| Rushcliffe Halt | |
| Type: | Station on heritage railway |
| Borough: | East Leake, Rushcliffe |
| Country: | England |
| Coordinates: | 52.8439°N -1.1822°W |
| Operator: | Great Central Railway (Nottingham) |
| Platforms: | 2 |
| Original: | Great Central Railway |
| Pregroup: | Great Central Railway |
| Postgroup: | London and North Eastern Railway |
| Years: | 1911 |
| Events: | Opened |
| Years1: | 4 March 1963 |
| Events1: | Closed |
| Years2: | 2003 |
| Events2: | Reopened |
Rushcliffe Halt is a railway station on the former Great Central Railway (GCR) London Extension from London Marylebone, and serves the north of East Leake, Nottinghamshire. It is currently in use as part of the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) (GCRN).
As of September 2020 no trains have used Rushcliffe Halt or the railway line from Ruddington to north of Loughborough due to closure of the line because of structural problems with three bridges.[1]
The station was built as a later addition to the GCR, opening in 1911 to serve the adjacent Rushcliffe Golf Club. Later, sidings were added to serve the nearby gypsum works. The station closed to passengers in 1963, although freight continued to serve British Gypsum until the early 1980s.
Rushcliffe Halt is the only surviving example of a GCR station with side platforms, because island platforms were the standard on the route.
During the 1990s, the line and station entered preservation. In 2000, freight trains to the gypsum works resumed and, in 2003, Great Central Railway (Nottingham) introduced a weekend passenger service between Loughborough junction and Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre Ruddington, on a preserved section of the line. GCRN services terminate at a Stop Board close to the A60 road. Beyond that is the connection to Network Rail and the Midland Main Line (MML). There are plans for a high-level station to be built there. The loco shed of the Great Central Railway at Loughborough is just visible, across the MML. There are also plans to reinstate a bridge across the MML and to join up with the GCR at Loughborough on the Leicester side.
Once both preserved sections are re-connected by the bridging of the Loughborough Gap, the line would be over in length.[2] [3]