Chester Northgate is a former railway station in Chester, Cheshire, England, that was a

terminus Terminus may refer to: * Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination * Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination Geography *Terminus, the unofficial original name of Atlanta, Georgia, United ...

for the

Cheshire Lines Committee The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was formed in the 1860s and became the second-largest joint railway in Great Britain. The committee, which was often styled the Cheshire Lines Railway, operated of track in the then counties of Lancashire a ...

and

Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...

. It was the city centre's second station (with Chester General) with regular services to , and .

History

Chester Northgate Locomotive Depot geograph-2359879-by-Ben-Brooksbank

The station, which was located on Victoria Road in the Newtown area of the city, was originally planned by the

West Cheshire Railway The West Cheshire Railway (WCR) was an early railway company based in Cheshire, England. Early company history The WCR was incorporated on 11 July 1861. In 1861, the WCR requested powers to construct a line from Northwich to Chester, with a br ...

in 1865. A year later the company was acquired by the

. It opened the station on 1 May 1875 for train services to Manchester Central on the Mid-Cheshire Line via Northwich. The CLC track crossed the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and Great Western Railway line over a

flying junction A flying junction or flyover is a railway junction at which one or more diverging or converging tracks in a multiple-track route cross other tracks on the route by bridge to avoid conflict with other train movements. A more technical term is " g ...

Mickle Trafford Mickle Trafford is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Mickle Trafford and District, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It includes the area known as Plemst ...

. Chester Northgate had a station building and a covered roof for each platform, it had four tracks with two

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...

s, the central tracks being used to store carriages. One of the roofs had been removed by 1966. There were also lower level sidings that contained a locomotive yard. In 1890 the

Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsb ...

(renamed

in 1897) completed the

Chester & Connah's Quay Railway The Chester & Connah's Quay Railway ran from Chester Northgate in Chester, Cheshire, England to Shotton, Flintshire, Wales. It was in use for its full length from 1890 to 1992. At Dee Marsh Junction it connected with the North Wales and Liverpo ...

Hawarden Bridge Hawarden Bridge (; cy, Pont Penarlâg) is a railway bridge over the River Dee, near Shotton, Flintshire, Wales. It was built by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (which later became the Great Central Railway), as part of t ...

. Services from Chester Northgate ran to Shotton High Level via Blacon and also to

Wrexham General Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county o ...

and New Brighton, Wirral. A triangle junction outside the station allowed trains to either terminate at Chester Northgate or pass through the city without stopping. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the station served military personnel that were based at

RAF Sealand MoD Sealand (formerly RAF Sealand), is a Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence installation in Flintshire, in the northeast corner of Wales, close to the border with England. It is a former Royal Air Force station, active be ...

and at Blacon Camp. In 1969 a

level junction A level junction (or in the United Kingdom a flat crossing) is a railway junction that has a track configuration in which merging or crossing railroad lines provide track connections with each other that require trains to cross over in front o ...

was installed at Mickle Trafford so Manchester trains could be diverted to Chester General. Wrexham & New Brighton services had previously been withdrawn on 9 September 1968. The station closed on 6 October 1969. The site is now occupied by the

Northgate Arena Northgate or North Gate may refer to: Historical structures * Northgate, Chester, part of the city wall, in Cheshire, England * St Michael at the North Gate, a church in Oxford, England Places * Northgate, Gauteng, South Africa Australia * Nor ...

. Some of the original railway station railings can still be seen along the modern shop units on Victoria Road opposite the entrance to the Northgate Arena.

Railway line

Although Chester Northgate closed and the line to the station itself lifted, the line north of the station (avoiding Northgate by the Liverpool Road spur) remained for another 25 years. It was used by the Corus steelmaking plant at Shotton until March 1980. Freight continued to pass north of the former station on a double-tracked line until 20 April 1984. Goods services resumed on a single-track line on 31 August 1986 before final closure in October 1992. The trackbed is now a footpath and cycle way.

Services

Mannings Lane South railway bridge - geograph

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links