Coventry to Leamington Line

Coventry to Leamington Line

Overview
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	West Midlands (region)
Termini	Coventry Leamington Spa
Operation
Opened	1851
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	CrossCountry
Rolling stock	Class 220 Class 221
Technical
No. of tracks	1-2
Track gauge	4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

Legend

Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford Line

Berkswell

Coventry avoiding line

Coventry to Nuneaton Line

Coventry

Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford Line

Gibbet Hill Junction

Kenilworth Junction

Kenilworth

Warwick (Milverton)

Milverton Junction

Chiltern Main Line

Leamington Spa General

Leamington Spa (Avenue)

Leamington to Rugby Line

Chiltern Main Line

The Coventry to Leamington Line is a railway line linking the city of Coventry with the town of Leamington Spa. The line was opened in 1844 by the London and Birmingham Railway, initially only as far as Milverton. The line was extended to Leamington Spa Avenue in 1851. A connecting line to Berkswell opened in 1884.

Late in the 19th century most of the route was doubled to increase capacity. Only a small section just outside Kenilworth, at Gibbet Hill, remained single track.

Stations

The line currently serves two stations: Leamington Spa and Coventry with CrossCountry services. Formerly there were two more railway stations along the route, both of which were closed in 1965 as a result of Reshaping of British Railways report.

Leamington Spa (Milverton) for Warwick
The station building was demolished some time after closure. The site remains unoccupied, but it is unlikely to be re-opened owing to its proximity to the main town station.
Kenilworth
The station building was demolished some time after closure. A new station is being rebuilt in Kenilworth and is planned to be re-opened in December 2016.

Electrification proposal

In 1977 the Parliamentary Select Committee on Nationalised Industries recommended considering electrification of more of Britain's rail network, and by 1979 BR presented a range of options to electrifying numerous routes by 2000.^[1] Some of these options included the Coventry to Leamington line as part of a scheme to electrify the Cherwell Valley Line and the Banbury — Birmingham section of what is now the Chiltern Main Line.^[2] Under the 1979–90 Conservative governments that succeeded the 1976–79 Labour government the proposal was not implemented.

The line today

Today most of the line is single track which limits the number of services using it. What remains of double track includes a passing loop at Kenilworth, and the lines out from Coventry and Leamington Spa to Gibbet Hill Junction and Milverton respectively, the former being extended back from Park Junction (now removed) on 29 August 2007 by 1.75 miles (2.8 km).

The stonework of the original Kenilworth station survives at the town end of Station Road having been re-erected there in 1884 for use as a cafe.

References

↑ Anonymous 1979, pp. 0–2.
↑ Anonymous 1979, p. 8.

Books about the Kenilworth branchline
Anonymous (Winter 1979). Railway Electrification. British Railways Board (Central Publicity Unit). pp. 0–2, 8.
Warwickshire's Railways

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Railway lines in the West Midlands

Main lines	West Coast Main Line Cross Country Route Chiltern Main Line

Inter-regional	Birmingham to Peterborough Line Crewe-Derby Line Cotswold Line Shrewsbury to Chester Line Stafford to Manchester Line Welsh Marches Line

Local	Birmingham to Worcester via Bromsgrove Line Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line Chase Line Coventry to Leamington Line Coventry to Nuneaton Line Cross-City Line Leamington to Stratford Line North Warwickshire Line Northampton Loop Line Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford Line Stone to Colwich Line Stourbridge Town Branch Line Trent Valley Line Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line

Freight only	Camp Hill Line South Staffordshire Line Sutton Park Line Walsall to Wolverhampton Line

Heritage	Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway Severn Valley Railway Telford Steam Railway

Current rail infrastructure projects in the United Kingdom

Projects	21st-century modernisation of the Great Western Main Line Crossrail Croxley Rail Link East West Rail Link (Varsity Line) Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme Electric Spine Gateway Plus High Speed 2 Northern Hub Northern line extension to Battersea Ordsall Chord, Manchester Oxford to Bicester Line South East Wales Metro Thameslink Programme

Electrification	Blackpool North–Preston Parts of Electric Spine (including Didcot Parkway–Oxford Bedford–Corby/Nottingham/Sheffield Reading–Basingstoke Oxford–Bletchley) Glasgow Queen Street–Edinburgh via Falkirk High Gospel Oak–Woodgrange Park Guide Bridge–Stalybridge Manchester Victoria–Leeds Manchester Victoria–Preston 21st-century modernisation of the Great Western Main Line (including Hayes & Harlington–Bristol/Swansea Henley–Twyford Marlow–Maidenhead Reading–Basingstoke Reading–Newbury Slough–Windsor & Eton) Rugeley Trent Valley–Walsall Welsh Valleys

Stations	Battersea Power Station Birmingham Curzon Street Birmingham Interchange Brent Cross Thameslink Broadway Cambridge North Canary Wharf Cassiobridge Corwen Edinburgh Gateway Ilkeston Kenilworth Kirkstall Forge Lea Bridge Leeds New Lane Low Moor Nine Elms Old Oak Common Watford Vicarage Road Winslow Wixams Woolwich

◄ Proposed

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Coventry to Leamington Line

Stations

Electrification proposal

The line today

See also

References