Cardington railway station

Cardington was a railway station on the Bedford to Hitchin Line which served the village of Cardington in Bedfordshire, England. Opened in 1857, it gave more than a century of service before closing in 1962.

Cardington
Remains of the station dwarfed by the airship sheds
Location	Cardington, Borough of Bedford England
Grid reference	TL084473
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Midland Railway
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway London Midland Region of British Railways
Key dates
8 May 1857[1]	Opened
1 January 1962[2]	Closed

Cardington airship hangars in 1962

History

Cardington station was opened by the Midland Railway in 1857 as part of its main line from Leicester to Hitchin, built to allow it a direct route to London without using rival London and Birmingham Railway metals but having running powers over the Great Northern main line from Hitchin to King's Cross. However, when the Midland Railway later built its own route from Bedford to London St Pancras, the section between Bedford and Hitchin was demoted to a mere branch line, over which passenger traffic was minimal and services were reduced to a shuttle by 1880.[3]

The establishment of an airship factory in Cardington by Short Brothers during the First World War increased passenger and freight traffic through the station. This continued after the war when the coalition government approved a project to build two large airships, the R100 and R101; the R101 was built at Cardington, the R100 in Yorkshire. This required the construction of two large sheds at what was then known as the Royal Airship Works.[4] The inter-war years saw a decline in traffic with the introduction of buses between Bedford and Hitchin. Traffic picked up again during the Second World War when the site became RAF Cardington particularly when troop specials were run to enable conscripts to travel forward to their basic training camps. The introduction of railbuses after the war did little to improve traffic, and the line closed in 1962.[5]

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Bedford Midland		London, Midland and Scottish Railway Bedford to Hitchin Line		Cardington Workmen's Platform

Present day

The station building remains in private ownership and is a listed building. The owner has affixed the former distant signal on the exterior of the property.[6]

References

1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford, ISBN 1-85260-508-1, p. 53.
2. Clinker, C.R. (October 1978). Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830-1977. Bristol: Avon-AngliA Publications & Services. p. 25. ISBN 0-905466-19-5.
3. Oppitz, Leslie (2000). Lost Railways of the Chilterns (Lost Railways Series). Newbury, Berkshire: Countryside Books. p. 136. ISBN 978-1-85306-643-6.
4. Oppitz, L., p. 136-137.
5. Davies, R.; Grant, M.D. (1984). Forgotten Railways: Chilterns and Cotswolds. Newton Abbot, Devon: David St John Thomas. pp. 114–115. ISBN 0-946537-07-0.
6. Oppitz, L., p. 134.

External links

• Cardington station on 1946 O.S. map