Tamworth railway station

Tamworth Add→{{rail-interchange}}
General information
Location	Tamworth
Managed by	London Midland
Platforms	4
Other information
Station code	TAM

Tamworth railway station serves the town of Tamworth in Staffordshire, England. It is located where the Cross Country Route passes over the West Coast Main Line, in the United Kingdom, although there is no rail link between the two lines. There are four platforms: platforms 1 and 2 on the low level (the West Coast Main Line) and platforms 3 and 4 on the high level (on the Cross Country Route).

History

Tamworth high level platforms, looking north.

The original station was opened in 1839 by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway on its original route from Derby to Hampton-in-Arden meeting the London and Birmingham Railway for London

In 1847 the London and North Western Railway built its Trent Valley Line passing beneath the original line with a new joint station, though they weren't referred to as "High Level" and "Low Level" till 1924. Since it was expected that only local trains would call, the platforms were on loops, with the running lines left clear for expresses. At that time there was a north to west curve linking the, by then, Midland with the LNWR line. Since it was the crossing of two major lines - one Bristol to Newcastle, the other Euston to Aberdeen - it was important for the Royal Mail transferring upwards of 2000 bags every night.

A north to east curve was also built very early on by the Trent Valley Railway and the Birmingham & Derby Junction railway, and track was laid on it, but it is not known whether it was ever used. It was certainly lifted by the turn of the century. The track left the Trent Vally line and climbed on an embankment until it crossed the River Anker via a bridge, then entered a cutting until reaching the Midland line. The bridge, known locally as the Spider Bridge, was demolished sometime during the late 1960s by the Royal Engineers, and the cutting was filled in shortly afterwards, so there is little to see nowadays except for the vegetation-covered embankment leading to the bridge. Prior to the introduction of diesel engines, Tamworth Railway Station was particularly well known to 'train spotting' enthusiasts as the closest station to Birmingham at which the larger and faster steam engines could be seen on the London to the North West Coast Line. The south-east corner, where the lines crossed, was at that time a vacant field, and used to be filled with spotters who would bring refreshments and spend the whole day there. A housing estate now occupies that spot.

There was a large water tower and pumping station at the east end of the low level, pumping water from the River Anker below.

The original station was demolished in 1961 and the rebuilt station opened in 1962 and at the same time the Trent Valley Line was electrified, requiring the High level line and platforms to be raised by two feet.

Accidents and incidents

• On 14 September 1870, a mail train was diverted into a siding due to a signalman's error. It crashes through the buffers and ends up in the River Anker. Three people are killed.

Services

A Virgin Pendolino speeds south through the low level platforms on the West Coast Main Line.

Low level

Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains operate services operating from London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street, Glasgow Central, Manchester Piccadilly and many other destinations also two trains that terminates at Preston as well as southbound trains to London Euston. All these services operate in the mornings and evenings peaks with no daytime services using the station.

London Midland

London Midland operates a regular Monday to Saturday semi-fast hourly service between London Euston & Crewe via Stoke-on-Trent which calls at Tamworth. This service is using Class 350 multiple units.

High level

On the Cross Country Route all trains are operated by CrossCountry. There are services between Cardiff Central and Nottingham via Birmingham New Street using Class 170s, as well as services to Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth and Penzance, and Leeds, York, Newcastle Central and Edinburgh Waverley using Class 220, 221s and HST sets. A small number of Southampton Central to Newcastle trains also call at Tamworth throughout the day.

Services on the Cardiff/Birmingham to Nottingham route call every half hour (hourly on Sundays) and Edinburgh to Plymouth every two hours each way. This is a far cry from the situation that existed in the late 1970s, when there were gaps of up to 6 hours between trains. This was due to services not having been adjusted to take account of the sharp increase in population that had taken place since Tamworth became a feeder town for Birmingham.

See also

• Dudley Port railway station, which also had 2 levels until the 1960s.
• Retford railway station, on 2 levels since the 1960s (previously a flat crossing).
• Lichfield Trent Valley railway station
• Smethwick Galton Bridge railway station, on 2 levels, opened in 1995.
• Shotton railway station

External links

• Train times and station information for Tamworth railway station from National Rail

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Wilnecote		CrossCountry Cardiff - Nottingham		Burton on Trent
Birmingham New Street		CrossCountry South West - North East		Derby
Atherstone		London Midland London-Crewe		Lichfield Trent Valley
Nuneaton		Virgin West Coast West Coast Main Line (limited services)		Lichfield Trent Valley
	Historical railways
Wilnecote Line and station open		Midland Railway Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway		Elford Line open, station closed