Rugby Central railway station

The station was opened on 15 March 1899.{{sfn|Butt|1995|p=201}} It had services between {{rws|London Marylebone}} and {{rws|Manchester Piccadilly}} via {{rws|Leicester Central}}, {{rws|Nottingham Victoria}} and {{rws|Sheffield Victoria}}, as well as various cross-country services to places such as Southampton and Hull.{{sfn|Elliot|1985|p=40}}

The station was run by the Great Central Railway from 1899 until it was grouped into the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923. It came under the management of British Railways in 1948.

Rugby Central was roughly midway along the Great Central Main Line (GCML) and was a stopping point for express services, as well as a changeover point for local services. Until the early 1960s, the station was served by about six London – Manchester expresses daily, and was the terminus for local services from {{rws|Aylesbury}} or {{rws|Woodford Halse}} to the south, and Leicester Central or Nottingham Victoria from the north.{{sfn|Elliot|1985|p=40}}{{sfn|Healy|1987|p=68}} The line was then downgraded, with express services being removed, leaving only the local services and an infrequent semi-fast service to London.

Most of the GCML was closed on 5 September 1966, following the recommendations of the Reshaping of British Railways report. On that date, the line south of Rugby Central and north of Nottingham Victoria was closed. Until 3 May 1969, the section between Rugby Central and Nottingham (initially Nottingham Victoria, later cut back to {{rws|Nottingham Arkwright Street}}) remained open as self-contained branch, providing DMU-operated local passenger services. The station formally closed on 5 May.{{sfn|Butt|1995|p=201}}

File:Train at Rugby Central station.jpg|A local train waits to stop at Rugby Central in September 1966, shortly before the line was closed as a through route.

File:Rugby Central Station - geograph.org.uk - 6498795.jpg|Nottingham bound DMU at Rugby Central in 1968

File:Last train at Rugby Central-2304622.jpg|The last train to call at Rugby Central on Saturday 3 May 1969.

File:Railways of Rugby 1950.png

Rugby Central was built to the standard Great Central design with a single island platform, {{convert|600|ft}} long.[http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/r/rugby_central/index.shtml Subterranea Britannica] The booking office was at street level, built onto the side of the road bridge over the railway with the platform below. The platform was accessed by a covered staircase from the booking office. On the platform were three waiting rooms and a toilet block, which was the only building not covered by the canopy.{{sfn|Elliot|1985|p=39}}{{sfn|Healy|1987|p=68}}

On the heritage Great Central Railway in Leicestershire, the preserved {{rws|Loughborough Central}} station is a similar design to the former Rugby Central.

File:Rugby Central station remains2.jpg

File:Rugby Central station remains.jpg

The station buildings were demolished after closure, but the platform still exists and is open to the public: The station site, and 4.5 miles of the former Great Central Railway trackbed through Rugby, are now owned by Rugby Borough Council, who bought them in 1970 for £5,500. The trackbed runs mostly through cuttings, and it is now used as a footpath, cycleway and nature reserve called the Great Central Walk.{{cite web |title=Parks and open spaces - Great Central Walk (runs from Newton Village to Onley Lane) |url=https://www.rugby.gov.uk/directory_record/259/great_central_walk_runs_from_newton_village_to_onley_lane/category/60/nature_areas |publisher=Rugby Borough Council |access-date=9 March 2020}}

The former goods yard was west of the station and was used as a timber yard until the mid-1990s, when houses were built on it.

In August 2000, Chiltern Railways suggested reopening the former Great Central Main Line between {{rws|London Marylebone}} and Rugby Central to a parkway station in Leicestershire near the M1/M6.{{cite news |url= http://www.cwn.org.uk/business/a-z/c/chiltern-railways/2000/08/000810-new-central-scheme.htm |title=Bid To Reopen Central Railway To Passengers |access-date=1 July 2013 |last= Buggins |first= Arryn |publisher= cwn.org.uk |date=10 August 2000}} The proposal is a "secondary aspiration" of Chiltern's franchise agreement.{{cite web |url= https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/43237/RED_Chiltern_Franchise_Agreement.pdf |title= Franchise Agreement relating to the services for the carriage of passengers by railway to be provided by The Chiltern Railway Company Limited |access-date=1 July 2013 |author = Strategic Rail Authority |date=1 March 2002 |at=Schedule 14, Part 3, Paragraph 2.2}} However, Chiltern stated in 2013 that the plan is "no longer active".{{cite web |url= https://twitter.com/chilternrailway/status/306051903358386178 |title=Chiltern Railways Twitter Feed |date=25 February 2013}} In recent years, proposals to reopen the railway line as an alternative route to HS2 have been proposed, and in 2015, opponents of HS2 called for the GCR to be reopened as an alternative.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cwn.org.uk/business/a-z/c/chiltern-railways/2000/08/000810-new-central-scheme.htm|title = Chiltern Railways news - Bid to Reopen the Central Railway to Passengers- 10 August 2000}}

In October 2017, English Regional Transport Association proposed reopening the line from Calvert to Rugby with a new link to Nuneaton as part of a West Coast relief line.RAIL Issue 838 p.37

{{Disused Rail Start}}

{{rail line |previous={{rws|Braunston and Willoughby}}
Line and station closed |next={{rws|Lutterworth}}
Line and station closed |route=Great Central Railway
London Extension |col={{GCR colour}} }}

{{s-end}}

{{reflist|colwidth=20em}}

• {{cite book |last=Butt |first=R.V.J. |title=The Directory of Railway Stations |year=1995 |publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd |location=Yeovil |isbn=1-85260-508-1 |id=R508 }}
• {{cite book |last=Elliot |first=Peter H |title=Rugby's Railway Heritage |year=1985 |isbn=0-907917-06-2 }}
• {{cite book |last=Healy |first=John M.C. |title=Echoes Of The Great Central |year=1987|publisher=Greenwich Editions |isbn=0-86288-076-9 }}

{{commons category|Rugby Central railway station}}

• [http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lner/rugbygr.htm London to Warwickshire railways] - Includes old photographs of Rugby Central.
• [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/r/rugby_central/index.shtml Rugby Central railway station] on Subterranea Britannica.

{{Warwickshire railway stations|disused}}

Category:Disused railway stations in Warwickshire

Category:Former Great Central Railway stations

Category:Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1899

Category:Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1969

Category:Beeching closures in England

Category:1899 establishments in England

Category:1969 disestablishments in England

Category:Rugby, Warwickshire