Bromsgrove railway station explained

Bromsgrove
Symbol Location:gb
Symbol:rail
Borough:Bromsgrove, Bromsgrove District,
Country:England
Grid Name:Grid reference
Manager:West Midlands Railway
Platforms:4
Code:BMV
Classification:DfT category F1
Years1:24 June 1840
Events1:Opened
Years2:12 July 2016
Events2:Relocated
Footnotes:Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Zoom:13

Bromsgrove railway station serves the town of Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, England. It is located at the foot of the two-mile Lickey Incline which ascends at a gradient of 1-in-37.7 towards on the line between Birmingham and Worcester. Bromsgrove is managed by West Midlands Railway. The current station opened on 12 July 2016, replacing an older station located slightly to the north.[1]

History

The station opened as part of the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway (later part of the Midland Railway) on 24 June 1840.[2]

On 10 November of that year, an experimental steam locomotive named 'Surprise' burst its boiler at the station, killing the driver, Thomas Scaife, and fireman, Joseph Rutherford (some authorities say the incident happened on the Lickey Incline but this is due to an erroneous early report in the Worcestershire Chronicle which was later corrected.[3]). They are buried in Bromsgrove churchyard.[4]

In June 1969[5] the station was rebuilt with a single platform on the up (northbound) side, which required stopping down (southbound) trains to cross to the up line and back again after calling at Bromsgrove station. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the service frequency had decreased to a small number of trains in the peak hours. A new platform on the down side was opened in May 1990.[6]

On 4 May 2007, Network Rail announced that a new station will be built, to replace the existing structure. This was to be in a brownfield site adjacent to the current site, and would allow six car trains to stop at the station. The cost was projected to be in the region of £10-12 million,[7] and it was estimated that the station could be operational by Easter 2009.[8] However, by June 2009 the project was still only in the development stage[9] and the funding for it was subsequently frozen by the local authority in June 2010.[10]

Contamination of the land was a known factor by February 2013 and was included in the Consultation Report published on the Worcestershire County Council website.[11] Planning permission for the new station was eventually granted by Worcestershire County Council in September 2013, three years after the funding for it was previously withdrawn.[12] By this stage it had been decided that the station would have four platforms, able to accommodate nine car trains, and linked by a covered footbridge served by lifts and stairs. A ticket office, waiting room and toilets would also be provided.[13] Work began on the new station in March 2014.[14] [15]

Even after construction started, the opening date for the station was delayed several times. It was first scheduled to open in May 2015[16] and then was postponed to November 2015. It was later due for spring 2016.[17] [18] However contamination on site and a previously undiscovered culvert resulted in the opening date being pushed back to Summer 2016.[19] The new £24 million station opened on 12 July 2016,[20] initially with two platforms in use for passengers[21] but platform three will be a turnback platform for services that terminate at Bromsgrove.[22] The old station platforms and associated structures were removed and demolished during track remodelling in November 2016.[23]

The station name signs on the platforms are on a gold background with white text instead of the usual white background with black text. This was unveiled by London Midland in honour of Lauren Rowles, a local woman who won gold at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.[24]

Phase two of the station redevelopment project saw the electrification of the line from Bromsgrove to, this resulted in an extra three trains per hour on the Cross-City Line serving the new station, when the new electrification went live in 2018. This was originally planned to happen between 2011 and 2014, but this date has been amended in the wake of the delays to construction work on the new station.[1] [25]

The electrification work involved reconstruction of four overbridges between Barnt Green and Bromsgrove and 9km (06miles) of electrification works between Barnt Green junction and Bromsgrove. Re-signalling and track relaying work tied into the project at the station and at various points further north saw all services diverted via Kidderminster or replaced by buses between Droitwich Spa and Longbridge for twelve days in the autumn of 2016.[26]

The first timetabled electric services were scheduled to start in May 2018[27] however in March 2018, plans for an extra 4 trains per hour were delayed to 29 July 2018.[28]

Accidents and incidents

Services

The station and all trains serving it are operated by West Midlands Trains, who operate an hourly service from to ; with additional services in the peak hours starting or terminating short at and .[42] [43] Electric services on the Cross City Line began running to/from Birmingham New Street and Lichfield Trent Valley from 29 July 2018.[44] Two trains per hour operate each way on weekdays to and from . On Sundays, the frequency is hourly to and from New Street only. The limited Mon-Sat CrossCountry service from here was withdrawn from 30 July 2018.[45] [46] CrossCountry said their decision to withdraw the services was made as electrification of the line meant the town no longer needed the limited stops.[47]

Further reading

External links


52.323°N -2.048°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bromsgrove Railway Station . Worcestershire County Council . 13 July 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160713150810/http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/info/20254/infrastructure_and_improvement_schemes/588/bromsgrove_railway_station . 13 July 2016 . live.
  2. Jowett's Railway Centres Volume 1, Alan Jowett (PSL, 1993)
  3. News: . Dreadful accident on the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. Two Lives Lost. . Worcestershire Chronicle . England . 18 November 1840 . 29 December 2016 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
  4. Book: Rolt, L.T.C.. Red For Danger. 1966. 69. Pan Books. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  5. A Century of Railways Around Birmingham and the West Midlands, Volumes 2, John Boynton (Mid England Books, 1998)
  6. A Century of Railways Around Birmingham and the West Midlands, Volumes 3, John Boynton (Mid England Books, 1999)
  7. Bromsgrove to get new station . Network Rail News Releases . 4 May 2007 . 7 May 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070928040237/http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=3003&NewsAreaID=2&SearchCategoryID=6 . 28 September 2007 . dead . dmy-all .
  8. Web site: Bromsgrove Rail User Group. 14 January 2010.
  9. Web site: Network Rail schemes in development. 9 June 2009.
  10. News: New Bromsgrove railway station money frozen . BBC News Hereford & Worcester . 20 June 2010 . 10 December 2013 .
  11. http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/downloads/file/1811/consultation_report "Bromsgrove Rail Station Information - Consultation Report
  12. News: Bromsgrove railway station plans approved Bromsgrove railway station plans approved . BBC News Hereford & Worcester . 24 September 2013 . 10 December 2013 .
  13. News: Bromsgrove Advertiser . Bromsgrove's new railway station remains on track for November opening . 31 Mar 2015 . Sam . Greenway.
  14. RAIL. Harris, Nigel. 21. 741. 5–18 February 2014. Spring 2014 start for Bromsgrove station, ahead of 2015 opening.
  15. News: Bromsgrove £17.4m railway station replacement starts . BBC News Hereford & Worcester . 13 March 2014 . 14 March 2014 .
  16. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-24232026 "Bromsgrove railway station plans approved"
  17. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-33562835 Railway footbridge ruled too close to power lines
  18. News: Harris . Tristan . 6 January 2016 . Bromsgrove's new railway station on track to open in the spring . Bromsgrove Standard . 19 March 2016.
  19. Web site: Opening of new Bromsgrove train station delayed... again. Bromsgrove Advertiser. 13 June 2016. 13 June 2016.
  20. News: Bromsgrove railway station opens . BBC News . 12 July 2016 . 13 July 2016.
  21. . New Bromsgrove Station Opens . 73 . 815 . 21. Modern Railways . Railway Study Association . August 2016 .
  22. News: A look behind the scenes at the signalling and track work being done at Bromsgrove Station. Harris. Tristan. Bromsgrove Standard. 2 November 2016. 7 April 2017.
  23. Nicholls. Mark. Bromsgrove track signalling upgrade. Railways Illustrated. February 2017. 15. 2. 10. Key Publishing. Stamford. 1479-2230.
  24. News: Davies. Tom. Paralympic hero Lauren Rowles celebrated with gold station sign. 16 April 2017. Bromsgrove Advertiser. 7 October 2016. en.
  25. Web site: Bromsgrove Rail Station . 2013 . Worcestershire County Council . 20 October 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131022134545/http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/cms/transport-and-highways/transport-schemes/bromsgrove-rail-station.aspx . 22 October 2013 . live . dmy .
  26. http://www.bromsgroveadvertiser.co.uk/news/14775031.Passengers_warned_of_12_day_closure_for_railway_works_on_Bromsgrove_line/?ref=ar "Passengers warned of 12-day closure for railway works on Bromsgrove line"
  27. Web site: Darlington. Paul. Bromsgrove Corridor resignalling. Rail Engineer. 16 April 2017. 17 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170829203844/https://www.railengineer.uk/2017/01/17/bromsgrove-corridor-resignalling/. 29 August 2017. dead.
  28. Web site: Plan to quadruple trains between Bromsgrove and Birmingham delayed. Bromsgrove Advertiser.
  29. Web site: Birmingham and Gloucester Railway . Railways Archive . Board of Trade . 14 November 1840 . 3 April 2020.
  30. News: Multiple News Items . The Standard . London . 12 November 1840 . 5117 .
  31. Book: Hewison, C. W. . Locomotive Boiler Explosions . David & Charles . Newton Abbot . 1983 . 26 . 0-7153-8305-1 .
  32. Web site: Accident at Bromsgrove on 7th April 1841 . Railways Archive . 3 April 2020.
  33. News: Shocking Accident on the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway . The Standard . London . 12 April 1841 . 5426 . 1 .
  34. Web site: Accident at Bromsgrove on 31st October 1844 . Railways Archive . 3 April 2020.
  35. News: Railway Accident . The Standard . London . 2 November 1844 . 6323 .
  36. Web site: Accident at Bromsgrove on 14th October 1852 . Railways Archive . 3 April 2020.
  37. News: Accident on the Bristol and Birmingham Railway . Manchester Times . Manchester . 20 October 1852 . 414 .
  38. Web site: lickeyrailgroup.org . lickeyrailgroup.org . 2024-03-26 . lickeyrailgroup.org . en-GB.
  39. Web site: Esbester . Mike . 2023-11-06 . Investigating Bromsgrove’s railway worker accidents . 2024-03-26 . Railway Work, Life & Death . en-US.
  40. Web site: Passenger train collision with a derailed locomotive, Bromsgrove . Rail Accidents Investigation Branch . 3 April 2020.
  41. Web site: Driver sentenced to eight months imprisonment for causing crash . Office of Rail and Road . 10 January 2023 .
  42. Web site: Train timetables and schedules Bromsgrove. West Midlands Railway.
  43. Web site: Train times Hereford to Birmingham 21 May until 9 December 2023. West Midlands Railway.
  44. News: First Cross City line trains arrive at Bromsgrove. Collis. Emily. Bromsgrove Advertiser. 30 July 2018. 3 August 2018.
  45. Web site: Bromsgrove Rail User Group call on residents to back the re-introduction of the Cross Country XC service. Leach. Harry. 23 August 2018. Bromsgrove Standard.
  46. Web site: West Midlands Railfuture boss joins calls for Cross Country services to stop in Bromsgrove. Harris. Tristan. 29 August 2018. Bromsgrove Standard.
  47. Web site: Campaigners slam 'disgraceful' decision to axe Bromsgrove train services. Bromsgrove Advertiser. 6 August 2018.

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