Atherstone railway station

Atherstone National Rail

Standing on the northbound platform looking south, towards London in 2009.
Location
Place Atherstone
Local authority Borough of North Warwickshire
Coordinates 52°34′44″N 1°33′11″W / 52.579°N 1.553°W / 52.579; -1.553Coordinates: 52°34′44″N 1°33′11″W / 52.579°N 1.553°W / 52.579; -1.553
Grid reference SP304979
Operations
Station code ATH
Managed by London Midland
Number of platforms 2
DfT category F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11 Increase 65,340
2011/12 Increase 77,558
2012/13 Increase 83,342
2013/14 Increase 99,974
2014/15 Increase 0.121 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 Atherstone from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Atherstone is a railway station serving the town of Atherstone in Warwickshire, England. It is located on the Trent Valley section of the West Coast Main Line, exactly 102 miles from London Euston station, as a placard on an adjacent building announces. The station is conveniently located near the A5.

History

Preserved 1847 station building

The station was opened by the London and North Western Railway in 1847, and was absorbed by the London Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The station passed on to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

In 1860 it was the site of a rail accident in which 10 people died.

When Sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by the Regional Railways Sector until the Privatisation of British Railways. There was a threat to the John William Livock designed station building in the early 1980s, but thanks to the efforts of local group The Railway and Steam Traction Society demolition plans were put on hold. Eventually the building was fully restored by 1985, with Donald Willets using it as offices.

Services

London Midland provide an hourly service in each direction (including Sundays); southbound to London Euston via Nuneaton, Rugby and Milton Keynes, and northbound to Crewe via Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent.[1] This is a substantial increase in service from the 1980s and 1990s where the station saw just half a dozen local trains a day, none of which went further north than Stafford or further south than Rugby. Passenger use at the station has shown strong growth since the introduction of the new service.

From December 2012 Atherstone was part of London Midland's "Project 110" scheme which saw the Euston-Crewe service take the express train route via Weedon rather than travel via the Northampton loop line. As a result, Atherstone lost its direct link with Northampton but the journey time to/from London was cut by 30 minutes, with most trains now timetabled to take 82 minutes to reach the capital. However, a few trains do go via Northampton Monday - Saturday and all go via Northampton on Sundays.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Table 67 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  2. ↑ "London Midland reveals details of its Project 110". Rail.co.uk / London Midland. 2012. Retrieved 2013-04-06.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Atherstone railway station.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Nuneaton   London Midland
London-Crewe		   Tamworth
London Midland
Northampton-Crewe
Limited Service
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