Cannock railway station serves the town of

Cannock Cannock () is a town in the Cannock Chase district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It had a population of 29,018. Cannock is not far from the towns of Walsall, Burntwood, Stafford and Telford. The cities of Lichfield and Wolverhampton ...

in the

Cannock Chase Cannock Chase, often referred to locally as The Chase, is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. The area has been designated as the Cannock Chase National Landscape, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and muc ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, England. It is situated on the Chase Line. The station and all trains serving it are operated by

West Midlands Trains West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a British train operating company. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trading names: within the West Midlands region as West Midlands Rai ...

. The station is located over half a mile from the centre of the town, close to the suburbs of Stoney Lea and Hawks Green.

History

In 1854, the

South Staffordshire Railway The South Staffordshire Railway (SSR) was authorised in 1847 to build a line from Dudley in the West Midlands conurbation, West Midlands of England through Walsall and Lichfield to a junction with the Midland Railway on the way to Burton upon Tre ...

(SSR) obtained powers to build a branch to Cannock from Ryecroft Junction on its main line near Walsall; this was opened to passengers and goods on 1 February 1858 together with Cannock station. In 1855, the Cannock Mineral Railway (CMR) was authorised to connect this branch with the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world. Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...

(LNWR) at Rugeley, this line was leased to the LNWR on 7 November 1859 and opened for passengers and goods at the same time. The SSR was leased to the LNWR in February 1861 and absorbed on 15 June 1867; the CMR being absorbed by the LNWR in 1869. The station was closed to passengers by

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...

on 18 January 1965 and to goods on 10 August 1964, as part of the

Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...

. The remains of a small part of the original Up (southbound) platform can still be seen just to the north of the station and behind platform 1. The station reopened by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

in 1989, as part of the first stage of the reopening to passenger trains of the Chase Line from

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

Hednesford Hednesford ( () is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase district of Staffordshire, England. The Cannock Chase area of natural beauty is to the north of the town. Hednesford is also to the north of Cannock and to the south of ...

. Announcements were made in December 2018 for minor renovations of the station. "The plans include extending the platform, improving access, creating a 300-space car park, adding spaces for bikes and improving information points. The total cost is expected to be £400,000, with £129,000 being contributed from the joint Investment Fund agreed by Staffordshire County Council and £40,000 from the West Midlands Rail Executive and West Midlands Trains." Completion of electrification of the Chase line in May 2019 enabled an increased service frequency and speed of services from Cannock including a direct electric train service to London for the first time.

Services

Service frequencies vary depending on the time of day. Of the two southbound services per hour, one continues to London Euston and the other to Birmingham International. All northbound services terminate at Rugeley Trent Valley, apart from two services per day which terminate at

. There are two trains per hour throughout the day on Saturdays with an hourly evening service. On Sundays there are hourly southbound services to

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

Gallery

File:Cannock new station geograph-3128228-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg, Under construction in 1989 File:Cannock station - 2009-03-08.jpg, The station in March 2009 File:Cannock Station - sign and sculpture (40872131494).jpg, Cannock Station – sign and sculpture

References

External links

{{Coord, 52.686, N, 2.022, W, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Railway stations in Staffordshire DfT Category F1 stations Former London and North Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1858 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1965 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1989 Railway stations served by West Midlands Trains Beeching closures in England 1858 establishments in England Reopened railway stations in Great Britain

Railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...