engineering excellence, Horncastle, Lincolnshire: Mortons Media Group, ISBN978-0-9552868-0-3
Ollerhead, P (2008), Crewe: History and guide, Stroud, Gloucestershire: Tempus Publishing, ISBN978-0-7524-4654-7
Youngs, F. A. (1991), Guide to the local administrative units of England. (Volume 1: Northern England), London: Royal Historical Society, ISBN0-86193-127-0
Further reading
Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2012). Stafford to Chester. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 48-67. ISBN9781908174345. OCLC830024480.
Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2013). Shrewsbury to Crewe. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 94-112. ISBN9781908174482. OCLC880765045.
Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2014). Crewe to Manchester. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 1-9. ISBN9781908174574. OCLC892047119.
1 2 Stations in Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees are considered part of North East England, while stations in the unitary areas of York and North Yorkshire are considered part of Yorkshire and the Humber.
↑ Stations in North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire are considered part of Yorkshire and the Humber, while all other stations are considered part of the East Midlands.
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3.401 million
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