Beeston railway station

Beeston station is on the Midland Main Line, 123 miles 22 chains (198.4 km) from London, on the spur towards Nottingham.[2] There are two platforms: platform 1 to the north for trains towards Nottingham and Lincoln and platform 2 to the south for trains towards London, Leicester, Birmingham and Derby. The platforms may be accessed either by steps from the Station Road bridge or by short ramps from Station Road for Platform 1 or Technology Drive for Platform 2.

East Midlands Trains Meridian 222019 calls at Beeston with a London-Nottingham service.

British Royal Train with 67026 Diamond Jubilee following Elizabeth II's visit to Nottingham on 13 June 2012.

Services at Beeston are provided by East Midlands Railway and CrossCountry, with the former providing most services and managing the station. There are usually 4 trains per hour from each direction.

Two East Midlands Railway running between London and Nottingham go through Beeston, one of which (via Loughborough, Leicester, Market Harborough, Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford and Luton Airport Parkway) calls in each direction, as do the Leicester-Lincoln Central via Newark Castle and the Newark Castle/Nottingham-Matlock via Derby services.

The hourly CrossCountry Nottingham-Birmingham New Street via Derby service also stops here, along with a few through trains to/from Cardiff Central. There is also a single daily direct CrossCountry southbound only service to Bournemouth via Derby, Birmingham New Street and Reading.[3]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Long Eaton		CrossCountry Birmingham - Nottingham		Nottingham
Derby		CrossCountry Nottingham to Bournemouth (Limited service, southbound only)
Attenborough		East Midlands Railway Derwent Valley Line
East Midlands Parkway		East Midlands Railway Leicester - Lincoln
East Midlands Parkway		East Midlands Railway Midland Main Line

The station in 1840

The station was built in 1839 for the Midland Counties Railway.[7] Services began on 4 June 1839. In 1844 the Midland Counties Railway joined with the North Midland Railway and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway to form the Midland Railway.

The first station from Nottingham, at the time it was very popular with people from the city who wished to spend a day in the countryside, desiring "fresh air and recreation".

The original station building, which was little more than a cottage, was replaced in 1847 with the substantially larger white brick building with ashlar trimmings which still exists. This is notable for its carved bargeboards, some remaining diagonal paned windows and the pseudo-heraldic shields with 'MR' and '1847'.[8] The wooden platform canopies and adjacent wrought-iron and glass canopy were installed in 1871. The wooden platform canopies were originally located at Southwell railway station, and were relocated to Beeston when Southwell was rebuilt.[9]

The growth of Beeston led to substantial expansion of the station facilities in the Edwardian period. An extension containing a large booking hall, ladies' waiting room and parcels office was added to the rear of the station building, doubling its floorspace.

The station in 1967

Beeston station front in 2006

In 1937 the Midland Railway drew up plans for an additional waiting room on platform 2 but the plan was never put into action.

Post-WWII

Dedication plaque on the Station Road bridge.

The level crossing, lattice footbridge and signal box survived until 1969 when Beeston and Stapleford Urban District Council built a road bridge ("Station Bridge") across the railway to ease traffic delays caused by the frequent closure of the level crossing. This effectively replaced the footbridge between the two platforms.

With the decline in passenger numbers in the 1980s, the entire station suffered from vandalism and neglect, and British Rail proposed complete demolition. A spirited campaign by the local civic society and rail historians led to the listing of the station building in 1987. A separate listing application was made in the early 1990s and the platform shelters were also listed. This was followed by restoration of what remained of the 1847 building and the platform shelters. The (architecturally undistinguished) extension was demolished, revealing the original gables on the north side of the building.

The original platform masonry survived until 2004 when the platforms were completely rebuilt.

• 
  28 January 2004
• 
  5 February 2004
• 
  6 February 2004
• 
  18 February 2004
• 
  18 February 2004
• 
  Rebuilt platforms, 21 July 2005

Old Station Masters House in 2006

• The first station masters house built in 1839 was a small cabin.
• A larger building, originally at Southwell was moved to Beeston and erected in 1857.
• The Station Master's House at 211 Station Road is now private property, used as Station House Children's Day Nursery.

• The Victoria Hotel public house is adjacent to the Nottingham platform and has its own gate access to the platform, for which it reputedly paid an annual peppercorn rent of 50 pence. The gate was locked out of use for a number of years, so access to the Victoria Hotel was via Technology Drive or Barton St, however it was opened for access again in 2014.
• There was also a Beeston Castle and Tarporley railway station in Cheshire, England, for the villages of Beeston and Tarporley. Between 1840 and 1868 it was called simply "Beeston".

• Listed buildings in Beeston, Nottinghamshire

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Beeston railway station.

• Train times and station information for Beeston railway station from National Rail
• "Picture the Past" Beeston Station c1904
• "Picture the Past" Beeston Station c1910
• "Pictures of Beeston Station taken in 2004"
• See Beeston railway station on Google Street View.

52°55′14″N 1°12′29″W