Calvert railway station

Calvert was a railway station at Calvert, Buckinghamshire on the former Great Central Main Line between Manchester Piccadilly and London Marylebone. The station was opened in 1899 and closed to passengers in 1963 and goods in 1964.

Calvert
Site of Calvert Station in 2008
General information
LocationCalvert, Buckinghamshire
England
Grid referenceSP689247
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyGreat Central Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Central Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
London Midland Region of British Railways
Key dates
15 March 1899Opened
4 March 1963Closed to passengers[1]
4 May 1964Closed to goods
Location

History

Calvert was the last station on the Great Central's London Extension before it reached the Metropolitan's station at Quainton Road 4.5 miles (7.2 km) away. The station and line between Brackley and Quainton Junction were constructed by Walter Scott and Company of Newcastle upon Tyne. Although the station was named Calvert, no such place existed at the time and the name was that of the local landowner, Sir Harry Verney, who had been born a Calvert but changed his name upon succeeding to the Verney Baronetcy.[2]

At the time, Calvert was a very rural settlement with the few houses making up the village being situated close to the station and nearby brickworks, which was the largest employer in the area. In Great Central style, the station had a single island platform located below a road overbridge, from the centre of which a staircase led down to the platform; the centre piers of the bridge were left hollow to provide lamp rooms. The design was chosen as it would allow the track to be quadrupled if ever required.[3] About 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south of Calvert was Grendon Underwood Junction where "Calvert Cabin" signal box controlled the line as it split into two: one line branching out towards Princes Risborough, the other towards Amersham.[4]

A connecting spur, brought into use on 14 September 1940, linked the Oxford – Cambridge Varsity Line with the Great Central at Calvert, allowing much of the freight which used the Verney Junction – Quainton Road section to be diverted over the Great Central.[5] Calvert was to remain open a further 23 years before closing to passengers on 4 March 1963, the same day as nearby Quainton Road. Fast passenger trains continued to pass through the station until 1966 when the Great Central Main Line was closed.

Routes
A 1911 Railway Clearing House map of railways in the vicinity of Calvert
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Quainton Road
Line and station closed		   Great Central Railway
London Extension		   Finmere
Line and station closed
Akeman Street
Line and station closed		    

Present and future

The station buildings have long since been demolished, the track through the station was lifted in 2021 and the platforms were demolished in May 2022. The stationmaster's house stands nearby.

The line of High Speed 2 is under construction and will pass through the site of the disused station.[6] This location (called 'Thame Road') and a fall-back site, 'Great Pond' were announced in December 2010 as the site for the HS2 maintenance depot.[7] The nearby Calvert Waste Plant has also been identified for heat and power generation.[7] A railhead at Calvert is being used to deliver construction materials for High Speed 2.[8]

Just to the north of the former station site, the route of the former Varsity Line is being rebuilt as East West Rail, which will pass over HS2 and provide rail access to its planned Calvert Infrastructure Maintenance Depot.[9] The original scope of this section of EWR included reopening the branch line to Aylesbury:[10] as of January 2021, this element is 'under review'.[11] There are no plans for a station.

References
  1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford, ISBN 1-85260-508-1, p. 51.
  2. Dow, George (1962). Great Central: Volume 2 Dominion of Watkin 1864-1899. Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Limited. pp. 322–323.
  3. Davies, R.; Grant, M.D. (1984). Forgotten Railways: Chilterns and Cotswolds. Newton Abbot, Devon: David St John Thomas. pp. 193–194. ISBN 0-946537-07-0.
  4. Healy, John M.C. (1987). Great Central Memories. London: Baton Transport. pp. 118–119. ISBN 978-0-85936-193-4.
  5. Davies, R and Grant M.D., op. cit. p. 89.
  6. "HS2 Phase One: updated plan and profile maps for Country South 2016" (PDF). www.gov.uk. DfT. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  7. Infrastructure Maintenance Depot Archived 31 January 2011 at the UK Government Web Archive Released December 2010
  8. "HS2 helps UK rail freight bounce back | Agg-Net". www.agg-net.com. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  9. "Calvert Infrastructure Maintenance Depot". High Speed Two Ltd. 20 July 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  10. "Train Services". East West Rail. 6 August 2015. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016.
  11. "Aylesbury plans reviewed as East West Rail project phasing revised". Railway Gazette3. 25 January 2021.

51.91657°N 0.99965°W / 51.91657; -0.99965

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