Attenborough
General information
Location	Attenborough, Broxtowe England
Coordinates	52°54′24″N 1°13′50″W / 52.9067°N 1.2306°W / 52.9067; -1.2306
Grid reference	SK518346
Managed by	East Midlands Railway
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	ATB
Classification	DfT category F2
Key dates
1 December 1856	Opened as Attenborough Gate
1 November 1858	Closed
1 September 1864	Re-opened as Attenborough
19 April 1937	Renamed Chilwell
27 September 1937	Renamed Attenborough
Passengers
2019/20	0.107 million
2020/21	17,586
2021/22	46,934
2022/23	52,704
2023/24	68,916
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Attenborough railway station (originally Attenborough Gate and briefly known as Chilwell) serves the village of Attenborough in Nottinghamshire, England. It is sited on a spur of the Midland Main Line between East Midlands Parkway and Nottingham. The station is managed by East Midlands Railway.^[1]

The station was built as a halt in 1856, known as Attenborough Gate, on the Midland Counties Railway line from Nottingham to Derby, which had opened in 1839. It was sited next to a level crossing and tickets were bought from the crossing keeper.^{[citation needed]}

The station was built on its present site by the Midland Railway and opened on 1 September 1864;^[2] the "Gate" suffix was dropped and the name became Attenborough.

Becoming part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923, the station then passed on to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

During World War I, the station had its platforms extended^{[citation needed]} as it was used as an interchange for soldiers and workers heading for National Shell Filling Factory No. 6 at Chilwell.

In April 1937, the station was renamed Chilwell; however, this did not go down well with Attenborough locals who raised a petition, which 235 local people signed.^[3] This resulted in a decision by the LMS to revert the name to Attenborough.^[4]

The signal box survived until at least 1982 but has since been demolished.

When sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Regional Railways until the privatisation of British Rail.

It is an unstaffed station, having lost its station buildings and staff in the early 1990s. Following a rebuild of the platforms in 2005, the station has no architectural remains from any earlier station except for parts of the footbridge.

The footbridge was replaced in 2007, receiving a new steel deck and stairways. The blue brick towers, which support the bridge, were retained.

East Midlands Railway operate the following services that stop here:^[12]

• An hourly service between Matlock and Nottingham, via Derby.
• An hourly service between Leicester and Lincoln; alternate trains continue on to Grimsby.

Interchange with EMR's inter-city services can be made at Derby and Nottingham; trains between Nottingham and London St Pancras pass through Attenborough but do not stop.

CrossCountry operate a small number of stopping services, in the early morning and late evening, on the route between Nottingham, Birmingham New Street and Cardiff Central.^[13]

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Long Eaton		CrossCountry Cardiff–Nottingham		Beeston
East Midlands Parkway		East Midlands Railway Leicester-Lincoln		Nottingham
Long Eaton		East Midlands Railway Nottingham-Matlock		Beeston

• Higginson, M, (1989) The Midland Counties Railway: A Pictorial Survey, Derby: Midland Railway Trust.
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
• Station on navigable O.S. map

• Class 44 locomotive passing Attenborough Station 1976.
• Train passing through Attenborough Station in 2005.
• See Attenborough railway station on Google Street View.