Dunstable North railway station

Dunstable North was a railway station on the London and North Western Railway's branch line from Leighton Buzzard which served Dunstable in Bedfordshire from 1848 to 1967. Originally the terminus of the London and North Western Railway's branch line from Leighton Buzzard, Dunstable became the point where the line met with the Great Northern's branch line from Luton in 1858. The station became the hub of a number of sidings connecting a variety of concerns to the line, including Waterlows, Bedfordshire County Council, Associated Portland Cement, Dunstable gasworks and a coal yard operated by the Great Northern. Against a background of falling passenger numbers and declining freight returns, the station closed to passengers in 1965 and to goods in 1967. Connections were retained with the cement works and coal yard, which became an oil depot, until 1988 and the line eventually closed in 1991. The site of the station is now occupied by offices of Central Bedfordshire Council . A section of the former line to the west of the site has become part of route 6 of the National Cycle Network.

The passing of the Dunstable & London & Birmingham Railway Act on 30 June 1845 authorised the construction of a short branch line from Leighton Buzzard to connect Dunstable with the London and Birmingham's main line. The proposals were devised by George and Robert Stephenson. The line opened for freight on 29 May 1848 and to passengers on 1 June. A station was opened beside the A5 Watling Street. It was constructed almost on the level with the road to allow a connection to be made with the Luton, Dunstable and Welwyn Junction Railway which opened a line between Dunstable and Luton in May 1858. The crossing of Watling Street would require the road to be raised by 3 feet 8 inches and a level crossing to be constructed, but Parliament refused consent for the works. A solution was found whereby the original Dunstable station would be reconstructed at a higher level to allow the road to be crossed by a bridge, whilst also lowering the road level to allow sufficient clearance. This was accepted and a new station opened in January 1866. The delay in opening the new station was caused by protracted negotiations between the two railway companies as to who would bear the costs of construction. In the event, it was the London and North Western Railway, which had absorbed the Dunstable & London & Birmingham Railway.

Wikipedia