Kirkdale is a stop on the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network at the junction of the Ormskirk and Kirkby branches and is in between Sandhills and Walton or Rice Lane. The station is next to Kirkdale TMD which is the largest depot on the Merseyrail network.
Ormskirk bound Merseyrail 507 016 arrives at the station
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Merseyrail Northern Line)
Station code:
KKD
Opened:
1848
Platforms:
2
The station was opened as Bootle Lane in 1848 on a joint line built by the Liverpool, Ormskirk & Preston and Liverpool & Bury Railways. The station was renamed Kirkdale in 1877.
Although still a busy spot on the network Kirkdale used to have a number of other lines and routes pass through or underneath the station. Since 1977 it has been part of the Merseyrail network and is the interchange between the Kirkby and Ormskirk branches which diverge just North of the station.
The station was refurbished and modernised in 2000 with a new footbridge and an improved booking office.
Merseyrail 508 124 rests on a TMD siding next to the station
Merseyrail 507 023 departs Kirkdale
Combined footbridge and ticket office
Look down the platform, the TMD is in the background
Jewellery Quarter, serves the area of the same name just outside Birmingham city centre. The station was opened in 1995 as part of the restoration of cross-city services via Birmingham Snow Hill. No station had existed at this location previously though the former station of Hockley, which closed in 1972, was located nearby [1].
In 1999 the Midland Metro tram began operating, a stop at Jewellery Quarter is adjacent to the railway station (and with access via the platform). Access between the two railway platforms is via a footbridge.
Most services to Jewellery Quarter are operated by West Midlands Railway but some Chiltern Railways trains also stop during peak hours.
Station footbridge, a tunnel is just beyond the platforms at the Birmingham end
Hartlebury is a stop on the Worcester-Birmingham Line in Worcestershire between Droitwich Spa and Kidderminster.
WMR 172 211 departs the station
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Worcester-Birmingham Line)
Station code:
HBY
Opened:
1852
Platforms:
2
The station was opened by the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway in 1852, later becoming part of the Great Western Railway. In 1862 it became the original starting point of the Severn Valley Railway through to Shrewsbury. Services to Stourport-on-Severn and Bewdley continued until 1970 and the line to Stourport remained open for freight until 1979.
The station is now unstaffed though the original station building remains, however now has a non-railway use. The footbridge (which was at the level crossing end of the station [1]) and canopies have been removed, access between the two platforms is via a level crossing at the Kidderminster end of the station. The station's facilities are the usual bus shelters and information screens found on an unstaffed station. At the other end of the platforms was a goods yard and cattle dock which were both closed in the 1960s as did another goods yard at the other end of the station,
The station is managed by West Midlands Railway though retains a GWR style nameboard as with a number of stations on the Birmingham Snow Hill lines.
Station sign next to the level crossing
Former station building, now a restaurant and bar
Bus shelter and PIS
GWR style nameboard
WMR 172 221 departs for Worcester
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Worcester to Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2007) Fig. 23
Marston Green is a stop on the West Coast Main Line in Solihull in between Birmingham International and Lea Hall. The station is literally at the end of the runway for Birmingham Airport though Birmingham International is the station for airline passengers as this is near the terminal building.
Information
Type:
National Rail
(West Coast Main Line)
Station code:
MGN
Opened:
1838
Platforms:
2
The station was opened by the London & Birmingham Railway in 1838 on their line between Birmingham and Coventry. The station originally had two goods sidings and a refuge siding. The goods yard was closed in 1964. The signalbox remained in use until 1976.
Due to the proximity of Birmingham Airport (originally Elmdon Aerodrome) there were emergency signals at the station for the event of an aeroplane landing on the railway line!
Both platforms originally had wooden buildings with canopies but following electrification of the line in the 1960s and a rebuild of the station in the mid-1970s nothing of the original station now remains [1]. The station is served by West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway.
TfW 158 838 passes through
Main station building
LNWR 350 107 arrives with a Birmingham bound service
View from the footbridge
View towards Birmingham
A London Euston bound Pendolino passes through
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Rugby to Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2008) Fig. 99
The station was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1934 in what was then the London Paddington to Birkenhead Line. The station was known as Birches & Bilbrook Halt when it opened, it reverted to the current name in 1974.
The two platforms are staggered either side of a road bridge with access to the platforms via ramps from the road. The station is unstaffed with just the basic bus shelters and information screen for passengers. The station is served by at least one train an hour by West Midlands Railway.
