Nene Valley Railway to move Wansford Road Station to Peterborough when A47 is widened

Plans to make a busy section of the A47 dual carriageway will now include the conservation of a historic railway station.

Work is due to start in spring to widen the road between Wansford and Sutton, near Peterborough.

Being in its path, the stone-built Wansford Road Station at Sutton would have been lost.

But instead it will be dismantled and rebuilt at the end of the Nene Valley Railway, near Peterborough city centre.

The station, built in 1869, closed in 1929 and became a house, before being boarded up.

Nene Valley Railway, a charity, applied to National Highways to save the station and will receive more than £200,000 from National Highways to help with the relocation.

Wansford Road Station will then become a boarding point for Nene Valley Railway services on its seven-and-a-half mile line between Wansford and Peterborough

Chris Griffin, from National Highways, said: “Breathing life into the old Wansford Road Station building, which has remained unused for a number of years, was something we wanted to do as soon because we knew it was in the path of the A47 road upgrade.

“It is great news that we have been able to save this historic building and I could not think of a more appropriate use than to see the station put back on the right track and once again fulfilling its railway heritage."

Mike Kerfoot, chairman of Nene Valley Railway, said: “Our volunteers work to help cherish railway heritage from our past and preserve that for future generations to learn and enjoy.

“The opportunity to bring history to life and return Wansford Road station to the railway it was a former part of is wonderful."

• Nene Valley Railway vice president, Charles Swift OBE, died last week. He was influential in helping establish Nene Valley Railway and was a Peterborough councillor for 62 years.