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Luffenham Chord
Satellite image of area near to Uppingham. Manton is top left, South Luffenham is top right, and Seaton is bottom middle, forming a equilateral triangle between these locations. The existing lines are highlighted in purple which form the left and top sides of the triangle. This shows that trains coming from Corby in the south cannot turn right to head towards Stamford & Peterborough. The historic route of the line is highlighted in red which forms the right hand side of the triangle connecting the present day lines. The portals of the tunnel at Morcott which is a third of the distance along the side of the triangle are indicated with markers. There are two alternative routes shown in light blue and yellow. These deviate slightly from the historic route as the pass near South Luffenham. Deviation route 1 is light blue and lies south of the historic route, passing though an open area in the middle of South Luffenham. Deviation route 2 is yellow and lies north of the historic route. It is more curved and passes close by to the north of the village.
Base image © 2020 Google: satellite images courtesy USGS/NASA Landsat

The largest piece of infrastructure is a 3.5 mile section of track between Seaton and South Luffenham. This section is a small part of the Rugby & Stamford railway, opened in the 1800s, closed by Beeching in the 1960s.

This track is required because trains coming from Corby in the south can’t turn right at Manton junction to head towards Peterborough (top left in diagram)

There are 8 houses on the historic trackbed, but we have identified two alternative routes that would avoid any houses. The next stage of the project would be a feasibility study to evaluate these alternatives running past South Luffenham, along with the viability of the entire project.

Morcott tunnel
Black and white image from the 1950s of steam train exiting Morcott tunnel into cutting with road bridge into the village of Morcott in the background.
Photo courtesy of The Transport Library

Where the line passes through Morcott and under the A47 the route will use the existing short tunnel which remains in remarkably good condition for it’s age.

History of Rugby & Stamford line (Wikipedia)
Corby Station
Image of Corby station showing new platform on the left, slightly curving to the left as it recedes into the distance. On the right is the old shorter platform. There is currently no passenger access to the second platform.
Photo by Tom walker – Own work, CC BY 3.0,

Corby station currently has only one platform that passengers can access. Both platforms will be needed to provide our service, so a footbridge and accessible lifts will be required.

Corby station information (Wikipedia)
Luffenham Station
Satellite image of area immediately surrounding historic site of Luffenham station, the site itself highlighted with an orange box. The existing lines are highlighted in purple. The historic route of the line is highlighted in red, with the two alternative routes shown in light blue and yellow.
Base image © 2020 Google: satellite courtesy USGS/NASA Landsat

The new local station could be located at it’s historic location by the level crossing. If this site is still suitable then the station can be a simple affair and still be fully accessible.

Google street view image taken from the level crossing at South Luffenham, showing level crossing in the foreground and a pair of very straight tracks receding into the distance
street view images: © Google 2020
Google streetview of station location
March Station
Diagram of one variant of the proposed improvements to March station. The current lines are shown in black. Lines proposed to be re-instated shown in red. The existing main line runs from East to West. Line to Wisbech comes from the North on the left hand side of the diagram and turns East as it nears the station which is on the right hand side of the diagram. There are currently two platforms in use at the station and three disused platforms. In Red an additional line coming from Wisbech is shown running through one of the disused platforms before joining the main line East of the station. A second additional line is shown coming in from Wisbech which terminates at the station - there is a short piece of connecting track departing to the West from this platform which allows a train to come from Wisbech - call at March without blocking any through line - and then depart West toward Peterborough.

As part of the Wisbech rail reopening a number of disused platforms at March station will be brought back into use.

A number of options are being evaluated, only one of which includes a turnback in the Peterborough direction. The turnback is essential so that this service does not block the main line for an extended time while it turns round.

The diagram shows ‘March Station Option 3’

Technical studies on Wisbech reopening
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