Nene Valley Railway starts work to move Wansford Road Station in Sutton to Peterborough as A47 is widened
A historic railway station is being dismantled as part of plans to make a busy section of the A47 into a dual carriageway.
Work has started to dismantle the stone-built Wansford Road Station in Sutton, which will be rebuilt at the end of the Nene Valley Railway, near Peterborough city centre.
It is part of plans to make a section of the A47 between Wansford and Sutton into a dual carriageway.
Being in its path, the stone-built Wansford Road Station at Sutton would have been lost but 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.
After a final go-ahead by Peterborough City Council earlier this month, work has begun.
A spokesperson for Nene Valley Railway said: “Delayed by a few issues, including the need to relocate a population of pipistrelle bats, we finally have started to take off the roof.
“An ecologist has been retained to keep an eye on proceedings and watch out for the bats and other wildlife.”
As material is taken from the building it is being transported, at night so as to reduce interference with traffic on the busy A47, to the Amco-Biffen compound at Railworld.
It is expected that this process will take eight to 10 weeks to complete.
“We are currently comparing quotations for the rebuild – these are coming in higher than we expected and we’re looking at additional fundraising options,” the spokesperson added.
“Our target is to have the building up by March or April next year but that, of course, does depend on many things – not just the money.”
The station, built in 1869, closed in 1929 and became a house, before being boarded up.