Abbots Ripton
Abbots Ripton station site
General information
Location	Abbots Ripton, Huntingdonshire England
Grid reference	TL222788
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Great Northern Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Northern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1 November 1885	Opened as Abbotts Ripton
21 January 1876	Abbots Ripton rail disaster
1938	Renamed Abbots Ripton
15 September 1958	Closed for passengers
5 October 1964	closed for goods

Abbots Ripton railway station was a railway station on the East Coast Main Line in the English county of Cambridgeshire. Although trains still pass on the now electrified railway the station closed in 1958. Due to the position of the station in a cutting, it had two platforms which were staggered. These served the fast lines only, though the goods lines ran around the back of each.

History

The station was opened by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) on 1 November 1885 as Abbotts Ripton.^[1] The GNR became part of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) during the Grouping on 1 January 1923. Renamed Abbots Ripton in 1938,^[1] the station then passed on to the Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948, and was closed by the British Transport Commission on 15 September 1958.^[1] Despite the name change in 1938, the signal box nameboards and the lamp casings continued to display the former name throughout the station’s existence

Abbots Ripton rail disaster

An accident occurred at the future site of the station on 21 January 1876, when the southbound Flying Scotsman express train from Edinburgh to London was involved in a double collision during a blizzard. Heavy snow had frozen around the semaphore signal arms, causing them to stick in the "clear" position, as a result of which the driver of the express was not warned of the presence of a coal train which was backing from the main line into a siding. A collision occurred, and not long after, a northbound express from London to Leeds ran into the wreckage. There were thirteen fatalities, and 53 passengers and 6 traincrew members were injured.^[2][3][4]

Routes