Duffield railway station serves the village of Duffield in Derbyshire, England. The station is located on the Midland Main Line from Derby to Leeds, north of London St Pancras. It is also a junction with the former branch line to Wirksworth, which is now operated as the Ecclesbourne Valley heritage railway. The unmanned station is served by East Midlands Railway, who operate local services from Derby to Matlock via the Derwent Valley Line. History The first station at Duffield was built in 1841, a year after the line opened, by the North Midland Railway a few yards further north from its present position. From 1840 there had been a number of proposals for a line from Manchester down the Churnet Valley to meet either the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway or the Midland Counties Railway, and then go on to London. An amendment was put forward in 1844 bringing the line to the North Midland at Duffield, presumably via Ashbourne and the Ecclesbourne Valley. However, the line never materialised. The Midland Railway, however, was looking for a path into Manchester as an alternative to the former Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway from Ambergate to Rowsley which it leased jointly with the LNWR. It built a junction at Duffield and began to construct the line, which opened as far as Wirksworth in 1867. When the MR gained sole control of the Ambergate line in 1871, the extension proved unnecessary. However, the Wirksworth branch remained a busy line with a regular passenger service and freight in the form of limestone from Wirksworth and milk from the farms along the line. In 1867 a large new station was built in the vee of the junction, with platforms on each side of the double track. A signal box was provided to the east of the main line, replaced by Duffield Junction box around 1890 at the south end of Platform One. By this time the population of Duffield had increased with railway workers and management, as had traffic on the main line. In 1897 a goods line was laid in the up (southbound) direction, and a fourth, down goods, laid in 1904. At this stage there were two platforms with a footbridge, the second being an island between the two passenger lines, and another for the branch. The two subsidiary platforms each had a waiting room, while the main platform building contained