Crewe railway station

Crewe railway station serves the railway town of Crewe, in Cheshire, England. It opened in 1837 and is one of the most historically significant railway stations in the world. It is a major junction on the West Coast Main Line and serves as a rail gateway for North West England. It is 158 miles (254 km) north of London Euston and 243 miles (391 km) south of Glasgow Central. It is located at the point where the lines to Manchester Piccadilly and North Wales diverge from this route; it is the last major station before the branch to Liverpool Lime Street diverges. It is also served by lines to Stoke-on-Trent and Shrewsbury. Crewe station has twelve platforms and a modern passenger entrance containing a bookshop and ticket office. Passengers access the platforms via a footbridge, stairs and lifts. The platform buildings, which date from the 19th century, contain two bookshops, bars, buffets and waiting rooms. The last major expenditure on the station took place in 1984-1985 when the track layout was remodelled and the station facilities were updated.

1. History


1. = Early years =

Crewe's location was chosen after Winsford, seven miles (11.3 km) to the north, had rejected an earlier proposal, as had local landowners in neighbouring Nantwich, four miles (6.4 km) away. Crewe was the first station to have its own adjacent railway hotel, the Crewe Arms Hotel, built in 1838, and still in use. It was the first to be completely rebuilt owing to the need for expansion. It was also the first to have completely independent rail lines built around it to ease traffic congestion. The station opened on 4 July 1837 on the Grand Junction Railway. The purpose was to link the four largest cities of England by joining the existing Liverpool and Manchester Railway with the projected London & Birmingham Railway. The first long-distance railway in the world, it ran from Curzon Street railway station in Birmingham to Dallam in Warrington, Cheshire, where it made an end-on junction with the Warrington and Newton Railway, a branch of the L&M. The station was built in the township of Crewe, which formed part of the ancient parish of Barthomley. The township later became a civil parish in its own right and, later still, was renamed Crewe Green to avoid confusion with the town of Crewe, which was adjacent to it. The station was at the point where the line crossed the turnpike road linking the Trent and Mersey, and the Shropshire Union Canals. Since the land was bought from the Earl of Crewe, whose mansion stood nearby and it was located in the township of Crewe, the station was called Crewe. The railway station gave its name to the town of Crewe that was actually situated in the ancient parish of Coppenhall. In 1936, the railway station was transferred from the civil parish of Crewe to the then municipal borough of the same name. As soon as the station opened, the Chester and Crewe Railway was formed to build a branch line to Chester; this company was absorbed by the GJR shortly before it opened to traffic in 1840. A locomotive depot was built to serve the Chester line and to provide banking engines to assist trains southwards from Crewe up the Madeley Incline, a modest gradient which was a challenge to the small engines of the day. By 1841, the Chester line was seen as a starting point for a new trunk line to the port of Holyhead, to provide the fastest route to Ireland, and the importance of Crewe as a junction station began to be established. This was given further endorsement when the Manchester and Birmingham Railway, a separate undertaking which had hoped to build a wholly independent line linking the two cities, shorter than the GJR, decided that it would be uneconomical to compete with that line over the greater part of its length: it decided to divert its own line to meet the GJR at Crewe. Teething squabbles between the companies delayed the running of through services for a while and the M&B had to build a temporary station of their own; part of this survives today as an isolated platform next to the North Junction, at the start of the line to Manchester. In 1842, the GJR decided to move its locomotive works from Edge Hill in Liverpool to Crewe, siting the works to the north of the junction between the Warrington and Chester lines. To house the workforce and company management, the town of Crewe was built by the company to the north of the works.

1. = London & North Western Railway =

In 1846, the GJR merged with the London and Birmingham to form the London and North Western Railway Company which, until its demise in 1923, was the largest company in the world. The new company extended the existing lines to Holyhead, the Warrington line to Lancaster and Carlisle, and the Manchester line to Leeds; it built the new Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway to Shrewsbury to join the joint GWR owned Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway, which provided connections to South Wales. The North Staffordshire Railway built a line from Stoke-on-Trent, joining the LNWR from the South East. Crewe was the centre of a wide-ranging railway network, and freight-handling facilities grew up to the south of the station.

To cope with the increase of traffic, the station was rebuilt in 1867 (according to WH Chaloner); the buildings facing each other on the present platforms 5 and 6 date from this time and were built under the supervision of William Baker. The listing by English Heritage describes them as: mirrored design with bowed projections for the platform inspectors' offices, the 'greybeard' keystones and vivid polychromy ... one of the best pieces of mid-C19 platform architecture designed anywhere on the LNWR network, and as rare surviving examples nationally of buildings of a major junction station of this period. At the same time, the works was redeveloped and enlarged, and the town also enlarged under the leadership of John Ramsbottom, a Todmorden man who had become locomotive superintendent. Locomotive construction, hitherto divided with Wolverton (on the London and Birmingham Railway) was concentrated at Crewe. Ramsbottom also built a steelworks, the first in the world to make large-scale use of the Bessemer process, as only the LNWR required enough steel to keep a Bessemer plant continuously occupied. He also introduced mass-production techniques, whereby as many parts as possible were identical between one engine and another.

Ramsbottom retired in 1871 and was succeeded by the legendary Frank Webb, a colourful and controversial figure who was known as The Uncrowned King of Crewe. By the 1890s, a survey revealed 1,000 trains passing within a 24-hour period. Half of these were freight trains which did not need to call at the station, so the company decided to build a separate four-track railway line passing to the west of the station, joining the existing lines beyond the north and south junctions, burrowing beneath them and avoiding them completely. Plans for the "independent lines" were approved in 1895 and construction lasted from 1896 to 1901. Over 1,000 labourers were employed on what was known as the "big dig" at a cost about £500,000 (equivalent to £68,560,000 in 2023). This undertaking also included a marshalling yard to the south of the station at Basford Hall, a revolutionary tranship shed which allowed fast transfer of freight from wagons to road vehicles under cover. The station was enlarged between 1903 and 1907, by providing eight through platforms each one-quarter mile (0.4 km) long. The cost of the improvements was £1,000,000 (equivalent to £133,620,000 in 2023).

1. = London, Midland and Scottish Railway =

In 1923, the LNWR became part of the London, Midland & Scottish Railway group; Crewe remained the major centre for locomotive construction. In 1938-39, the signal boxes at North and South Junctions were completely reconstructed as massive concrete structures to withstand air raids and remained in use until the resignalling project in 1985. The North Junction signal box can now be visited as part of the Crewe Heritage Centre. Although the railway station is virtually synonymous with the town of Crewe, it was not actually incorporated within the borders of the borough of Crewe until the late 1930s, as it lies about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the south-east of the actual town centre. Train operation at Crewe changed little in over fifty years, with the exception of two new signal boxes and associated greatly improved colour light signalling, track circuiting and electrically operated track points. The trains did become longer and heavier and were hauled by larger engines, which required increased supplies of water to be taken on board before departure, but the number of passenger trains using Crewe station and the method of operation did not vary greatly despite the passage of two world wars. Trains continued to divide at Crewe with the front portion for Manchester and the rear for Liverpool. The station pilot engine always had a pair of restaurant cars in a bay platform ready to attach to a morning service to London. Always there were extra coaches waiting to be attached to overcrowded trains. In addition to passengers there were vast quantities of mail, parcels and even live animals and birds of all descriptions transported in specially designed transit crates. When necessary the station staff had to feed and water these special passengers, which travelled in copious luggage vans.

1. = British Railways =

In 1948, the LMS was nationalised as British Railways, London Midland Region. Nationalisation greatly facilitated the modernisation of British Railways and, after a false start developing new improved steam engines, electrification came, along with diesel power and fixed-formation air-braked trains. These changes had a significant effect on Crewe station. Notably, the variation in station use caused firstly by the electrification in stages of the West Coast Main Line between 1959 and 1974, and secondly by the general end of steam traction on Britain's railways. Following the completion of electrification in 1974, trains did not need to change locomotives at Crewe, except for the London to Chester and Holyhead service. Many locomotive hauled trains were replaced by electric or diesel multiple unit trains, with much faster turn-round times. Additionally, two local branch lines had closed, which resulted in fewer trains terminating at Crewe. However, compensating for the decline of local passenger traffic, the reduction in mail and parcels traffic and the total elimination of livestock carriage, came the great increase in inter-city passenger traffic and the need for even faster, smoother and more efficient handling of passenger trains. In 1963, the architects to the London Midland Region of British Railways provided a Porte-cochère at the passenger entrance on Nantwich Road. It was constructed of eight laminated wood Hyperbolic paraboloid shells. This was replaced between 1983 and 1985 with the current steel structure.

In 1985, in a £14.3 million scheme, the track layout was modernised and simplified, eliminating many points and crossings and allowing 80 mph (130 km/h) running over the North Junction. At the same time all but one of the six 1902 extension platforms were taken out of use. Four Class 40 locomotives were reallocated to this work in 1985, and were renumbered as 97405–97408 for the engineering duties.

1. = Present day =

In 2007, Network Rail published a proposal to replace the existing Crewe station with a new station located approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) to the south. A Crewe Town station was also proposed nearer the town centre on the Chester line, with a shuttle service to the new main station. In 2009, the station was identified as one of the ten worst category B interchange stations for mystery shopper assessment of fabric and environment. The proposal to move the station was abandoned in 2010 and the current building was renovated instead. Cheshire East Council implemented a regeneration master plan for Crewe, which included the station. In 2011, Cheshire East Council purchased the former Royal Mail depot and Weston House for £2.75 million. The council demolished the two buildings and created a new entrance to the station, as well as a 244 space car park and a secure bike parking structure, at a cost of £7 million. The construction work was undertaken by Balfour Beatty. The new entrance has step-free access and connects passengers to the station through an underground walkway. There is a ticket vending machine at this entrance, as well as unstaffed ticket barriers.

In August 2016, the station buildings of 1867 were added to the National Heritage List for England as a Grade II listed building. The structures included in the listing comprise two station buildings on separate platforms and two screen walls, one to the east and the other to the west of the station. With seven train operating companies calling, Crewe is tied with Doncaster, Edinburgh Waverley, Liverpool Lime Street and Liverpool South Parkway for the highest number calling at a UK station.

1. = Accidents and incidents =

On 7 November 1980, two freight trains collided at Crewe station.

1. Future

In January 2013, it was announced that the existing Crewe station would be a stop on the western branch of the planned HS2 high-speed rail route. A new platform would be built on the Manchester independent lines to the west of the station, meaning that services will not have to cross the West Coast Main Line from Manchester Piccadilly or the Marches Line to South Wales. Following the Crewe Hub consultation, which ran from July to October 2017, it was planned that five to seven trains per hour would stop at Crewe; plans for a new service to Manchester via Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield was also proposed. This would have been made possible by extending the existing platform 5 to 400 metres, allowing services to split and serve these additional destinations. It was also planned that a new transfer deck would be built; this would have allowed passengers to change between the proposed new Manchester independent lines platform and the existing Crewe station. However, on 4 October 2023, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the cancellation of this Phase 2a of the HS2 development at the Conservative Party Conference. From May 2026, Transport for Wales plan to extend their existing Crewe to Chester shuttle to Wrexham General. From Summer 2026, there are plans to increase connectivity from Crewe. West Midlands Trains announced plans to extend the existing hourly service between Crewe and Stafford via Stoke-on-Trent. Northbound services are proposed to continue to Manchester Airport via Wilmslow and Styal, whilst southbound services would extend to Birmingham New Street via Willenhall and Darlaston. From June 2026, Lumo plan to launch five trains a day to London Euston southbound and Preston northbound, with four continuing to Stirling. Of which, Crewe will be served by two southbound services and three northbound services. This would be the 8th train operating company serving the station, thereby overtaking both Doncaster, Edinburgh Waverley, Liverpool Lime Street and Liverpool South Parkway as the station with the most train operating companies served.

1. Layout

Platform use:

Platform 1 - Northern Trains stopping services to and from Manchester Piccadilly; CrossCountry services to Manchester Piccadilly; occasionally Avanti West Coast northbound services to Manchester Piccadilly and southbound services to London Euston. Platform 2 - East Midlands Railway services Platform 3 - London Northwestern Railway services via Stoke-on-Trent Platform 4 - Extra capacity. Platform 5 - Avanti West Coast northbound services to Manchester Piccadilly and southbound to Birmingham New Street and London Euston; West Midlands Trains services to Birmingham New Street; Transport for Wales services to Cardiff; CrossCountry services to Bournemouth. Platform 6 - Transport for Wales services northbound to Manchester Piccadilly and southbound to Cardiff and beyond; West Midlands Trains services to Birmingham New Street and Liverpool Lime Street. Some Avanti West Coast northbound services to Preston and Glasgow Central and southbound to London Euston also use this platform. Platform 7 - Extra capacity. Platform 8 - Transport for Wales stopping services to and from Shrewsbury. Platform 9 - Transport for Wales services to Chester and Holyhead. Platform 10 - Extra capacity. Platform 11 - Avanti West Coast northbound services to Blackpool, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Chester and North Wales. London Northwestern Railway northbound services to Liverpool Lime Street. Platform 12 - London Northwestern Railway services to London Euston via Rugeley Trent Valley; usually used for railtours.

1. Services

The general off-peak service in trains per hour/day is as follows: Avanti West Coast

4 trains per hour (tph) to London Euston 1 tph runs via Birmingham New Street 1 tph to Manchester Piccadilly, via Stockport 1 tph to Liverpool Lime Street, via Runcorn 1 tph to Chester, with some services continuing to Holyhead, Bangor or Wrexham General 1 train every 2 hours to Edinburgh, via Preston 1 train every 2 hours to Glasgow Central, via Preston London Northwestern Railway

1 train per hour (tph) to London Euston, via Nuneaton 2 tph to Birmingham New Street, via Wolverhampton 2 tph to Liverpool Lime Street, via Runcorn 1 tph to Stafford, via Stoke-on-Trent Northern Trains

2 trains per hour to Manchester Piccadilly — one via Stockport and one via Manchester Airport Transport for Wales

1 train per hour (tph) to Manchester Piccadilly, via Stockport 1 tph to Chester 1 tph to Cardiff Central, with some services continuing to Milford Haven, Fishguard Harbour or Carmarthen 1 train every 2 hours to Shrewsbury East Midlands Railway

1 tph to Lincoln Central, via Derby and Newark Castle Caledonian Sleeper

1 tpd to Aberdeen/Inverness/Fort William, dividing at Edinburgh Waverley 1 tpd to London Euston, which is set-down only and not for boarding passengers. CrossCountry

1 tpd to Bournemouth, via Birmingham New Street 1 tpd to Manchester Piccadilly

1. See also

Listed buildings in Crewe

1. References


1. = Citations =


1. = Sources =


1. Further reading

Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2012). Stafford to Chester. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 48-67. ISBN 9781908174345. OCLC 830024480. Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2013). Shrewsbury to Crewe. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 94-112. ISBN 9781908174482. OCLC 880765045. Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2014). Crewe to Manchester. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 1-9. ISBN 9781908174574. OCLC 892047119.

1. External links

Train times and station information for Crewe railway station from National Rail