Kidderminster railway station
Kidderminster  | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Place | Kidderminster |
| Local authority | Wyre Forest |
| Grid reference | SO838763 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | KID |
| Managed by | London Midland |
| Number of platforms | 2 |
| DfT category | D |
|
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries | |
| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2010/11 |
 1.298 million |
| 2011/12 |
 1.451 million |
| 2012/13 |
1.511 million |
| 2013/14 |
1.585 million |
| 2014/15 |
1.562 million |
| History | |
| Key dates | Opened 1852 |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Kidderminster from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
 UK Railways portal | |
Kidderminster railway station is the main station serving the large town of Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England and the wider Wyre Forest district. The station is operated by London Midland, and is on the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line. Regular commuter services run to Birmingham and Worcester, with several direct daily services to/from London Marylebone. It shares its station approach with the adjacent Severn Valley Railway station.
Facilities
There is a large car park for 400 cars, administered by London Midland, in part of the old goods yard between the two railway stations. The Severn Valley Railway has its own car park on the town centre side of their station.
The station has a booking office, a newsagents/snack bar, a BT Phone Box, a cash point and a ticket machine.
In 2009 a recently opened bridge (with lifts) has transformed access between the platforms. Before this work, it was via the road overbridge.
Prior to its demolition, the signal box (a short distance to the south of the station) was known as Kidderminster Junction. This controlled the junction to the Severn Valley Line until its closure in the 1970s.
Severn Valley Railway terminus
The Severn Valley Railway's southern terminus shares the same station approach road and is known as Kidderminster Town to distinguish it from the National Rail station. This also reflects the GWR tradition of suffixing the station name with "Town" if it was closer to the main body of the town served than that of its competitor(s), which Kidderminster Town achieves to the tune of around 60 yards.
History
Kidderminster station opened with the extension of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton railway from Worcester to Stourbridge on 1 May 1852 by the GWR. The branch line to Bewdley on the Severn Valley line was added in 1878. The station building, of a mock Tudor design, survived until 1968 when it was demolished owing to the effects of dry rot and replaced by British Rail with the small brick building that stands today.
Future
Plans are in hand to replace the small brick station building with something echoing that of the adjacent SVR building. As well as this, the plans envisage a large bus exchange, improved car parking and "drop off" areas.
The area has had upgraded signalling and a new connection to the Severn Valley Railway, enabling passenger trains to access the branch in both directions.
Electrification of the route is an aspiration of Network Rail and the local rail user group. A service to/from NR metals to Bewdley has also been proposed over the years. This is finally seeing some more local interest.[1][2]
The original mock Tudor station building demolished in 1968._Station_-_geograph.org.uk_-_118927.jpg)
The replacement brick station building.
Kidderminster station in 1963, with auto-train to Bewdley.
View of the footbridge added in 2009.
Services
Most trains using the station are operated by London Midland as part of the Snow Hill Lines.[3]
The standard off peak service in trains per hour (tph) is:
- 4 tph to Birmingham Snow Hill and Birmingham Moor Street, semi fast, of which 2 continue to Dorridge and 2 to Whitlocks End;
- 2 tph to Worcester (either Foregate Street or Shrub Hill), of which some continue to Great Malvern.
Most London Midland services are operated by Class 172 diesel multiple units.
The service between Kidderminster and Birmingham is heavily used, by both commuters and shoppers to Birmingham. The service was increased from three to four trains per hour in 2006.
The other company which operates trains is Chiltern Railways to London. Their services are:
- 4 morning trains to London Marylebone in the morning peak;
- 4 returning from London over the evening peak times
These services also connect Kidderminster to Banbury, Bicester North and High Wycombe.
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blakedown | London Midland Leamington-Worcester |
Hartlebury Droitwich Spa on Sundays | ||
| Blakedown | Chiltern Railways London-Kidderminster |
Terminus | ||
 Heritage railways |
||||
| Interchange with Kidderminster Town on the Severn Valley Railway | ||||
Sources
- ↑ SLUG
- ↑ Kidderminster SHUTTLE
- ↑ GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 71
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kidderminster railway station. |
- Train times and station information for Kidderminster railway station from National Rail
- Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Kidderminster station
Coordinates: 52°23′02″N 2°14′20″W / 52.384°N 2.239°W