Corby station closed in 1966, reopened between 1987 and 1990 for a shuttle service to Kettering and was rebuilt on an adjacent site in 2009. It now enjoys an hourly service to St Pancras, with occasional trains venturing north to Oakham and Melton Mowbray.
If it had been reopened a few years earlier (or today), Corby might have got no more than a couple of bus shelters. But it had the good fortune to have its station built at a time when there was money to throw at such projects, so it got a substantial building complete with coffee bar.
Because there is no longer a bus from Market Harborough to Corby on a Saturday I had to go to the by-election by train. The connection at Kettering was so good that it was quicker than the bus journey, though I missed the tour of villages along the Leicestershire-Northamptonshire border.
Sevenoaks, from whence I commute, recently had its station redone. The only conceivable reason for this was that, since paralympians cycled at Brands Hatch for three days it was designated an 'Olympic station'. The upgrade appears to have consisted of nothing but doubling the size of the concourse and sticking a flashy sign on the roof. It all now looks nice and modern, rather than slightly run down, but otherwise benefits nobody at all. The extra concourse area is of very little use as, since trains are extremely frequent people only ever wait on the platforms. Still, it is nice to know that in the leafy commuter belt there is still money for nice shiny new public buildings, even if there really isn't any need for them at all.
ReplyDeleteWe're also getting a grammar school. Ho Hum.