Northampton and Peterborough Railway

The Northampton and Peterborough Railway was an early railway promoted by the London and Birmingham Railway to run from a junction at Blisworth to Northampton and Peterborough. The Northampton and Peterborough Railway Act received the Royal Assent in 1843 and the line opened in 1845. In 1846, it became part of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). The LNWR became a constituent of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) when the railways of Great Britain were merged in the grouping of 1923. In 1948, the LMS became part of the publicly owned British Railways. Regular passenger services ceased in 1964 and the line closed completely in 1972. A part of it has since been reopened as the Nene Valley Railway heritage line.

There had been two original schemes for lines between London and Birmingham. One proposed by John Rennie would go via Oxford and Banbury. The other proposed by Francis Giles would go via Bletchley, Rugby and Coventry.

In 1830 the two decided to amalgamate, adopting Rennie's plan which, as a canal builder, he had laid out following fairly level country. George Stephenson was asked to plan the line and he passed it to his son Robert who carried out a further survey favouring a route very similar to that proposed by Giles, much to the annoyance of Rennie.

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