New stations form a substantial proportion of successful Restoring your Railway fund bids, but it is an emerging concept which hasn’t quite reached that stage of development which has won Modern Railways’ attention.
Daventry, a town of 25,000, is reckoned to be one of the largest towns in England without a railway station – the sixth largest town in Northamptonshire – and with development inevitable, that population is set to increase over the next decade.
It once had its own station, on the London & North Western Railway’s route from Weedon on the West Coast main line to Leamington Spa, but this closed to passengers as early as September 1958, with the full route closing at the end of 1963. Development on the formation since renders reinstatement – even if it were economically viable –a non-starter.
However, the town centre is just under 4.5 miles north west of the WCML at Weedon Bec, a village of 2,700 people and growing, linked to Daventry by frequent and fast bus services, and a short drive away. A new non-profit organisation called Sustainable Transport Midlands believes a parkway station on the edge of this village could help to cut road congestion, support planned and future developm…
