GNR Derbyshire and Staffordshire Extension

The Great Northern Railway's Derbyshire and Staffordshire extension, locally known as the Derby Friargate line is a now-closed railway line that linked Nottingham and Grantham to the east of the East Midlands counties to Burton upon Trent to the southwest of the area. It was an extension of the Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston and Eastern Junction Railway which had been acquired by the Great Northern Railway. The route cut a direct line through the midlands industrial city of Derby whereupon an impressive warehouse, large sidings, and the pretty Derby Friargate Station were constructed. The line had such an impact on Derby, Friargate, and the surrounding areas that it became known as the Derby Friargate line.

The GNR later acquired the Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway in July 1881, gaining a through route from Grantham to Wales via the Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston and Eastern Junction Railway.

Businessmen and councillors alike (which at the time often amounted to one and the same thing), wanted to exploit the coal seams around northern Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, the rail transport of which was controlled by the Midland Railway company which dictated prices; this increased the price of coal dramatically and it was agreed diminished Derby's competitive position as a Midlands industrial town. So eager were Councillors and the general powers that be, to have a second railway line serve Derby, that when the Act ((the Great Northern (Derbyshire and Staffordshire) Act of 1872)), authorising its creation was passed by Parliament, it contained very little protection for local residents. A route had been agreed that practically sliced through the city from East to West and it was not until construction began that the people of Derby belatedly realised what had been signed up to. The Great Northern Railway had carte blanche authority to do practically whatever it needed to complete the route as economically as possible. In fact, looking at an aerial view of the city today, the route of the line can still be made out, almost 50 years after it was closed.

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