Tamworth railway station

Tamworth National Rail

Tamworth Station Building
Location
Place Tamworth
Local authority Borough of Tamworth
Coordinates 52°38′13″N 1°41′12″W / 52.6369°N 1.6867°WCoordinates: 52°38′13″N 1°41′12″W / 52.6369°N 1.6867°W
Grid reference SK213044
Operations
Station code TAM
Managed by London Midland
Number of platforms 4
DfT category C2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05  0.656 million
2005/06 Increase 0.710 million
2006/07 Increase 0.767 million
2007/08 Increase 0.782 million
2008/09 Increase 0.799 million
2009/10 Increase 0.885 million
2010/11 Increase 0.931 million
2011/12 Increase 0.953 million
2012/13 Increase 0.963 million
2013/14 Increase 1.025 million
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Tamworth from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Tamworth is a split-level railway station which serves the town of Tamworth in Staffordshire, England. It is located where the Cross Country Route passes over the Trent Valley section of the West Coast Main Line, in the United Kingdom, although there is no rail link between the two lines.

History

Tamworth high level platforms, looking north.

The original station was opened in 1839 by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway on its original route from Derby to Hampton-in-Arden meeting the London and Birmingham Railway for London

In 1847 the London and North Western Railway built its Trent Valley Line passing beneath the original line with a new joint station, though they weren't referred to as "High Level" and "Low Level" till 1924. Since it was expected that only local trains would call, the platforms were on loops, with the running lines left clear for expresses. At that time there was a north to west curve linking the, by then, Midland with the LNWR line. Since it was the crossing of two major lines - one Bristol to Newcastle, the other Euston to Aberdeen - it was important for the Royal Mail transferring upwards of 2000 bags every night.

A north to east curve was also built very early on by the Trent Valley Railway and the Birmingham & Derby Junction railway, and track was laid on it, but it is not known whether it was ever used. It was certainly lifted by the turn of the century. The track left the Trent Vally line and climbed on an embankment until it crossed the River Anker via a bridge, then entered a cutting until reaching the Midland line. The bridge, known locally as the Spider Bridge, was demolished sometime during the late 1960s by the Royal Engineers, and the cutting was filled in shortly afterwards, so there is little to see nowadays except for the vegetation-covered embankment leading to the bridge. Prior to the introduction of diesel engines, Tamworth Railway Station was particularly well known to 'train spotting' enthusiasts as the closest station to Birmingham at which the larger and faster steam engines could be seen on the London to the North West Coast Line. The south-east corner, where the lines crossed, was at that time a vacant field, and used to be filled with spotters who would bring refreshments and spend the whole day there. A housing estate now occupies that spot.

There was a large water tower and pumping station at the east end of the low level, pumping water from the River Anker below.

The original station was demolished in 1961 and the rebuilt station opened in 1962 and at the same time the Trent Valley Line was electrified, requiring the High level line and platforms to be raised by two feet.[1]

Accidents and incidents

Main article: Tamworth rail crash

Layout

There are four platforms:

Services

A Virgin Pendolino speeds south through the low level platforms on the West Coast Main Line.

Low level

London Midland

London Midland operates a regular Monday to Sunday semi-fast hourly service between London and Crewe via Stoke-on-Trent which calls at Tamworth. This service uses Class 350 multiple units. Some peak services start or terminate at Northampton.

Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains provide additional services during the peak hours and weekends. Westbound, there are:

Eastbound, there are:

All Virgin Trains services are operated by a Pendolino.


High level

On the Cross Country Route all trains are served by CrossCountry and operated by Class 170s, 220s, 221s and HST sets.

Northbound, the typical Monday-Saturday frequency of services is as follows:

On Sundays this is reduced to 1 train per hour to Nottingham and 1 train per 2 hours to Glasgow.

Southbound, the typical Monday-Saturday frequency of services is as follows:

On Sundays the hourly service to Birmingham does not operate.

There is also a small number of trains between Newcastle and Reading or Southampton Central which stop at Tamworth.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Pixton, B., (2005) Birmingham-Derby: Portrait of a Famous Route, Runpast Publishing
  2. ↑ Hall, Stanley (1990). The Railway Detectives. London: Ian Allan. pp. 38–39. ISBN 0 7110 1929 0.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tamworth railway station.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Wilnecote   CrossCountry
Cardiff - Nottingham		   Burton on Trent
Birmingham New Street   CrossCountry
South West - North East		   Derby
Atherstone   London Midland
London-Crewe		   Lichfield Trent Valley
Nuneaton   Virgin Trains
London-Manchester/Liverpool/Crewe		   Lichfield Trent Valley
London Euston   Virgin Trains
London-Glasgow		   Lichfield Trent Valley
London Euston or
Rugby		   Virgin Trains
London-North West		   Lichfield Trent Valley
Historical railways
Wilnecote
Line and station open		   Midland Railway
Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway		   Elford
Line open, station closed