Kettering station heritage to be preserved during improvements

Network Rail held an information event at Kettering station to share their plans to preserve the station's heritage

The main focus was on Kettering's Victorian platform canopies, which date from the 1890s.

The canopies are being trimmed back to make room for overhead electrified wires, as this will allow Kettering to accommodate longer trains with more seats as well as bi-mode trains powered by electricity. Earlier this week it was announced that bi-mode trains that are being introduced to the remainder of the East Midlands Railway network will not be brought in on our section of the network.Network Rail plans to trim back the canopies while retaining the station's heritage.

Kettering station was originally designed by Charles Henry Driver in 1857, when it was just a single platform.

The iron canopy designs will be recreated while the originals will go to a heritage museum

The station was replaced in the late 1890s with a design by Midland Railway architect Charles Trubshaw, which is when the canopies date from.

Platform one has a canopy in a style dating from the 1890s, with a steel hipped ridge-and-furrow canopy.

Platforms two, three and four have canopies more in keeping with the original design, with cast iron canopies and an ornate iron fascia.

The canopies need to be cut back to make room for electrified overhead wiring, but Network Rail will be refurbishing the canopies and reinstating some lost architectural details based on historic drawings.

The original cast iron designs will be going to a heritage museum.

The Network Rail information event was apparently well attended by railway enthusiasts keen to see the heritage preserved.