King's Sutton Railway Station
History
The Great Western Railway built the Oxford — Banbury section of the Oxford and Rugby Railway between 1845 and 1850; however, the GWR did not open a station at King's Sutton until 1872. By 1881, the arrival of the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway, via Chipping Norton, had made King's Sutton a junction. British Railways (BR) withdrew passenger services between King's Sutton and Chipping Norton in 1951 and closed the B&CDR line to freight traffic in 1964. The station was reduced to an unstaffed halt from 2 November 1964.
BR demolished the station building and removed King's Sutton station's footbridge in the 1960s and replaced it with a signal-controlled barrow crossing at the north end of the platform. An incident in early 2005, where a passenger was nearly hit by an express train, saw the northbound platform closed for a short period whilst security guards were brought in to man the crossing. This led to work starting on a new bridge in late 2005 and completion in May 2006. The old passenger shelter on the up platform was replaced by a new plastic and metal bus-shelter.
A late night robbery in 2001 led Chiltern Railways to raise security concerns. As a result, CCTV cameras were installed in 2002.
Services
King's Sutton is served by two train operating companies:
- Chiltern Railways operates services approximately every two hours off-peak between London Marylebone and Banbury, with the majority of these extended to Stratford-upon-Avon. On Sundays, these services are extended beyond Banbury to Birmingham Moor Street. Chiltern Railways also operate a single late evening service between Oxford and Banbury, via the Cherwell Valley Line.
- Great Western Railway operates services approximately every two hours on Mondays-Saturdays between Banbury and Oxford, with some of these services extended to Didcot Parkway and Reading. A limited Sunday service of three trains per day operates on this route during the summer months only.
Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Great Western Railway | ||||
Chiltern Railways | ||||
Chiltern Railways Limited Service | ||||
Historical railways | ||||
Banbury Line and station open |
Great Western Railway Oxford and Rugby Railway |
Aynho for Deddington Line open, station closed | ||
Great Western Railway Bicester "cut-off" |
Aynho Park Line open, station closed | |||
Great Western Railway Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway |
Adderbury Line and station closed |
Gallery
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King's Sutton village, as seen from the station in 2000. The chain-link fence was replaced in 2009.
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The station in 2010; it was upgraded in 2006, with a new shelter installed
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Kings Sutton station regained its footbridge in 2006.
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A down car train north of Kings Sutton in 1963.
References
- ^ Railway Passenger Stations by M.Quick page 272
- ^ "Office of Rail and Road statistics".
- ^ Compton, Hugh J. (1976). The Oxford Canal. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 117. ISBN 0-7153-7238-6.
- ^ "Services withdrawn by L.M.R.". Railway Magazine. Vol. 110, no. 764. Westminster: Tothill Press. December 1964. p. 920.
- ^ "Twyford Bridge - King's Sutton - Steve Banks".
- ^ "Footbridges over Rail". Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ "Download our timetable". Chiltern Railways. 2 June 2024. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ "Train Times". Great Western Railway. 2 June 2024. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
External links
- Train times and station information for Kings Sutton railway station from National Rail
- Least Used Station in Northamptonshire via YouTube