Covent Garden (ZCV)

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Covent Garden is a Piccadilly Line station in central London between Leicester Square (just 250 metres or 0.16 miles away) and Holborn in the always busy West End.

Information
Type:	Transport for London (Piccadilly Line)
Station code:	ZCV
Opened:	1906
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway in 1907 (a few months after the rest of the line opened) [1] with a standard ground level Leslie Green designed station building.

Unlike most stations in the central section of the London Underground Covent Garden does not have escalators. The platforms are reached via lifts or stairs (for the fit/foolhardy - there are 193 steps![2]) Because of this the station is often overcrowded and on Saturday afternoons becomes exit only.

Interestingly the short journey from Leicester Square to Covent Garden with a Zone 1 fare (at time of writing £4.90) works out at over £30 per mile, one of the most expensive railway journeys in the country!

A Piccadilly Line 73ts train waits to depart

Former signal cabin from Covent Garden, the proximity of Leicester Square is evident (yellow boxes left centre)

Surface building

Platform view

The station name is displayed on the tile wall of the platform

[1] Desmond F. Croome, The Piccadilly Line (Capital Transport, 1998) p. 11
[2] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 113

Birmingham International (BHI)

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Birmingham International is a stop on the West Coast Main Line in the West Midlands between Marston Green and Hampton-in-Arden.

An LNWR 350 lurks under the station roof

Information
Type:	National Rail (West Coast Main Line)
Station code:	BHI
Opened:	1976
Platforms:	5

Birmingham International (which is actually in Solihull) was opened by British Rail in 1976 to serve the newly opened National Exhibition Centre and Birmingham Airport [1][2]. The name is derived from the airport which at the time was called Birmingham International Airport. The station is connected to the NEC by a covered walkway.

The station is located on the West Coast Main Line and is served by Avanti West Coast, Transport for Wales, Cross Country, London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway. The station has a very regular service from Birmingham New Street which is only a few minutes away.

Birmingham International used to be linked to the airport by the world's first public Maglev train in service, developed by British Rail at Derby [3][4]. It has now been replaced by cable hauled cars.

WMR 323 205 at Birmingham International

View down the platform

Station concourse

An ATW (now TfW) 158 arrives

LNWR 350 241 waits to depart

[1] Chris Heaps, BR Diary 1968-1977 (Ian Allan, 1988) p. 97
[2] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Rugby to Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2008) Fig. 94
[3] Colin J Marsden, Departmental Stock (Ian Allan, 1984) p. 36
[4] Colin J Marsden, 25 Years of Railway Research (OPC, 1989) p. 111

Narborough (NBR)

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Narborough is a stop on the Birmingham to Peterborough Line near to Leicester. Like many stations Narborough was closed in the carnage of the 1960s but had a very quick reprieve.

Information
Type:	National Rail (B'ham - Peterborough Line)
Station code:	NBR
Opened:	1864 (Closed 1968)
Re-opened:	1970
Platforms:	2

Narborough was opened in 1864 by the South Leicestershire Railway, within a few years it was part of the London & North Western Railway empire. Near to the station were a number of granite quarries, a branch line junction and exchange sidings being next to Narborough station. The quarries and finally the branch were closed by 1980 [1].

Narborough also had a couple of goods sidings but these were closed in 1966, the station closed completely in 1968 [2]. After support, including financial, from the local councils the station was re-opened in 1970. The station was refurbished in the early 2000s, the original station building remains though the ticket office is not always open and when the station is unstaffed the waiting room is locked.

Next to the station is a level crossing. A signal box still stands next to the crossing though is no longer in every day use. Although the station is managed by East Midlands Trains only Cross Country serve Narborough with a service usually every hour usually between Birmingham New Street and Leicester, but some also through to Stansted Airport.

A Freightliner trains heads through the station

A Leicester bound XC service stops at Narborough

Station entrance

XC 170 108 prepares to depart

Station sign

Footbridge, level crossing and signal box

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Coventry to Leicester (Middleton Press, 2017) Map. XXI
[2] Ibid. Fig. 60

Embankment (ZEK)

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Embankment is a major interchange station on the London Underground on the North bank of the Thames near Trafalgar Square and inbetween London Charing Cross and London Waterloo.

Information
Type:	Transport for London (Bakerloo, Circle, District & Northern Lines)
Station code:	ZEK
Opened:	1870
Platforms:	6

The station was opened in 1870 by the District Railway as part of its extension from Westminster to Blackfriars [1]. The station was near to Charing Cross railway station and also named Charing Cross. The Baker Street & Waterloo Railway's (later Bakerloo Line) deep-level tube line reached the station in 1906. Although next to the District Railway station and with an interchange the Baker Street & Waterloo called their station Embankment (Charing Cross) [2].

The Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (later the Northern Line) reached the station in 1914. To avoid confusion the entire station was renamed Charing Cross in 1915. The station was renamed Charing Cross Embankment in 1974 and finally to just Embankment in 1976. The Bakerloo/Northern Line station Strand/Trafalgar Square station to the North was renamed Charing Cross [3]!


Embankment is served by the Circle & DIstrict Lines on the sub-surface platforms and the Bakerloo & Northern Lines on the deep-level platforms. The station received a major refurbishment in 1988 with gloss white vitreous panelling in many areas of the station. LU commissioned the artist Robyn Denny to produce artwork to lighten up the station which resulted in the coloured streamer design [4].

An S Stock train departs on the sub-surface platforms

Northern Line 95ts 51646 arrives on a North bound service

This way to the Bakerloo Line

Sub-surface platforms

A Bakerloo Line train waits to depart

As does a District Line train

[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 120 
[2] Mike Horne, The Bakerloo Line (Capital Transport, 2001) p. 18
[3] Chris Nix, Hidden London Charing Cross (London Transport Museum, 2017) p. 5
[4] Paul Moss, London Underground (Haynes, 2014) p. 140

Attenborough (ATB)

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Attenborough is a stop on the Midland Main Line in Nottinghamshire between Long Eaton and Beeston.

Two EMT Class 158s at the station

The first station to be opened was Attenborough Gate by the Midland Counties Railway on it's line between Nottingham and Derby in 1856. This station only lasted a couple of years however and was replaced in 1864 by a station called Attenborough on the current site.

Information
Type:	National Rail (Midland Main Line)
Station code:	ATB
Opened:	1856
Platforms:	2

The station was renamed Chilwell in 1937 but the LMS (who owned the station by then) reverted back to the original name after a couple of months following a petition by local residents.

Attenborough is an unstaffed station with a level crossing at the Derby end of the two platforms. Little of the original station now remains following rebuilding of the station in recent decades, nowadays the station has the usual collection of bus shelters and signage. Interchange between the platforms is via the level crossing or a footbridge. The station is managed by East Midlands Railway.

Two EMT Class 153s pass each other at Attenborough

View from the road crossing

EMT 153 382 at Attenborough, the footbridge can be seen in the background

Barriers down

Nottingham bound EMT Class 158 arrives