At one time, there were three railway stations in Northampton:
Northampton (Bridge Street), ''
Northampton (St. John's Street) and Northampton (Castle)''; only the latter now survives as the town's only station.
The railway reaches Northampton Although the promoters of the
London and Birmingham Railway had considered routes passing close to Northampton in 1830, the town was skirted by the final choice of alignment via and a
loop line to remedy this had to wait for several decades. The decision to omit Northampton was not due to local opposition but rather engineering decisions taken by the railway company's engineer
Robert Stephenson. The difference in gradient in the between Northampton and Blisworth, on the floor of the
Nene Valley, is likely to have played a key role in the decision. Robert Stephenson is reported to have said that he could easily get trains into the town but not out again. As a result, Northampton lost out as a commercial centre to towns such as
Leicester which had better transport links. The town was considered as the southern terminus of the
Midland Counties Railway in 1833 but lost out to on account of the shorter distance with Leicester. Bridge Street station on the
Northampton and Peterborough Railway from to was thus the first station in Northampton, opening on 13 May 1845.
1858 station Following the discovery of a large quantity of ironstone in Northamptonshire in 1851, a proposal was made by the
London and North Western Railway (L&NWR) for an line from
Market Harborough to Northampton which received Parliamentary approval in 1853. The line's terminus in Northampton was to be on part of the old orchard of
Northampton Castle which had been purchased in 1852 by the Reverend Havilland de Sausmarez, the absentee Rector of the Parish of St Peter, as the site of a new
rectory. The L&NWR agreed to purchase the land for £5,250, to complete the parsonage and to rent it back to the Reverend. Tenders were advertised for the line in 1858 and the lowest offer of £81,637 by Richard Dunkley of Blisworth was accepted. The contractor had been an unsuccessful bidder for the contract to build Bridge Street station. Dunkley was also the successful tenderer for the line's stations, including Castle station at a cost of £612. It would be the most basic structure on the line with no goods facilities, limited passenger waiting accommodation and an awning over the single platform. Goods traffic was to be dealt with at Bridge Street. The station opened with the line on 16 February 1859. It was described in the L&NWR's minutes as a "very unassuming edifice", giving the impression that it was "merely temporary in nature" until traffic developed to a sufficient level to allow a "more imposing" structure to be built.
1880–81 rebuilding The advent of the
Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway to tap the coalfields of Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire led the L&NWR to quadruple its
main line between and Rugby and also to consider ways in which Northampton might be better served. In 1875, the L&NWR obtained powers to quadruple the main line north from Bletchley to , with the two new tracks (the "slow lines") diverging at Roade so as to form a new line (the
Northampton Loop) through Northampton. The result of these works would be to put Northampton on an important coal artery from Nottingham and the North to the L&NWR's
Camden goods depot. Additional land would have to be purchased at Castle station to allow for expanded passenger facilities and goods facilities. Owing to the proximity of the
River Nene, the only way this could be done was to expand onto the site of
Northampton Castle. On 18 December 1876, the L&NWR purchased the site from William Walker and subsequently demolished the remains of the castle except for the
postern gate which, following a local petition, was moved to a new site in the boundary wall of the new station where it remains to this day. £30,000 was allowed by the L&NWR board for the improvement of passenger facilities and a
goods shed was constructed on the site of the castle in 1880. The rebuilt station opened with the Loop Line north to on 1 December 1881 followed by the line south to Roade on 3 April 1882. It comprised three through platforms and five terminal bays. Platform 1, which was sited on the east side of the running lines, was considered as the main up platform; it had two adjoining
bay platforms, numbered 2 and 3. Platforms 4 and 5 were located at the south end of platform 1, while the two sides of an
island platform on the down side of the station were platforms 6 and 7. A further down bay platform was situated at the north end of platform 6, along with other bays and
loading docks for parcels and sundries traffic. The main station building, a two-storey structure in the
Italianate style, was located on the up side and consisted of a central block with two cross-wings. The wings had
gable roofs, whereas the central part had a low-pitched
hipped roof. Two standard L&NWR
signal cabins were positioned to the north and south of the platforms, these being known respectively as Northampton No. 1 and No. 2 boxes. Other signal cabins, Northampton No. 3 and No. 4, were sited further north and controlled extensive marshalling yards. A fifth cabin at Duston West Junction lay to the south-west; it controlled the apex of the Northampton triangle. No. 2 was the largest signal cabin with 118 levers which controlled the country end of the station, access to the goods shed and the south end of the goods yard.
Modern times Line closures No further significant changes took place prior to
nationalisation except for an increase in the number of
sidings at the station. One notable change was the traffic diverted from Northampton St John's, following its closure in 1939. Closures accelerated under British Railways with the withdrawal of services from Bridge Street station, which lost much if not all of its significance following the opening of the Loop, on 4 May 1964 when the Northampton to Peterborough line was closed, leaving only Castle station serving the town. As a result, Castle station was renamed
Northampton on 18 April 1966. In addition, the bay platforms 4 and 5 were removed and the area converted into an overflow car park. The Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Line closed to all passenger traffic except for a workmen's service on 7 December 1953; the workmen's service between Market Harborough and East Norton ended on 20 May 1957. The section between Welham Junction and Marefield North Junction closed in November 1963, followed by the
Rugby and Stamford Railway on 6 June 1966. The line to Market Harborough closed on 15 August 1981.
1965–66 remodelling The station was chosen by
British Rail for complete rebuilding in 1965–66 to designs by the architect
Ray Moorcroft, as part of the electrification of the West Coast Main Line between and
Liverpool. The Victorian station was demolished to be replaced by new structures which were described as "three
cowsheds bolted together" and as being of "questionable architectural merit". The station layout remained unchanged: three long through platforms and a number of terminal bays. Standard colour-light signalling was installed in the area but control was not centralised. The current was switched on for the first time between Hillmorton Junction to Northampton on 6 June 1965 for insulation tests, with steam locomotives being withdrawn from the area on 27 September 1965.
2013–14 rebuilding By the late 2000s, the station had become inadequate for the size of the town which it served and the 2.5 million passengers who used it each year. Following the designation of
Northampton Waterside as an
enterprise zone in August 2011, plans to replace the existing station with a new two-storey glass and steel structure were approved by the
West Northamptonshire Development Corporation. The redevelopment included a new station building (nearly twice the size of the existing one), a new 1,270 space
multi-storey car park, new footbridge and platform canopies, new approach roads and associated junction improvements, as well as a commercial development. Funding for the new station was agreed in May 2012 when the
coalition government agreed to provide £10m, with the remaining £10m coming from
Network Rail and
Northamptonshire County Council. Construction work began in August 2013. Construction work was preceded by a three-month archaeological excavation by a team of specialists from the Northampton office of
MOLA on the footprint of the new station building. They uncovered remains of late Saxon activity pre-dating the construction of Northampton Castle, including a Saxon brooch, a medieval harness, pottery and animal bones. After a three-month delay due to snagging issues, The new station building opened on 19 January 2015, with the demolition of the old station building having been completed in the meantime and replaced by a taxi point and cycle area. In December 2021,
West Northamptonshire Council approved plans for a 1,198 multi-storey car park to replace the station's decked parking area; the Council would take a 40-year lease on the car park and retain the income generated by it. The plans did not proceed due to the impact of
COVID-19, the
Russian invasion of Ukraine and
cost inflation, resulting in the Council reaching agreement in June 2023 with Network Rail and its development partner on the delivery of the car park.
Proposed renaming Northamptonshire County Council proposed reinstating the name
Northampton Castle in recognition of the site's history. The change, reported to cost £200,000, did not take place. ==Facilities==