Blythe Bridge railway station in Blythe Bridge, Staffordshire, England, is served by trains on the Crewe to Derby Line; it 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. The full range of tickets for travel are purchased from the guard on the train at no extra cost.
The station was opened on 7 August 1848 by the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR). Until 1907 the spelling of the station name was Blyth Bridge. The station buildings were demolished in the early 1990s and today it is unstaffed.
In 2010 it won East Midlands Trains' Best Small Station award.
Signalling
Blythe Bridge had two signal boxes, namely Blythe Bridge and Stallington, both of which controlled level crossings, which was a common feature across the former NSR.
The signal boxes were opened by the NSR in 1884 for the Derby to Stoke line.Stallington - The Signal Box The boxes were built to a standard McKenzie & Holland design and under the S.R.S. designation system is referred to as a MKH Type1.
The signal boxes were equipped with a standard McKenzie & Holland lever frame and a gate wheel for operating the level crossing gates which controlled traffic on the former A50. These gates were later replaced by a barrier crossing when traffic increased.
Blythe Bridge and Stallington signal boxes closed in 1980 and 1989 respectively and the level crossing was converted to CCTV control with the barriers supervised by Caverswall signal box. Both signal boxes were demolished soon after.
Services All services at Blythe Bridge are operated by East Midlands Railway.
On weekdays and Saturdays, the station is generally served by an hourly service westbound to via and eastbound to via and . During the late evenings, services terminate at Nottingham instead of Lincoln.
On Sundays, the station is served by an hourly service between Crewe and Derby only although no trains operate before 14:00.
Foxfield Railway The station is situated south of Caverswall Road railway station, the current southern terminus of the Foxfield Railway.
References
Further reading
External links
Page with more info on the station Railways in Draycott Photographs of the old station buildings Photograph of Blythe Bridge Signal Box