Canning Town (CNT/ZCB)

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Canning Town is a major interchange of the Jubilee Line (between North Greenwich and West Ham) and two Docklands Light Railway lines (between East India and Star Lane and Royal Victoria and West Silvertown) and local buses in East London.

A Docklands Light Railway train arrives

Information
Type:	Transport for London (Jubilee Line & Docklands Light Railway)
Station code:	CNT/ZCB
Opened:	1847
Platforms:	6

The station was first opened in 1847 as Barking Road by the Eastern Counties & Thames Junction Railway.

The station was renamed Canning Town in 1873 and moved in 1888, with another move to the current site (the site of the former Thames Iron Works [1]) in 1995 as part of the new Docklands Light Railway (DLR) line to Beckton. The biggest change came with the arrival of the Jubilee Line in 1999, the Jubilee Line Extension emerges into the daylight just before the station. In 2005 more platforms for the DLR's line to London City Airport were added.

Canning Town is a triple decker building with the booking hall below ground and the Jubilee Line platforms above it, the Beckton DLR platforms are on the top level [2][3]. The latest DLR platforms are on ground level next to the Jubilee Line - though passengers need to go down to the booking hall before they can come back up for interchange.

Jubilee Line 96024 prepares to depart

The Jubilee Line platform

The lower level DLR platforms

View down the Jubilee Line platform

Jubilee Line 96015 arrives

[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 108
[2] Paul Moss, London Underground (Haynes, 2014) p. 166
[3] Mike Horne, The Jubilee Line (Capital Transport, 2000) p. 73

Manchester Oxford Road (MCO)

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Manchester Oxford Road, the second busiest station in central Manchester, serves lines going East-West across the city.

Information
Type:	National Rail
Station code:	MCO
Opened:	1849
Platforms:	5

The station was opened in 1849 by the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJAR) as Oxford Road. Originally the station was a small affair with a couple of platforms for services from the East including Manchester Piccadilly (then London Road). The station slowly expanded over the years with extra platforms and services added including West to Liverpool.

The station was rebuilt in 1903-4, with the platform layout redesigned. A further rebuilt took place in 1960 with the new station buildings with a roof that consisting of three overlapping cones, innovative architecture which found favour with a number of critics even Nikolaus Pevsner. The architect Max Clendinning intended the station to be imagined as a giant piece of furniture! [1]

Unfortunately the roof, which was mostly made from timber [2], has proven rather prone to leaking and has required regular attention. Further improvements of the station have taken place in the 1990s and 2010s as it has become steadily busier. It is proposed to lengthen the station platforms as part of the Northern Hub project though this would require the knocking down of a number of adjacent properties, the station being in an awkward trapezium shaped site.

The station is served by Northern, Trans Pennine Express, Transport for Wales and East Midlands Trains.

TPE 185 444 departs

View down the platform

Station sign

Notice the canopies

Station frontage

A TPE train prepares to depart

[1] David Lawrence, British Rail Designed 1948-97 (Ian Allan, 2016) p. 78
[2] Bruce Peter, The Changing Face of British Railways (Lily Publications, 2018) p. 139

Coventry (COV)

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Coventry is a major stop on the West Coast Main Line between Rugby and Canley and also the terminus for services to Nuneaton and Leamington Spa.

XC 221 120 arrives at Coventry

Information
Type:	National Rail (West Coast Main Line)
Station code:	COV
Opened:	1838
Platforms:	4

The station was originally opened in 1838 by the London & Birmingham Railway though was quickly replaced by a larger station in 1840. This station later had an extensive engine shed and goods yard though these were run down and closed in the late 1950s and 1960s [1]. Some stabling for stock still remains to the West of the station.

The station was replaced in 1962 during a complete rebuild which added two more platforms and a new two-storey high passenger concourse [2][3], a bridge connecting the platforms. Coventry consists of an island platform and two side platforms.

Work began in 2019 on a major rebuild, which will include a new bay platform, a larger carpark and a second footbridge. The work is part of a regeneration of the centre of Coventry. The station could also be linked to the city's new very light rail system planned for the 2020s.

Work continues on the new station, the new carpark is on the right

View down the platform

Inside the concourse

Old and slightly less old station signage

LNWR 350 401 arrives next to the building site!

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Rugby to Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2008) Fig. 69
[2] David Lawrence, British Rail Designed 1948-97 (Ian Allan, 2016) p. 76
[3] Mitchell & Smith Fig. 74

Hereford (HFD)

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Hereford is the junction of the Cotswold Line and the Welsh Marches Line. On the latter it is between Abergavenny and Leominster.

WMR 170 502 waits at Hereford

Information
Type:	National Rail (Cotswold & Welsh Marches Lines)
Station code:	HFD
Opened:	1853
Platforms:	4

The station was opened in 1853 as Hereford Barrs Court [1]. It was jointly operated by the standard gauge Shrewsbury & Hereford Railway and the Great Western Railway's broad gauge Hereford, Ross & Gloucester Railway. The broad gauge line was converted to standard gauge in 1869. The station was renamed Hereford in 1893 when the GWR's Hereford Barton station was closed.

The station's original station buildings were replaced with the current structure in 1878-83 during a major rebuild of the station [2]. The station has four platforms with a footbridge connecting them.

The station is managed by Transport for Wales. It is served by Transport for Wales services along the Welsh Marches Line. West Midlands Railway services from Birmingham New Street terminate here as do GWR Cotswold Line services from London Paddington.

A pair of WMR 170s at Hereford

View of platform 3 and the main building

TfW 175 008 arrives with a Wales bound service

Footbridge

Hereford signal box

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Worcester to Hereford (Middleton Press, 2004) Map. XXX
[2] Ibid. Fig. 114

Sheffield (SHF)

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Sheffield is a busy station on the Midland Main Line and the busiest station in South Yorkshire. It is also a stop on the Sheffield Supertram.

Information
Type:	National Rail (Midland Main Line)
Station code:	SHF
Opened:	1870
Platforms:	9 (+2 tram)

The station, originally called Pond Street, was Sheffield's fifth station being built on a new line which the Midland Railway opened to replace an older route. The station was extended in 1905 with a new frontage and two new platforms added. The station was later called Sheffield Midland.

Sheffield's other large station (and main station) was Sheffield Victoria which closed in 1970 and it's services were diverted to Sheffield Midland.

A stop on the Sheffield Supertram adjacent to the station was opened in 1994. The station was refurbished in the 2000s with the taxi rank removed from the concourse, new platform surfaces and a bridge linking the station to the Supertram stop was added.

Sheffield is served by East Midlands Trains (who manage the station), Northern, Cross Country and Trans Pennine Express.

Cross Country and East Midlands Trains at Sheffield

Northern 144 008 arrives at Sheffield with a terminating service

Platform 1, the main station building behind

Sheffield has a number of bay platforms

Supertram 125 at the tram stop

EMT 158 856 stands at Platform 5

Ealing Common (ZEC)

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Ealing Common is a stop on the London Underground in West London. It is between Ealing Broadway or North Ealing and Acton Town on the District and Piccadilly Lines.

A Piccadilly Line train arrives

Information
Type:	Transport for London (District & Piccadilly Lines)
Station code:	ZEC
Opened:	1879
Platforms:	2

Ealing Common was opened by the District Railway in 1879 on it's extension from Turnham Green to Ealing Broadway. The station was renamed Ealing Common & West Acton in 1886. It kept this name until 1910 when it reverted back to the original one [1]. Electric trains began operating at Ealing Common in 1905.

The Piccadilly Line reached Ealing Common in 1932 after it was extended from Hammersmith [2]. The Piccadilly Line took over the District Line branch to South Harrow (now the Uxbridge branch). The station was rebuilt in 1930-31 with a new Charles Holden building replacing the original 1879 structure. To the East of the station is the District Line's Ealing Common depot.

Steps up to the ticket hall

A District Line S7 train waits

View down the platforms, both have concrete canopies

A District Line S7 train departs

[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 114
[2] Desmond F. Croome, The Piccadilly Line (Capital Transport, 1998) p. 28

Stratford (SRA)

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Stratford is a major transport hub in East London, an interchange of the Great Eastern Main Line out of London Liverpool Street, London Overground, two London Underground lines and the Docklands Light Railway. It is also next to a bus station!

Information
Type:	National Rail (Great Eastern Main Line) & Transport for London (Central & Jubilee Lines, Docklands Light Railway, London Overground)
Station code:	SRA
Opened:	1839
Platforms:	19

Stratford was opened by the Eastern Counties Railway in 1839 [1]. The Northern & Eastern Railway also reached Stratford the following year. The London, Tilbury & Southend Railway reached Stratford in 1854. By then Stratford was already becoming a very busy station with concerns about congestion. Stratford became part of the Great Eastern Railway and later the LNER with electrification completed through the station early after the Second World War. Because of the nature of how the station has developed it has high and low-levels [2].

The London Underground reached Stratford in 1946 with an extension of the Central Line from Liverpool Street. The Central Line is in tunnels either side of Stratford but climbs to the open air in the station. This makes Stratford one of only two stations on the Underground where passengers have to go up an escalator to reach their tube train!

The Docklands Light Railway was next to arrive, Stratford being one of the original stations on the DLR opening in 1987 [3]. One interesting thing to note is that the DLR line near Stratford used an existing railway bridge next to the Great Eastern Main Line as it ran over a former British Rail line [4]. It was the clearance available with the girders on the bridge that dictated the dimensions and final design of the top contact third rail used by the DLR [5].

The low-level part of Stratford station was rebuilt for the arrival of the Jubilee Line in 1999 [6]. Stratford is the Eastern terminus of the line. The next line to reach Stratford will be the Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) when it finally opens.

As well as the Transport for London services Stratford is served by Greater Anglia on services East including to Southend Victoria, Norwich and Clacton-on-Sea. It is also served by some c2c services to Shoeburyness.

Jubilee 96075 and friend at Stratford

Greater Anglia 321 359 at Stratford

View of the busy Stratford layout with Westfield in the left background

A Central Line train

TfLRail 315 843 arrives

London Overground 378 207 prepares to head off

[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy. 2017) p. 158
[2] J.E. Connor, Branch lines around North Greenwich (Middleton Press, 2001) Fig. 14
[3] Robert Griffiths, The Central Line (Past and Present, 2007) p. 31
[4] Stephen Jolly & Bob Bayman, Docklands Light Railway (Capital Transport, 1986) p. 26
[5] David Hartland, Brecknell Willis & Co. Collectors for Trains, Trams and Trolleys (Middleton Press, 2004) p. 60
[6] Mike Horne, The Jubilee Line (Capital Transport, 2000) p. 79

Rowley Regis (ROW)

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Rowley Regis is a stop on the Birmingham Snow Hill to Worcester Foregate Street line via Stourbridge Junction in Sandwell. The station is located between Langley Green and Old Hill.

Birmingham bound WMR 172 219 arrives

Information
Type:	National Rail (Snow Hill Lines)
Station code:	ROW
Opened:	1867
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1867. It was called Rowley Regis & Blackheath up until 1968. The station had a goods yard though this closed in 1963. The station is in a cutting with a ticket office at road level and ramps down to the platforms.

The station is managed by West Midlands Railway, who provide up six trains an hour in each direction. Chiltern Railways also stop at Rowley Regis in peak hours with a number of their services to and from London Marylebone.

View down the line, both platforms have modern canopies and bus shelters

Station sign

Ramp down to the platform

The main station building can be seen atop the bridge in the background

Main station building

Manchester Piccadilly (MAN)

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Manchester Piccadilly is the largest station in Manchester and one of the busiest interchange stations outside of London.

TPE 185 148 will shortly be departing for Cleethorpes

Information
Type:	National Rail (West Coast Main Line, Welsh Marshes Line and other local and regional lines), Manchester Metrolink
Station code:	MAN
Opened:	1842
Platforms:	14 (+ 2 Metrolink)

The station was opened as Store Street in 1842 by the Manchester & Birmingham Railway [1]. At opening it had only two platforms. Within a couple of years it was owned by the London & North Western Railway following amalgamations and the station was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847. The station was also served by the Manchester, South Junction & Altrincham Railway after 1849. The MSJ&AR later became the Great Central Railway and finally the LNER after 1923, the LNWR became the LMS.

By the 1850s the station was becoming overcrowded and the station was rebuilt and expanded in 1862 with the original trainshed roof built. However the respite did not last long and there was another rebuild and expansion in the early 1880s. The next rebuild came in 1960 [2] as part of the modernisation and electrification of the West Coast Main Line, the station was also renamed Manchester Piccadilly [3]. Much of the station was changed with one of the only (virtually) untouched parts being the Victorian trainshed roof.

Manchester Piccadilly gained two tramstops on the new Manchester Metrolink in 1992, the tramstops are in what was once the station's undercroft. The station was refurbished in 2002.

Manchester Piccadilly hosts a mixture of intercity, regional and local services. Twelve of the fourteen platforms terminate at the station while two are through platforms (the former MSJ&AR platforms) for services to North Wales, Scotland and Liverpool via Manchester Oxford Road. The station hosts services by a number of companies including Northern, Trans Pennine Express and Cross Country though is managed by Network Rail.

Northern 142 020 and 029 rest at Manchester Piccadilly

Northern 319 368 has arrived

View from the footbridge

Passengers walk towards the concourse

Northern 142 061 departs

[1] Steven Dickens, Chester to Manchester Line through time (Amberley, 2016) p. 90
[2] David Lawrence, British Rail Architecture 1948-97 (Crecy, 2018) p. 106
[3] Dickens p. 93