LIFE AND THE RAILWAY

                               Northampton Castle Station                 

The first line to be built through Northampton was the 'Northampton and Peterborough Railway' which started at Blisworth and the first station opened in 1845. It was renamed Northampton 'Bridge Street' in 1876 after Northampton 'Castle Station' opened and became the main station with the opening of a new curve allowing Blisworth trains to join the Market Harborough line. 

Designed and built by George R Stevenson, the Northampton to Market Harborough line was opened in 1859. It had eight stations, Northampton, Pitsford & Brampton, Spratton, Brixworth, Lamport, Kelmarsh, Clipston and Market Harborough. The station closed on 4th January 1960 but was reopened to through traffic on the 6th January 1969. It was closed again on 1st May 1969 and reopened on 10th July 1972. The passenger service was finally withdrawn on 26th August 1973. The station closed on 5th June 1950.

Northampton Castle Station was only a small station which dealt with only passenger trains, goods trains were dealt with at Bridge Street Station. 
In 1875 L&NWR obtained powers to quadruple the main line north of Bletchley with 2 tracks (slow lines) diverging at Roade to form a new line  (Northampton Loop) through Northampton to Rugby. The 'Loop' line north to Rugby opened in 1881 and the line south to Roade opened a year later.

At one time Northampton had three stations Bridge Street, Castle and St. Johns Street, as lines opened and closed it affected the use of the stations until only one survived Northampton Castle, now named Northampton. 

According to media sources the new station will again be called 'Northampton Castle'