Evesham is a stop on the Cotswold Line in Worcestershire between Pershore and Honeybourne.
GWR 802 001 at Evesham
Information
Type:
National Rail (Cotswold Line)
Station code:
EVE
Opened:
1852
Platforms:
2
Evesham was opened in 1852, the Southern terminus of the first part of the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway to be completed (Stourbridge Junction being the other end). The following year the line was opened down to Oxford.
Evesham became part of the West Midland Railway and later the Great Western Railway in 1863. The following year Evesham was joined by another Evesham station right next to it (Evesham South from 1951) [1], this one opened by the Midland Railway. This station closed in 1963.
Evesham is served by a frequent (though irregular) service on the Cotswold Line between London Paddington and Great MalvernorHereford. All services are by GWR who also manage the station. The station has brick station buildings on other platforms and wooden canopies.
Main station building
Station footbridge
View up the platform
A GWR train is in
Waiting rooms
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Moreton-in-Marsh to Worcester (Middleton Press, 2004) Fig. 53
Beckton is the terminus of the Beckton branch of the Docklands Light Railway in East London.
DLR 130 has just arrived at Beckton
Information
Type:
Transport for London (Docklands Light Railway)
Station code:
ZBV
Opened:
1994
Platforms:
2
The station was opened in 1994 when the Beckton branch from Poplar was opened. The station is a short distance to the East from the original Beckton station which closed in 1940 [1]. Next to Beckton station is a retail park and bus station. Beckton DLR depot is situated between Beckton and Gallions Reach stations.
Beckton is an unstaffed station like most DLR stations. Unlike many DLR stations is it more or less at street level with just a few steps (or a ramp) down to the road outside the station. Trains from Beckton mainly head to Tower Gateway or Bank.
Buffer stop DLR style
View down the platform
Station entrance, the bus station is straight ahead
[1] J.E. Connor, Branch Lines around North Woolwich (Middleton Press, 2001) Fig. 97
Atherstone is a stop on the Trent Valley section of the West Coast Main Line in North Warwickshire between Nuneaton and Tamworth.
DRS 88 004 brings a freight through Atherstone
Information
Type:
National Rail (West Coast Main Line)
Station code:
ATH
Opened:
1847
Platforms:
2
The station was opened by the London & North Western Railway in 1847. The original LNWR building has survived, despite plans in the 1980s to demolish it, and is now Grade II listed. The building is not used by the station anymore however and is an office for a private company.
Atherstone has two platforms on the slow lines of the West Coast Main Line. Access between the platforms is via a road bridge that takes a road under the railway lines.
Atherstone is nowadays served by the modern day London Northwestern Railway with an hourly service every day except Sunday between Crewe and London Euston.
Avanti WM Pendolino passes through on the fast lines
Freightliner 66 615 brings another freight through Atherstone
WMR 172 336 arrives with a Birmingham bound service
Information
Type:
National Rail (Snow Hill Lines)
Station code:
BKD
Opened:
1852
Platforms:
2
Blakedown was opened in 1852 by the Great Western Railway as Churchill (Churchill is the name of an adjacent village and the neighbouring parish, Blakedown village was transferred to the parish in 1888). The name was later changed to Churchill & Blakedown before finally being changed to just Blakedown. The now disused signal box next to the level crossing still carries the old name. The station had a small goods yard which was closed in 1965 [1].
Blakedown is a simple unstaffed halt with just a couple of bus shelters on the platforms which have replaced the original wooden and brick buildings. The platforms were lengthened in 1994. Access between the two platforms is via the level crossing. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway.
Looking towards the level crossing
The level crossing
The signal box
View up the platform
A WMR service departs for Kidderminster
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Worcester to Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2007) Fig. 42
Aigburth is a stop on the Merseyrail Northern Line in Liverpool between Cressington and St Michaels.
A Southbound Merseyrail train prepares to depart
Information
Type:
National Rail (Merseyrail Northern Line)
Station code:
AIG
Opened:
1864 (Closed 1972)
Re-opened:
1978
Platforms:
2
The station, serving a district in the South of Liverpool, was opened as Mersey Road and later Mersey Road & Aigburth by the Garton & Liverpool Railway in 1864. Later on it became part of the Cheshire Lines Committee.
The station was closed in 1972 but re-opened (as Aigburth) in 1978 as part of the Merseyrail system. It is now part of Merseyrail's Northern Line.
Aigburth has a staffed ticket office. Access view the two platforms is via a footbridge. Services through the station are at up to every fifteen minutes frequency.
Bournville, adjacent to the famous Cadbury factory, is a stop on the South half of the Cross-City Line in Birmingham between Kings Norton and Selly Oak.
WMR 323 208 arrives with a Birmingham bound service
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Cross-City Line)
Station code:
BRV
Opened:
1876
Platforms:
2
The station was opened by the Birmingham West Suburban Railway in 1876 as Stirchley Street. The station was renamed Stirchley Street & Bournville in 1880 following the opening of the Cadbury factory the year before, the name was reversed in 1888. Finally, the station was renamed Bournville in 1904 [1]. The station originally just had a single platform with a second platform added when the line was doubled in the late 1880s. This second platform is narrow due to the Worcester & Birmingham Canal next to the line.
North of the station was the Bournville Works Railway and it's sidings, Bournville itself never had it's own goods yard. The station was rebuilt in 1978, the original buildings being demolished and replaced by metal canopies when the Cross-City Line was created [2]. The line was electrified in 1993. The platform canopies are painted purple to match the Cadbury brand. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway with a service at up to every ten minute intervals in each direction. Access between the platforms is via the road bridge which crosses the line at the Southern end of the station.
The metal canopies, used on a number of Cross-City Line stations
A WMR 323 stands at the station
Station view from the ramp up to the road bridge
View down the platform, note the Cadbury purple on the canopy posts
323 207 departs
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Bromsgrove to Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2006) Map. XIX
Derby is one of the great railway centres on the network. It is still a junction of the Midland Main Line and the lines to Birmingham New Street, Nottingham and Matlock, and also adjacent to the Railway Technical Centre. One of the largest remaining British railway manufacturing centres at Bombardier Derby is also nearby.
ROG 57 312 at Derby with a special excursion
Information
Type:
National Rail (Midland Main Line)
Station code:
DBY
Opened:
1839
Platforms:
7
Derby first got a station when the Midland Counties Railway station opened in 1839, though this was only a temporary structure with the first permanent station opening the following year, which was known as Derby Station Street.
Derby, which between 1950 and 1968 was known as Derby Midland [1](this name is still displayed on the front of the main station building), has been extended and rebuilt a number of times. The latest change being in 2018 when the station layout was remodelled to remove bottlenecks and improve line speeds, the station was also resignalled with a new gantry to the South of the station. A bay platform was removed and replaced by a new through platform which is one side of a new island. There is a seventh platform (the other side of the new island) though it is not usually in public use.
It is hoped that one day the lines will also be under the wires thanks to Midland Main Line electrification (though this project is subject to delays and may not take place for a long time).
Derby is served by East Midland Railway and Cross Country services between the North East and South West as well as links to destinations such as Crewe. There are two entrances to the station with a second entrance added at the Pride Park development in the 2001 along with a new overbridge [2].
XC 43 303 at Derby
An EMT 153 enters the station under the new signal gantry
View down the platform
An EMT 222 leaves the station
Derby is still host to interesting traction
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Derby to Stoke-on-Trent (Middleton Press, 2016) Fig. 5 [2] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Derby to Chesterfield (Middleton Press, 2017) Fig. 9
