GNR Derbyshire and Staffordshire Extension

|}The GNR Derbyshire and Staffordshire Extension, <!-- Were is this line located ? -->locally known as the (Derby) Friargate Line is a now closed railway line that was part of the Derbyshire and Staffordshire extension of the Great Northern Railway. It linked Nottingham and Grantham to the east of the East Midlands counties to Burton upon Trent to the south west of the area. The route cut a direct line through the midlands industrial city of Derby whereupon an impressive warehouse was constructed, large sidings and the pretty Derby Friargate Station. The line had such an impact on Derby, Friargate and the surrounding areas that it became known as the Derby Friargate Line.

The GNR acquired the Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway in July 1881 gaining a through route from Grantham to Wales via the Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston and Eastern Junction Railway.

History of the line

Businessmen and councillors alike (which at the time often amounted to one and the same thing), wanted to exploit the coal seams around northern Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, the rail transport of which was controlled by the Midland Railway company which dictated prices; this increased the price of coal dramatically and it was agreed diminished Derby's competitive position as a Midlands industrial town. So eager were Councillors and the general powers that be, to have a second railway line serve Derby, that when the Act ((the Great Northern (Derbyshire and Staffordshire) Act of 1872)), authorising...
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