Blythe Bridge railway station

Blythe Bridge
Location
Place	Blythe Bridge
Local authority	Staffordshire Moorlands
Grid reference	SJ956411
Operations
Station code	BYB
Managed by	East Midlands Trains
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	60,162
2011/12	64,000
2012/13	60,632
2013/14	68,444
2014/15	78,470
History
Original company	North Staffordshire Railway
Pre-grouping	North Staffordshire Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
7 August 1848	Opened[1]
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Blythe Bridge from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Blythe Bridge railway station is a railway station in England at Blythe Bridge, Staffordshire Moorlands. The station is served by trains on the Crewe to 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 Trains (EMT) Train Operating Company (TOC). 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.^[1] 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.^[2]

Signalling

Blythe Bridge had at one time two signal boxes, Blythe Bridge and Stallington, both of which controlled level crossings, which was a common feature across the former NSR.

Blythe Bridge signal box was opened by the NSR in 1884 on their Derby to Stoke line. The box was built to a standard McKenzie & Holland design and under the S.R.S. designation system is referred to as a MKH Type1.

The signal box was equipped with a standard McKenzie & Holland lever frame and a gate wheel for operating the level crossing gates which controlled traffic on the busy former A50. These gates were later replaced by a barrier crossing when traffic got too heavy for the signalman.

Blythe Bridge signal box finally closed in 1980 and the level crossing was converted to CCTV control with the barriers supervised by Caverswall signal box.

Blythe Bridge in 1962

Services

An hourly service operates in each direction, to Derby eastbound and to Stoke & Crewe westbound. Sunday trains only operate from 15:00 onwards.^[3]

Foxfield Railway

The station is situated ¹⁄₂ mile (0.80 km) south of Caverswall Road railway station, the current southern terminus of the Foxfield Railway.

References

1. Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.
2. "Impact: Station Improvements coming soon" (PDF). East Midlands Trains. September 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
3. GB eNRT 2015-16 Edition, Table 50 (Network Rail)

External links

• Train times and station information for Blythe Bridge railway station from National Rail
• Page with more info on the station
• Railways in Draycott
• Photographs of the old station buildings
• Photograph of Blythe Bridge Signal Box

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Longton		East Midlands Trains Crewe-Derby Line		Uttoxeter
Preceding station		Historical railways		Following station
Meir Line open, station closed		North Staffordshire Railway Crewe to Derby Line		Cresswell Line open, station closed

Coordinates: 52°58′05″N 2°04′01″W / 52.968°N 2.067°W