Nottingham station
Nottingham station, briefly known as Nottingham City and for rather longer as Nottingham Midland, is a railway station and tram stop in the city of Nottingham, England. It is the principal railway station of Nottingham. It is also a nodal point on the city's tram system, with a tram stop that was originally called Station Street but is now known as Nottingham Station. It is the busiest station in Nottinghamshire, the busiest in the East Midlands, and the second-busiest in the Midlands after Birmingham New Street.
The station was first built by the Midland Railway in 1848 and rebuilt by the same company in 1904, with much of the current building dating from the later date. It is now owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway. Besides EMR trains, it is also served by CrossCountry and Northern trains and by Nottingham Express Transit trams.
The station was one of several that once served the city of Nottingham. Amongst these were the city centre stations of on the Great Central Railway, and on the Great Northern Railway; both of these stations are now closed. A number of minor stations served localities outside the city centre, but the only such station to remain open within the city boundaries is.
History
Early beginnings
Nottingham's first station was Carrington Street station, which opened in May 1839, when the Midland Counties Railway opened the line from Nottingham to Derby. This terminus station was situated on the opposite side of Carrington Street from the current station, on a site now occupied by Nottingham Magistrates' Court. The original station gate posts still exist and form the pedestrian entrance to the Magistrates' Courts area.The 1848 station
In 1844 the Midland Counties Railway merged with two others into the Midland Railway. By 1848 the new company had outgrown Carrington Street station and new lines to Lincoln had been opened. A new through station was opened on the current station site on 22 May 1848, replacing the Carrington Street station. George Hall of Derby was the architect, and J.C. Hall of Nottingham the contractor and it had its entrance on Station Street. During 1869 the Midland Railway purchased the West Croft Canal arm, filling it and building additional parallel tracks to south.During the 1880s, Nottingham station employed 170 staff. Although attractive when it first opened, by the early 20th century the station was quite cramped, having only three platforms.
On 18 August 1896, a light engine, running tender first, was passing through the station when it collided with six empty fish trucks. One of the trucks was thrown off the rails against a cast-iron column supporting the inner ends of the principals of the station roof and, when the column broke, a portion of the roof, measuring about by, fell onto the platforms and track. Six people on the platform were injured.
The 1904 station
When the Great Central Railway opened its Nottingham Victoria Station in 1900, the Midland Railway appointed Albert Edward Lambert, a local Nottingham architect, to rebuild the Midland station. Lambert had been the architect for Great Central's station and, consequently, the two buildings had many similarities in their design. The station was rebuilt largely on the same site as the Station Street station, but the entrance was relocated onto Carrington Street.The first contract for the station buildings was awarded to Edward Wood and Sons of Derby on 23 January 1903, who were also awarded the contract for the buildings on platforms 1 and 2 on 16 September 1903. The contract for the buildings on platforms 4 and 5 was awarded to Kirk, Knight & Co of Sleaford on 18 June 1903, who were also responsible for building the parcels office on Station Street, which opened in November 1903. The structural steelwork and cast-ironwork was done by Handyside & Co. and the Phoenix Foundry, both of Derby.
The station was built in an Edwardian Baroque Revival style at a cost of £1 million and was described by the Nottingham Evening News on the eve of its opening as a "magnificent new block of buildings". The building used a mix of red brick, terracotta and faience, with slate and glazed pitch roofs over the principal buildings. The carriage entrances have Art Nouveau wrought-iron gates.
The station's forebuildings were opened to passengers without any formal ceremony on 17 January 1904, although next day the Evening News reported that the platforms were still in a state of chaos and were not expected to be ready for another nine months. However, it did note that "the result promises to be the provision for Nottingham of one of the most commodious and most convenient passenger stations in the country". The day began with the closure of the booking offices in the old station, after the last tickets were issued for the 5:25 a.m. London train and the new booking offices were opened in time to issue tickets for the 6:25 a.m. Erewash Valley train. No attempt was made to exclude the public from the building and many took the opportunity to view the new station buildings. The Evening News commented on the public's admiration of the style and elegance of the station approaches and booking hall; it went on to describe the day's events.
20th century
The station became the property of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, under the railway grouping of 1923. On 2 July 1939, the station was targeted by the Irish Republican Army in an attack on eight stations in the Midlands under their S-Plan; the others being Leicester, Derby, Birmingham, Stoke, Coventry, Leamington Spa and Stafford. A bomb was left in a suitcase and exploded at 6:30 a.m. The glass roof of the cloak room and enquiry office was blown away.The station was nationalised in 1948, under the Transport Act 1947, becoming part of British Railways. Following the privatisation of the railways in the 1990s, ownership was transferred to Railtrack and subsequently to Network Rail.
For many years, the Midland Railway suffered the indignity of its rival, the Great Central Railway, crossing above the station on a bowstring girder bridge. This bridge became redundant in 1973 and was finally dismantled in the early 1980s. The alignment was later used for a new tramway bridge.
File:Nottingham Victoria station.JPG|thumb|Nottingham Victoria railway station, owned by Great Central Railway. Once a bustling hub of travel, was succeeded by Nottingham Midland Station, which became the city's primary mainline station following its closure
Station Street tram stop
With the opening of the Nottingham Express Transit in March 2004, Nottingham station became the southern terminus of the new tram line. The actual tram stop was located on Station Street, directly north of Nottingham station and partially over the Nottingham Canal. It was constructed on a separate right-of-way, built on top of part of the old Great Central Main Line viaduct that used to lead northwards to the separate Nottingham Victoria railway station. North of the former stop, the tram route diverged from the old railway route to join an on-street section through the centre of Nottingham. To the south, the route ended at the end of the viaduct, where a since demolished bridge used to carry the Great Central line over the station. In 2012 work started to extend Nottingham Express Transit south towards Toton Lane and Clifton South.The tram stop itself was substantial, with a small station building containing a waiting area housing steps and a lift to reach the street below. There was also a short footbridge over Station Street, which connected to the main railway station. Up to three trams could be accommodated on the two platform faces; the western platform had a single-length platform, while the eastern platform was an extended double-length platform.
Redevelopment
Plans for a multi-million pound refurbishment and redevelopment of the station were unveiled by junior government minister Norman Baker on 5 October 2010. Under the scheme, the station's porte-cochère was to be made vehicle-free and the station's Grade II* listed buildings restored. The redevelopment also included the construction of another platform, more shops and a bridge to carry Nottingham Express Transit trams over the top of the station.Funding
The redevelopment was initially estimated to cost £67 million. East Midlands Development Agency stated they would contribute £9.5 million to the project, but had to reduce this amount following government cuts. In July 2009, the then Transport Minister, Sadiq Khan, gave conditional approval for the city council to use funds raised from their controversial Workplace Parking Levy to contribute to the redevelopment.The final funding was reorganised to be around £60 million, with Network Rail contributing £41 million, Nottingham City Council £14.8 million, EMDA £2.1 million, East Midlands Trains £1.6 million and the Railway Heritage Trust £0.5 million.
Station masterplan
In 2001 the architects Building Design Partnership were appointed as the lead consultants, using the same team that had redeveloped based on an estimate of £550,000 and in cooperation with Posford Rail, MVA, Jones Lang LaSalle and Bovis Lend Lease.- Stage 1 of the Nottingham Station Masterplan cost £99,960 and was launched at Loxley House on 19 July 2002. The main stakeholders at the time were Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, Central Trains, Midland Mainline, Nottingham Development Enterprise, Nottingham Regeneration Limited and the EMDA, which together acted as the Nottingham Railway Station Steering Group.
- State 2a of the masterplan preparation was budgeted to cost £59,940 and also to be undertaken by BDP.