Luton Bute Street railway station

Luton Bute Street railway station was the first to be built in Luton, England. It was opened by the Luton, Dunstable and Welwyn Junction Railway Company in 1858, which was an extension of the Welwyn and Hertford Railway. The track to Welwyn was completed in 1860 and taken over by the Great Northern the following year.

Luton Bute Street
4F 0-6-0 44414 heads The Cobbler special out of Luton Bute Street railway station to Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard and Northampton. 19 September 1964
LocationLuton
England
Platforms3
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyHertford, Luton & Dunstable Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Northern Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1858Opened
1965Closed
Railways around Luton
Midland Main Line
 Leagrave
Branch to Dunstable
 Luton
 Luton Bute Street
 Luton Airport Parkway
 Luton Airport
Luton DART
(under construction)
 Luton Hoo
 Chiltern Green
Branch to Welwyn Garden City
Midland Main Line

History

It was valuable to Luton people not only for passengers but also for facilitating the London market for the town's trade in plaited straw goods. The station, and the line to Welwyn, closed in 1965.[1]

Following closure to passengers in 1965, the station buildings were quickly demolished despite the line remaining open for freight until 1989/1990. The site of the station was later used as a car park for Luton railway station. Throughout the years, various local pressure groups have been supportive of reopening the station as part of a viable branch line between Dunstable and Luton. In the mid-1990s, there was a debate about reopening it with either the operation of Diesel Class 158's or electric Class 319's.

The site has been redeveloped as the new Luton Gateway transport interchange on the Luton to Dunstable Busway guided busway system.

Routes
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Chaul End
Line and station closed		   Great Northern Railway
Dunstable Branch Line		   Luton Hoo
Line and station closed

See also

References
  1. Radford, B., (1983) Midland Line Memories: a Pictorial History of the Midland Railway Main Line Between London (St Pancras) & Derby London: Bloomsbury Books


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