Willington railway station (Bedfordshire)
| Willington | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Place | Willington |
| Area | Borough of Bedford |
| Grid reference | TL113503 |
| Operations | |
| Original company | London and North Western Railway |
| Post-grouping |
London, Midland and Scottish Railway London Midland Region of British Railways (1948–1958) Eastern Region of British Railways (1958–1968) |
| Platforms | 2 |
| History | |
| 1 May 1903 | Opened |
| 13 July 1964 | Closed to goods |
| 1 January 1968 | Closed to passengers |
| 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 |
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Willington was a railway station on the Varsity Line which served the small village of the same name in Bedfordshire. Opened in 1903, the station was located in a rural area and saw little passenger traffic; it closed together with the line in 1968.
Willington station only opened in 1903, some forty years after the Varsity Line had first opened, as a result of pressure by local villagers on the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). Prior to the station's opening, there had been a siding on the site from September 1896 to handle local vegetable traffic, together with a weighing machine. The station opened at a time when the railway company was looking to increase revenues on the line and was followed by the opening of five halts in 1905 at Wootton Broadmead, Kempston Hardwick, Kempston, Apsley Guise, Bow Brickhill and Husborne Crawley.
The initial station was a very basic single platform structure with wooden weatherboarded outbuildings typical of the LNWR's construction techniques. A second timber platform was added in August 1912 when an unusually long passing loop was laid through the station. A short 16-lever type 5 LNWR signal box was sited on the down platform adjacent to a wooden passenger shelter. At first, trains did not stop at the station unless passengers wishing to join had announced their intention to station staff who would stop the train by signal; passengers wishing to alight had to give notice at the preceding station. The long passing loop was made yet longer on 3 August 1916 to facilitate the increased wartime traffic on the line.
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