Helpston railway station was a station in

Helpston Helpston (also, formerly, "Helpstone") is an English village in Cambridgeshire. Historically; it was formerly in the Soke of Peterborough in Northamptonshire, subsequently (1965–1974) in Huntingdon and Peterborough, then in Cambridgeshire. ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, on the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

Syston and Peterborough Railway The Syston and Peterborough Railway was an early railway in England opened between 1846 and 1848 to form a connection from the Midland Counties Railway near Leicester to Peterborough, giving access to East Anglia over the Eastern Counties Railway ...

. It was closed in 1966. The Great Northern Railway main line runs adjacent to the Midland Railway at this point, but the Great Northern never had a station in Helpston. This was due to an agreement whereby the Midland carried materials to the site during construction of the Great Northern, and in return the Great Northern offered no competition for services on this section. The goods shed survives, as does the Great Northern Railway signal box, which is now used only to monitor a number of level crossings in the vicinity.

Helpston level crossing

Helpston level crossing itself carries the Helpston to Glinton road over the four tracks of the ex-GNR line and the two tracks of the ex-MR line. This was previously two separate level crossings, controlled by two separate signal boxes. There was space for two cars between the level crossings. The crossings were merged and converted from gates to full barriers in the 1970s. Out of all

level crossings in the United Kingdom There are around 6,000 railway level crossings in the United Kingdom, of which about 1,500 are public highway crossings. This number is gradually being reduced as the risk of accidents at level crossings is considered high. The director of the ...

, this has the longest stretch of road between the barriers, crossing six tracks (grouped as four tracks of the 125 mph

East Coast Mainline The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great ...

, and two tracks of the

Birmingham–Peterborough line The Birmingham–Peterborough line is a cross-country railway line in England, linking Birmingham, and , via , and Since the Beeching Axe railway closures in the 1960s, it is the only direct railway link between the West Midlands and the ...

). , the crossing was assessed to have a "very high" collective risk rating. In 2015, Network Rail proposed to close 73 level crossings between Doncaster and London, including the Helpston level crossing. This was part of a larger initiative started in 2010. However, later the same year, Network Rail backtracked on the programme.

References

{{Closed stations Cambridgeshire Disused railway stations in Cambridgeshire Transport in Peterborough Buildings and structures in Peterborough Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1846 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1966 Former Midland Railway stations Beeching closures in England 1846 establishments in England