Witton railway station, opened in 1876, serves the Witton area of the city of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England. It is situated on the Chase Line, part of the former

Grand Junction Railway The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846. The line built by the company, which opened in 1837, linked the Liverpool and Manchester Railway to Birmingham via Warri ...

which opened in 1837. The line was electrified in 1966, as part of the London Midland Region's electrification programme; the line from Coventry to Walsall was energised on 15 August 1966. 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 sits above Witton Road, the A4040 Outer Ring Road, as the railway line here is on an embankment. It is the closest station to

Villa Park Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...

, home of

Aston Villa F.C. Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional Association football, football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English foot ...

and is advertised as the station 'for Villa Park' on station signage. During

Randy Lerner Randolph David Lerner (born February 21, 1962) is an American billionaire businessman and former sports-team owner. He became the majority owner of the American football team, the Cleveland Browns, of the National Football League (NFL), upon the ...

's ownership of Aston Villa, there had been discussions on changing the name of Witton station to ''Villa Park'', as is the case with

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

's local station,

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an All-seater stadium, all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F.C. ...

. Aston Villa's former CEO, Bruce Langham, said that the former

West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE) was the Passenger transport executive, public body responsible for public transport in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands metropolitan county in the United Kingdom from 1969 until 2 ...

(Centro) were amenable to the idea as long as it is done at the expense of the club. No action has yet been taken.

Facilities

The station is no longer staffed, its ticket office having been closed by London Midland in 2013. Tickets must now be purchased in advance, or from a self-service ticket machine on platform 2, or on the train. Waiting accommodation is provided in the brick buildings on both platforms, whilst train running information is given via timetable posters, CIS screens, help points and automatic announcements. Step-free access to both platforms is available via ramps from street level.

Services

Witton is served by trains between

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

and via , operating every 30 minutes Monday-Saturday daytimes and every 60 minutes on Sundays. These services are operated by

Electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...

s. Extra services are run before and after matches or events at Villa Park on matchdays and event days with services northbound to and shuttles to/from .

References

External links

Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Witton railway station
Railway stations in Birmingham, West Midlands DfT Category E stations Former London and North Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1876 Railway stations served by West Midlands Trains {{WestMidlands-railstation-stub