Ashchurch for Tewkesbury railway station

Ashchurch for Tewkesbury
Location
Place Ashchurch
Local authority Tewkesbury
Operations
Station code ASC
Managed by First Great Western
Number of platforms 2
Live arrivals/departures and station information
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage
2004/05 * 47,501
2005/06 * 56,513
2006/07 * 64,592
2007/08 * 58,212
2008/09 * 67,390
2009/10 * 64,622
History
24 June 1840 [1] Station opened
15 November 1971 Station Closed
1 June 1997 Rebuilt station opened
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Ashchurch for Tewkesbury from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Ashchurch for Tewkesbury is a railway station serving the village of Ashchurch near Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, England. The station is located on the main Bristol–Birmingham main line 12 km (7¼ miles) north of Cheltenham Spa and was opened on 1 June 1997. There are regular bus connections from near the station to Tewkesbury, which is located two miles to the west.

Contents

History

The original Ashchurch station was a stop on the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway, authorised in 1836, and whose central section from Bromsgrove to Cheltenham, including Ashchurch, was opened on 24 June 1840 (the line was open throughout a few months later). It subsequently became part of the Midland Railway, later the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923, and finally passed to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. It was then closed by the British Railways Board.

Two fatal accidents occurred near the station prior to its original closure - the first on 8 January 1929[2] and the second forty years later on 8 March 1969.[3]

Description

The station reopened on 1 June 1997 on the site of the earlier station which had lain derelict for 26 years. Only one small ruined red-brick shed remains of the original station buildings. In the post-war period, the station had been used both for passenger services and for cargo loading for the nearby army base. A number of cargo sidings still exist nearby. Ashchurch was once a railway centre of some importance, as it was the junction for two branches, one each side of the main line:

The remains of the old lines are still apparent, with much of its infrastructure (such as bridges) still in existence. The old connecting curve and the two branches it served can clearly be traced on a map. With much of the Ashchurch to Tewkesbury line now being used as a Cycle and Footpath, this section proved valuable during the 2007 United Kingdom floods as it was the only dry route into and out of Tewkesbury at the time.

When reopened in 1997, there were considerably more northbound services, with many CrossCountry or former Central Trains services from Cardiff calling there. However, in the early 2000s these services were withdrawn, reducing the usefulness of the station. Passengers wishing to travel to Birmingham usually had to travel south to Cheltenham Spa, change onto a northbound train, then return northwards, passing through Ashchurch without stopping. From December 2006, some peak time services to and from Birmingham were reintroduced. However, from December 2008, CrossCountry are cutting the service on weekdays from 7 to 4 northbound services and from 4 (5 on Fridays) to 2 southbound services.

In addition to the A46 road bridge, which does not provide access to the southbound (eastern) platform – the only access to that, including wheelchair access, is by a ramped footbridge over the lines at the station itself. A pushbutton computerised service provides real-time next train announcements. There is a large car park situated adjacent to the northbound (western) platform. The nearest bus stop, from where the Stagecoach Bus 41/42 service departs to Tewkesbury town centre and Cheltenham, has recently been moved from just outside the station to near the roundabout on Northway lane about 200 yards further from the station.

As the station is unstaffed, tickets must be purchased on the train itself or in advance.

Services

The station is served by two operators. First Great Western (who manage the station) operate a two-hourly service between Ashchurch and Worcester with some continuing to Great Malvern in the north, and to Cheltenham, Bristol, Westbury and sometimes Weymouth or Brighton in the south.

A small number of CrossCountry services between Cardiff Central and Nottingham call there, as does a single late Friday night London Midland train between Gloucester and Birmingham New Street, providing some direct trains to Birmingham.

London Midland's Worcester to Gloucester (calling at Cheltenham and Ashchurch) service has been discontinued since the start of the December 2009 railway timetable due to low passenger usage.

In 2010 the Ashchurch and Tewkesbury District Rail Promotion Group began campaigning for an improved service to the station. They highlighted the close proximity of the station to Junction 9 of the M5 and the free car-park as being attractive to potential commuters. Cross Country trains run 3 trains per hour in each direction, without stopping and appear to have the potential capacity in the timetable to stop. The group also point out that official figures from the office of rail regulation show 67,000 passengers buying tickets to or from the station in 2008-09. Most other stations with that level of patronage have at least an hourly service. The need for an hourly service between Worcester and Cheltenham has previously been noted by other passenger groups.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Cheltenham Spa   First Great Western
Brighton/Weymouth - Westbury - Great Malvern
  Worcester Shrub Hill
Cheltenham Spa   Cross Country
Cardiff - Nottingham
  Bromsgrove
or University
Historical railways
Bredon
Line open, station closed
  Midland Railway
Birmingham and Gloucester Railway
  Cleeve
Line open, station closed
Disused railways
Terminus   Midland Railway
Gloucester Loop Line
  Beckford
Line and station closed
Tewkesbury
Line and station closed
  Midland Railway
Tewkesbury and Malvern Railway
  Terminus

References

  1. ^ Butt, R. V. J. (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 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199. 
  2. ^ Report on the Accident at Ashchurch on 8th January 1929 The Railways Archive; Retrieved 2009-04-03
  3. ^ Report on the Derailment and subsequent Collision that occurred on 8th March 1969 near Ashchurch Station in the Western Region British Railways The Railways Archive; Retrieved 2004-04-03

External links