The railway stations we have loved and lost, stopped in their tracks by closures and cuts

Thomas Fair takes us on a cross-county trip to the stops which paid the price for poor use, cars and Dr Beeching’s rail review

AS the fallout continues from the scrapping of some new HS2 lines and changes to others, trains and railways are very much back on the agenda in the Midlands.

Rail lines used to criss-cross the whole county – the most efficient way to move people and cargo, and to connect them to the largest cities like London, Birmingham and Manchester.

Derbyshire is littered with old stations and ripped-up lines. Some simply fell out of use, some were victims of the closures of nearby industries, and others fell to Dr Beeching’s rail review in the 1960s, forcing passengers on to more profitable main lines – or the roads.

Here are just a few of the notable stations that are no more – some lost, some repurposed, and others replaced in the modern day.

PEAK FOREST

Lasting just over 100 years, this train station sits in the village of Peak Dale.

First established in 1867 by the Midland Railway company, it was opened to take advantage of the many quarries and mines opening up in the area - metals, coal, and limestone.

It closed to passengers in 1967, and the platforms were removed, though the buildings carried on as offices for a nearby quarry.

ILKESTON’S LOST STATIONS

Ilkeston received a new station just over four years ago but, before that, it had gone without a station since the 1960s. It was one of the largest places in England to go without its own station.

Three stations had come and gone before – Ilkeston Town, Ilkeston North, and Ilkeston Junction and Cossall.

Ilkeston Town closed to passengers in 1950, and the goods service stopped 10 years later. The tracks were ripped up and the site is now a the last survivor, before it too was cut down in 1967 – but the new train station is built on top of it now.

BAKEWELL

This station used to bring in visitors for the Bakewell Show, and tourists from all over, now you need to get the bus, or drive.

The station closed to passengers in 1967, and the line went out of service the following year.

Bakewell’s station is preserved through a Grade-II listing.

ASHBOURNE

There’s been no passenger traffic at Ashbourne station since 1954.

It would take nine more years until goods traffic stopped, and the line was ripped up, ending a connection for the market town.

Now the town relies on its bus services, though it is well served by A-roads nearby.

BOLSOVER’S STATIONS

Bolsover was once served by two stations - Bolsover Castle and

Bolsover South.

Bolsover Castle was a destination on a meandering line by the Doe Lea river. It actually closed to regular passenger service in 1930, but it would take the closure of the Glapwell Colliery to put the nail in the coffin.

Bolsover South had a shorter life, ending in 1951. It first opened in 1897, financed by the local colliery – showing how important rail was to those extraction industries.

RIPLEY

Ripley had a station dating back to 1856, though it was rebuilt closer to the town centre in 1889.

It closed to passengers between the wars, in 1930, but would continue to bring in goods for the town’s shops and businesses for just under 33 more years. The station buildings were demolished in 1985.

TRENT

Trent station was an interchange near Long Eaton, linking the East Midlands cities of Derby, Nottingham and Leicester with easy access to London.

It opened in 1862, bringing together many lines through its island platform, and trains whizzed past the station on both sides.

It closed in 1968. Its services were finally replaced by the East Midlands Parkway in 2009.

This was Ripley station in 1940, where war evacuees from Birmingham alighted. A station served the town from 1856 to the 1960s

Now operating as office space, this GraodfecoIIm-lispteetditibounilfdrionmg was once the main building at Bakewell RIalkilewsatoynSJtuanticotnio, which closed in 1967, a year before the line was shut

Prior to its departure in 1954, this was Ashbourne Railway Station in its heyday, with scores of passengers waiting to jump on the next available service

This was the remnant of Ilkeston Railway Station, which was demolished to make way for its replacement, which opened in 2018

The station you can see in the distance is Trent, the interchange near Long Eaton which linked Derby, Nottingham and Leicester with London and beyond. It closed in 1968, but was replaced some 40 years later by East Midlands Parkway