Chester Road railway station serves the areas of Pype Hayes, Erdington and Wylde Green in north-east Birmingham, in the West Midlands county of England. It is sited on the Cross-City Line between Bromsgrove/Redditch and Lichfield Trent Valley, via Birmingham New Street. Pedestrian access to the station is via Green Lanes, near to the junction with the Chester Road (A452). It is above road level, as the line here is on an embankment.
Chester Road  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Chester Road station, looking towards Erdington | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Wylde Green, Birmingham England | ||||
| Coordinates | 52°32′06″N 1°49′55″W / 52.535°N 1.832°W | ||||
| Grid reference | SP114931 | ||||
| Managed by | West Midlands Railway | ||||
| Transit authority | Transport for West Midlands | ||||
| Platforms | 2 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | CRD | ||||
| Fare zone | 3 | ||||
| Classification | DfT category E | ||||
| History | |||||
| Original company | London and North Western Railway | ||||
| Pre-grouping | London and North Western Railway | ||||
| Post-grouping | London Midland and Scottish Railway | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 1 December 1863 | Station opened | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2019/20 |  1.050 million | ||||
| 2020/21 |  0.152 million | ||||
| 2021/22 | 0.390 million | ||||
| 2022/23 | 0.489 million | ||||
| 2023/24 | 0.593 million | ||||
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History
editThe line from Aston to Sutton Coldfield was built by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) in 1862, although Chester Road station was not opened until 1 December 1863.[1][2] The LNWR became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway in 1921, as part of the Grouping, which was nationalised to become part of British Railways at the beginning of 1948. The station booking office and waiting room were rebuilt in 1991-1992 during the electrification of the line. The original LNWR station waiting room was dismantled, and moved to Market Bosworth, another former LNWR station, on the preserved Battlefield Line Railway.[3]
In 2019 as part of the West Midlands Railway branding of the railway stations they manage, Chester Road station was among the stations given orange lampposts and railings. This received a lukewarm response from many locals, the local MP Andrew Mitchell and the leader of Sutton Coldfield Town Council, Simon Ward.[4]
Facilities
editChester Road is a park and ride station, and has a free car park which was expanded in May 2006.
There is a ticket office on platform 2, with a ticket machine opposite as well as a ticket machine before platform 1.
There is a shelter on both platforms with seating areas.
Access for disabled passengers
editThere are ramps providing step-free access to both platforms at Chester Road.
Chester Road has been classified as a step-free access category B1 station. This means that there is step-free access to all platforms, but that this may include long or steep ramps, as is the case here.[5]
Services
edit
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The station is served by West Midlands Trains with local Transport for West Midlands branded "Cross-City" services, operated using Class 323 Electric multiple units (EMUs)[6] until September 2024 and currently by Class 730 EMUs.[7]
The off-peak service pattern is as follows:
Mondays to Saturdays:
- 4 trains per hour (tph) northbound to Four Oaks via Sutton Coldfield, departing from Platform 1.
- Of which:
- 2 tph continue to Lichfield Trent Valley via Lichfield City.
- Of which:
- 4tph southbound to Longbridge via Birmingham New Street and University, departing from Platform 2.
- Of which:
- 2 tph continue to Redditch via Alvechurch, calling at all stations.
- 2 tph continue to Bromsgrove calling at all stations except Duddeston, 1tph does not call at Barnt Green.
- Of which:
Sundays:
- 2 tph northbound to Lichfield Trent Valley.
- 2 tph southbound to Redditch.
Services on Sundays call at all stations between Lichfield T.V. and Redditch.
The average journey time to Birmingham New Street is around 16 minutes.[8][9]
| Preceding station |  National Rail
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wylde Green | West Midlands Railway Lichfield – Four Oaks – Birmingham – Bromsgrove/Redditch Cross-City Line |
Erdington | ||
References
edit- ^ Jowett, Alan (1993). Jowett's Atlas of Railway Centres: of Great Britain showing their development from the earliest times up to and including the 1990s - Volume 1 (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 141. ISBN 1-8526-0420-4. OCLC 30919645.
- ^ Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 60. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
- ^ "Market Bosworth station". Archived from the original on 13 July 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
- ^ Horner, Nick (26 March 2019). "Garish orange makeover of Cross City line stations slammed as being visually illiterate". Birmingham Live.
- ^ "Chester Road Train Station". West Midlands Railway.
- ^ "Class 323 fleet". West Midlands Railway.
- ^ "Class 730 fleet". West Midlands Railway.
- ^ "Train Timetables and Schedules | Chester Road". West Midlands Railway.
- ^ "The Cross City Line: Lichfield Trent Valley – Four Oaks – Sutton Coldfield – Birmingham – University – Bromsgrove / Redditch | Timetable from Sunday 15 December 2024 until 17 May 2025". West Midlands Railway.
External links
edit- Train times and station information for Chester Road railway station from National Rail
- Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Chester Road railway station
- Warwickshire Railways page