Lichfield Trent Valley railway station
Encyclopedia
Lichfield Trent Valley is a split-level railway station
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

 on the outskirts of the city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 of Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...

 in Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is one of two stations in Lichfield, the other being in the city-centre.

History

The Trent Valley Railway (TVR), which connected the London and Birmingham Railway
London and Birmingham Railway
The London and Birmingham Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway ....

 (L&BR) at with the Grand Junction Railway
Grand Junction Railway
The Grand Junction Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was merged into the London and North Western Railway...

 (GJR) at , was formed on 21 July 1845 and opened on 15 September 1847, and included a station at Lichfield; in the meantime, the L&BR, GJR and Manchester and Birmingham Railway
Manchester and Birmingham Railway
The Manchester and Birmingham Railway was built between Manchester and Crewe and opened in stages from 1840. Between Crewe and Birmingham, trains were worked by the Grand Junction Railway...

 had amalgamated in July 1846 as the London and North Western Railway
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...

 (LNWR), which itself absorbed the TVR later in 1846. This first station at Lichfield was built in 1847. This station was situated north of Burton Road approximately 0.5 miles north of the current crossing point. The architect, John Livock, built the station in a Tudor Gothic style.

The South Staffordshire Railway
South Staffordshire Railway
The South Staffordshire Railway was the railway company responsible for building several lines in and around the area of Staffordshire, England.The Chief Engineer was John Robinson McClean...

 (SSR), which connected with , was formed on 6 October 1846 by amalgamation of two smaller railways, both of which had been formed on 3 August 1846. The line north of opened on 9 April 1849, but the station named Lichfield Trent Valley Junction was not opened until August 1849. Lichfield Trent Valley Junction was built south of Burton Road close to Streethay just past the present signal box. From it a spur line descended to the other station north of the crossing point to allow passengers to transfer to the LNWR main line below. The SSR was leased to the LNWR in February 1861, and was absorbed by that company on 15 July 1867.

On 3 July 1871, both of these stations were closed by the LNWR, which replaced them with a single station; Lichfield Trent Valley was built in its present location with high and low-level platforms adjoining each other. The Low Level platforms, serving the Rugby-Stafford line, were situated approximately 400 metre south of the original TVR station. The High Level platforms closed on 18 January 1965 with the withdrawal of passenger services between and . On 28 November 1988, the service between Birmingham and Lichfield City was extended, and the High Level platforms at Lichfield Trent Valley were reopened as a terminus.

Location

The station is not particularly near the city, being one mile from the city-centre. Nor, indeed is it near the River Trent
River Trent
The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...

; the name comes from the Trent Valley Railway, which built the line between Rugby and Stafford as mentioned above. It is an example of a station built primarily to serve a railway junction.

Features

Facilities are basic - the original station building burned down in the 1990s, and the ticket office is now a temporary wooden building. Its low-level platforms are located on the Trent Valley Line
Trent Valley line
The Trent Valley Line is a railway line between Rugby and Stafford in England, forming part of the West Coast Main Line.The line was electrified on 25 kV AC system during the 1960s, in the wake of the 1955 British Rail modernisation plan....

 section of the West Coast Main Line
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...

. The Fastest passenger services are run by Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland...

, although only a handful of peak time and weekend services call at the station. From December 2008 hourly services commenced in each direction thanks to the new London Midland semi-fast service between Euston and Crewe via Northampton and (Monday to Saturday daytime plus a limited Sunday service). During weekdays, the London Midland service are designed to connect with fast Virgin trains services at Rugby, offering a total journey time between Lichfield Trent Valley and London Euston of 1 hour and 35 minutes including the connection time.

A single platform at right-angles to the low-level station, accessible by a staircase from the latter, forms the high-level part of the station. This forms the northern terminus of the Cross-City Line, and is served by two trains an hour, every day of the week.

The route north of Lichfield on the high-level line, is connected to the southbound WCML by a single track chord, and runs via Alrewas to Wichnor Junction, near Burton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a town straddling the River Trent in the east of Staffordshire, England. Its associated adjective is "Burtonian"....

. Primarily a freight route, this line is also used by Virgin Trains to move trains from Birmingham to Bombardier
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....

's maintenance depot at Central Rivers, near Burton. The route is sometimes used as a means of diverting trains when engineering work takes place between Birmingham New Street and Tamworth; also by occasional excursion trains.

The signal box
Signal box
On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetable...

 was demolished over the weekend of 15 June 2008 as part of the West Coast upgrade.

1946 accident

On New Year's Day 1946 it was the site of a points failure resulting in a fish train being diverted into a stationary passenger train resulting in the deaths of 20 people and injury of 21 more.

External links

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