Alvechurch railway station serves the village of

Alvechurch Alvechurch ( ) is a large village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove district in northeast Worcestershire, England, in the valley of the River Arrow. The Lickey Hills Country Park is 2.5 miles (4 km) to the northwest. It is south of Bir ...

in North

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

, England. It is on the

Cross-City Line The Cross-City Line is a commuter rail line in the West Midlands region of England. It runs for from Redditch and Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, its two southern termini, to Lichfield, Staffordshire, its northern terminus, via Birmingham New ...

southwest of . The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by

West Midlands Trains West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...

. The station itself is an unstaffed station. Originally a single platform station on a single-track line, a second platform was added during 2014, when a new

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

was constructed on the line through the station, in order to allow a more frequent service.

Services

As of December 2018, the station is served every 20 minutes by trains to Redditch Monday to Saturday, and every 30 minutes on Sundays. Northbound Monday to Saturday, there are trains every 20 minutes; one per hour to Four Oaks, one to Lichfield City and one to Lichfield Trent Valley. On Sundays, there are trains every half-hour to Lichfield Trent Valley. This increase follows the installation of a passing loop and second platform at the station in 2014.

History

Alvechurch station was built as part of the Redditch Railway and opened on 1 November 1859. From the beginning it was operated by the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

, who had extended the line south of Redditch to

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Eves ...

and (the Evesham Loop Line) by 1868. It became part of the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

during the 1923 railway grouping. Under the 1948 transport nationalisation it became part of the

London Midland Region of British Railways The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR), and initially consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England, Wales and Northern Irelan ...

. Passenger services beyond Redditch ended in October 1962 and the line closed completely in July 1964 – the remainder of the route (including the station here) was threatened with closure following the publication of the

Beeching Report Beeching is an English surname. Either a derivative of the old English ''bece'', ''bæce'' "stream", hence "dweller by the stream" or of the old English ''bece'' "beech-tree" hence "dweller by the beech tree".''Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames' ...

in 1963 but subsequently reprieved (albeit with a much-reduced level of service – just four trains per day each way from the mid-1960s onwards) to serve the planned Redditch

New town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

development announced in 1964. As a result of the

Transport Act 1968 The Transport Act 1968 (1968 c.73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The main provisions made changes to the structure of nationally owned bus companies, created passenger transport authorities and executives to take over pub ...

, from 1969 BR operated the passenger service on behalf of the newly created

West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE) was the public body responsible for public transport in the West Midlands metropolitan county in the United Kingdom from 1969 until 2016. The organisation operated under the name Centro f ...

. In 1982 BR divided its business into sectors, and Alvechurch came under its

Regional Railways Regional Railways was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982 that existed until 1997, two years after privatisation. The sector was originally called ''Provincial''. Regional Railways was the most subsidised (per pas ...

sector. Under the

Privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the indust ...

, Regional Railways was divided into several

train operating companies A train operating company (TOC) is a business operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993. T ...

. From 1997 Alvechurch became part of the

Central Trains Central Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated a variety of local and inter-regional trains from 2 March 1997 until 11 November 2007. Overview Created out of the Central division o ...

franchise. In 2007 the first franchise expired and was restructured. The new franchise was awarded to London Midland and ran until 2015, after which it passed to

. As a PTE station, Alvechurch has train services operated under the

Network West Midlands Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) is the public body responsible for co-ordinating transport services in the West Midlands metropolitan county in England. It is an executive body of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), with bus franc ...

names. Under their auspices, the service was significantly improved in 1980 when the branch became part of the recently inaugurated

from via New Street and . When the Cross-city line was upgraded and

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

in 1993 the platform at Alvechurch was re-sited slightly northwards. The new platform adjoins the old one end to end. The former station building is now privately owned.

2014 upgrade

The section of the Cross-City Line between and was single track.

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's len ...

planned to increase capacity by adding a

and second platform at Alvechurch. This was also to include a footbridge and lifts to reach the new platform. This was to allow the service to be increased from two to three trains per hour. The scheme was approved in November 2013. The work to upgrade Alvechurch station began in November 2013. As of January 2014 the station was cleared and work began on building the new platform and footbridge. In May 2014 the lift shaft on platform 2 was clearly visible from platform 1. The section of line between Longbridge and Redditch was closed for 2 months from July 2014 to the end of August 2014 for the new track to be laid and overhead cables to be installed. It was reopened on 1 September 2014. The improved service began in December 2014. File:Alvechurch railway station 1.jpg, The station prior to the building of the second platform. File:The bridge at Alvechurch Train Station (ALV).JPG, The work to cut the bridge out of the bank February 2014. File:Work being undetaken at Alvechurch Train Station February 2014.jpg, This will be where the second platform to Birmingham will be. File:Lift shaft platform 2.jpg, Lift shaft on the new Platform 2. 15 May 2014 File:Alvechurch Train Station lift shaft..jpg, Lift shafts in place on both platforms as work gears up for the footbridge. 15 May 2014.

References

* *

External links

Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Alvechurch railway station

{{coord, 52.346, N, 1.968, W, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Railway stations in Worcestershire DfT Category F1 stations Former Midland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1859 Railway stations served by West Midlands Trains 1859 establishments in England

Services

History

2014 upgrade

References

Further reading

External links