Derby (DBY)

An updated version of this station profile can now be found on our dedicated railway station website

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

Denham (DNM)

An updated version of this station profile can now be found on our dedicated railway station website

Denham is a stop on the Chiltern Main Line in Buckinghamshire between West Ruislip and Denham Golf Club.

Chiltern 165 030 departs bound for London Marylebone

Denham was opened in 1906 as a joint venture between the Great Western and Great Central Railways. Initially the station was known as Denham - Junction for Uxbridge and was a stop on the shuttle line between Uxbridge High Street and Gerrards Cross.

Information
Type:	National Rail (Chiltern Main Line)
Station code:	DNM
Opened:	1906
Platforms:	2

The station buildings were built to the standard design as other stations on the line though as the station was built on an embankment it had wooden platforms to save weight [1]. Four tracks were ran through Denham until 1965 when the central through lines were removed. The goods yard was closed the year before [2].


The station is nowadays a stop on the Chiltern Main Line and managed by Chiltern Railways. However the station almost became part of the London Underground. The Central Line's Western extension programme in the 1930s was originally planned to reach Denham but due to new Green Belt legislation and financial cuts after the Second World War the extension work only made it as far as West Ruislip [3].

The main station building survives on the up platform though the down platform was replaced in 2008 with new shelters. The footbridge was also replaced at the same time.

Chiltern 165 019 arrives, the footbridge between the platforms can be seen in the background

Chiltern 165 038 arrives with an Aylesbury bound service

Main station building

View from the footbridge

Chiltern 165 032 arrives with a London Marylebone bound service

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Paddington to Princes Risborough (Middleton Press, 2002) Fig. 66
[2] Ibid. Fig. 68
[3] J. Graeme Bruce & Desmond F. Coombe, The Twopenny Tube (Capital Transport, 1996) p. 60

Dorridge (DDG)

An updated version of this station profile can now be found on our dedicated railway station website

Dorridge serves the village of the same name and the adjoining Knowle near Solihull. The station is a stop on the Chiltern Main Line though not all services on that route stop there.

Information
Type:	National Rail (Chiltern Main Line)
Station code:	DDG
Opened:	1852
Platforms:	3

The station was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1852 on it's route from Birmingham to Oxford. The station was originally known as Knowle and changed to Knowle & Dorridge in 1897.

The station was changed back to just Knowle in 1968 even though the station is actually in Dorridge not Knowle! The station was finally renamed Dorridge in 1974.

Dorridge has three platforms, platform three is usually used by terminating West Midlands Trains services out of Birmingham Snow Hill. The station is also served by Chiltern Railways, who manage the station.

The original station building is still intact though was rebuilt in the mid-twentieth century with some changes to the exterior look [1]. The station once had extensive platform canopies but these have been greatly cut back. A goods yard has now been lost to a car park though some storage sidings remain around the station.

WMT 172 335 terminates at Dorridge with a service from Stourbridge Junction

Waiting room between platforms two and three

Looking down the line, eventually you will end up at London Marylebone 

Station footbridge

Main station building

Chiltern 168 106 departs with a London Marylebone service

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Banbury to Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2004) fig. 63

Duddeston (DUD)

Duddeston is a stop on the Cross-City North Line between Birmingham New Street and Aston, and also the Walsall Line between New Street and Witton. It is Birmingham's oldest railway station.

West Midlands Railway 323 205 stands at Duddeston

Information
Type:	National Rail (Cross-City Line & Walsall Line)
Station code:	DUD
Opened:	1837
Platforms:	2

Duddeston was opened by the Grand Junction Railway as 1837 as Vauxhall and was the terminus of the line from the North (and thus Birmingham's first railway terminus) for 2 years until the opening of Birmingham Curzon Street.

After the opening of Curzon Street, Duddeston (still known as Vauxhall) closed to passenger services, being used for freight only until it was rebuilt by the London & North Western Railway in 1869. In 1889 it was renamed to Vauxhall & Duddeston. The final renaming to Duddeston came in 1974 [1]. The station has suffered destruction a number of times. The station was hit by a German bomb in 1941 which destroyed the main station building. The replacement building burned down in the 1950s!

Duddeston used to be adjacent to the Grand Junction Railway's engine shed (which opened in 1840) and a sizeable goods yard though these have now gone. The lines through the station were quadrupled in 1891 though only one island platform is in use now (the other has become a buddleia plantation!)

As part of the Cross-City and Walsall Lines, the route through Duddeston has been electrified. However, not all of the services on these busy lines stop at Duddeston. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway.

Station entrance

View down the platform

The other platform, the old engine sheds beyond

WMR and London Northwestern Railway meet

LNWR 350 127 prepares to depart

[1] Vic Mitchell, North of Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2014) fig. 75

Dovey Junction / Cyffordd Dyfi (DVY)

Dovey Junction is a stop on the Cambrian Line on the Powys / Ceredigion border where the line splits towards Aberystwyth or Pwllheli. The station is between Machynllech and Borth or Penhelig.

Transport for Wales 158 830 arrives with an east bound service

Information
Type:	National Rail (Cambrian Line)
Station code:	DVY
Opened:	1863
Platforms:	2

The station was opened as Gandovey Junction in 1863 by the Cambrian Railway, it was renamed Dovey Junction in 1904, Dovey or Dyfi refers to the river next to the station. Nowadays the station is in the middle of the Dyfi National Nature Reserve. It is also close to the hamlet of Glandyfi which is where the station entrance, this is in Ceredigion a kilometre away from the platforms which are in Powys!

The original Cambrian Railway buildings were replaced in the 1970s by a new brick building [1], this has now been replaced by a bus shelter type structure. The station is managed by Transport for Wales, there is a service in both directions at least every two hours, hourly at peak times.

The nature reserve is around the station

Down the platform

Station entrance

Down both platforms

TfW 158 827 departs for Pwllheli

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Machynlleth to Barmouth (Middleton Press, 2009) Fig. 15

Dudley Street Guns Village Metro

Dudley Street Guns Village is a stop on the West Midlands Metro in West Bromwich between Black Lake and Dartmouth Street.

Tram 17 arrives at Dudley Street Guns Village

Information
Type:	West Midlands Metro
Opened:	1999
Platforms:	2

The stop is one of the original stops on the West Midlands Metro which opened in May 1999. The stop serves the residential area Guns Village and is an interchange for buses to Great Bridge and Dudley.

The stop is on what has now been called Line 1 of the West Midlands Metro between Edgbaston Village and Wolverhampton St George's or Wolverhampton Station.

Bridge carrying Dudley Street over the line

Foot crossing

Platforms with their standard shelters

The other side of the Dudley Street bridge, approaching the stop

Dorking Deepdene (DPD)

Dorking Deepdene is a stop on the North Downs Line between Dorking West and Betchworth. It is within walking distance of Dorking station though the lines are not connected.

GWR 165 111 departs

Information
Type:	National Rail (North Downs Line)
Station code:	DPD
Opened:	1851
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the Reading, Reigate & Guildford Railway in 1851 as Box Hill & Leatherhead Road [1] (quickly shortened to just Box Hill). In 1923 the station, which was by now part of the Southern Railway, was renamed Deepdene to avoid confusion with the nearby Box Hill & Westhumble station. Finally the station was renamed Dorking Deepdene in 1987.

The station is served by services along the North Downs Line between Reading and either Redhill or Gatwick Airport. There are up to two trains an hour in both directions. All services are run by Great Western Railway.

 

The station is on an embankment, and has wooden platforms to save weight [2], with steps up from the street level. The station is unstaffed with a ticket machine at street level. A couple of bus shelters and passenger information screens are at platform level.

GWR 165 128 arrives with a Reading bound service

Looking down the line

GWR 166 204 departs

Station entrance and ticket machine

Waiting to depart

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Guildford to Redhill (Middleton Press, 1989) Fig. 64

[2] Ibid. Fig. 65

Dalston Junction (DLJ)

Dalston Junction is a stop on the London Overground East London Line between Canonbury and Haggerston.

Two London Overground 378s stand at Dalston Junction

 

Information
Type:	Transport for London (East London Line)
Station code:	DLJ
Opened:	1865 (Closed 1986)
Re-Opened:	2010
Platforms:	4

The original Dalston Junction was opened by the North London Railway in 1865 and was along the line from the now closed London terminus Broad Street [1]. Dalston Junction was closed in 1986 along with Broad Street.

The coming of the London Overground network and the new East London Line saw a completely new Dalston Junction station which opened in 2010. The station was built along with a new housing development and included a bus station to make it a major transport interchange [2].

At first Dalston Junction was a terminus for the East London Line for services from Canonbury but after a few months through services as far as Clapham Junction were initiated, however some services continue to terminate at the station. Dalston Junction is about 200m from Dalston Kingsland though there are no direct services between the stations.

Terminating trains

[1] Ben Pedroche, Do Not Alight Here (Capital History, 2011) p. 61
[2] John Glover, London's Overground (Ian Allan, 2012) p. 87

Droitwich Spa (DTW)

Droitwich Spa is at the junction of the two lines between Birmingham and Worcester from Birmingham New Street and Birmingham Snow Hill.

WMR 170 630 departs

Information
Type:	National Rail (Worcester-Birmingham Line)
Station code:	DTW
Opened:	1852
Platforms:	2

The station was opened as Droitwich in 1852 by the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway. It was later taken over by the Great Western Railway. The station was renamed Droitwich Spa following a rebuilding in 1899. The station was linked to the Midland Railway's line between Birmingham and Gloucester via a branch line.

While Birmingham Snow Hill was closed between 1967 and 1995 services via Kidderminster went to Birmingham New Street instead. The station has a staffed ticket office. Access between the platforms is via a footbridge. Droitwich Spa is managed by West Midlands Railway, who operate all services to the station.

Station sign

Main station building

Semaphores at the end of a platform, the signal box can just be seen in the background

View from the footbridge

View down the platform

Danzey (DZY)

Danzey is a stop on the North Warwickshire Line (which is these days branded as the Shakespeare Line) in Warwickshire between Henley-in-Arden and Wood End.

In LM days 172 331 arrives with a Birmingham bound service

Information
Type:	National Rail (Shakespeare Line)
Station code:	DZY
Opened:	1908
Platforms:	2

Danzey was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1908 when the North Warwickshire Line was opened. Danzey itself only serves a few houses and farms in Danzey Green with the closest settlement of any size Tanworth-in-Arden over a kilometer away. Danzey was originally known as Danzey for Tanworth [1].

Despite the rural nature of the station it had a goods yard and as many as six men worked at the station during the Interwar Period. The station had a signalbox which closed in 1970. The goods yard closed in 1964.

The station is unmanned now, it has no ticket purchasing facilities though is equipped with public information screens and a help/information phone. The footbridge and platform shelters date from 1993. The station is a request stop with an hourly service in both directions most days though does not have a Sunday service. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway.

View from the footbridge

GWR style name board

Newer WMR signs

View of the shelter and the footbridge

A LM train has just arrived

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham Moor Street (Middleton Press, 2006) p. 55