Peterborough East railway station

Peterborough East
Peterborough East Station in 1962
Location
Place	Peterborough
Area	City of Peterborough
Grid reference	TL194979
Operations
Pre-grouping	Eastern Counties Railway Great Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway London Midland Region
Platforms	3
History
2 June 1845	Opened as "Peterborough"
1923	Renamed "Peterborough East"
17 April 1966	Closed to freight
6 June 1966	Closed to passengers
21 September 1970	Reopened as a parcels depot
23 December 1970	Closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

[ ] Nene Valley Railway
Ely to Peterborough Line Peterborough East Peterborough North East Coast Main Line Peterborough Nene Valley Longville Junction Orton Mere Ferry Meadows Ham Lane Castor Great Northern to Stamford Old Great North Road Wansford Wansford Tunnel (616 yards) Yarwell Junction Northampton and Peterborough Railway London & North Western to Rugby

Peterborough East was a railway station in Peterborough, England. It was opened on 2 June 1845 and closed to passenger traffic on 6 June 1966. Located on Station Road just off Town Bridge, only the engine sheds and one platform remain. The station had services running west to Northampton and Rugby, as well as to the east to March, Wisbech, and Norwich.

Opened on 2 June 1845, Peterborough East was the first station in Peterborough built by the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR). In 1862 the Eastern Counties Railway became part of the Great Eastern Railway and the station appeared on timetables as "Peterborough (GE)". From 1 July 1923 until its closure it was known as Peterborough East.

The station was designed as the eastern terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway's Northampton and Peterborough Railway and a site was chosen on the south side of the River Nene in the parish of Fletton in the county of Huntingdonshire. The buildings were constructed to the design of the architect John William Livock.

However, in 1845, by the time the line had actually reached the town, the station's construction works were still continuing apace and the Illustrated London News reported that it was still in "a very unfinished state". Nevertheless, once the station did open, it became apparent that its facilities – one platform serving Up and Down trains – were inadequate to handle the traffic on the Northampton line which had proved to be far heavier than had been expected. Only two months after the line's opening, traffic was reported to be more than half the amount originally estimated and the decision was therefore taken to double the line and enlarge the station. In December 1846 the enlargements were undertaken: refreshment rooms were added, ancres of roofing announced its royal agency, as was a larger goods warehouse and still larger engine houses. These additions were certainly necessary as, from January 1847, with the opening of the Ely to Peterborough Line, the station ceased to be a terminus. Furthermore, the following year the Midland Railway opened its Syston and Peterborough Railway which initially terminated at the East station.