Stratford-upon-Avon (SAV)

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

Stratford-upon-Avon was once a stop on the Birmingham Snow Hill to Cheltenham line but since 1976 has been a terminus of both the North Warwickshire Line (known these days as the Shakespeare Line) and the Leamington-Stratford Line.

Information
Type:	National Rail (Shakespeare Line & Leamington - Stratford Line)
Station code:	SAV
Opened:	1865
Platforms:	3

The station was an amalgamation of two earlier adjacent stations opened on lines by the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway from Honeybourne and the Stratford Railway from Hatton. A combined station was opened in 1863 [1]. The current station opened in 1865 North of the original amalgamated station [2] and later became part of the Great Western Railway. The main building and footbridge of the station was completed in 1891, both remain in good condition.

The main line from Birmingham to Cheltenham was opened in 1908 and Stratford-upon-Avon was expanded, a third platform added. All three platforms remain open though platform 3 is only used occasionally these days. A track cross over has been retained South of platforms 1 and 2 for use by locomotives (often steam) on excursions to run around the train.

Passenger services South of Stratford which began in 1911 ended in 1968 though the line remained open for freight until 1976. The station was improved in 2015 with a second footbridge with lifts added. Other improvements to the station are planned.

Chiltern 165 008 underneath the original footbridge

Steps up the new footbridge 

Station entrance 

Platform view, both bridges can be seen

Both London Midland and Chiltern Railways serve the station

[1] Colin G. Maggs, The Branch Lines of Warwickshire (Amberley, 2011) p. 122
[2] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham (Moor Street) (Middleton Press, 2006) p. IX

Romford (RMF)

Romford is a station on the Great Eastern Main Line in what was historically Essex but is now part of Greater London.

Information
Type:	National Rail (Great Eastern Main Line)
Station code:	RMF
Opened:	1839
Platforms:	5

The station was first opened in 1839 by the Eastern Counties Railway as the Eastern terminus of their line from Mile End. However the line was extended East to Brentwood the following year. Another station was opened in Romford by the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway in 1893. The two stations were combined in 1934. The LTS line is now London Overground's line from Romford to Upminster.

London services through Romford are the Shenfield Metro operated by TfL Rail (which will become the Elizabeth Line of Crossrail in due course) and Greater Anglia. The platforms of Romford station will be extended for the longer Crossrail trains with improvements to be made to the ticket hall and passenger information systems.

Greater Anglia 321 408 with a Colchester bound service

View across the platforms

Main entrance on the right under the bridge

Greater Anglia Class 360 heads through

Shottle

Shottle is an intermediate station on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway. It serves the settlements Cowers Lane (which is nearest), Turngate and Shottlegate. The station was opened as Cowers Lane but was changed by request of the owner of Shottle Hall.

Information
Type:	Preserved Railway (Ecclesbourne Valley Railway)
Opened:	1867 (Closed 1947)
Re-Opened:	2014
Platforms:	1

Shottle was on the branch line from Duffield to Wirksworth and was opened by the Midland Railway in 1867. The station was closed for passenger use in 1947 as a fuel saving measure though remained open for freight until 1967 when full closure occurred.

The station was re-opened as a stop on the preserved Ecclesbourne Valley Railway in 2014. Like with Idridgehay further up the line the former station buildings are now privately owned (by an oil company in Shottle's case) so only the platform is officially part of the EVR station. The building's owners however agreed to have the building repainted in Midland Railway colours. The station building was designed by the Midland Railway's John Crossley [1] who designed all of the stations on the line.


Shottle hosts a passing loop on the EVR though only has a platform on the down line, trains from Wirksworth can stop for passengers to embark or alight but not from Duffield. A second platform is under construction and due to open in 2018. A couple of sidings are next to the station used by the railway for stock storage and engineering trains.

General view of Shottle, the former station building is not part of the EVR station

View of the former station building

A Duffield bound Class 33 hauled train passes a train waiting in the loop

One of Shottle's sidings

[1] Tom Tait & Neil Ferguson-Lee, The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway: the First 150 Years (Ecclesbourne Valley Railway Media, 2017) p. 10

Dollis Hill (ZDO)

Dollis Hill is a station on the Jubilee Line in North West London though has had a varied history being part of three separate lines on the underground.

Information
Type:	Transport for London (Jubilee Line)
Station code:	ZDO
Opened:	1909
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the Metropolitan Railway in 1909, in the early 1930s it was renamed Dollis Hill & Gladstone Park for a short period before reverting back. In 1939 the station was transferred to the Bakerloo Line as part of the Stanmore branch [1].

Metropolitan Line trains no longer stopped at the station after 1940 though continued (and to this day continue) to pass by on the fast lines. To facilitate the transfer of the station between tube lines the platform had to be moved so the Metropolitan Lines could be located either side of the Bakerloo [2].

Change of platform location, based on Horne p. 20

In 1979 the Jubilee Line was formed from the Stanmore branch of the Bakerloo. The station has a single island platform with access via a subway.

96ts 96108 on a Southbound service

View down the platform

Platform building

A Metropolitan Line S8 passes the station

[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 114
[2] Mike Horne, The Jubilee Line (Capital Transport, 2000) p. 21

Bermuda Park (BEP)

Bermuda Park is one of two new stations (the other being Coventry Arena) which opened at the start of 2016 on the Coventry-Nuneaton Line.

Information
Type:	National Rail (Coventry-Nuneaton Line)
Station code:	BEP
Opened:	2016
Platforms:	2

The station serves the business park of the same name in the South of Nuneaton. It is the first station on the site though is near Chilvers Coton which closed in 1965. Bermuda Park was opened in January 2016 a few months later than originally planned.

The station is a basic modern unmanned one with bus shelters and a ticket machine and little else. The station is not that busy yet, having just 2,384 passengers in its first year of operation though this is not helped by the station only having at most an hourly service between Coventry and Nuneaton. All of these services are operated by London Midland.

A London Midland service heading to Coventry

View down the platform looking towards Nuneaton

Station entrance

Platform shelter

Station sign