Meir railway station
Meir | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Location | Meir, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent England |
| Coordinates | 52°58′37″N 2°05′55″W / 52.9770°N 2.0985°W |
| Grid reference | SJ935421 |
| Platforms | 2 |
| Other information | |
| Status | Disused |
| History | |
| Original company | North Staffordshire Railway |
| Post-grouping | |
| Key dates | |
| 12 May 1894 | Opened[1] |
| 7 November 1966 | Closed[1] |
Meir railway station served the Meir area of Stoke-on-Trent, England. It was opened in 1894 by the North Staffordshire Railway on its line to Derby and was situated in a cutting to the east of Meir tunnel.
The station closed in 1966 with hardly any evidence of its existence left today apart from the footprint of the buildings which are covered in vegetation.
The building was of timber construction which had a booking office with cast iron coal burning stove, a waiting room that had benched seating, a small store room for cleaning and bike storage, and a bucket type toilet that was normally emptied by the junior porter in a dug out hole in the small wooded area to the rear of the building.
There was a wooden shelter in the middle of the downside platform, and on the eastern end stood the coal shed made of sleepers complete with chute from the bridge for road vehicle delivery.[2]
| Preceding station | Historical railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Line open, station closed | North Staffordshire Railway | Line and station open |
Re-opening proposal
[edit]On 23 May 2020, it was announced by the UK Department for Transport that they would fund a feasibility study into re-opening Meir railway station as part of their Restoring Your Railway policy. The re-opening would depend on a suitable business case being proposed and accepted.[3]
On 4 October 2023, the government committed to reopening the station as part of its Network North scheme.[4] Funding for the scheme was withdrawn in July 2024.[5]
Tunnel
[edit]Meir railway tunnel is located between Longton in the west and Meir station in the east. The east tunnel portal is located at the end of Meir station and runs for 744 metres (814 yd).[6] The tunnel was constructed by the North Staffordshire Railway and was opened in 1848 when the line was opened between Stoke and Uttoxeter on 7 August of that year.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. p. 270. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.
- ^ Ballantyne, Hugh (2005). British Railways Past & Present: North Staffordshire and the Trent Valley. Past & Present Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85895-204-2.
- ^ "National Infrastructure Strategy" (PDF). GOV.UK. HM Treasury. November 2020. p. 41. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
- ^ "Network North" (PDF). Department for Transport. 4 October 2023. p. 32. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
- ^ "Campaigners' dismay after rail schemes are axed". Railnews. 30 July 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ West tunnel portal is at SJ 9261 4266.
Further reading
[edit]- Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2016). Derby to Stoke-on-Trent. West Sussex: Middleton Press. fig. 58. ISBN 9781908174932. OCLC 954271104.
