Alvechurch railway station

Alvechurch Add→{{rail-interchange}}
General information
Location	Bromsgrove
Managed by	London Midland
Platforms	1
Other information
Station code	ALV
History
Opened	1 November 1859

Alvechurch railway station serves the village of Alvechurch in Worcestershire, England. It is on the Cross-City Line 11.25 miles (18 km) southwest of Birmingham New Street. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by London Midland. The station itself is an unstaffed station with a bus-stop style shelter and only one platform.

Services

Alvechurch station is served every 30 minutes from early morning to late evening by trains between Redditch and Lichfield Trent Valley via Birmingham New Street and Four Oaks.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Barnt Green		London Midland Cross-City Line		Redditch
Historical railways
Barnt Green Line and station open		Midland Railway Gloucester Loop Line		Redditch Line and station open

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, who had extended the line south of Redditch to Evesham and Ashchurch (the Gloucester Loop Line) by 1868. It became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the 1923 railway grouping. Under the 1948 transport nationalisation it became part of the London Midland Region of British Railways.

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 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 development announced in 1964.

As a result of the Transport Act 1968, from 1969 BR operated the passenger service on behalf of the newly created West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE). In 1982 BR divided its business into sectors, and Alvechurch came under its Regional Railways sector. Under the Privatisation of British Rail, Regional Railways was divided into several train operating companies. From 1997 Alvechurch became part of the Central Trains franchise. In 2007 the first franchise expired and was restructured. The new franchise was awarded to London Midland and runs until 2015.

As a PTE station, Alvechurch has train services operated under the Centro and Network West Midlands names. Under their auspices, the service was significantly improved in 1980when the branch became part of the recently-inaugurated Cross-City Line from Lichfield City via New Street and Kings Norton.

When the Cross-city line was upgraded and electrified 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.

Future

The section of the Cross-City Line between Barnt Green and Redditch is single track. Network Rail plans to increase capacity by adding a passing loop and second platform at Alvechurch. This will also include a footbridge and lifts to reach the new platform. This will allow the service to be increased from two to three trains per hour. The scheme was approved in November 2013.

References

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.

External links

• Train times and station information for Alvechurch railway station from National Rail
• Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Alvechurch railway station
• Station on navigable O.S. map