Evesham railway station

Evesham
HST Class 43 at Evesham railway station
General information
Location	Evesham, Wychavon England
Coordinates	52.0979°N 1.9474°W / 52.0979; -1.9474
Grid reference	SP037444
Managed by	Great Western Railway
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	EVE
Classification	DfT category E
History
Original company	Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Key dates
1 May 1852 (1852-05-01)	opened
Passengers
2018/19	0.234 million
2019/20	0.246 million
2020/21	66,164
2021/22	0.204 million
2022/23	0.245 million
Interchange	298
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Evesham railway station is in the town of Evesham in Worcestershire, England. It is between Honeybourne and Pershore stations on the Cotswold Line between Oxford and Hereford via Worcester and Great Malvern. It is operated by Great Western Railway. Trains to London Paddington take about 1 hour 45 minutes. It is one of the few railway stations in the United Kingdom to have shown a steady (if relatively small) decline in use since 2004 (see usage figures, below right).

History

The first major section of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OWW), between Evesham and Stourbridge Junction, opened to public traffic on 3 May 1852, the opening ceremony having been held on 1 May. Evesham was a terminus for just over a year, until the last major section of the OWW, from Evesham to Wolvercot Junction (to the north of Oxford), was opened on 4 June 1853. The OWW became the West Midland Railway in 1860, which in turn merged with the Great Western Railway in 1863.

On 11 November 1860 a luggage train collided with another which was stationary at Evesham station. Four carriages were badly damaged and the engine and tender were derailed. One of the drivers was badly scalded and taken to Worcester Infirmary.

On 21 October 1862 the 7.55pm express passenger train from Oxford to Worcester was passing through Evesham at 9.10pm at a speed of around 40 to 45 mph, it came into collision with three trucks west of the passenger platform. The driver of the train, Henry Crompton, was injured when the locomotive was derailed by the impact. The inquiry into the accident by Captain Tyler R.E. found that the foreman-porter James Callow or the horse-boy Daniel Langstone (aged 17) must have shunted the trucks onto the main line and then forgotten about them. The local magistrates fined the fore-man-porter £10 and the horse boy £5.

Opening of Evesham railway station from the Illustrated London News 8 May 1852

A 1904 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing (centre) railways in the Evesham area. The present station is that on the yellow line, marked G.W.

Facing the present (former OWW) station across the car park is the former Midland Railway station of 1864 by the architect George Hunt on the Ashchurch to Barnt Green Evesham loop line.

On 2 June 1885, Mark Butler, under goods guard on the Midland Railway was crushed to death while coupling wagons at Evesham station. The inquest found that although coupling sticks were provided they were seldom used. Bulter was caught by a buffer whilst going between them and the verdict was accidental death.

The stations were operated separately until 1932. It was then agreed to run them as a joint station when the G.W.R. stationmaster, E.T. Holloway took control of the G.W.R. and L.M.S. goods departments, and H.J. King the newly appointed station master at the L.M.S. station took full charge of passenger departments at the two stations. At the time of this arrangement, there were 47 staff in the passenger department alone.

The Midland station closed to passenger traffic in June 1963 and completely a year later. The original timber buildings from this station were taken to build Monsal Dale railway station in Derbyshire; the replacement stone structure still stands and is used for office accommodation. The rest of the site has been redeveloped as a housing estate.

Services

Before December 2019, services at Evesham were irregular with gaps of between 40 mins and 2 hours between services.

As of December 2019, Great Western Railway now provide a more regular service to the station. The current off-peak service in trains per hour is:

• 1 tph to London Paddington
• 1 tph to Worcester Foregate Street of which some continue to Great Malvern and Hereford

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Pershore		Great Western Railway Cotswold Line		Honeybourne
	Historical railways
Fladbury Line open, station closed		Great Western Railway Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway		Littleton and Badsey Line open, station closed
	Disused railways
Bengeworth Line and station closed		Midland Railway Evesham loop line		Harvington Line and station closed

Bibliography

• 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.
• Jenkins, Stanley C; Quayle, HL (1977). The Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway. The Oakwood Library of Railway History. Blandford: Oakwood Press. OL40.

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2006). Cheltenham to Redditch. Middleton Press. figs. 44-54. ISBN 9781904474814. OCLC 851839542.

External links

Railway lines in Worcestershire
Kidderminster line to Birmingham Snow Hill Cross-City Line to Birmingham New Street Hagley Birmingham–Stratford line to Birmingham Moor Street Wythall Blakedown Birmingham–Stratford line to Stratford-upon-Avon Barnt Green Kidderminster Town Kidderminster Blackwell Alvechurch Foley Park Halt Lickey Incline Bewdley Tunnel Redditch Rifle Range Halt Stourport-on-Severn Gloucester loop line via Alcester Hartlebury Bromsgrove Bewdley Cutnall Green Halt Stoke Works Northwood Halt Droitwich Spa Junction Wyre Forest Droitwich Spa Arley Newnham Bridge Fernhill Heath Severn Valley Railway to Bridgnorth Blackpole Halt Easton Court Astwood Halt Tenbury and Bewdley Railway to Woofferton Droitwich Road Worcester Tunnel Junction Dunhampstead Worcester TMD Oddingley Spetchley Vinegar works Worcester Shrub Hill Worcester Foregate Street Norton Worcestershire Parkway Stoulton former freight branch Pershore River Severn Abbot's Wood Junction Wyre Halt Henwick Fladbury Boughton Halt Wadborough Rushwick Halt Defford Leigh Court Eckington Knightwick Bredon Bransford Road Gloucester loop line via Alcester Suckley Harvington Worcester, Bromyard & Leominster Rly to Leominster Evesham Newland Halt Bengeworth Malvern Link Hinton Great Malvern Ashton-under-Hill Malvern Hanley Road Beckford Upton-on-Severn Littleton and Badsey Ripple Honeybourne Malvern Wells Cotswold Line to Hereford Honeybourne Line to Stratford-upon-Avon Ashchurch for Tewkesbury Cotswold Line to Oxford Cross Country Route to Cheltenham Spa Broadway Gloucestershire Warwickshire Rly to Cheltenham Racecourse

• Train times and station information for Evesham railway station from National Rail
• Evesham Station on navigable 1946 O.S. map