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General information | |
Location | Sleaford, North Kesteven England |
Coordinates | 52°59′44″N0°24′37″W / 52.995488°N 0.410350°W Coordinates: 52°59′44″N0°24′37″W / 52.995488°N 0.410350°W |
Grid reference | TF067454 |
Managed by | East Midlands Railway |
Platforms | 3 |
Other information | |
Station code | SLR |
Classification | DfT category E |
Passengers | |
2017/18 | ![]() |
2018/19 | ![]() |
Interchange | 50,794 |
2019/20 | ![]() |
Interchange | ![]() |
2020/21 | ![]() |
Interchange | ![]() |
2021/22 | ![]() |
Interchange | ![]() |
Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road |
Sleaford railway station serves the town of Sleaford in Lincolnshire,England. It lies on the Peterborough–Lincoln line. The station is 21 miles (34 km) south of Lincoln Central.
The station is now owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway who provide all rail services.
The Sleaford Navigation,which canalised a 12.5-mile stretch of the River Slea from its junction with the River Witham to Sleaford,opened in 1794. It facilitated the export of agricultural produce to the midlands and the import of coal and oil. Mills sprang up along the river's course and the Navigation Company's wharves were built near its office on Carre Street in Sleaford. [1] [2] In 1827,the River Witham Navigation committee investigated the possibility of a railway allowing Ancaster stone to be transported to the Sleaford Navigation. The cost of doing so and competition from other quarries meant that their plans came to nothing. [3]
An 1836 scheme envisaged a railway between Nottingham and Boston which would have stopped at Sleaford,but the plans never left the drawing board. Another attempt,the Eastern Counties scheme,unsuccessfully tried to build a railway between Lincoln and Cambridge,with a branch to Boston via Heckington and an extension to Sleaford. After protests from the Sleaford Navigation company,the necessary Bill never passed. In 1845,the Ambergate Company designed a railway from Ambergate to Nottingham,with branches to Boston,Spalding,Grantham and Sleaford. A Bill to that effect passed through the Houses of Parliament in 1846,but the railway only reached Grantham. In the meantime,the more ambitious Great Northern Railway from London to York was also endorsed by an Act of Parliament;it passed through Grantham and a loop line from Boston to Lincoln was operating by 1848,yet its planned extension between Boston and Sleaford was not sanctioned. [4]
A new plan emerged in 1852 and was presented before Parliament the following year. The Sleaford,Boston and Midland Counties Railway would pass through Boston,Sleaford and Grantham. The proposals met with considerable support from businessmen in Sleaford,including a number of Navigation officials;they envisaged it as a mode of transporting coal and stone. [5] The Bill passed in August 1853. Constructed by Smith,Knight &Co. under the supervision of the engineers W. H. Brydone and Edward Harrison,the line between Barkston,near Grantham,and Sleaford opened on 15 June 1857. [6] [7] [8] An elaborate set of celebrations were organised for the opening day of the new Sleaford railway station,which saw all of the town's businesses close to allow their employees chance take part in the festivities;over 700 men from the area were invited to a free lunch on the cricket fields. [9]
The Grantham–Sleaford line cost £130,000 to construct,averaging at £11,850 per mile;the extension to Boston opened on 12 April 1859,at a cost of £6,500 per mile,considerably cheaper thanks to the flat terrain (the hillier Ancaster area,by contrast,required cuttings). [10] From the outset,the rolling stock was owned by the Great Northern Railway Company (GNR),who took over ownership of the line on 1 July 1864. [11]
The Great Eastern Railway wanted to build a line from Cambridge to York,which would have passed through Sleaford and Bourne,but Parliament would not allow it. [12] The GNR submitted a proposal for a line between Bourne and Sleaford,which,after amendments to the route,was approved in 1865 and opened in 1872. [12] [13] Next came the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway which opened from Spalding through Sleaford to Ruskington and from there to Lincoln Central in 1882. Kirk and Parry,Sleaford-based building contractors,built the line,while the Ruskington-based builders Pattinson's constructed the new stations along the route. [13] The line was designed to transport freight,which necessitated an avoiding line around Sleaford; [14] Sleaford station was also extended. [15] The last new line through Sleaford ran to RAF Cranwell and opened in 1916. [16]
The Cranwell branch ran at a loss:in response to a Parliamentary Question,it was revealed that,allowing for a credit in respect of the c.15,000 tons of Government stores that were transported along it during 1924,the line made a loss of some £3,570,although it was reported that "any alternative means ... would involve considerably greater expenditure". [17] Having ceased to carry passenger traffic in 1927,it closed completely in 1956. [16]
Passenger services on the Bourne branch ceased on 22 September 1930. [12] The Spalding line closed in 1964. [14]
The Grantham to Boston and Spalding to Lincoln Central lines remain open,as does the north to south link line bypassing the station. This has recently been refurbished by Network Rail and returned to full operation after several years of disuse [18] (as part of the plan to route more freight trains onto the latter and away from the busy East Coast Main Line).
Sleaford is still one of only a few places still to have signal boxes named 'North','South','West' and 'East' around the area. With the North and South boxes on the Peterborough–Lincoln line,and then the West and East boxes are at each end of the station on the Grantham to Boston Line. So if travelling from Lincoln Central to Peterborough on the train you would pass all four boxes. The North and South boxes are however due to be decommissioned as part of the upgrade work mentioned above at the end of 2013.
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All services at Sleaford are operated by East Midlands Railway.
On weekdays and Saturdays, the station is generally served by an hourly service northbound to Lincoln and southbound to Peterborough. Five trains per day are extended beyond Lincoln to Doncaster. The station is also served by a single daily service to and from Newark North Gate.
The station is also served by an hourly service westbound to Nottingham via Grantham and eastbound to Skegness via Boston. [24]
On Sundays, the service is served by a limited service between Nottingham and Skegness, with additional services during the summer months. Enhancements to the Nottingham to Skegness service on Sundays are due to be made during the life of the East Midlands franchise. [25] There are no Sunday services to Peterborough or Lincoln.
Preceding station | ![]() | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Grantham | East Midlands Railway | Heckington | ||
Rauceby Limited Service | ||||
Ruskington | East Midlands Railway
| Spalding | ||
Historical railways | ||||
Line and station open | Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway | Line open, station closed | ||
Disused railways | ||||
Terminus | Great Northern Railway | Line and station closed | ||
Line and station closed | Great Northern Railway | Terminus |
The Great Northern Railway (GNR) was a British railway company incorporated in 1846 with the object of building a line from London to York. It quickly saw that seizing control of territory was key to development, and it acquired, or took leases of, many local railways, whether actually built or not. In so doing, it overextended itself financially.
Lincolnshire is a large county in England with a sparse population distribution, which leads to problems funding all sorts of transport. The transport history is long and varied, with much of the road network still based on the Roman model, and the once extensive rail network a shadow of its former self.
Peterborough railway station serves the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. It is 76 miles 29 chains (122.9 km) down the East Coast Main Line from London King's Cross. The station is a major interchange serving both the north–south ECML, as well as long-distance and local east–west services. The station is managed by London North Eastern Railway. Ticket gates came into use at the station in 2012.
Grantham railway station is on the East Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom, serving the town of Grantham, Lincolnshire. It is 105 miles 38 chains (169.7 km) down the line from London King's Cross and is situated on the main line between Peterborough to the south and Newark North Gate to the north.
The Grantham–Skegness line, originally promoted as the "Poacher Line", runs for 55 miles (89 km) between Grantham and Skegness in Lincolnshire, England. Trains on this route originate from Nottingham via the Nottingham to Grantham Line as an hourly through service from Nottingham to Skegness, with slower stopping services at peak times. The line is operated by East Midlands Railway British Rail Class 156 "Super-Sprinter", British Rail Class 170 "Turbostar" and British Rail Class 158 "Sprinter Express" diesel multiple units.
The Peterborough–Lincoln line is a railway line linking Peterborough and Lincoln Central, via Sleaford and Spalding. Between Lincoln and Spalding, the line follows the route of the former Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway.
The Nottingham–Grantham line is a branch line between the city of Nottingham and the town of Grantham in the East Midlands of England. For most of its length it runs parallel to the A52.
Heckington railway station is located in the village of Heckington in Lincolnshire, England. The old station building houses the Heckington Station Railway and Heritage Museum.
Boston railway station serves the town of Boston in Lincolnshire, England. It is on the Poacher Line.
Wainfleet railway station serves the town of Wainfleet All Saints in Lincolnshire, England. The station has its own signal box at the east end of the platforms, which is next to the level crossing. Wainfleet station is 5 miles (8 km) west of Skegness on the Skegness - Grantham - Nottingham Poacher Line.
Spalding railway station serves the town of Spalding, Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the Peterborough–Lincoln line.
The Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway, colloquially referred to as "the Joint Line" was a railway line connecting Doncaster and Lincoln with March and Huntingdon in the eastern counties of England. It was owned jointly by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) and the Great Eastern Railway (GER). It was formed by transferring certain route sections from the parent companies, and by the construction of a new route between Spalding and Lincoln, and a number of short spurs and connections. It was controlled by a Joint Committee, and the owning companies operated their own trains with their own rolling stock. The Joint Line amounted to nearly 123 miles (198 km) of route.
Bourne was a railway station serving the town of Bourne in Lincolnshire, which opened in 1860 and closed to passengers in 1959.
St James Deeping is a former railway station which served the village of Deeping St James and town of Market Deeping in Lincolnshire, England. It was on the Lincolnshire Loop Line between Lincoln and Peterborough via Boston and Spalding.
The Boston, Sleaford and Midland Counties Railway opened a railway line between Grantham and Boston, through Sleaford, England. It opened in two stages, in 1857 and 1859.
The Grantham and Lincoln railway line was a line in Lincolnshire, built by the Great Northern Railway to shorten the distance between the town of Grantham and city of Lincoln. It had already formed a network in Lincolnshire, but the route from London and points south and west of Grantham was very indirect.
The Lincolnshire lines of the Great Northern Railway are the railways, past and present, in the English county built or operated by the Great Northern Railway.
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