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
Worcester Shrub Hill is one of Worcester's two railway stations though is not in the city centre like Worcester Foregate Street.
Information
Type:
National Rail (Cotswold &
Snow Hill Lines)
Station code:
WOS
Opened:
1850
Platforms:
2
Shrub Hill is a much larger station than Foregate Street. It was opened in 1850 and was a joint project of the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton and Midland Railways. The current station building dates from 1865.
The station has two platforms connected by a footbridge though people who can't use the stairs have to cross the track (under supervision). The former platform three was a bay platform that is no longer in use but used to host services to Cheltenham Spa. Shrub Hill is adjacent to Worcester TMD with a number of stabling sidings behind the station. The station is host to a number of fine semaphore signals.
As well as West Midlands Trains services to/from Birmingham and Malvern the station has regular GWR services to London Paddington, Hereford and other destinations like Evesham and Westbury.
Great Malvern is a stop on the Cotswold Line in Malvern, Worcestershire between Malvern Link and Colwall.
West Midlands Railway 196 003 departs for Hereford
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Cotswold Line)
Station code:
GMV
Opened:
1860
Platforms:
2
The station was opened by the Worcester & Hereford Railway in 1860. However, the station buildings were not completed until 1862. Malvern was a popular Victorian spa town, the station had dock sidings for the carriages of the gentry [1], there was also a private siding for coal supplies to the adjacent Imperial Hotel. The station had an enclosed private passageway to the hotel known as the Worm though this is no longer open (the hotel is nowadays a school in any case).
The station had an ornate clock tower but it was lost in the post-war period [2]. The station's sidings have also now gone being lifted in the mid-1960s, a signalbox which controlled them was also removed though the splendid platform canopies have been restored. Access between the platforms is via a subway.
The station was opened by the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway in 1852, the station is actually nearer to the village of Pinvin, Pershore being around 1.6km away to the south. The station was a much grander affair than it is nowadays with two platforms and a goods yard. There was also a horse loading dock (the station being near a racecourse). The goods yard closed in 1964 [1]. The line through Pershore was singled in 1971 [2], one platform was closed though traces of it can still be seen. The service was greatly reduced with just one train a day in both directions throughout most of the 1970s.
The modern station has the usual bus shelter and information screen facilities of an unstaffed station. The station is managed by Great Western Railway, an hourly service is maintained between London Paddington and Worcester Foregate Street, some trains going onwards to Great Malvern and Hereford.
A road bridge crosses the line at the end of the platform
Heritage style station nameboard
Slightly more modern sign
Remains of the closed platform
Station view from the road bridge
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Moreton-in-Marsh to Worcester (Middleton Press, 2004) Fig. 79
Bewdley is one of the stops on the Severn Valley Railway in Worcestershire between Kidderminster Town and Northwood Halt.
A train stands on platform 1 and prepares to depart
Information
Type:
Preserved Railway (Severn Valley Railway)
Station code:
BEW
Opened:
1862 (Closed 1970)
Re-Opened:
1974
Platforms:
3
The station was opened in 1862 by the West Midland Railway on their line from Hartlebury to Shrewsbury, later becoming part of the Great Western Railway. Originally Bewdley was a busy junction. The Tenbury & Bewdley Railway opened a line through the Wyre Forest in 1864 [1] and in 1878 a line down to Kidderminster was added by the GWR.
Bewdley began to be run-down in the 1960s along with much of the railway system. The Wyre Forest line closed in 1962 and the Severn Valley line in 1963. The remaining passenger services were ended in 1970 and the station closed. However, by now the Severn Valley Railway project had already started and in 1974 the SVR bought Bewdley station as part of its expansion down from Hampton Loade. Bewdley is one of the main stations on the SVR and was its administrative base until recently. Nowadays, it is the home of the SVR's wagon restoration works. The SVR's heritage DMU fleet is also usually stabled at Bewdley.
Bewdley has three platforms, platforms 2 and 3 being an island platform which is accessed via a footbridge. These platforms are usually the only ones used except at galas when local trains from Kidderminster terminating at Bewdley or specials will use platform 1.
Changing rail usage patterns and commuter need have seen some interest from Network Rail and some train operators like Chiltern Railways to run through services from the network to Bewdley but at the moment (and likely will for the foreseeable future) the station remains part of a preserved railway!
40106 stands at Bewdley
Class 20 viewed from the footbridge
View of the island platform
Main station building on the left as a Class 31 comes through
A Western stands at an old "Western" station
[1] Michael Welch, Diesels on the Western (Capital Transport, 2013) p. 5
Wythall is a stop on the North Warwickshire / Shakespeare Line in Worcestershire between Whitlocks End and Earlswood. Although just outside the West Midlands area the station is still included in the West Midlands PTE area.
WMR 172 331 departs for Stratford
Information
Type:
National Rail (Shakespeare Line)
Station code:
WYT
Opened:
1908
Platforms:
2
The station was opened in 1908 by the Great Western Railway as Grimes Hill Platform (Grimes Hill being the name of the area immediately adjacent to the station). In 1914 it was renamed Grimes Hill & Wythall Platform [1], in 1974 it became just Wythall. The station has always been rather basic, lacking a goods yard. Original station facilities were a pair of pagoda style huts on the platforms. Not much has changed over the years though the shelters are now concrete!
Wythall is served by trains on the hourly service from Birmingham to Stratford-upon-Avon. Most Birmingham services terminate at Stourbridge Junction though some continue to Worcester Foregate Street. Wythall no longer has a ticket office though the building remains in place.
Former ticket office
View down the platform
A West Midlands Railway 172 departs for Stratford-upon-Avon
Permit to travel machine, now removed
Another West Midlands Railway service arrives at the station
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham Moor Street (Middleton Press, 2006) Map. XIX
A GWR service prepares to head to Worcester Shrub Hill
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Cotswold Line & Nottingham-Cardiff Line)
Station code:
WOP
Opened:
2020
Platforms:
3
The station is located near the Worcestershire village of Norton and is close to site of the former Norton Halt station on the Cotswold Line which closed in 1966 [1]. The new station has been planned for a number of years, offering interchange between two lines and having a lot more available parking than Worcester Shrub Hill. However, the final decision to go-ahead with the station was delayed a number of times.
Work finally began at the station site in 2017 with construction completed in late 2019, however the opening was delayed a couple more times until the station opened finally in February 23rd 2020.
The station is a mile to the South of Worcester and has spaces for five hundred cars. The station is managed by Great Western Railway and served by them and Cross Country.
Station view, the grey footbridge on the right allows a footpath to cross the line
A GWR 800 arrives on the Cotswold Line platform
Cross Country 170 398 prepares to depart
Station frontage
Platform view
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Moreton-on-Marsh to Worcester (Middleton Press, 2004) Fig. 90
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
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
