Kidsgrove railway station

(Redirected from Harecastle railway station)

Kidsgrove railway station serves the town of Kidsgrove in Staffordshire, England. The station is 7.5 miles (12.07 km) north of Stoke-on-Trent. The station is served by trains on the Crewe–Derby line which is also a community rail line known as the North Staffordshire line. The station is owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway.

Kidsgrove
National Rail
General information
LocationKidsgrove, Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme
England
Grid referenceSJ837543
Managed byEast Midlands Railway
Platforms4
Bus routes95 Biddulph to Audley[1]
Bus operatorsD&G Bus[1]
Other information
Station codeKDG
ClassificationDfT category E
Key dates
9 October 1848 (1848-10-09)Opened as Harecastle[2]
2 October 1944renamed Kidsgrove Central[2]
18 April 1966renamed Kidsgrove[2]
Passengers
2019/20Increase 0.236 million
2020/21Decrease 54,796
 Interchange  5,812
2021/22Increase 0.189 million
 Interchange Increase 19,602
2022/23Increase 0.224 million
 Interchange Decrease 16,881
2023/24Increase 0.244 million
 Interchange Increase 21,075
Location
Map
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

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A freight train from the Crewe line in the mid-1960s just before the withdrawal of steam

The present station was opened 9 October 1848 by the North Staffordshire Railway as Harecastle and was during the early years of the North Staffordshire era variously called Harecastle Junction, Kidsgrove Junction. Kidsgrove Junction, Harecastle before settling upon Harecastle in 1875.[2] Between 1885 and 1886 and 1923 and 1924 it was called Harecastle for Kidsgrove.[2] In 1944 it was renamed Kidsgrove.

In British Rail days it was known as Kidsgrove Central when the town had three stations, the other two were Kidsgrove Liverpool Road and Market Street Halt on the old North Staffordshire Railway's Potteries Loop Line (all three stations were opened by the North Staffordshire Railway). It is situated on the Manchester branch of the West Coast Main Line at the junction where the line from Stoke-on-Trent divides for Crewe and Manchester Piccadilly.

It is just north of the Harecastle Tunnels on the Trent and Mersey Canal and the Harecastle railway tunnel and 1965 railway diversion.

Services

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Services at Kidsgrove are operated by East Midlands Railway using Class 170 DMUs, London Northwestern Railway using Class 350 EMUs and Northern Trains using Class 323 and 331 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:

On Sundays, the station is served by an hourly service between Crewe and Stafford and 6 trains per day between Manchester and Stoke-on-Trent. The first Manchester-bound train on a Sunday extends to Manchester Oxford Road. Hourly Sunday services operate between Crewe and Derby after 14:00 only.

Preceding station   National Rail Following station
Longport
or
Stoke-on-Trent
  East Midlands Railway
  Alsager
  London Northwestern Railway
 
Northern Trains
  Historical railways  
Line open, station closed
North Staffordshire Railway
Line and station closed
Line open, station closed
North Staffordshire Railway
Line and station closed
North Staffordshire Railway
Sandbach to Stoke Line

References

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  1. ^ a b Walker, Melanie (25 January 2024). "Bus service can be used for 'fantastic day out'". Congleton Chronicle. p. 18.
  2. ^ a b c d e Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.
  3. ^ "Timetable | Crewe to Stafford via Stoke-on-Trent | 10 December 2023 to 1 June 2024". London Northwestern Railway. 10 December 2023.
  4. ^ "EMR Regional Train Timetable | Crewe - Newark Castle". East Midlands Railway.
  5. ^ "N19 - Manchester to Stoke-on-Trent via Macclesfield | Train times | 10 December 2023 to 1 June 2024" (PDF). Northern Trains. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
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53°05′11″N 2°14′41″W / 53.0863°N 2.2446°W / 53.0863; -2.2446